The herald. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1905-1953, 1917-04-05
A LETTER FROM R0hE
BY SUSAN &. CLAGETT.

its suggestion of shabbuess.
He had been in the country a week |
and had. as yet. found mo opportunity .
for the question he had come to asH. .
As he waited for her lie wondered
why.
But he was determined to know to- /
night where he stood Was it posi- :
BILE she had changed? He squared his /
shoulders and threw back his head.
No. That was out of the question. |
Their correspondence had faitcred oc- |
casionally, but had always been t.
sumed, even after the two or three
amazing letters he had received from
her several years before
He put his hand in his pocket and
drew out a well-wOTn letter and was
reading it as she came into the room.
THAT was the first" he said Il
received it in Athens. The others
reached me while | was in Cairo.
There were four in all, and they about
spoiled my trip. They were remark
able letters. Eleanor, remarkable from
cold a woman as you. | have read
them every day and every day have
wondered at the imbeCile reply | sent
you from Rome.
Whatever the reason, | have long
regretted that letter. and | hope you
will believe me when l say it is my
dearest hope that you Will consent to
be my Wife
She did not answer at once and her
reply was not direct when it came.
Il would like to tell you a story,
Judge Norton" she said.
at commenced a good many years
ago. this story of man and a woman
ran its way through friendship and
ended. as is usual in such cases, with
one OF them becoming somewhat more
than friend. The man, it was. When
he was serious. she laughed. Not in
ridiCule. but because, although she
cared in a way, it was not enough TO
make marriage desirable. The man
went away. but their correspondence
did not take the place of his COM
panionship and each time ne returned
she felt she had grown little nearer
to him. but could not bring herself to
let him see what she knew he wished
to know, although he said little.
The odd part of the story, your
honor. is, the young woman never
thought the man might change. Al
first she was sorry this was so, but
as her home life, always difficult, now
became intolerable, she turned to him
never doubling an immediate re
sponse. Made desperate by condl
lions she could not bear, she asked
him to come to her.
ct was heart letter, but 1t brought
no reply Many weeks later. she re
. ceived two or three lines. They tolC
J her he was on his way east.
She watched for him, but the day
passed without further word. Then
: line came to her from his old home
| He had passed her by, the first time II
+. all the years Of their friendship, ant
she was in trouble. Yet so dulled wa
/ she by wretchedness that even thel
. she did not doubt him.
Their last evening together was
? nightmare for her to remember. He
GOODNESS had chilled him, else b
5 would have spoken. OF this she wa
sure. She must tell him plainly sh
Q cared. Then she committed the foil
= of her life She wrote to him. No
I one letter. but several. They wer
t all love letters. That much she knows
What she said, she has mercifully fol
= gotten. Then one day came lette
s from Rome.
d "She laughed when she read /
@ What has come over the man" sh
asked herself. When realization cam
" to her she was numbed, frozen o
p what she had done. The thought tia
n she had told him she cared bit
deeply into her pride there had to
g. a reaction.
LAS a Judge, you, yourself, ha'
> been called upon to decide nice que
a lions, questions where the distinction
+" are subtle. Was the woman in I'll
20 wrong? She thinks not. But 81
can glimpse the mans amazement
IA he read those letters; his feeling
that even If his actions were confirm
=. tory until those last days, she had
- right to attach Importance to the
y, until he had said the words tn
Az would support them.
He has come back and now asl
in plain words what he asked maj
wears ago when they were young
gether-what he asked by implicatiC
year after year. She is no long
Young. She is alone. Her suppo
81 comes from her own efforts and som
D. b., times she grows very tired. His
. >, fer means wealth, leisure. Her 10
/ for him is dead But she feels war
friendliness. Will friendliness al
~ companionship take the place OF til
other feeling now that she is pa
youth? Does he really care. or is
'A' desire for her merely pang OF CO
ie science that he should have so HI
her."
Long before she had finished Jud
ny Norton had left his place before
y fire and was walking slowly back
cy forth the length of the room. AS
ep voice ceased he stepped before M
er- 'I show up pretty badly, Eleanor
ne did not know how badly, but will