, 1918-06-27

that Is beyond me. I must be stupid,
for I am completely in the dark" For
a moment his anger got the better of
him. II thought you different from
that crowd Of butterflies back there"
nOddlng his head in the direction of
Washington. sit seems, however, that
1 am mistaken"
Butterflies I" Louise exclaimed in
dignantly. Butterflies, indeedl Every
one of the crowd is at work, and hard
at work, at that. Do you think 1t easy
to spend all night at Union station
meeting troop trains and to stay there
until six o'clock in the morning hand
ing put coffee and sandwiches to men
who have had nothing to eat for hours
and hours and"
1.-THE uniform is becoming" he re-
torted In an ugly tone. 81 saw you in
yours"
ITO say nothing Of the strain upon
ones sympathy. Only last night
Marion Harland cried like a baby over
an old nan and his wife who had come
for a glimpse Of their boy who they
had heard vas on his way to Camp
Gordon. Did they find him? No. In
stead, they were told his company had
left suddenly for France. The boy RAJ
In the engineers. If the girls were
butterflies do you think they would
have been moved over the sore trouble
of those two old people?" Her voice
was steady in its wrath. "Would but
terflies go day after day to surgical
dressing rooms; would they a r for
three Belgian children and knit and
knit, and knit"
"Hysteria," he returned stubborn1y.
'1There are a great many In dead earn
est. but there is also a certain number
that have gone into the thing for ex-
from the matter in which I am inter-
ested. Why did you. write this note
and send back your ring7"
OF what he said she caught but one
word. "Hysteriai Obi You great
brute" Two angry tears rolled down
her cheeks. He saw them. although
she had quickly turned her head.
Leaning forward he took her resist
ing hand firmly in his.
"We do not seem to be getting any
where, Louise, just further and further
from the thing that means everything
to me. to both Of us. In spite Of my
bewilderment I know you think you
have some good reason for what you
have done. Leave the others out Of it.
Dear, I am very unhappy"
But she harked back to something
he had said. "Where did you see me
In uniformf" she asked, abruptly.
Eat the station two nights ago."
sand you did not speak to met"
Unfortunately. I could not. I was
with the general"
81 did not see you" There was an
| edge to the tone that caught his atten-
ton.
"That would not be surprising in the
crowd"
"You were not in the crowd when I
saw you. There were but two, you
and"
her to to turn toward him. "You saw
mef Did you see who "a with mel"
81 saw a woman's head against your
shoulder. That was enough"
"Was that why you returned your
ring?"
wouldn't you call it a sufficient
reason?"
Appearances are often deceptive
he said slowly. 81 thought you trust
| ed me-"
Against the evidence of my own
eyes?"
"Yes. and because you say that you
believe me unworthy Of trust"
eff conditions were reversed, what
would you think?"
"That would be an entirely different
matter" he returned shortly. "Often
situations arise that place a man In
a position n nowise touching the 10y
atty he owes the woman he loves, and
1 love you, Louise"
"You will not explain?"
81 cannot, dear. You must accept
my word that there was no disloy-
atty"
She turned to him impulsively. "I
would have given everything I pos
sessed to get that letter back. I beg
ged the carrier to give 1t to me, but
he wouldn't. He looked sympathetic
and said: Sure, If you've quarreled
with him, miss, you'll have to write
another. This now belongs to him.
I was furious. And I was heartsick
and started home to have It out with
myself"
"Tha was what I was doing. I vas
given a weeks absence and was on
my way home. I have a dandy plan to
prevent future complications. What
do"
Here the conductor interrupted,
looming big in the dim light. "Pretty
bad. captain" he said in passing, "ff-
teen hours of 1t. But we will be In
Winchester DON They have dug us
out from the other side. A terrible
storm"
"a blessed storm" Robert Lee
answered, as his hand sought and
held the n deep in the pocket of his