The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1918-05-03

ne hau assumed h role or dictator,
And she had revolted. That was all
She was justified.
Eventually she slept. At ten O'Clock,
h~eavy-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 back to the
bedroom before she opened the en-
velope. BY the postmark she saw
that 1t had been mailed on a train.
"Dear Girl: l have caught my
breath, so to speak, but l doubt II V er
a more forlorn cuss listened to the
interminable clicking of car wheels.
| am tempted at each station to turn
back and try again. II seems so un-
real, this parting in hot anger, so mis-
erably unnecessary. But when l stop
to sum 1t up again, / see no use In
another appeal. / could come back
yes. Only the certain knowledge that
giving in like that would send us spin
ming ono more In a vicious circle pre-
vents me. / didn't believe 1t possible
that we could get SO far apart. Nor
that a succession of little things could
cut so weighty q figure In u lives.
And perhaps you are very sore and
resentful at me this morning for be-
ing Sc precipitate.
II couldn't help it, Hazel. It 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 / had weakened and
temporized with you It would only
mean the deferring Of just what has
happened. When you declared your
self fatty and repeatedly 1t seemed
hopeless to argue further. ! am a poor
pleader, perhaps; and do not believe
in compulslon between us. Whatever
you do you must do of your OWL voli-
ton. without pressure from me. We
couldn't be happy otherwise. If /
compelled you to follow me against
your desire we should only drag mis-
cry in our train.
81 couldn't even say good-by. I
didn't even want 1t to be good-by. !
didn't know If / could stick to 10y
determination to go unless / went as
l did. And my reason told M that II
there must be a break it 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
justing, nothing but separate roads.
win rectify. Myself / refuse to be-
lieve that we have made such a mis-
take. / don't think that honestly and
deliberately you prefer an exotic, use
less, purposeless, parasitic existence
to the normal, wholesome life we hap
PLY planned. But you are obsessed.
intoxicated-I can't put 1t any better
and nothing but a shock will SOBER
you. II I'm wrong. II love and Bill's
companionship can't lure you away
from these other things-why, I sup
pose you will consider 1t an ended
chapter. In that a you will not
suffer. The situation as 1t stands viii
be a relief to you. II, on 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? don't.
SIN not scoldlng, 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 l love you just as much
and want you as ~longingly as l did
the day I put you aboard the Stanley
d. at Bella Coola. / thought you were
stepping gladly out of my life then.
And / let you go freely and without
anything but a dumb protest against
fate, because 1t was your wish. l can
step out of your life again-lf 1t Ii
your wish. But / can't imprison my
self In your cities. I'm neither an
ldler nor can / become a legalized buc-
caneer. / have nothing but contempt
for those who are. Mind you. this Is
not so sweeping a statement as It
sounds. No one has q keener appre-
citation of what civilization means than
L Out Of 1t has arisen culture and
knowledge. much Of what should make
the world a better place for US all. But
somehow this doesn't apply to the
mass, and particularly not to the cir
cles we invaded In Granville. With
here and there a solitary exception
that class Is hopeless In Its SNUG self.
satisfaction-its narrowness Of out.
look, and unblushing exploitation Of
the less fortunate, repels me.
"And to dabble my hands In their
muck, to settle down and live my life
according to their bourgeois standards,
to have grossness of soft flesh replace
able sinews, to submerge mentality In
favor of a specious craftiness OF mind
which passes In the city for brains
well, I'm on the road. And, oh, girl,
girl. I wish you were with me.
Il must explain this mining deal
that phase Of 1t which sent rue on the
rampage In Granville. 1 should have
done so before, should have insisted
on making It clear to you. The other
side had been presented to you rather