The Benson signal., 1917-12-15
the night: she was going to study law
I-Studv If with all her might

eighth floor OF the Federal Dulldlng-
without attracting her husbands at
tention; and for two hours and half
she listened, with mingled feelings, to
his argument. There was no use pre-
tending that she could follow her hus-
bands reasoning. Listening to it had
something the same effect upon her
as watching some enormous, COM
plicated, smooth-running mass Of ma
chinery. She was conscious Of the
power of it, though ignorant of what
made it go, AID of what it was ac-
complishing.
The three stolid figures behind the
high mahogany bench seemed to be
following it attentively, though they
irritated her bitterly, sometimes, by in
dulging in whispered conversations.
And, presently, he just stopped talk
ing and began stacking up his notes.
The oldest judge mumbled something,
everybody stood up, and the three stiff,
formidable figures filed out by side
door. 1t was all over.
But nothing had happened!
Rose had expected to leave the
courtroom in the blissful knowledge
of Rodney's victory or the acceptance
Of his defeat. In her surprise over the
| failure of this climax to materialiZe,
she almost neglected to make her es-
cape before he discovered her there.
One practical advantage she had
| gained out of what was, on the whole,
a rather unsatisfactory afternoon. When
she had gone home and changed into
| the sort of frock she thought he'd like
and come downstairs in answer to his
shouted greeting from the lower hall,
she didn't say, as otherwise she would
have done, "How did it come out
Roddy? Did you win?"
In the light of her newly acquired
knowledge she could see how question
of that sort would irritate him. IN
stead of that, she said: "You dear old
boy, how dog-tired you must be! How
do you think it went? Do you think
you impressed them? I bot you did,"
And, not having been rubbed the
wrong way by foolish question, he
held her off with both hands for
moment, then hugged her up and told
her she was trump. 81 had sort
of uneasy feeling" he confessed, "that
after last night-the way I threw you
out of ny Office, fairly, I'd find you
| tragic. I might have known I could
count on you. Is there anywhere
we have got to go? Or can we just
stay homer"
He didn't want to founder through
an emotional morass. And the as
sumption that she couldn't walk beside
him on the main path of his life was
just and sensible. But it wasn't good
enough for Rose.
So the very next morning she strip.
ped the cover off the first of the law.
books she had bought, and really went
to work. She bit down, angrily, the
yawns that blinded her eyes with tears
she made desperate efforts to fog her
mind into graphing with the endless
succession of meaningless pages
spread out before her, to find germ
of meaning somewhere in it that would
bring the dead verbiage to life. She
was very secretive about it; developed
an almost morbid fear that Rodney
would discover what she was doing
and laugh his big laugh at her. She
resisted innumerable questions she
wanted to PROFOUND to him, from 6
fear that they'd betray her secret.
She even forbore to ask him about
the case; it was The Case in her mind
the one she knew about.
She discovered in the newspaper
one day, a column summary of court
decisions that had been handed down /
and though The Case wasn't in it, she
kept, from that day forward, a careful
watch discovered where the legal news
was printed, and never overlooked 8
paragraph. And at last she found
it-just the bare statement: "Judg.
ment affirmed" Rodney, she knew
had represented the appellant. He
was beaten.
For a moment the thing had bruised
her like blow. And then, all at once
in the indrawing Of a single breath
|
couldn't help him out Of his intellec
tual quandaries-yet. But under the
discOuragement and lassitude of de
feat, couldn't she help him? She re
membered how many times she had
gone to him for help like that, and
most notably, during the three or foul
days of an acute illness of her moth
er's, when she had been brought face
to face with the monstrous, incredible
possibility of losing her. how she had
clung to him, how his tenderness had
soothed and quieted her.
He had never come to her like that
She knew now it was thing she had
unconsciously longed for. And to-
night she'd have a chance! There was
mounting excitement in her, as the
hours passed-a thrilling suspense.
For two hours that afternoon, she
listened for his latchkey, and when
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