Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-09-30

| CHAPTER VII
~ OGER came Monday night, and
at the first sight of his face
IN Nora knew that her Fremont
dive ton was true-that he was
oue to sail at once. He did not
say SO, but his suppressed excite
ment could have no other explana-
That is, Nora thought so for the
i WIS., rev moments, given over to
You beauty" There was a new
note in her lovers voice, a new, deem
throated vibration. New, YES. but
not strange-to Nora.
For it seemed that something
Win w1rnln IN her had been awaiting this
throbbed response with every heart
beat. Never before had she seen
Roger SO beautiful, so brave, and
gallant in bearing, SO tall, so broad
shouldered in his shapely uniform.
Unconscious as she was of her own
loneliness at the moment, the open
alteration in the girls wide eyes
| furnished the final spark to the flame
of love devouring Roger
Sweetheart, promise me not to
speak ye H The a man drew HG the ae gir
still closer, lifted her unresisting
arms and placed them about his neck,
then pressed his lips to hers
Suddenly, with desperate courage,
he withdrew them, still murmuring
love words.
II feel like a beggar, darling" he
yes, you must, you must!"
Then. while he still held her tightly
In his arms, Roger made his des-
before he sailed. She must. 1t had
to be.
Startled, terrified at her own yield
ing impulses, Nora tried hard to take
a stand against the folly of imme-
date marriage. For one thing, how
did Roger know he was to go? Was
it settled?
Yes, it was settled. Sergeants were
not supposed to know sailing dates;
his information had come by accident
and-Roger was indeed a good SOL
dier-even to her he would not dis
close it, but the time was soon. They
the briefest of honeymoons-and the
sweetest?
Who shall say to man, This is
wisdom, that is folly" Many re-
grets came to Nora in her after life,
but never was she less than humbly
grateful for the weakness:-she
! which caused her finally to break
down and give assent.
They were married the following
morning. So much delay was abso-
lutely necessary to Rogers arrange
ments.
That is Roger thought the arrange
ments his. And destiny smiled,
doubtless, as she sent the dispatch
which reached the young husband at
the hotel to which he took his bride
late the same afternoon. 1t read:
Report at once
Roger fulfilled Rosalie's prediction
to the utmost, for he had learned the
soldiers creed-"obey." But Nora,
torn by conflicting emotions, was
blindly oblivious to all but that the
man in whose keeping her heart was
her first grief, she was almost IN
articulate until the moment of her
husbands last embrace.
And Roger was mistaken, after all,
about the sailing date, for he went
aboard ship at dawn next morning
The wire reached Nora at noon Wed
nesday.
Then silence in its various stages,
inexplicable, terrifying, unbelievable,
horrible. Silence, the torturer, ST.
lence the sphinx, stone-eyed and
stony Tipped, yielding not a whisper
to the agonized flesh and blood that
beat, bare-handed and bleeding,
against her. This was the form OF
suffering allotted Nora in, the long,
short day of love. Three weeks pass
ed six weeks, two months, three
months, and still no word.
Another installment of The Tri-
Weekly's fascinating mystery serial
will be published in the next issue or
this paper. Watch for it!