Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1919-04-04

on. / came to a decision as start
ling as it was sudden. L would talk
of Annie to Frank, letting him know
that 1 realized his fondness for her
not as a woman but as a pretty child
who made her home with US. And
had it not been that I had heard him
say he would "divorce' me [ could
have persuaded myself that was all
it amounted to-.
I turned toward home after doing
two or three inconsequential errands
done more to kill time than because
they were necessary. Now only one
idea possessed me--to get home as
quickly as possible, make myself at
tractiVe, then talk as l planned to
Frank.
bathed, dressed carefully, then
sat down to wait. About the time
Frank and Annie usually came home
the telephone rang. 1t was my hus-
band calling:
81 shall not be at home for dinner
Olive. [ am dining at the club with
some business friends
1t had been said kindly, vet my
heart sank when | realized he was
going to 'remain out for the evening.
| had planned in my mind what l was
going to say to him but had thought
nothing Of an evening spent alone
with Annie. Vet / could not hate her
as L would have liked to do. 1 felt
my heart warm to her every time she
REQUIRED to me. What she had said
about her fear [ would lose faith
came to my mind.
Annie came in just as l left the
telephone.
1--WE are to dine alone. Frank has
just phoned he will dine at the club"
Did | imagine it Or was it a look
of intense relief that crossed her
face?
had always been reserved. 1 had
| few close friends. But the impulse
came to me as l saw that look to
| keep this girls friendship if it were
| possible, as well as to keep my hus-
| bands love. So 1 added
I'VE will have, one of our lazy
| evenings together"
ooh, Olive-how nice!" she answer
ed in choked voice. Then hurried
| to her room to dress for dinner. 1t
| was one of the things / had told her
| she must always do. 1t rested her,
as we'll as being one of the little
| the Fagins and in rooming houses she
| had not been accustomed. But in
| this, as in all that pertained to man
ners or customs, Annie never had
| to be told but once what to do. 1t
was this adaptability which had made
me so certain she did not belong to
the Fagins: People OF their class
do not so easily take on the graces
necessary to a refined appearance.
But in spite of my efforts, which
Annie desperately tried to second, our
| dinner was a far different affair from
what it usually had been when we
were alone. Even Ellen noticed nd
! commented:
You two act as if there had been
a funeral with the freedom allowed
an old servant. Are you both sick ?''
No, Ellen, we aren't i'll. You seem
to think we must chatter like mag
| pies or else we are not well.
| MOSTLY you does when you are
| alone" L could her her muttering as
| she left the room, still unconvinced
| that we weren't i'll.
II love you, Olive" Annie said the
| words wistfully instead of with the
! gay information usual to her wis
| made that remark, one often on her
| lips. She put her arm around me as
! we moved toward the living room.
! flinched at her touch. l could not
! help it. II was one thing to make
myself believe that | trusted her as
| usual, another to believe it. My tor
! tured nerves were calling for her
confidence. yet | would have refused
| to listen had she tried to tell me Of
! scarcely bear the affectionate touch
| of her arm.
"Olive, [ wonder if you would ever
| imagine l could wrong you-your
! klnuneSS. IN any WaV Sne smiled
| little sadly, then added: ut will new
er happen, so don't look SO serious
| Nothing. no one in the world could
ever make me faithless to you. You
believe me, don't you, Olive?"
1t may be that her words seemed
| preposterous in the light of what l
! had seen fand overheard. l felt she
was honestly trying to assure me
against learning of Franks feeling
| tor her, and that she deserved an an
sWer. But | could not make one
! could not. While she waited, looking
pleadingly at me, the bell rang and
Ellen announced Lawrence Hart.
[ greeted him almost effusively. |
never had been SO glad to see him
and he, quick to perceive, looked
from one to the other as If looking
for the cause of his unusual wei
| come.
Go Be Continued.)