The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1920-03-18
CHAPTER ix.-continued.

AND / you" breathed M'sungo. He
slipped to his knees. took both her
bands In his and looked into her eyes
as though he could never take his fiji
Of the sanity that had come back to
them.
Andrea Pellor," he went on, "before
you have time to think about it l want
10 tell you hat you and / can never
feet shame again. / want you to know
that no man. however mean or tar
nisiled by life, could dc the intimate
things that / have done for you and,
will still have 10 do, without feeling
the pangs OF a love that Is rooted out
side the limits Of passion"
He dropped his eyes as though be-
fore a confessional. until / saw you
quite helpless, until [ saw you pass to
the other side OF pain. / didn't know
that I had n heart. / had a strange
conception Of love as a thing that you
1--WE generously to dogs, sparingly to
men and never TO women except as a
tast surrender TO the unknown"
He paused; Andrea smiled family.
And now?" she prompted.
Now he answered. snow I
know that a 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 taat command affection, but love
itself dwells far beyond at the cross
roads of weakness and strength. And
so your helplessness, carried TO that
last degree, has wound itself around
my heart with q grip that win never
loosen"
Poor White Man 7" said Andrea.
Whether you want me-" he con-
ttnued gravely, cor mock me, whether
you are true or untrue, pure or impure
AL those things no longer matter.
for love Is an integral possession. You
may cave me. put the width Of the
world between us, and the breath of
your body will still be the breath of
mine. the surge or your blood will be
the surge OF rsfue; your sins will be
my sins, because your helpless self.
stripped Of an the clogs Of flesh. has
twined itself for always with the ibers
Of my heart"
$50 You would give three pounds for
me-" murmured Andrea.
He let go her hands and rose quickly
20 his feet. l"You are stronger than
l thought" he said. "No, I'll never give
a cent for you. I'll wait till you're
well and then I'll take you In free
fight and In my WI way"
hut Andrea did not hear him (: she
had sunk back lax into her pillows.
Two tears crept from under her closed
eyelids and down her hollow cheeks.
Tim so weak" she whispered. $50
weak 1 can't cry"
The white man cursed himself aloud.
No knew better than he that 1t
ia not won when the tide OF battle
turns, and 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 q night came and went before he
could draw the long. q~uivering breath
of relief that marked the passing of
danger.
During the stage of convalescence he
read and talked to her by the hour.
but the time came when she would
Gave no more Of the printed page. He
Had spoken q passage here and there
from the book OF his own life and now
che demanded the volume from cover
to cover. He told her of his boyhood
in a New England country town. OF
scrapes In school and of the disaster
ia college that had turned him from
the narrow road Of specialization In the
diseases Of the nose and ear to that
broad highway which Is trod lightly
and atmlessly by stray dogs and citi-
Gems * the world.
aYou would have made a great ply
sician." said Andrea. almost regret
fully.
"Perhaps." he replied But I
wouldn't have saved myself | would
never lave found myself. l would
have been one OF those unconscious
mortals who spend their lives In Il
group picture. 1 would eve have
found out that there Is something
within me that utterly rebels against
all those isms which aim at the coll
classification OF animal man
and whose goal Is the herd instead OF
the individual"
NRuf tansf that old Sfuff2" asked