The patriot. [volume] (Indiana, Pa.) 1914-1955, 1919-10-18
13ie
Fanished Soul
Copyright, 1919. by the Western News
paper Union.)
BY EVELYN LEE

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Copyright. 1919. by the Western News
paper Union.)
1t might have been wicked that
Madge Griscom experienced a sense
of relief when the funeral of her hus-
band was over She had never loved
him and he knew it, and she could
not regret the sense of freedom that
had come to her To the last hour of
his life she had been kind, attentive
and cOnsiderate towards him. She
had even given over to him the means
to finance him in business. 1t was
true that she had now inherited the
same, many times augmented, but she
had worked side by side with him at a
desk and the first thing she had done
in taking over his estate was to place
a charge against it that would insure
a competence for his aged parents.
"And now you can follow out your
own ideas and enjoy life" reminded
her sister, but Madge's lips were set
smilelessly.
mo, Edna" she responded. "The
best years of my life are gone. I feel
as though my heart was dead. There
is a certain interest that is not un-
pleasant in business and I shall con-
tinue"
ITO keep from thinking, poor
thing!" Edna later impaired to spe-
c.,
led life of positive slavery for ten
years. I don't know how it was that
papa took a strange liking to Mr.. Girls
com-nothing would do but Madge
must marry him. He chilled her,
froze all that was tender and gentle
in her nature. He tied her down to
desk-oh, it was dreadful !"
Madge became a boarder at the
home of Edna. The latter after half
a dozen years of marriage, was just
as much a girl as ever, but somehow
Madge was not in harmony. She felt
and acted old.
Across the corridor from the office
suite was a room fronting on a court,
and more than once Madge had no
ticed its occupant, a delicate looking
young man with refined features and
a gentle gravity of manner that
seemed akin to sadness. Somehow
she was attracted, and If she had
closely analyzed her impression she
would have found that something in
the quiet, resigned manner of the
young man had suggested itself as
akin to her own somber frame Of
mind. One day there came the i'm
pulse to learn something closer con-
cerning her opposite neighbOr and OPP
portunity abetted it. The postman
had misdelivered a letter addressed to
Mr. Paul Derby, and that was the
name on the door of the office. Mrs. 4
GriscOm took the letter across the
hall. 1t was a bare, dismal place,
looking out upon a court, and the
heat was oppressive on account of
such scant direct ventilation. The
young man was bent over some manu-
script which he seemed to be studying
closely and transcribing Later Mrs.
Griscom learned that he was a trans
lator and a master of several Ian
guages.
He arose somewhat confused, bat /
the courteous gentleman complete,
and accepted with thanks the letter
rendered by his attractive looking Wis
itor, who could be most gracious and /
smiling when occasion or her mood 4
accorded. She could not very well re- /
main, but she observed, less casually |
than it seemed on the surface.
"It must be very warm and Oppres- /
Sive here when the breeze is not right, /
Mr.. Derby" and then: "One of our
Offices is directly opposite, and If it's .
door was kept open, you would have .
a direct draft through to the court"
and the pleased expression in the /
young mans face encouraged his
visitor to the extent that .
when she returned to her own Office
and opened the door, the effect of the
current Of air was noticeable in the
futtering Of the papers on the desk
Of the translator and he sat more
erect and comfortable as though en-
joying the change in the temperature.
As time went on Madge, as she
passed down the corridor daily, would
nod in a friendly way to Derby and
he seemed to brighten up because of
the attention. Then one day there
was a change Of wind and a sheet Of
paper came f1uttering across the hall
and into the private Office WHARF MS.