South Bend news-times., 1919-05-03


something. against knowledge. agains
life. against-oh, most OF all sCains
himself. that bascr. unworthy self tha
lived within him and had ruled
"Oh. deari' HIS voice sounded a,
though he were going 10 cry You don
know what you're saying You musnt
talk ike that"
Why mustn't + Isn't il true?" She
pushed herself from his embrace And
that Is what makes 1t 60 dreadful
thought | belonged 20 YOU because was
the hrSt, the very first. and now" The
unfinished sentence held hopeless depths
Of disillusion.
Jimmy did not strive to draw her
nearer him again. He leaned forward
IN his place and looked out upon the
fash and dazzle OF New York with an
awakening vision "Oh. nv dear girl.
he said sadly, don't YOU know that not
one man in a thousand marries the
hrst2"
The girls white face looked pinched
and old. Then its true-all the things
YOU read IN the papers, all the things
YOU see at the theater, all the things,
the very worst things that people talk
men are unspeakable. Maybe ! took it
for granted that most men are. But what
difference did It make 70 me, even If
what YOU say is true. that all but one in
a thousand arc, when / thought that you
were that one %
The thing which had lain dormant in
Jimmy stirred at the heartbreak of her
cry, an untried Stifed self of which a
few weeks ago he would have been
ashamed, the better self which had been
born IN him as in Us all. the self which
had gone out TO Cioily's young purity
with love that was honest
Il wish to God, I had BEEN But I'll
prove 10 you, no matter what I've been,
1t hasn't really hurt me TLere arc two
kinds of men-one who goes the pace
beforehand and cuts II out when he
marries, and the other kind that goes
the pace and marries and keeps 1t up.
When YOU marry me you'll md that I'm
not in that class anyway"
The girl shook her head NO, I shall
not find It Out-not in that way jim
my
With all the whiz and snort and dis
turbance common to its class, the taxi
had come 10 a standstill at their curb
and Cicily, not waiting for Jimmys
help, got out and ran before him up the
steps As they ascendcd in the elevator
her face was turned from him, but when
they stood alone In the hallway of his
mothers apartment she could not pre-
vent his crushing her III his arms The
face above hers did not look like Jim
mys. All the careless gaiety had left IT,
1t was white and tense. And the voice
was not Jimmy's either II was hoarse
and stammering
You don't mean that you're going 10
break with me: That you won't marry
me:'
81 couldn't now Everything Is
spoiled I'd always think that you really
belonged to someone else. I'd know
wasn't the hrstW
With fierce satisfaction that She had
made him suffer, she pulled herself from
his relaxed arms and turned the handle
Of her door.
Standing before the mirror upon her
dainty dressing she began to take
of her things First the wide hat which
Jimmy had laughed at but had said he
loved, then the turs he had gwen her As
an engagement present, then the little
tailored coat. Tomorrow she would 60
home. She would take the earliest tram.
She would never see Jimmy Burke
again. Let him go back to his old
friends Let him go back TO that dark
haired, enchanting woman who loved
him. He would soon forget little Clclly
Day for whom he had pretended 10
care. 1t was better as It was. She could
never have taken her place IN the New
York pageant. Its brilliant crowds, Its
dizzily soaring buildings, had never lost
for her the glamour OF the unreal She
had moved III II for q season, bUt not
OF II. All her inherited instincts, her
old-fashioned training, set her apart
from It Serious, WIs;ful-eyed, she was
only q spectator who was beginning 10
understand but who could never play
the game. 1t was better as 1t was Jim
my did not belong 10 her. She turned
toward the closet and began 10 take
down her simple dresses from the hooks.
Half way in the folding of little
pink evening frock she stopped, the
memory Of the white face that was not
hmmys OF that hoarse, stammering
kDANL AAdt was ALDL HIS AAilllS AlNA VIII
an unwilling pity. What was he doing
now? She had not heard him pass her
door.
Yielding to the impulse, she went out
into the hall The servants were gone
for the evening Mrs. Burke was keep
ing theater engagement, 10 be followed
later by supper party. What was that
sharp, smothered sound that came from
the library? Her breath caught IN her
throat Did men cry like that?
Hurrying down the hall she stood be
tween the portieres and looked IN. Sit
ting at the table, his head down upon
his arms, his shoulders bent sat Jimmy
And from that huddled, boyish shape
came those choking, rackIng sounds
sound unknown IN all Cicily.s expert
ence, a mans uncomfortable sobbIng
With a cry, the indesoribable cry Of
the mother whose sorrow FOR her chllds
grief IS qucnched By the certainty OF her
power to comfort, Cioiiy knelt by his
side and placed her face close to his
bowed head