Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1918-01-18
Without
Fermentation
-
By Susan Claggett
By Susan Claggett

! ton absently, without turning his head.
"They are masked batteries, 1 be-
lieve."
"All of them?"
Something in the tone of voice
caught his attention. He looked at
the woman standing beside the rail,
past her to the bay and the many is
lands dotting it's surface.
Boston is well protected" he re-
marked casually.
"Of course" Rachel Baruch moved
so as to face him. II am a good
American" she said dryly.
"Yes?"
"Your tone implies reservation and
an implication"
For an instant annoyance dOminat-
ed John English. Then he laughed.
"The times call for reserve. AS for
implication, I never imply a thing"
'Then why?" she waved her hand
outwardly.
Ignorance. 1 have never before
been in Boston harbor."
She looked at him doubtfully.
MY explanation Is not satisfac-
tory?"
"Your pardon. There is something
familiar, yet / am sure l have never
seen you before. A chance likeness,
a similarity in tone"
II am fortunate If I resemble mt
who is a friend; 1t argues favorably
for me-" he answered idly.
"a friend! No. l disliked the man.
In fact, 1 am running away from him."
His eyes twinkled. 1.-THE obvious
reason?"
She did not reply. The swell, that
makes the trip to Yarmouth something
to be dreaded, was rolling the steamer
In a most unpleasant way and had
cleared the deck of all but themselves.
isn't it very rough?" she asked, glanc-
ing about helplessly.
II have been told this trip is worse
than an ocean voyage" Then he
glimpsed her face and was all con-
Germ.
sit is nothing" Rachel said hastily !;
"a little dizziness that will pass, but
/ think 1 will go in"
"The air is best for you, and you
will miss the sunset" But she shook
her head and left him.
They did not meet again until a
week later. Lettering upon the piazza
of the Queens hotel, Halifax, he saw
her pass. His first thought was to
join her. His second, to wonder why
he should desire to do so. Such an in
clination belonged to youth, not to a
man who had long left sentiment be-
hind and found his most %congenial
companionship among his own kind.
His means permitted him to live as
he pleased in the house built by some
forgotten ancestor This he had chang
ed little. The principal alteration had
been In the attic. which he had trans
formed into a billiard ROOM the pleas
ATTEST place In the house, and this
room visualized itself with some amaz-
ing additions to the furniture as he
watched Rachel Baruch's retreating
figure. A baby grand stood beside n
window Now, he could not tell the
difference between Dixie and the sex
tet from Lucia, and he realized the In
congruity of a piano in his den, but
the oddly of Its appearance disappear
ed in a greater establishment as he no.
ticed upon the hearth two pairs of
slippers. This in itself was not un-
usual. but when he glimpsed n Of the
pair he wondered what had happened
to him. Close beside his WORKOUT and
comfortable number mines was a wom-
ans shoe, dainty and small.
A blast from a steamer at the pier
reused him, and he looked at his watch
as a porter approached with his grip
and rug, and with an unconscious sigh
he came back to the business of the
moment.
That q man should have dreams is
not surprising. The surprising thing
was that this condition of mind was
brought about, not by a young woman,
but by one quite thirty-five or more
years of age. She could not even lay
claim to beauty, but in Rachel's face
was force and sweetness a note in her
voice that appealed to him. Analysing
his condition of mind later on, he
reached the conclusion he was in a
state bordering upon the idiocy of ex-
IRENE youth; for the first time in his
life he could not constrain his feelings
to respond to his will.
He wondered why he had been SO
short-sighted not to join her, to accept
the chance offered by the gods, and as
he lashed himself mentally over his
failure to do SO, something in the at
titude of a woman upon whom his eyes
had rested unseeingly for some time
brought a sudden realization that, af-
ter all, fate was kind.
He made no move to join her. He
was content to wait, hoping she would
recognize him when she turned. He
was disappointed. Once her eyes swept
over him casually, as casually as they
passed over others standing neal.
Cttl1 H. bo.ad for .oo0oYif;a~ gusIxn