The Meridian times. (Meridian, Idaho) 1909-1938, 1917-08-10
tCOpyright 1913, The Bobbs. Merrill Company
CHAPTER xx-continued.

behind her, and whipped her unbut-
toned ulster about; but she did not
cover under it, nor turn away-stood
there, finely erect, confronting it.
There was something alert about her
pose-he couldn't see her face distinct
ly-that suggested she was expecting
somebody. And then, not aloud, but
very distinctly:
"Roddy," she said.
He tried to speak her name, but his
dry throat denied it utterance. He
began suddenly to tremble. He came
forward out of the shadow and she
saw him and came to meet him, and
spoke his name again.
81 saw you when you went out" she
said 81 was afraid you mightnt
wait. / hurried as fast as / could.
Tve-w-waited so long. Longer than
you"
He managed at last to speak, and,
as ne did so, reached out and took her
by the shoulders. "Come home" he
said. ''You must come home"
At that she stepped back and shook
her head But he had discovered, |
while his hands held her, that she
was trembling too.
The stage door opened again to emit
a group of three of the ponies"
They stared curiously at Dane and
the big man who stood there with her,
then scurried away down the alley.
"We can't talk here" he said. "We
must go somewhere"
She nodded assent, and they moved
off side by side after the three little
girls, but slower. In an accumulation
of shadows, half way down the alley,
he gripped her arm tight and they both
stood still. The next moment, and
without a word, they moved on again.
Finally-"Are you all right Roddy?
And the babies?' she managed to say.
''Its a good many days since I've
heard from Portal And then, sud-
denly: "Was it because anything had
gone wrong that you came"
81 didn't know you were here until
/ saw you on the stage" he said.
This was all, in words, that passed
until he looked about him in sort of
dazed bewilderment when she stopped,
at last, at the stoop before her door.
Here's where 1 live" she said.
"Where you liver he echoed
blankly.
SEVER since I went away-to Cali
fornia I've been right here-where 1
could almost see the smoke of your
chimneys. I've a queer little room
1 only pay three dollars a week for it
butts big enough to be alone in"
"Rose :" he said, hoarsely.
A drunken man came lurching pitt
ctr oh
the angle of the steps, and Rodney fol-
lowed her, found her with his hands,
and heard her voice speaking breath
lessly, in gasps. He hardly knew what
she was saying.
IIts been wonderful know
we haven't talked; we'll do that some
other time, somewhere where we can
But tonight, walking along
like that. lust as Tomorrow,
shall think it was all dream"
1RoSe
The only sound that came in an
swer was long, TREMENDOUSLY indrawn
breath. But presently her hand took
he one of his that had been clutching
her shoulder and led him up the steps.
She opened the door with latchkey,
way up two flights of narrow stairs
whose faint creak made all the sound
there was In the black little corridor
at the top she unlocked another door
swat till 1 light the gas" she
breathed.
She turned and looked into his face
her eyes searching it as his were
searching hers, LUMINOSITY and with 9
swiftly kindling fire. Her lips parted
a little, trembling. There was a sort
of bloom on her skin that became
more visible as the blood wave OF
wave, came flushing in behind it.
AS for Rodney, he was the samt
man who, an hour ago, in the theater
had ragged and writhed under what h,
felt to be an invasion of his propri
etary rights in her.
He wouldn't have defined it tina
way. to be sure, in talk with Barr.
Lake; would have denied, with tn,
best of them, that a husband had an,
proprietary rights in his wife. Blu
the intolerable sense of having be
come an object of derision or con
temptuous pity of being disgrace,
and of her being degraded, couldn'
derive from anything else but jus
that.
"Have you anything here" he aske,
her duly. besides what will go il
that trunk?''
It was the surliness of his tone
rather than the words themselves
that startled her.
"No." she said, puzzled. 20
course not"
''Then throw them into 1t quickly,
he said, "and Wen lock the thing VI
Do you owe any rent?"
"Roddy!" she said. "What do 20
mean?"
Il mean you're going to get out Q