Mountain Home Republican. [volume] (Mountain Home, Idaho) 1915-1946, 1917-12-01

d been upon my tongue for hours, bu-
t now that l behold you | grow drunk
3 with delight and my lips frame nothing
r but words of admiration for your
beauty. So! l feast my eyes," He re
e tanned his warm clasp of her fingers
e seeming to envelop her uncomfortable
with his ardor
"What is 1t you have to tell me?" she
asked him, withdrawing her hand.
well, hardly know where to begin
events have moved so swiftly, and
: such incredible things have happened.
Even now | am in a daze, for history
is being made every hour-history for
Mexico, for you, and for me. / bring
you good news and bad news; some
thing to startle you and set your brain
in whirl. | planned to send a mes
senger ahead of me, and then I said !:
No, this Is crisis; therefore no
tongue but mine shall apprise her, no
hand but mine shall comfort her. Only
a coward shrinks from the unpleasant;
| shall tighten her distress and awaken
in her breast new hope, new happi-
ness"
What do you mean" Alaire in
quired, sharply. "You say you bring
bad newsY
The general nodded. "In way, ter
rible, shocking And yet l look be-
yond the immediate and see in it a
blessing. So must you. TO me it
spells the promise of my unspoken
longings my whispered prayers" Not
ing his hearers growing bewilderment,
he laid hand Familiarity upon her
arm. "No matter how tell you, it will
be a blow, for death is always sud-
den; 1t always finds us unprepared."
Death? Who's deadY
Restrain yourself. Allow for my
clumsiness."
"Who? Please tell me-"
Someone very close to you and very
dear to you at one time. My knowl-
edge of your long unhappiness alone
gives me courage to speak"
Alaire raised her fluttering fingers to
her throat; her eyes were wide as she
said: "You don't mean-Mr. Austin?"
yes" Longorio scrutinized her
closely, as If to measure the effect of
his disclosure. "Senora, you are free!"
Alaire uttered breathless exclama-
ton; then, feeling his gaze burning in
to her, turned away, but not before he
had noted her sudden pallor, the
blanching of her lips.
This unexpected announcement |
dazed her; 1t scattered her thoughts |
and robbed her Of words, but just what |
her dominant emotion was at the mo-
ment she could not tell. Once her first
giddiness had passed, however, once |
the truth had borne in upon her, she
found that she felt no keen anguish,
and certainly no impulse to weep.
Rather she experienced vague horror,
such as the death of an acquaintance
or of familiar relative might evoke.
Ed had been anything but true hus-
band, and her feeling now was more
for the memory of the man he had
been, for the boy she had known and
loved than for the man whose name
she bore.
So he was gone and, Longorio said,
she was free. 1t meant much. She
realized dimly that In this one moment
her whole life had changed. She had
never thought Of this way out of her
embarrassments she had been pre-
pared, in fact, for anything except this.
Dead 1t was deplorable, for Ed was
young. Once the first shock had passed
away, she became conscious of deep
pity for the man, and complete for
giveness for the misery he had caused
her. After time she faced the news
bearer, and in strained voice in
CURED:
"How did it happen? Was it-be-
cause of me?'
mo, no! Rest your mind on that
score. See! understand your con-
Germ and I share your intimate
thoughts. No, 1t was an accident, Or
dained by God. His end was the result
of his own folly, gunshot wound
while he was drunk, l believe. Now
you will understand why 1 said that l
bore tidings both good and evil, and
why |, of all people, should be the one
to impart Them"
Alaire turned questioning eyes upon
him, as If to fathom his meaning. and
he answered her with his brilliant
smile. Failing to evoke response, he ,,
went on:
Ever since heard Of it have re- =,
,eated over and over again, 1T Is a ,
1t Is the will of God Come,
then, we know each other so well that
we may speak frankly. Let us be hon :
est and pretend to no counterfeit emo
ions. Let us recognize in this only {
your deliverance and the certainty of /,
hat blessed happiness which divine =
providence offers us both"
"Both?" she repeated, duly. =
"Need / be palmer? You know my =
leart. You have read me. You under q
stand how have throttled my long q
ngs and remained mute while all my z
'eing called to you"
Alaire withdrew step, and her n
heekS colOred with anger. General ="