Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-12-17
MOONLIGHT AMI MONEY.
Ry Marion Rubineam
THE VISITING AN Gn..

THE VISITING AN Gld-
Chapter I.xIH.
I<yuixn WA rather Slnd TO 20 up 70 The
uuios u the 1ck room aetzr her talk with
her father. There were many things she
wanted b, think about. The nurss went
OF for her dinner and . briei walk IN the
open air, % Louise was left n temporary
charge.
Mrs. Driscom seemed to he sleeping
Except for occasional nervous twlstlngs,
she did not move. Louise went To the
armchair and sat down to think over the
dinner-tablc conversation.
II WAS true, as her father said, that the
great unfaitbfulness WAS that OF the soul.
TO be pure, physically, was even less
important than TO be true, spiritually.
Her pale, pretty face was more than
ordinarily serious, her eyes were dark and
| broodine under the shadow of her lashes
| These were not the thoughts she would
| have had n year ago. Louise had grown up
! from a girl INTO mature woman.
| Were MANY husbands and wives un-
| faithful To each other? She wondered about
| IL and wondered too, whether anyone was
ever true in spirit Had Harry been faith
! full to her with bis mind and souH
| But that idea would lead TO morbid
! imapinings. She must not make her
! mothers mistake and wreck her own
marriage by jealous broodings Her own
! marriage was too nearly wreck rs ~ WAS
| Resomtely. she shook of these ideas
| She walked over TO the bed and looked
| down at the thin figure OF the mVahd
! The nurse came back presently, great
| vi TO her relief.
'fShe's much ouieter, she commented.
eyes" the nurse agreed. II don't know
;,,st at this CRISIS. whether CONSIDER that
| a good or a bad sign.
'Poor mother" Louise sighed. she $
worn herself away literally. She's cons'lm-
| cd lifetime Of nervous energy IN forty-
/ five wears She looks sixty-fve now.
I'm glad the doctors coming s"on,
the nurse said bv way OF reply
And when he came, Louise knrv. lie
did not have 10 tell her that it WIS q mat
ter OF few hours Her mother vss 1suto,rs-
/ lv stiTl now Louise did not know whether
il was the quieting medicine that was
given her, or whether IL was n -,gn that
the end was near.
She had decided 'one thing, however;
her father must sec her mother. She WAS
sure he would feel better al ttervnrds.
She went to the hall, to find him pacing
back and forth again.
& .pTtlp, Sht SAtDs tIhNNts Ght h'' h"-
have to say anything more
ue followed into the sickroon and
together they stood by the bed After
what seemed hours. Mrs. Drisco,n stirred
and opencd her ewes Louise bent forward
"a sneak. her throat So choked 1t seemed
! lrnpoesihle 10 force her voice through.
Father here Don't you want to
see him. she managed to ask.
Then she took her mothers hand
and her fathers and put them together
And she stepped back, frightened At
what she had done, but keyed M through
sheer nerve force TO have the courage OF
her action. Vaguely she had expected some
thing dramatic from this. Certainly JOIN
ing hand-in-hand ut deathbed, two
people whose lives had been so sepa-
rated, was a dramatic thing to do. She had
! imagined tears, explanations, forgive
ncss or else, that her mother would he rs
consistent at her death as she had been IN
life and that she would refuse to speak 10
the husband she hated.
But life is rarely dramatie. Here were
Two pcoplc. husband and wife, who had
started together with all the hopes and
lows of mutual love and had ended by
living apsrt. seeing each other rarely,
hating each other. And now, the woman
was diving and their daughter hsd brought
them together, had even joined their
hands
An intense moment end they STAYED
there, hand in hand, and looked un-
comfortablei For thst IS life and not
drama II was Mrs DriScom who broke
the silence, finally. Something OF her old
time grim hum0ur flashed in her eyes
again.
Well she said
"Wellr' the old man repeated attei
her. But his voice was uncertain enc
shaky-
doctor and the nurse stood little dis
tance ewav and watched Was Their
forgiveness and reconciliation expressed
in those two hrief words?
Was there? But Mn. Drlscom dle
not pull away her hand.
tomorrow Louise Gives o0t