The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1917-09-06
sOOvyrisht i9l6 The DObbs. Merrill cOupanyl
CHAPTER xxv-continued.

IL
n was good while before Rose got
She key to his preoccupation. They
had turned into the park at Slxty-sixth
street, and were halfway over to the
Fifth avenue corner at Flfty-ninth, be-
sore he spoke out.
"On a day like this" he said, "to
laye sat there for two or three mortal
Aours arguing about stale ideas-when
We might have been out here, being
aiiyel But It must have seemed nat
zral to you to hear me going on like
mat" And then with burst, before
shc could speak:
~You must remember me as the most
Hindly oplnlonated fool in the world ~
She caught her breath, then said
very quietly, with warm little laugh
In her voice: "That's not how l re-
member you, Roddy."
She declined to help him when he
tried to scramble back to the safe
shores Of conventional conversation.
That sort of thing had lasted long
enough. And when they stopped and
saced each other in the gray brick en-
trance TO the building where Roses
apartment was, 1t was at the end of n
mile or more Of absolutely unbroken
silence. And facing each other there,
all that was said between them was
her:
"YOu1l come in, won't your" and his
Yes"
J But the gravity with which she'd
uttered the invitation and the tense
ness of his acceptance of II, the square
look that passed between them, marked
an end of something and the begin
ning Of something new.
She left him In her sitting room
while she went into her room to take
sf her hat and jacket and take a
Einnce into her mirror. When she
came back she found him standing
at her window, looking out. He didn't
,urn when she came in, but almost
Immediately he began speaking. She
went rather limp Mt the sound of his
voice and dropped down on an otto
man in front of the fireplace, and
squeezed her hands together between
Der knees.
u Al don't know how much you vii
have understood" he began; prob
ably a good deal. What | hope you
will have guessed is that l wouldn't
have come except that I'd something tC
tell you-something felt you were en-
Titled to be told. But I felt-this Is
what you won't have understood-I fell
that | hadn't any right to speak to yor
at all, about anything vital, until TC
given you some sort of guaranty unit
I'd shown you that | was n person l
vas possible to deal reasonably with
She smiled, then pressed her hands
suddenly to her eyes. 81 understood
she said.
well then :" But he didn'
at once 90 on. Stood there n Will
longer at the window, then crosse'
the room and brought up before he
bookshelves, staring blindly Mt the u
aes. lie hadn't looked ut her even a
he crossed the room.
'"Oh, it's n presumptuous thing to tr
10 say" he broke out at last, "a pitlfu
" unnecessary thing to say, becaus
you must know 1t without my tellin
You. But when you went away you sal
You said it was because you hadn
ny-friendship You said. that was tn
thing you wanted, and that you wei
going to try and earn it. And you tol
me that I'd never be able to see thi
the thing you were doing there was
Ane thing, worth doing, entitled to m
respect. But what I've come down hel
to say isis that now, at last-l
see it,"
She would have spoken then If 81
could have commanded her voice, al
rs II was, the sound she made co
Keyed her intention to him, for
turned upon her quickly as If to int
rupt the unspoken words, and went
Eith an almost savage bitterness:
"Oh. I'm under no illusions about
I had my chance to see, when seel
would have meant something to you
helped YOU. When anyone but [
AIindest sort of fool would have see
/ didn't. Now, when the thing is p'
,nt for the world to see-now I'll
you've won your fight without a
helm from me Without any hel
In spite of every hindrance that
bliocy could put in your way Nc
after ALL come and tell you u
you've earned the thing you've set
30 get"
There was little silence after tn
che got up and took the post he i
abandoned at the window.
"Why did you do it, RoddyT
asked. 'I mean, why did you want
rome and tell meT
"Why, in the first place." he 81
Il wanted to get back q little OF
self-respect. ! couldn't get that III
I'd told you"
This time the silence was Ions
what else did you want?'
asked. "What-in the second plac
II want to earn your friendsl
It's the biggest thing l can h
for. But I've DO idea that you
aand 1t out to me ready-made.
We've you'd do 1t If you could.
you said once, yourself, that 1t wa
n thing that could be given. 1t wa
ching that had to be earned. And
were right about that, as you "
about so many other things. W
I'm going to try to earn It."
sIs that--all you want?" she asl