Iron County news. [volume] (Hurley, Wis.) 1913-1950, 1918-04-20

And she had revolted. That was all.
She was justified.
Eventually she slept. At ten O'Clock,
heavy-eyed, suffering an intolerable
headache. she rose and dressed.
Beside her plate lay a thick letter
addressed in Bits handwriting. She
drank her coffee and went hsck 20 the
bedroom before she opened the en-
velope. BY the postmark she saw
that it had been mailed on a train.
Dear Girl; l have caught my
breath, so 10 speak, but doubt if ever
4 more forlon cuSs listened 70 the
interminable clicking of car wheels.
/ am tempted AT each station TO turn
back and try again. 1t seems so un'
real this parting in hot anger. 81 mis-
erably unnecessary. But when / stop
10 sum il UP again, ! see no use in
another appeal. | could come back
yes. Only the certain knowledge that
giving in ike that would send rs spin
ming once more in a vicious circle pre-
vents me. | didn't believe ii possible
that we could get 50 far apart. Nor
that a succession of little things could
cut 50 weighty figure in our lives.
And perhaps you are very sore and
reSenttul at me this morning for be-
ing so precipitate.
Il couldn't help il. Hazel. 1t seemed
The only way. 1t seems so yet to me.
There was nothing more to keep me
in Granville-everything to make me
hurry away. If l had weakened and
tcmporized with you it would only
mean the deferring of just what has
happened. When you declared your
self fatty and repeatedly it seemed
hopeless to argue further. | am poor
pleader, perhaps; and | do not believe
in cOmpulsion between us. Whatever
YOU do YOU must do Of your own Volt
ton, without pressure from me. We
couldn't be happy otherwise. II l
compelled you TO follow me against
your desire we should only drag mis-
cry in our train.
Il couldn't even say gOod-by.
didn't eYca want ii to be goOd-by. /
didn't know if / could stick to my
determination to go unless / went as
/ did. And my reason told me that If
there must be break 1t would better
come now than after long-drawn-out
chickering's and bitterness. If we are
so Numerically opposed where we
thought we stood together We have
made a mistake that no amount of adj
Il.
will rectify. Myself | refuse to be-
lieve that we have made such a mis<
take. l don't think that honestly AM
deliberately you prefer an exotic, use'
less, purposeless, parasitic eXistenct
to the normal. wholesome life we haI'
PLY planned But you are obsesse6,
intoxicated--I can't put it any better
and nothing but a shock viii sonef
you. If I'm wrong, il love and Bill9
companionShip can't lure you away
from these other things-why. / sup
pose you will consider ii an ended
chapter. In that ease you will no.
suffer. The situation as II stands will
be relief to YOU. IT, or the other
hand, it's merely a stubborn streak,
that won't let you admit that you've
carried your proud little head on an
overstiff neck. do you think it's worth
the price? I don't
I'm not scolding, little person. I'm
sick and sore at the pass we've come
to. No fool pride can close my eyes
to the fact or keep me from admitting
freely that | love you just as much
and want you as longingly as | dld
the day / put you aboard the Stanley
d. at Bella Coda. / thought you were
stepping gladly out of my life then.
And | let you 60 freely and without
anything but a dumb protest against
fate. because it was your wish. / can
step out of your life agan-~if il is
your wish. Bur / can't imprlson my
self in your cities. I'm neither an
idler nor can become a Iegaized huc-
cancer. / have nothing but contempt
for those who are. Mind you. this is
not so sweeping a statement as it
sounds. No one has keener appre-
citation Of what civilization means than
I. out Of it has arisen culture end
hNOWltNEts HufD or WbNl SIlOulO make
the world n better place for us all But
somehow this doesn't apply to the
mass, and particularly not to the cir,
ces we invaded in Granville. with
here and there a solitary exception
that class is hopeless in It's Snug self
satisfaction--its narroWness Of out
look, and unbiushing exploitation Of
the less fortunate. repels me.
"And to dabble my hands in their
muck, to settle down and live my life
according 10 their bourgeois standards
to have grossness of soft flesh replace
able sinews. to subnerge mentality in
favor Of specious craftiness of mind
which passes In the city for brains
well. I'm on the road. And, oh. girl,
girl, | wish Won We're with me.
81 must explain this mining deal
that phase Of 1t which sent me On the
rampage in Granville. / should have
done so before. shonlf have insisted
on making it clear TO you. The other
side had been presented to you rather
c'everly at the right time. And your
ready acceptance OF it a0gered me be-
yond bounds. You were prpiudicpd