The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1918-01-17
the night. she was going 10 study law

Us NlANlllllE F'llll' 'll'l lllfNlTs ''ili
%plicated, smooth-running mass of ma.
chincry. She was conscious Of the
power of II, though ignorant Of what
made II go, and Of what II was nc.
coinrlishing.
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 IL side
door. II was all over
But nothing had happened!
Rose had expected To leave The
courtroom In the bllssful knowledge
of I,odncy's victory or the acceptance
Of his defeat. In her surprise owe the
failure OF this climax TO materiallze,
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
II NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. afternoon. Whet
she had gone home and changed into
the sort of frock she thought he'd like
and, rome downstairs In answer to his
shouted greeting from the lower hall,
she didn't say, as otherwise she would
have done, "How did 1t come out
Iioddy? Did you wlnT
In the light OF her newly acquired
knowledge she could see how u 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 II wentr Do you think
you impressed them? ! bet you did :"
And, not having been rubbed the
wrong way by a foolish question, he
held her off with both hands for u
moment, then Rugged her up and told
her she was n trump. 81 had n sort
of uneasy feeling" he confessed, that
after last night-the way | threw you
out of my office, fairly, I'd find you
tragic. | might have known I could
count On you. Is there nnywhcr,
we have got to go? Or can We just
stay homc?"
lie didn't want to founder through
an emotional morass. And the as
sumption that she couldn't walk besld,
him on the main path of his life wa
lust and sensible. But IL wasn't goot
enough for Rose.
So the very next morning she strip
ped the cover Off the first OF the law
I...I., .l., lnI l,,,kt and s.u1I.. ,.a,
to work. She bit down. angrily, tn,
lawns that blinded her eyes with tears
she made desperate efforts to fog her
mind into graphing with the endless
succession of meaningless page,
spread out before her, TO find a GER
If meaning somewhere In 1t that woui
bring the dead vcrbiage To life. 81
was very scCrctivc about IL; dcvclopc,
an almost morbid fear that Rodnc!
would discover what she was dom
and laugh his big laugh at her. Sh,
resisted iuuumrruhlc questions 81,
wanted To PROFOUND To him, from ;
fear that they'd hctray her secret.
She even forhorc to ask him abou'
the Gaze; 1t was The Case In her min,
the one she knew about.
She discovered in the newspaper
one day, II column summary of courI
decisions that had been handed down
aud though The Case wasn't in IL, sh,
sept, from that day forward, u careful
watch, discovered where the legal new,
was printed, and never overlooked {
paragraph. And Mt last she foun,
it-just the bare statement: "Judg
mcnt affirmed" Rodney, she knew
had represented the appellant. HC
was beaten.
For a moment the thing had bruised
hcr Ike Il blow. And then, all al once
In the indruwinG of II single breath
IA" SAW 1t differently. She saw sh,
couldn't help him out of his intcllcc
luui qUuu!arics-yet. But under IN,
di,uuuruarmyut and lpSSitude of de
trrt, couldn't She help him? SE, re-
mvlutcrod ncw many times she huC
- % - him for help Ike that, and
must notably, during the three or fOul
days of an ucUl" illness of her moth
or'S, when She had been brought fac,
10 luce WIN the llllllNlIbUN, ~lll'It'lblt
possibility of losing her, how she had
chung to him, how his tenderness had
Suulhcd aud quoted her.
He had never come to her like that
She knew now 1t was a thing she had
uncopSciously longcd for. And to.
night she'd have Il chance. There wa,
Il mounting excitement In her. as tn,
hours puSscd-a thrilling suspense.
For two hours thnt afternoon, she
listened for his latchkey, and when
AT last She heard II, she stole down
tho stairs. lite Gidn't shout her nam,
from tie .a!l, as he often did
He didn't hear her coming, and she
got n look AZ his face ms he stood o.
the table absently turning over some
mail that lay there, lie looked tired,
she thought.
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