Monroe City Democrat. (Monroe City, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1917-04-13
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
REIMBURSEMENT
By ALICE WEBER.

Of herself aud tndip- II the hardest
proposition She had ,-'cr attempted IL
WIS n struggl. TO r, aCh out for com
mon Sense after the blind unrcaSnn OF
affection. and Their" y as nothing to help
except the nrwncSs Of the life about
her. II was as If She had gone back
to the very beginning Of things. In
way She had. She and her father We're
living outside a French village in
wcathcr-bcatcn house across the Dor
der from New Brunswick. with c""i.
stove, two beds, Il r"U-h table and Il
couple Of chairs. Her father was like
hoy in this environment and did tn"
cn"king. while Ann made Il determined
effort To find u gimn"r "f HIGHT, other
! wise called sanity. in the darkness thai
ruc"npa~>'d her.
When She reached ST. Att"-at, dur
Ing the early days "f June, size had
been too indifferent To care FOR ia"
! quaininc>S Of her surroundings. Her
father had been alarmed about her
health. and the family physician, un-
, able TO discover cause for her illness,
had sent her where he knew the air
was sweet and pure.
As she sat liStlcss under the shadow
Of sugar maple. Ann thought of his
words. She had honestly tried TO bring
herself into touch with the life about
her. but health WINS ~ yet too far away
for her TO have any other feeling than
one of indifference.
Her lifc was primitive in the ex-
IRENE. She was miles from rail
road and the mail came hut one"
| month. She and hyr father were de-
| pendent upon a nciGhhur, Mr.. Chandler,
for that and he had brought ii for the
first time that evening. There W"r"
| no letters. She had expected none, hui
the longing of the spirit Cannot always
be subjected Ia pride and there were
tincs, like the present, when il seemed
as if nothing mattcrcd but the sight
| of the man she cared for. And size
had given him up. The cruelty of 1t
| was that she had learned she was but
the means TO an end. had stumbled
upon the knowledge within a week of
her wedding day.
In the Corcoran art gallery she had
paused beside the entrance TO one of
the rooms Wheh the mnr'hur vi VOICES
Caught ana heiu her attention.
NO. l do not love her" she heard.
Fortunately l am Interested in II"
| other woman. else it might 70 hard
with mo Her fotbpr Is wealthy Sh.,
is rich in her own right and ! Will be
| able 10 crafty ambitions hitherto mere
ly dreams" As he finished speaking
two men came face 10 face with Ann
and she looked directly into the eyes
OF the man she had expected TO marry
Pride came to her aid in her effort TO
adjust herself TO her new outlook upon
life, but in the end she was bundled
| off to ST. AttiGat. and here She met
Mr.. Chandler. with whom her father
| found conGenial c0mpanionship. lie
had way of watching her that was
discOncerting. and this. In time, made
her conscious she WIS not good TO look
ut. She became oversensitive about
her lack OF color and one day rum
mayed through her trunk Tor her van
ity BOX ana was chaSriheu not 10 nhu
II.
ms incident marked chanGe. I'M
perceptlniy the outdoor lie was MIX
Ing difference IN Ann she TOOK
long WaiRs anu ""uii stl"iI "i loF
hours alone. one evening she did not
~ an 49, lN.Nv a llfaf
found her IN the edge "t the river
with twisted Ankle anu diS'"c'i''i
shoulder. She hid slipped from The
rock where she h"d been h~ii'hS' Sic
t"Id ih'ih lHIcr.
When they discovered her Mr.. Nor
gan promptly went 10 pieces. She was
all lie had, and If ANYTHING happened