Martinsburg W Va evening journal. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1913-1920, 1918-01-25
oWYs 3 MzA ap0I6A

kefeu Will. lHcfc ~ ~ real lfteNOL
Of body or spirit. / wouldn't trade &
comfy log cabin in the woods with {
big fireplace and shelf of books fo
The finest home on Maple drive-not !
/ had 10 stay there and stihe in tn
dust and smoke and smells. Tina
would be sordid and impoverished
existence. [ cannot live by the dog
eat-do@ code that seems to prevail
wherever folk get jammed together IL
an unwieldy social mass. have sale
,he like to you before.
"By nature and training I'm untitled
10 live in these crowded places. ] loys
you. little person, / don't think yol
realize how much, but ] can't make
yuu happy by making myself utterls
miserable That would only .produc,
The inevitable reaction But ! still
think you are essentially enough like
ME to meet me on common ground
fou loved me and you found content.
lnent and JOY at our little cabin once
Don't you think il might be waiting
there again?
II you really care, If / and the OH
Ndkth still mean anything to you. q
foNTdays or weeks, or even months o.
separation won't matter. An affection
Mat can't survive six months IS toe
fragile to go through life on. don
ask you to jump the next train anl
follow me. don't ask you to wire me
Come back, Bill. Though l would
come quick enough If you called me. ]
merely want you to think It over so
bcrly and let your heart decide. You
know where stand, don't you, Hazel.
dear? / haven't changed-not a Bit
I'm the same old Bill. But I'd rattle
hit the trail alone than with an un.
willing partner. Don't founder about
In any quicksand of duty. There i:
no j ought to- between us.
$50 1t is up to you once more, little
person. II my way is not your way
will abide by your decision withou
whining. And whenever you want t.,
reach me, message to- Felix Coui
voiseur, Fort George, will eventually
find me-. I'll fix it that way.
SO long, little person. like you 4
heap, for all your cantankerous ways.
BILL"
She laid aside the letter, with {
lump in her throat. For brief instan
she was minded to telegraph the wore
chat would bring him hurrying back
But--some of file truths hes had SCI
down in cold black and white cut he.
deep. OF d surety she had drawn he
weapon on the wrong side in the min
ing trouble. Overhasty yes. Ano
shamefully disloyal. Perhaps there was
something in IL after all; that is to
say, it might be they had made mis-.
take. She saw plainly enough that
unless She could get back some of the
old enthusiasm for that wilderness life
unless the fascination of magnificent
distances. OF silent, breathless forests
Of contented, quiet days on trail ana
stream, could lay fast hold of her
again. they would only defer the day
of reckoning, as Bill had said.
No, she would not attempt to cal.
him back. She doubted if he would
come. And she would not go--not yet.
She must have time to think
Altogether, as the first impression of
Bills letter grew less vivid to her she
considered her grievances more. And
she was minded to act as she had SET
out to do--to live her life as seemed
best to her, rather than pocket her
pride and rejoin Bill. The feminine
instinct to compel the man to capitu-
late asserted itself more and more
strongly.
A month passed.
During that thirty-day period she re-
ceived brief note from Bill Just a
few lines to say;
iHit the ranch yesterday, little per-
son. Looks good to me. Went fishing
last night about shutdown. Trout were
rising fine. Nailed ten-pounder
Woke up this morning at daylight and
found buck deer with two lady
friends standing in the middle OF the
cleshring. / loafed a few days in Fort
George, sort of thinking / might hear
from you. Am sending this out By
lake. VIII start for the Klappan
lbout day after tomorrow.
She had not answered his first let
ter She had tried -. But somehow
when She tried TO set pen to paper the
right words would not come. She
lacked his facility of expression.
There was SO much she wanted to say,
so little she seemed able to say. As
the days passed she felt less sure oil
her ground, less sure that she had not
sacrificed something precious to a
vagary of self, an. absession of her own
ego.
And slowly but surely she began to
view all the activities of her circle
with u critical eye. Certain of her
friends had become tentative enemies.
Kitty Brooks and the Bray womenfolk,
who We're numerous and influential
tribe, not only turned silent faces
when they met, but they made war on
her in the peculiar fashion of women,
a word here suggestive phrase
there, a shrug of the shoulders. 1t all
bore fruit. Other friends conveyed the