The Irish standard., 1920-04-24


the sight Of Carol Durant, whom he
had loved as woman. Not on the
e1ain, not ct the hotel. not even when
he witnessed Angela's severe grief,
had he remotely conceived that this
instant would be so difficult to sur
mount. What In New York had ssem-
"a regeneration, and earlier on this
same evening had appeared a very
dubious deception, was rapidly taking
upon itself the color Of irremediable
wrong His Imagination was aroused
beyond belief; and as he stared In
dumb suspense at Carol, recalling a
thousand episodes and thousand
privileges Of the long ago, he was
preyed upon by q slow-stealing grim
ness Of despair which left him sick
with misery.
She was waiting for an answer
and the others were waiting, too. and
watching him. He felt that guilt was
stamped on his every feature {.
he felt that every thought of his must
be as crystal to the four who waited
for him to speak.
He was himself and he was not him.
self; he was ostensibly Henry Hilliard
man in whom it couldn't be suspect
ed that the heart and soul Of Dicky
Morgan were embodied; he was tran
scendentalist; spectator at his own
funeral. Sight Of the Croix de Guerre
Of poor Pierre Dutout, who in be-
Queathing that impressive bit Of
bronze to him, hadn't dreamed that
he was leaving heritage of chicanery
along with 1t, engendered in Hilliard
thrill which nearly found its outlet
in a paroxysm of wild laughter. And
the newspaper, with Dutout's most
genuine citation in it! And the old
passport photograph which he had
hidden for fear that his real name,
Endorsed on it, might be cabled home,
together with proof to the world that
he hadn't been a hero-that he had
failed in this, as in every other un-
dertaking of his life. And all the
dates in accuracy! And If anyone
cared to trace back the story, where
was the flaw? Where was there a
loophole? And who would recognize
Dick Morgan in his cloak and mask of
utter miracle?
Who had? r.a ...
Lightninglike, his brain included all
the salient items Of the picture in a
single flash. There was Dicky Nor
gan, sailing away to France-which
could be proved. There was num-
Der, and name attached to it, and
since billiards sturdy defense = of
Dicky Morgan had had grain of
truth in it, and one Of the steps of
his ~many-sided progress carefully
omitted-a, name had really been as
suned, and had endured from. the date
of enlistment to the date of discharge.
1t was the individuals recorded name
In the army and at Neuilly-and it
wasn't Morgan and 1t wasn't Hilliard
and it wasn't Dutout. No one here
knew It, or ever would know it; even
Harmon didn't know it; it was the
first sobriquet Of ishell-torn individ-
ual who had been taken to Neuilly,
and had been made whole again. No
one at Neuilly had ever set eyes on
Dicky Morgan's real face! But GER
tain man named Dutout had been dec
proved-was proved! Hilliard had
borrowed Dutout's name in perfect
safety; and the trail was cold. And
here was fourth man, Hilliard-to
take his word for it-and the world is
larger than the curiosity of sincere
DeoDle tO encOmnasS
4; No-f Neuilly surgeon ever told
as one of the mysterious chapters of
the war what had happened to a GER
tain gloomy individual that summer,
the name would suggest nothing. And
as far as checking up the visits of
mythical Hilliard to very real Du-
tout was concerned, who would pro-
fess to remember? The testimony of
any single witness would be inmate
rial.
The voice Of Carol Durant was echo.
ing in Hilliard's ears, and Hilliard,
yielding to tidal wave Of reckless.
ness, and Of swelling anger at imagi-
nary wrongs, looked squarely into
Carols eyes, and spoke with winning
urgency.
eyes," he said. II have news Of
Morgan. In fact. I'm here in Syracuse
solely because have 1T. I've just
been telling Mr.. Cullen-and Miss Cul.
len-that was with him when he
died"
She didn't speak. at first; she mere.
~ looked at Hilf1ard and grew very
white, and her lips quivered. Pres.
entity she swayed a. little. and reached
out with her hand toward the bach
Of q convenient chair. Armstrong
stepped toward her, and Angela Cul
len slipped an arm around her waist
"He's 5. ideadT she repeated
and her tone was not yet free from 9
certain incredulity, as though the fact
were of itself impossible, and the
statement of 1t subject to discussion
i "Yes, Miss Durant." ID
il She moistened her lips; her eyes