The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1920-10-31
fcoatinsed from Preceding Psoe).

moved over 10 INC Suosn0 ioheeS
ana stretched herself OUT In cush-
.ousd comfort. With haif-ciosed
eyeiids she watched him approach
ing. ana made an almost impercept
ibie sign that hswas TO SIT not In
the nearby chair. but on the edge
OF her couch. She put out her hand
for him TO take % he sat down. and
from the animation Of few mo-
ments ago she he'd changed to Q
drowsy contemplative silence. The
smouldering fire IN her half-open
eyes drew him irresistibly. He
gased at her with her warm hand
IN his hot ones. TIE rise and fall
of her bosom. the cloud Of brown
hair about her face that giowed
even in the shadows. the slightly
parted lips awoke strange riotous
emotions within him. A mingling
of tenderness and violence swept
through him. He bent over and
whispered:
"viima-how beautiful you are!"
He kissed her bare arm from the
wrist upward, then pushed back the
loose furbound sleeve to the shoul.
der and buried his lips in the soft
flesh. All thought, reflection, mowl.
edge were swept away by his over
whelmins fullness Of happiness and
desire for her.
wilma, Wilma my darling i
love you! adore you'll" The
warmth of her body swept through
him. He felt her heart beating.
Suddenly her arms closed about
him.
| ~My sweet" she whispered, seek
ing his lips.
II In In the nature Of this kind
Of love In which Anthony was now
immersed to carry with it certain
heavy penalties. And one Of the
greatest Of these is jealousy. This
was no casual episode for him. He
could not talk it over with friend
and analyze it, nor see it under any
litht other than his engrossing pas.
sion. Yet, In flashes, hot. flashes of
pain and heartache, the question
kept leapiug up in'his brain: How
had Wilma lived in the years gone
by? How had she been living in
the months, the weeks Immediately
preceding his acquaintance with
her? Liggett, he knew, had known
her for some time. But Liggett
never discussed his clients, and he
never even mentioned Wilma. An
thony could not ask him any per.
sonsl questions about her. That
was not to be thought Of.
Even more painful was the nag.
ging question: How did she spend
her time while he was away from
her-whole days? He kept driving
such questions from him with the
angry annoyance that one feels in
attempting to Danish wasps, but
like those insects they came buzz
zing back, persistently filing his
brain with their miserable, unceas-
ing noises.
At any cost, moreover, he felt he
must eject all disturbing thoughts
and concentrate upon his work in
which he must advance and pros
Per. There was imperious neces-
sity for prospering and advancing
because he must make money.
Money, a thing that Wilma never
mentioned, was nevertheless i'm.
mensely necessary On his associa-
ton with her. Take the mere item
OF howers--however, it was too OBJ
vious to require analysis. How
would he set about making money?
To speculate required ready funds,
which he lacked. Besides, II Lig
gett discovered any member of his
staff specializing, that would prob
ably be the end of that member in
LlBBcttS OHlce. .Wndt tnen re-
NAMED for him? To 60 back to
newspaper work II New York on
the salary of q half-trained reporter
with whatever he could get from
his interest in or by the sale of the
Beacon? New and unthinkabie pos
sibilities followed in the train Of
such reflections. And he certainly
could not take Wilma to Little Rap
ids. The mere thought Of 1t brought
q bitter smile to his lips.
For the notable point was that
from that fateful evening the one
dominating thought in his mind
was that OF marrying Wilma. And
the more the hornets of jealousy
swarmed about him the more ur-
gently he felt the need Of uniting
her to him as speedily as possible,
to put an end to such torment.
Remote though he now felt him
self to be from the simple. unsophis-
ticated surroundings OF his early
hos,,o life he WAS NOT pea rlv as d.