The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1920-05-21


between a dream day In May and .
stark midwinter blizzard.
Her parents were dead; serious. pur-
poseful. she had made few light friend
ships; outside her work Frank Sud-
bury had filed her existence for years.
She found herself now living In a
spiritual vacuum. A vast, resentful
unrest filled her. She became afraid
Of her own rebellious thoughts.
In this mood Fenton Pelly supplied,
In some unaccountable way, a link
with her dead happiness. She had
not liked the man too we'll. but he
had been there In the last terrible
scene-and he had tried to save her
lover.
AS the weeks passed she admitted
him to some share In her life, as he
had been a sharer In its tragedy. And
Pelly. with tactfulness and delicacy
beyond what she had deemed him ca
pable Of, found ways Of making him
self well-nigh indispensable. He was
with her a great deal.
He had decided to stay ashore. he
said. He had saved some money and
was looking into the garage business.
At last Pelly poured out his heart
again. Constance. softened toward
the man and thinking Of herself as one
whose wrecked life could thereafter
yield some shredsp of content only in
giving happiness to others, did not def
initely deny him. II was too soon, she
said, for such thoughts. AS for the
future-who could tell?
At the end of four months. because
he had been cautious and discreet and
very kind. and devoted himself to her
wholly. there came an evening when
the time seemed ripe to Pelly to clinch
his chain. They stood at the gate of
Constance's boarding place. Pelly,
with a world of Difference and an OBJ
vious struggle to muster the needed
courage. placed his hand over the slen-
der one that lay upon the pickets.
Constance" he said. eff you can't
live In sunshine, why not at least take
shelter from the storm?"
Why not, indeed? why keep on
with this life Of racking torment, all
so hopelessly useless. when there lay
at hand peace, security, usefulness.
perhaps content?
The girl, hesitating for an answer.
gaZed far off down the quiet summer
street where the whispering naples
cast pickering shadows across the form
Of the only wayfarer In sight, man
just passing hurriedly under the cor
ner arc lamp. Suddenly Constance's
form stiffened.
A strange, wild, eager light sprang
into her eyes. Frank" she cried, and
instantly was gone, running like a
child down the street and into the very
arms Of the oncomer.
When, in their mutual joy and in
the girls tumultuous resurrection OF
happiness, they reached the gate Fen
ton Pelly was not there. Constance
never saw him again. 1t was very
strange, she told Frank over and over
again. that their good friend should
have so unaccountably disappeared.
And though Frank told in circum-
stance the miraculous story of his res
cue from huddle of ships joiner
work that he had grasped in the nick
of time-how he had been picked up
by q fOre-and-after bound from New
Orleans to Good Hope, and started
back within the hour, and with no
chance to cable, on a tramp that car
ried no wireless and had reached port
only three hours before-there was
one thing she did not tell Constance till
after they were married.
Pelly's story was true. save In one
detail. 81 was the last man to try to
get into PeIly's boat" said Frank. "and
I could have made It. for had gripped
the gunwale with both hands and was
not exhausted. But he beat my hands
with the butt Of pistol that he al
ways carried ut sea. and I had to let
go. I knew why. of course; 1t was be-
cause he wanted you. And the reason
I didn't wire from New York today
was because didn't want him to get
away; wanted to put him over the
jumps for what he did. But when
got home and you met me the way you
dld-why. Pelly might have stayed
right here for all Of me. He's pun
ished worse, far worse. than the law
could ever punish him-having you
know"