The Fayette falcon. (Somerville, Tenn.) 190?-current, 1920-03-12
CHAPTER discontinued.

And YOU" breathed Msungo. lie
slipped to bis knees, took both her
hands In his and looked into her eyes
as though he could never take his fill
Of the sanity that had come back to
them.
"Andrea Pellor," he went on, 'before
you have time to think about 1t want
to tell you that you and / can never
feel shame again. l want you to know
that no man, however mean or tar
nished by life, could do the intimate
things that / have done for you and
will still have to do, without feeling
the pangs of love that is rooted out
side the limits of passion"
He dropped his eyes as though be-
fore confessional. "Until l saw you
quite helpless, until l saw you pass to
the other side of pain, l didn't know
that l had heart. had strange
conception of love as a thing that you
give generously to dogs, sparlngly to
men and never to women except as
last surrender to the unknown"
He paused; Andrea smiled family.
"And nOwf" she prompted.
"Now,-" hn answered. "Now /
know that a man must travel far be-
yond the limits Of everyday emotions
to come up with love itself. He may
find content and drOwsy happiness In
some woman possessed of all the quail
ties that command affection, but love
itself dwells far beyond at the cross
roads of weakness and strength. And
so your helplessness, carried to that
last degree, has wound itself around
my heart with grip that will never
loosen"
"Poor White Man" said Andrea.
whether you want me-" he con-
tlnued gravely, cor mock me, whether
you are true or untrue, pure or impure
all those things no longer matter,
for love is an integral possession. You
may leave me, put the width Of the
world between us, and the breath Of
your body will still be the breath Of
mine, the surge Of your blood will be
the surge of mine; your sins will be
my sins, because your helpless self,
stripped Of all the clogs of flesh, has
twined itself for always with the flbers
OF my heart"
$50 you would give three pounds for
me-" murmured Andrea.
He let go her hands and rose quickly
TO his feet. "You are stronger than
I thought" he said. mo, I'll never give
a cent for you. I'll wait till you're
well and then I'll take you in free
fight and In my own way"
But Andrea did not hear him; she
had sunk back lax into her pillows.
Two tears crept from under her closed
eyelids and down her hollow cheeks.
"Pm so weak" she whispered, 80
weak l can't cry"
The white man cursed himself aloud.
No one knew better than he that 1t
is not won when the tide of battle
turns. and that he who sleeps on the
verge of victory awakes to defeat
He settled down to the long vigilance
that was his price Of peace. The day
and night came and went before he
could draw the long, quiverlng breath
OF relief that marked the passing of
hanger.
During the stage of convalescence he
read and talked to her by the hour,
but the time came when she would
have no more of the printed page. He
had spoken a passage here and there
from the book of his own life and,now
she demanded the volume from cover
to cover. He told her of his boyhood
In a New England country town, of
scrapes in school and of the disaster
In college that had turned him from
the narrow road of specialization In the
diseases Of the nose and ear to that
broad highway which is trod lightly
and simlessly by stray dogs and citi-
Gems of the world.
"You would have made great ply
sician," said Andrea, almost regret
fully.
Perhaps" he replied. But I
wouldn't have saved myself. l would
never have found myself. l would
have been one of those unconscious
mortals who spend their lives In
group picture. / would never have
found out that there is something
within me that utterly rebels against
all those isms which aim at the coli
lective classification of animal man
and whose goal is the herd instead Of
the individual"
But isn't that old stuff7" asked
Andrea. yawnlng for the first time In
many days.
mo. II isn't" said the white man
theughtfully. 'and III tell you why.
Never for centuries has intrinsic life
been sc close as II is today to its true
level Of proportlonate valuation. What
was worth living for yesterday, isn't
justification today. Food, raiment and
baby-grand measure less In the
thoughts Of true men than do truth,
honor and the final quality Of mercy"
He sat for long in an absorbed silence,
sTen me-" said Andrea. 'how the
sraductiOn Of Z million dollars worth