The L'Anse sentinel. (L'Anse, L.S., Mich.) 18??-current, 1920-04-02
CHAPTER Ix.-continued.

hands In his and looked into her eyes
as though he could meyer 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
20 tell you that you and / can never
feel shame again. ! 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 saw you pass to
the other side of pain, l didn't know
that had heart. / had strange
conception of love as thing that you
give generously to dogs, sparingly to
men and never to women except as
last surrender to the unknown"
He paused; Andrea smiled family.
"And now" she prompted.
"NOw,--" he answered. NOW /
know that q 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
90 your helplessness, carried to that
last degree, has wound Itself around
my heart with q grip that will never
loosen"
Poor White Man" said Andrea.
whether you want me-" he con-
tInued gravely, cor mock me, whether
you are true or untrue, pure or impure
--nll 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 fibers
of my heart"
$50 you would give three pounds for
me-" murmured Andrea.
He let 60 her hands and rose quickly
10 his feet. "You are stronger than
thought" he said. mo, I'll never give
q 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
eyellds and down her hollow cheeks
I'm so weak" she whispered, "so
weak l can't cry"
The white man cursed himself aloud
No one knew better than he that II
is not won when tile tide Of battle
turns, apd 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 n night came and went before he
could draw the long, qulveriLg breath
of relief that marked the passing OF
danger.
During the stage Of convalescence ht
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 passage here and there
from the book of his own life and now
she demanded the volume from cover
10 cover. He told her of his boyhooo
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 III the
diseases Of the nose and ear to thai
broad highway which is trod lightly
and nimlessly by stray dogs and citi
Zcns II the world.
"You would have made great ply
sician," said Andrea, almost regret
fully.
Perhaps" he replied. But
wouldn't have saved myself. l would
never have found myself. / 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 Mt the col
lcctive classification Of animal mar
ond whose gonl Is the herd Instead OF
the Individual"
"But isn't that old stufff" asked
Andrea, yawning for the first time In
many days.
mo, It isn't" said the white man
thoughtfully. "and I'll tell you why
Never for centuries has intrinsic life
been so close es II Is today to Its true
level of proportionate valuation. What
was worth living for yesterday, isn't
justification today. Food, raiment and
q baby-grand measure less In the
thoughts of true men than do truth,
honor and the final quality of mercy"
lie sat for long In an absorbed silence.
"Teil me-" said Andrea, how the
production Of million dollars worth