Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1917-04-20
By MARY
ROBERTS
RINEHART

WINGED that he was seeing nothing of
the girl who had beer with him the
| night Of the accident, she did not trust
him. Not that girl, perhaps, but there
were others. There would always be
others.
Into Christine's little parlor, then,
K. turned, one spring evening. She
was reading by the lamp, and the door
| into the hall stood open. The little
room always cheered K. It's warmth
and light appealed to his esthetic
| sense; after the baroness of his bed
room, it spelled luxury. And perhaps,
| to be entirely frank, her evident pleas
ure in his society gratified him. Chris
tines small coquetries were not lost on
him. The evenings with her did some
thing to reinstate him in his own self
esteem. 1t was subtle, psychological,
but also it was very human.
/ "Come and sit down." said Christine.
Heres chair, and here are ciga-
rettes and there are matches. Nowl"
Behind him, Christine stood watch
ing his head in the light of the desk
lamp. what strong, quiet face it
is, she thought. Why did she get the
impression of such tremendous re-
serve power in this man who was a
clerk, and clerk only? Behind him
she made quick, unconscious gesture
of appeal, both hands out for an in
slant. She dropped them guiltily as
K. turned to her.
II wonder if you know, K, she said,
what a lucky woman the woman will
be who marries your"
He laughed good-humoredly.
II wonder. how long could hypno-
tie her into thinking that"
1--WE had time to do a little think
| ing lately" she said, without bitter
ness. Palmer is away SO much now.
I've been looking back, wondering if I
ever thought that about him. don't
believe ever did. wonder
She checked herself abruptly and
sat down. After moment: HAS it
ever occurred to you how terribly
mixed up things are? Take this
Street, for instance. Can you think Of
anybody on it that-that things have
gone entirely right with?"
Its little world of it's own, Of
/ course" said K, ''and it has plenty
/ of contact points with life. But wher-
/ ever one finds people, many or few,
one finds all the elements that make
up life-joy and sorrow, birth and
death, and even tragedy. That's rath-
er trite, isn't it?"
Christine was still pursuing her
| thoughts.
/ Men are different" she said. ITO
a certain extent they make their own
fates. But when you think of the
women on the treet-Harriet Ken
nedy, Sidney Page, myself, even Mrs.
Resented back in the alley-some-
body else molds things for us, and all
we can do is to sit back and suffer.
/ am beginning to think the world is
4 a terrible place, X. Why do people
so often marry the wrong people? Why
j can't man care for one woman and
only one all his life? Why-why is it
all SO complicated?"
There are men who care for only
one WOudu all LnelT uVoS.
you're that sort, aren't your
II don't want to put myself on any
pinnacle. If / cared enough for wom-
an to marry her, I'd hope to But
we are being very tragic, Christine"
81 feel tragic. There's going to be
another mistake, K, unless you stop
lit"
+ He tried to leaven the conversation
with little fun.
IF you're going to ask me to inter-
fere between Mrs. Mckee and the
4 deaf-and-dumb book and insurance
She can both speak and hear enough
for both of them"
/ II mean Sidney and Max Wilson.
He's mad about her, X; and, because
! she's the sort she is, he'll probably be
mad about her all his life, even If he
marries her. But he'll not be true to
her; know the type now"
X. leaned back with a flicker OF
! pain in his eyes.
What can I do about it,"
Astute as he was, he did not suspect
that Christine was using this method
to fathom his feeling for Sidney. Per-
haps she hardly knew it herself.
"You might marry her yourself, K"
But he had himself in hand by this
time, and she learned nothing from Ell.
Their his voice or his eyes.
ION twenty dollars week? And
without SO much as asking her con-
sent?" He dropped his light tone. "rm
not in position to marry anybody.
Even if Sidney cared for me, which
she doesn't, of course"
''Then you don't intend to interfere7
You're going to let the Street see an
other failure?"