The Snowflake herald., 1917-09-21

The FateS are malicious jades. They
delight in playing ill-natured pranks
upon us. Not content with spinning
and measuring and cutting the threads
of our lives to suit themselves, they
must also tangle the skein, causing us
to cut capers to satisfy their whims.
Al no time since meeting Alaire had
Dave Law been more certain of his
moral strength than on this evening !;
at no time had his grip upon himself
seemed frmer. Nor had Alaire the
least reason to doubt her self-cOntrOl.
Dave, to be sure, had appealed to her
fancy and her interest; in fact, he so
dominated her thoughts that the inn
aginary creature whom she called her
dream-husband had gradually taken on
his physical likeness. But the idea
that she was in any way enamored
of him had never entered his mind. In
such wise do the Fates amuse them
selves.
Alaire had gone to her favorite after
dinner refuge, nook on one of the
side galleries, where there was q wide
swinging wicker couch; and there, in
a restful obscurity fragrant with flow
ers, she had prepared to spend the
evening with her dreams.
She did not hear Dawes automobile
arrive. Her first intimation of his
presence came with the sound of his
heel upon the porch. When he ap-
II oil Sf ho
rializatiOn of her uppermost thought
quite as if figure from her fancy had
stepped forth full-clad.
She rose and met him, smiling. "How
cid you know l wanted to see your
she inquired.
Dave took her hand and looked down
at her. framing a commonplace reply.
But for some reason the words lay un-
spoken upon his tongue. Alaire's in
formal greeting, her parted lips, the
welcoming light in her eyes, had sent
them flying. 1t seemed to him that the
dim half-light which illumined this
nook emanated from her face and her
person, that the fragrance which came
to his nostrils was the perfume OF her
breath, and at the prompting of these
thoughts all his smothered longings
rose as if at a signal. AS mutinOus
prisoners in a Jail delivery OverpOwer
their guards, so did Dawes long-re-
pressed emotions gain the upper hand
of him now, and so swift was their
uprising that he could not summon
more than feeble, panicky resistance.
The awkwardness of the pause which
followed Alaire's inquiry strengthened
the rebellious impulses within him, and
quite unconsciOusly his friendly grasp
upon her fingers tightened. For her
part, as she saw this sudden change
sweep over him, her own face altered
and she felt something within her
breast leap into life. No woman could
have failed to read the meaning of his
sudden agitation, and, strange to say,
it worked a similar state of feeling
in Alaire. She Strove to control her
self and to draw away, but instead
found that her hand had answered
his, and that her eyes were flashing
ISCOSmIlOn VI Ills IOOhs All III d1 III
stant she realized how deathly tired
of her own struggle she had become,
and experienced a reckless impulse 70
cast away all restraint and blindly
meet his first advance. She had no
time to question her yearnings; she
seemed to understand only that this
man offered her rest and security; that
in his arms lay sanctuary.
To both it seemed that they stood
there silently, hand in hand, for a
very long time, though in reality there
was scarcely a moment of hesitation
on the part of either. A drunken,
breathless instant of uncertainty, then
Alaire was on Dawes breast, and his
strength, his ardor, his desire, was
throbbing through her. Her bare arms
were about his neck; a sigh, the token
of utter surrender, fluttered from her
throat. She raised her face to his and
their lips melted together.
'Dream-man she murmured.
AS consciousness returns after q
swoOn, so did realization return to
Alaire Austin. Family, uncertainty at
first, then with a swift, strong effort,