Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-08-04


her consciousness. He appeared so ut
terly Indifferent concerning the ethics Of
his position so contemptuous of what
she might or might not do in the prem
ises; so cocksure of himself and of
some power over her that he was hold
ing in reserve, to use whenever the need
to use it-or the will to do so-should
arise.
Yes. that was it, she determined
swiftly. even though she was barely
conscious Of such foregone conclusion.
He believed that he had some unsus-
pectcd hold upon her. She would not
have had such a thought had she been
conscious of it; she would not, could
not. have admitted even to herself that
there did exist a circumstance of the
past that was the father of that unad-
mittcd but still existent fear
The thing--or rather the succession
of incidents that made up the whole
was SO far in the past that it had long
been buried.
1t was not forgotten--such expert
ences never are quite that-but it might
have been said to be unremerhbered
Even while she was remotely con-
scious of tn" sudden misgiving within her
as she faced Belknap in that brief in
terval. the skeleton in the closet of her
memory did not rattle its bones with
enough emphasis to cause her a second
thought about it. The memory was
merely there, in the back of her mind.
like an indistinct shape that one can
just discern through fog. but which
does not assume enough of outline to
be recognizable.
She had parted her lips to speak. but
she closed them and stood facing the
man whose coldly cynical smile was an
epitomc of all insolcnce
Everything about him suggested the
self assurance of conscious power over
her; and yet-and yet
Never had the sound of Bingham Har-
Yards voice been mure welcome than
il was at that moment when she heard
him calling her name from the con-
creted pathway. close at hand he came
upon them the next instant.
If katherine had been for moment
obscssed by the vagues of fantoms of the
past. the ghost was instantly laid with
the appearance of her husband on the
scene. She replied quite coolly, and
with a directnrSs which was meant to
leave no room for doubt in Belknap's
mind that her ultimatum had been
spoken. She said:
"We were on the point of returning.
Bingham. Mr.. Belknap has just told
me that he is compelled to 60 back to
the city tonight by the 10 :40-within
n little more than an hour. Will you
tell Julius to take him to the trainE'
She had slipped one of her arms
within Bingham's, and already they
were retracing their steps toward the
house, Belknap having fallen IN beside
them SO that Katherine was placed be-
tween the two men.
II am sorry to hear thar. Mr.. Belk-
nap" Harvard commented heartily. lt
is too bad. really. We haven't had an
opportunity to get acquainted-oare'S.
Somewhat sudden. isn't it?'
Quite So" Bclknap drawled slowly.
with II suggestiveness in his manner OF
speech that only katherine could de-
tect $50 sudden. in fact. that l am
strongly inclined to resent it, and
ignore it."
Good :" Harvard rejoined earnestly,
He was the most hospitable of hosts.
''By all means ignore it. II you can. IL
the call isn't really imperative, you
know-if you can substitute he teie-
phone for your personal appearance III
town, why. do SO. ana stay on.
Thank you. ] think. now, 'ha'
will do so, was the cola rep'E'
A flame of hot anger sulseu iro''
katherine's heart TO her pr"in'
The man was lnsufteraoie' HIS ehroh
terry was beyond behei'
does he suppose she 'ho"s"'
swiftly, 'that ! VIII hrSi'"'1 ~, 90
pose him. as 1 threatened 10 up
She sIoppeo III -" ,a ho,
the Others to matt pes,ue n neii "nu "e,
impulse was [" maze 'ne s uiS.u'. t, ~,
Belknap ihiahE W "'' i"'
ana there. ,,. 1
Bingham' "he uS"n "o
stopped. ohe 'on''o''eu tn LII p ho',
ana oefore therc was "n app
itation IN her speech coh.i,i",u D
cause or any aeii'a'E VI ieeine
neihn nap d., Uor,nrd,s bot tanner
ing OUT OF hihs iia' t",u .,1 NV inan,,
upon the ihs'an' 'n"' "e '"'
bingham Silt move"