The Bismarck tribune., 1919-04-04

once more. The momentary pani,
passed. But she felt curiousty liml
all the rest OF the evening, and no
once did she meet Fred's eye
II was with a mixture Of relief anc
dread that She saw her party begin
:i;ns to break up. The relief WAS tn.
stronger, until the front door had clos
ed for the last time. But when il
did. she had a wild impulse to rus
ont and call back that last pair ol
guests.
When Fred came back into the draw
ing-room. and she tried 10 speak TO hin
her teeth We're chafIerinS. What 81.
said was quite casual. though. and llei
voice matched it %
Did Howard Collier tea you Sh,
asked. THAI thes're thinking OF com
ing out here for year. if they can se
a house that's what they WANT
He said. Il donI know. leS,
think he did
His own Voice was ah>ent-levei-
lifeless again. just as il had been he
fore she sent him away 10 dress. ant
he turned from her and leaned AZ
elbow OH the nantleriece.
A frantic expression took her. hut il
hid. for moment. behind Il patient
sigh and the statement that since Sht
was very tired she thought she woulc
GO 10 bed. Rut. against her will. al
most-certainly against her jndgment
she added as she moved toward the
door. Il just can't stand that dead-alivt
voice and way of yonrS any more. Fred
I'm sorry but ! can't. | can't sfhHd
ii -
At that he rounded upon her You'll Il
have 10 for while guess he said
and to her horror. she saw his lips
were trembling His hands he plunged
bruskly into his pockets. .
"Sit down" he commanded I've
got some things 10 tell you"
The power of h,Nit is a wonderful
thing. Neither her voice. nor its in
Election. nor the words she chose. af-
forded any indication of what was boil
ing within her.
She said evenly. oh, not tonight.
all edges. somehow There's no tell
ing what might happen. And its no
good having scene. when we might
be getting good nights sleep instead. Z
a good nights sleep.". he repea ted.
II wonder when I had one last. I've
forgotten. Well-I'm through ~
She sat down more suddenly than
was her wont in making such move
ments. gripped the arm Of her chair,
and gazed at him with an uncompre-
hending stare.
Through she echoed, Through
with what:''
He jerked his hands from his pockets
and flung them out in Il frantic seS-
tnre.
I'm through with this" he shouted.
with everything. With this damned
hell I've been living in" And then
instantly. I'm sorry. beg Your
pardon. You're quite right not to
like scenes. I'll try to do better. Here 5
the fact that concerns You. I'm broke
completely broke I'm at the end Of
my string-the end. that's all
She dropped back Imply in her chair.
You mean Your business is going TO
fail:' she said shakily. Her eyes
filled with tears. .'Im-I'm terribly
sorry. old man.
ne "DTuS. eSpecail! tHe ldSt Iilf'isc
hadn't quite the right ring. That was
Because the terrible pans
that had gripped her when he shouted
that he was through. had been the be
lief that he meant he was through
with her-couldnf endure her any
fallen in love with som"
one else 1t was not reasonable
belief. Just something that hurt in
tolerably.
On the other hand. business fail
ures were phenomena that We're likely
to happen to anybody. She didn't
precisely understand the nature of
them. nor, to tell the truth, why they
were ken 50 seriously. People went
on somehow. Not quite the same for
a while, but not SO very differently
They gave up going south in the win.
ter, perhaps. The women went about
in cabs, instead of having limousine
of their own, and if one had good
memory, one remembered their
frocks.
It would seem harder to face. no
doubt, after that horrible alternative