The Hope pioneer. [volume] (Hope, N.D.) 1882-1964, 1917-07-05
CHAPTER discontinued.

~ oAS IL
AS consciousness returns after a
swoen, so did realization return to
.Alaire Austin. Family, uncertainty at
first, then with a swift, strong effort,
she pushed herself out of Dawes reluc-
tant arms. They stood apart, fright
ened. Dawes gaze was questioning.
Alaire began to tremble and to struggle
with her breath. !
"Are we-mad" she gasped. "What
have W. dOne?"
There's no use fighting. It was
here-it was bound to come out. Oh,
Alaire-!"
"Don't!" She shook her head, and,
avoiding his outstretched hands, went
to the edge Of the veranda and leaned
weakly against a pillar, with her head
in the crook Of her arm. Dave fol-
lowed her, but the words he spoke
were scarcely ineligible.
Finally she raised her face to his:
"No! 1t is useless to deny it-now
That we know. But I didn't know, un-
til a moment ago."
give known all the time-ever since
the first moment 1 saw you" he told
her, hoarsely. ITO me you're all there
is; nothing else matters. And you love
me! I wonder if I'm awake"
"Dream-man," she repeated, more
slowly. "Oh, why did you come so
late?"
$50 latey
Eyes. We must think it out, the
best way we an. wonder what YOU
think Of me"
"You must know. There's no need
for excuses; there's nothing to explain,
except the miracle that such great
happiness could come to a fellow like
me-"
Happiness? 1t mean anything but
that. I was miserable enough before,
what shall I do nowY"
"Why, readjust your life," he cried,
roughly. "Surely you won't hesitate
after this?"
But Alaire did not seem to hear him.
She was staring out into the night
again. "What a failure I must bel"
she murmured, finally. II suppose I
should have seen this coming, butt
didn't. And in his house, too! This
dress is his, and these jewels-every-
thing!" She held up her hands and
stared c%uriously at the few rings she
wore, as if seeing them for the first
time. allow does that make you feel?"
Dave stirred; there was resentment
in his voice when he answered: Your
husband has sacrificed his claim to
you, as everybody knows. To my mind
he has lost his rights. You're mine,
mine!" He waved a vigorous gesture
of defiance. "Ill take you away from
him at any cost. I'll see that he gives
you up, somehow. You're all I have"
"Of course the law provides a way,
but you wouldn't, couldn't, understand
how I feel about divorce" The mere
mention Of the word a difficult, and
caused Alaire to clench her hands.
"We're both too shaken to talk sanely
now, so let's wait"
"There's something you must under
stand before we go any further" Dave
insisted. I'm poor; I haven't a thing
I can call my own, so I'm not sure I
have any right to take you away from
all this" He turned a hostile eye upon
their surroundings.
Money means so little, and it's so
easy to be happy without it," Alaire
told him. "But I'm not altogether poor.
OF course everything here is Eds, but
I have enough. All my life I've had
everything except the very thing you
1offer-and how I've longed for that !
How I've envied other people! Do you
think I'll be allowed, somehow, to have
it,"
Eyes! I've something to say about
that. You gave me the right when
you gave that kiss"
Alaire shook her head. "I'm not so
sure. 1t seems easy now, while you
are here, but how will it seem later?
I'm in no condition at this minute to
reason. Perhaps, as you say, it is all
a dream; perhaps this feeling I have
is just a passing frenzy"
0 Dave laughed softly, confidently.
"It's too new yet for you to under
stand-but wait. 1t is frenzy, witch
ery-yes, and more. Tomorrow, and
every day after, it will grow and grow
and grow! Trust me. I've watched 1t
In myself"
$50 you cared for me from the very
first" Alaire questioned. It was the
woman's curiosity, the woman's hunger
to hear over and over again that truth
which never fails to thrill and yet
e fully satisfies.
"Oh, even before that, I think! When
you can:e to my fire that evening in
the chaparral, I knew every line of
your face, every movement Of your
body, every tone Of your voice, as a
man knows and recognizes his ideal.
But it took time for me to realize all
that you meant to me-"
Alaire nodded. Eyes, and it must
have been the same with me-" She
met his eyes frankly, but when he
reached toward her she held him away.
mo, dear. Not yet, not again, not
until we have the light. It would be
better for us both If you went away