The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1917-08-10

lnWHfu ntf Tfteu Ott tnt tone OF tn
letter she'd got from him in Chi
cngo. II was stlff. formal, severe. lii
seldom praised her work, and neye
ungrudgingly. His censure was rare
too, 10 be sure, but this obviously wa
because Rose almost never gave hin
I'M excuse for H. Working for him II
this mood gave her the uneasy sensa
tlon one experiences when walking
abroad under sultry, overcast sky
with mutterings and flashes In II. Ant
then one night the storm broke.
They had fingered In the theatel
after the dismissal Of a rehearsal, L
talk over a change In one Of the mum
bers Rose had been working on. II re
fused TO come out satisfactorily. Rose
thought she saw way OF doing II that
would work better, and she had been
telling him about II. Eagerly, at first
and with a llmpld dlrectness which
however, became clouded and troubled
when she felt he wasn't paying atten'
tlon. II was difficulty with him she
had encountered before.
But tonight, after an angry turn
down the aisle and back, he suddenly
cried out: II don't know. don't
know what you've been talking about.
don't know, and / don't care" And
then, confronting her, their faces not a
foot apart, for by now she had got TO
her feet, his hands grlpped together
nnH ChalyInu alnnRhan hlQ
eyes glowing there in the half-light of
the auditorium almost like an ami
mails, he demanded: "Can you see
what's the matter with me7 Haven't
you seen 1t YETI"
OF course she saw 1t now, plainly
enough. She sat down again, man
aging an air of deliberatlon about It,
and gripped the back of the orchestra
chair i'm front Of her. He remained
standing over her there in the aisle.
When the helghtening tension Of the
silence that followed this outburst had
grown absolutely uncomfortable, she
spoke. But the only thing she could
find to say was almost ludicrously In
adequate.
mo, l didn't see 1t until now. I'm
sorry"
"You didn't see It," he echoed. 81
know you didn't. You've never seen
me at all, from the beginning, as any
thing but a machine. But why haven't
you? You're woman. If ever saw
a woman In my life, you're one all the
way through. Why couldn't you see
that was man? 1t isn't because I've
got gray hair, nor because I'm fifty
years old. 1 don't believe you're like
that. But even back there In Chicago,
the night we walked down the avenue
from that store-Or the night we
had supper together after the show
. :"
81 suppose ! ought to have seen," she
said duly. sought to have known that
that was all there was to it. But
didn't"
"Well, you see 1t nOw," ne said saw
agely fairly, and strode away up the
down in the seat in front of her and
turned around. 81 want to see your
face" he said. "There's something
I've got to know. Something you've
got to tell me. You said once, back
there in Chicago, that there was only
one person who really mattered to you.
l want to know who that person Is.
What he is. Whether he's still the one
person who really matters. If he isn't, |
I'll take my chance"
Remembering the scene afterward, |
Rose was little surprised that she'd |
been able to answer him as she did, |
a hesitation or a stammer and
with a straight gaze that held his un-
til she had finished.
"The only person in the world" she |
said, ''who ever has mattered to me, or
ever will matter, is my husband. /
tell in love with him the day met him.
was in love with him when left
him. I'm in love with him now. Every
hing do that's any good Is just some
hing he might be proud of If he knew
t. And every failure is just something
! hope / would make him understand
Ind not despise me for. It's months
iince I've seen him, but there isn't
lay, there isn't an hour in day, when
don't think about him and-want