The Clio messenger. (Clio, Mich.) 1907-current, 1919-09-18
TOUCH OF A BABY HAND|
BY HELEN MERRITT.

strain from overwork and little nag
ging worry at the back Of her brain
that she had ignored for many months.
but that lately had forced itself into
the foreground and compelled recog-
milton. When she found she must
take 1t seriously. she dropped her work
and sailed for Newfoundland.
The first two days out she had deck
and dining saloon to herself. and II
was not until the steamer reached Hal
| flax that the tables began to fill. Then.
to her CONSERVATION, she saw the man
OF all others she did not wish to see
the man, in fact, from whom she was
running away.
He was at dinner and his back was
toward her, so she slipped unseen from
the saloon to her chair on deck to face
him. That she fully realized, but be-
fore she could go further in her
thought she heard him say:
Right here, steward, there seems
room for another chair" and chair
and rug and Peter Lansdale took pos
session of the space beside her.
There was an instant's silence as
they looked straight into each others
eyes and then he laughed.
did you think ! would not find you,
Madeline?"
mot after knew you were on
board; before then, yes. You have
given me a surprise. Why did you
comer She asked the question pleas
antly, but she was tingling with III
suppressed irritation that she could
barely control. The irritation was
against herself at the comfortable
feeling that had come over her at the
sound Of his voice.
She loved him. This she acknowl-
edged, but she felt that In marriage
she would sink her personality and
become. If not a nonentity. something
very near to II.
II had the feeling you were going
away and made II my business to find
out where. I reached the pier as the
gnngplank was pulled aboard. Do you
think 1t was quite fair not to tell me
you were going away?" he asked alb
ruptly.
1T was a sudden decision"
He did not seem to hear her. "You
ask me why came. Because I knew
you could not get away from me; that
we would have ample time to thrash
out our differences. Before we return
l think our understanding of each
other will be perfect. / will not revert
to this talk. 1t is enough for you to
feel that l am here because Of YOU"
Thereafter there was nothing per-
sonal In their conversation. So COM
pietely did he ignore their talk on the
first night out from Halifax that, even
In the pleasure of his constant COM
partnership, she began to wonder over
| his silence.
Near Cape Race the steamer ran
into storm and from storm into
heavy, depressing fog that shut her
| In completely. Then, when the fog
F., was thickest, horrible shiver ran
the length Of the vessel. She had
been rammed by a steamer whose
| ghostly shape could be seen family
through the thickness that enveioped
her.
This nearness to catastrophe left
Madeline trembling. and when Peter
Lansdale drew her away from the
quiet but terrified crowd, she chung to
him as IL she would never let him 60.
She expected him to hold her close,
as If she was the most precious thing
| in the world to him. Instead, he gazed
intently over her head as he put her
| into a chair, and told her to stay
where she was until he returned.
Chilled, even in her fright, she did
not mean to be left alone by the one
person upon whom she had the claim
Of friendship, and she followed him to
| the rope that separated the first from
the second class passengers. Pande-
| monium was on the other side, and in
| the midst was Peter. holding baby
frightened mother. He saw Madeline
and before she could offer protest had
| given the child into her keeping and
disappeared.
1t was the first time she had ever
held a little child, and she looked
down upon 1t fearfully. She expected
it to cry. but it poked at her eyes
and caught her fingers In It's chubby
hand.
Before she realized what she was
doing she was holding the little face
close to her own and humming an air
she had not heard since she was a
child herself.
It was then that she glanced up into
Peter Lansdale's face and the look
In his eyes made her put the baby into
its mothers arms and turn quickly
toward the sea. She heard him say
there was no danger, but all else was
lost In the sudden emotion that held
her in its grip. For the first time
she was making the fight for career
or for the man she loved. Then came
the memory of warm little body
pressed close against her heart. As
that fhoupht claimed her she felt an