The daily morning oasis., 1920-11-05

ment, you came out to meet a man
YOU fear and loathe-braving the
peril of arrest as well as the brutal
ty of this storm. Your clothing is
wet through. you are shivering. You
suffered shock at meeting me by
chance. Then we quarreled ="
He lifted her hands to his lips, one after
the other. "The sum Of such, physical.
nervous and emotional stress was too
much. LeOnOra; you tainted without
a sign Of warning. caught you bare
ly In time"
II suppose ] must've, if you say so,
Mario >. But don't understand
l remember our rowing"
"Think of that no MORE" Mario
pleaded and, at the same time, in
sisted. "YOu and ! must never quar-
rel. There can he no excuse for mis-
understanding when our hearts are
one" She nodded meekiy. "Fefl me
one thing only" he pursued. Her
eyes promised. "WhO is PhilipY'
"Philip?" Her look was completely
blank, II don't know any Philip :. ;"
"You are sure?" Intent search of
her face satisfied him, 'Strange In
your faint you spoke that name, as
IL you were talking In your sleep;
you said distinctly: Yes, Philip and
again: No, Philip =. l am safe
with Mario, nOw.'"
81 don't know She drew a hand
syef Refplexed Prpws; N"Annd yet !,
It's funny like an echo, what you
say ] said"
"N0 matter" With decision the
SpaniaFd dismissed the puzzle, took
her hands in a firm grasp and held
her eyes with gaze earnest and
commanding, "Fnr the present forget
all that, forget everything but that
we are united now and forever. Moth
ing-nothing, Leonora-can come be-
tween us now, We cannot permit 1t,
we will not. Love such as ours is not
to be denied or paltered with upon
any conceivable consideration. AS j
am wholly yours, so you must hence
forth be mine; and to us all the rest
must be such stuff as dreams are
made Of You understand that Leo
nora? ] have your promise"
Never since childhood had she SO sur
rendered to domination. But now :.
She knew q strange, dear joy in sub
mitting. She bowed her head, then
lifted it to show him adoring eyes.
"Yes, Mario :" e..
$50 that is settledi"
Mario got up and strobe into the
bathroom. Water began to gush loud.
" into the tub. He brought back
light, warm robe of fieecy stuff.
.".You are cold and wet; hot bath
VIII make you another woman. Then
put this on. Meanwhile, | Will find
dry clothing for you. and a cab. To-
night you sleep uptown; the hest and
quietest hotel In the city will be the
safest. In the msrning ! will call
for you; we will go TO get the license
for our marriage. BY noon you will
he my wife, BY nightfail we viii be
far from New York"
They kissed. Mario lifted her to
her la,,'a. test.
a..Ihe door latches of itself. If any
one KNOCKS, pay no attention. | shall
he back In q few minutes, and have
nv kew
In q staring daze, utterly an un-
thinking puppet of love and gratitude,
she saw him go, The sense of his
personality fingered, precious and COM
pelling: she did not feel alone.
She moved slowly toward the bath
room, unconscious fingers loosening
her sodden blouse. Finding the tub
nearly full. she shut off The taps. Only
with the silence that followed did APP
probation of her solitude come home
TIL then, in her wonder and delight.
she had accepted without question the
easy explanation that nez had lost
her way upon the roofs and brought
her to the wrong huuse.
Even so: Red must be hidden some
where in the same block of tenements.
Suppose he were to learn where she
was now Suppose Inez had not
blundered, but deliberately and with
malicious intent had led her to Mario;
then had gone to tell Red =.
Intuition linked the poles of fact
and surmise, completing the circuit Of
conviction. InstantaneOusly LeOn0ra
perceived with hideous clearness that
Inez had planned this in revenge for
the long series Of defeats she had suf-
fered In their rivalry, something for
which Inez alone had been in the first
instance responsible. 1t was Inez who
had lmAde Ghariie hit the pipe too
often, thus clearing the way for this
supreme trick of treachery. This made
1t plain why Inez had not followed
to the door to Mario's fiat, but had
climbed back to the roof and shut the
trapdoor. Now Leonora no longer
guessed: she knew Inez had gone
straightway to tell Red that LeOnOra,
| refusing t9 answer his CALL had taken
refuge with Mario instead. ~
Beyond shadow of reasonable doubt,
Red was even now on his way to make
good his threats.
What If he were lurking in the hall