Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1920-10-02
WILFUL OUIJA
BY RUTH NELLY
copyright, 1920, by Ruth Neely)
Chapter VIII

S1AGtPbS1 S4AA
Nothing but fate'S hideous silence,
concerning her husband, could have
persuaded Nora to accept Rosalie's
oft-urged suggestion and appeal for
information from sources beyond the
calm of natural law.
With every fiber of her being.
young, intensely human and devoid of
morbid interest, Nora hated the whole
field of psychic and spiritualistic
demonstration quite as much as she
held it all in contempt. Who could
know better than herself the fimsy,
fraudulent fabric of the whole bust
ness?
More weeks went by.
Teh ship on which RoSer had sailed
landed safely. This much Nora knew
through inquiry from relatives OF
other men in the regiment whom she
sought out with care. She had known
none of them before because Roger,
retaining his reserve despite his new
envi: onment. had made no special
f. lends. He had. as far as Nora
Knew, no Buddy"
Four months! No word at all; such
cablegramS as she could get &C. oSS
brought no answer nor acknowledge
ment At the end of the fourth month
Rosalie reproached No.a, Sympa thet-
ically yet none the less seriously,
with lack of deepest interest and at
tachment. Otherwise she would re-
ject no means of information at her
command
But Nora was obdurate. 81 know
it is no use! Why torture me?" she
Still another week and no news at
all Roger, apparently had dropped
out of the world. Armistice had
meanwhile been signed. Letters
poured in from others, but still no
word from Roger. Nora was be o:l-
ing apathetic. She had lost weight,
her eyes showed results of weary,
sleepless nights. But she did not
protest when Rosalie suggested again
that she sit with her at the oulJa
board and seek knowledge OF Rogers
whereabouts.
Eyes, yes! Sometime. What differ
ence does it maker" was her re-
Spouse.
Resale was in sober truth skilled
in human psychology, whatever her
supernatural knowledge m ght
amount to- She knew better than TO
press the point at the moment.
And so it was that nearly hVe
months after Roger Mason had dis
appeared from the knowledge of his
bride of a day, Nora sat with Rosa
lie in the well-appointed little apart
ment they shared, the ouija board
between them.
Neither Morals mother nor her
stepfather had bothered to use TINS
method, although Madame Du Lane"
on various occasions had essayed
slate writing advantageously enough.
So it was Morals first experience
1t had been an especially hard cay.
The night before she had Wept
through and, as usual, her main feel-
ing, aside from impatient embarrass-
ment, was a drowsy desire to sleep
forever.
She was startled to feel the pointer
move beneath her hand, which she
assured herself, impaired no pres
sure.
tion Resale suggested: where is
Roger?" That is, not consciously or
purposely. The question. she knew
had always possession of her mind.
The pointer moved to the letters
IN" then spelled cunt the rest Oh
Morals name, aid with equal rapidity
completed the message before either
girl had said aloud a single word.
81 did not suffer and you must not
grieve. We must wait until you come
1t did not seem possible to Nora
that Rosalie could have moved the
friend, the simple dignity OF her an
swer sufficed. For the moment, Nora
was historical or she would not have
offered such an affront.
Presently she Gained herselt, sum
moning all her forces to reinforce a
cold, nard reputation of the whole
transaction.
Il did not move it-that is, I did
not see how I could-and, OF course
you did not But still it's lie. Rog.
err is not dead! I do not believe it,
It was the next day. At 2 in the
afternoon. to be exact, a dispatch
came from the war department.
Nora knew its contents before she e
said, of Company K, til regiment,
had died of pneumonia in a hospital
week after he arrived in France.
Confusion in identification had occa-
stoned delay.
His name was included later in the
official lists published in the papers.
But Nora did not read it there. She
was in the hospitrl herself, suffe ing
from what was diagnosed as a nerV-
Gus breakdown.