Gilpin observer., 1919-06-05

Auu EctuTueO. EdCn um0 ueE telc-
phone rang, it was his voice she ex-
pected to hear. She began to read
meaning into his silence. She could
think Of nothing else than the strange
coincidence that had brought their
lives again close. Or was 1t a coinci-
dence2 That idea sent her thoughts
far afield.
She was thinking too much of him,
for peace of mind, those days of wait
ing, but the return Of the old lover
had made a wonderful break in her
life. Her eyes were brighter; her
smile was less forced. She spent most
Of her days at the sewing machine. A
lot Of lace was whipped onto lingerie
frocks Of pale colors. She was a dis
ciple Of an Eastern esthete. "Women,"
he had said. 'should buy lace, not by
the yard, but by the mile"
As her fingers worked among the
laces and soft mulls, her mind roved
down avenues that should have been
closed to her, a wife, She would have
protested, had anyone accused her of
infidelity in those days, yet day by day,
she was strnying farther from her hus-
bands side She convinced herself
that Toms gibes and ill-humor were
getting harder to endure.
1t was inevitable that the woman of
harem training should relive the Law
renee days The enmity of those two
men, both her lovers, was pregnant
with romantic suggestion. The drama
of desert and river centered now in the
story of Gerty Hardin. Rickard, who
had never married! The deduction
once unveiled. lost all its shyness. And
every one saw that he disliked her h1s-
band!
She knew now that she had nsver
loved Tom. She had turned to him in
those days of pride when Richards
anger still held him aloof. How many
times had she gone over those unreal
hours! Who could hava Known that
his anger would last3 That hour in
the honeysuckles; his Kisses! None of
Hardin's rougher kisses had swept her
memory of her exquisite delight-de-
lirious as was h4r JOY, there was room
for triumph. She had seen herself
self, Gerty Holmes, the wife of a pro-
fessor; able to have the things she
craved, to have them openly; no longer
having to scheme for them.
It was through Richards eyes that
she had seen the shortcomings Of the
college boarding house. She had ac-
quired keen consciousness of those
quizzical eyes. When they had isolated
her, at last, appealing to her sympa-
thy or amusement. separating her
from all those boisterous students, her
dream of bliss had begun.
In those days. she had seen Hardin
through the eyes Of the young instruc-
tor, younger by several years than his
pupil. Her thud of disappointed anger,
Of dislike, when the face Of Hardin
peered through the leafy screenl To
have waited, prayed for that moment
and to have 1t spoiled like that There
had been days when she had wept be.
cause she had not shown her anger
How could she know that everything
would end there; end, just beginning
Her boarding-house training had
taught her to be civil. 1t was still
vivid to her, her anxiety. her tremu
lousness-with Hardin talking forever
of "A play he had just seen; Rickart
growing sitter, angrier, refusing tt
look mt those lips still warm with hi.
kissesi
And the next day, still angry will
her All, the puzzled desolation o.
those weeks before she had salved hel
hurt; with pride, and then with love
Those days of misery before she coult
convince herself that she had been II
love with love, not with her fieeinI
lover! Hardin was there, eager to b.
noticed. That affair. she could Sc,
now, had lacked fnesse.
Ricknrd had certainly loved her, o
why had he never married? Why hat
he left so abruptly his boarding hous
In midterm? Doesn't jealousy confes
love? Some day. he would tell her
what u hideous mistake hers ha'
been She ought not to have rushe,
into that marriage. She knew now
had always been the other. But If
was not finished, yet!
The date set for her summe
: ''wIdowhood" had come. but she lin
gered. Various reasonn splendid an