The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1920-01-29

ward sweep and met her own gaze,
squarely, steadily. She drew a deep
breath. Something sustaining had
come into the white mans gray-bIue
eyes, something you could lean upon
He was suddenly not OF her old world.
II am afraid the soup is a little
cold" he said as he stepped around
to draw her chair for her. 4
The dinner was good beyond the
cachet Of mere gross appetite. and
IL was served with a rapidity and
smoothness that would have done
credit to the Oldest Of the Pellor but
lers.
"Your servants are well trained"
said Andrea.
each has little to do" said the
man. "He must do 1t well. That, in
cidentally, is the secret of getting
satisfactory work out Of an African"
rs it?" said Andrea absently. "Tve
always heard they were a shiftless
lot and that a white man could do the
work Of ten niggers."
$50 he can. ordinarily" answered
the man. almost as absently, 'but
there are times when ten boys picked
boys" He stopped as IL he were
lost in some far Renaissance.
A silence fell to the end of the meal,
which conceded with the sudden end
Of the tropic day.
The man spoke to the servants for
the first time. They cleared the
table. set it again with glasses and
liqueurs. cigars. cigarettes and coffee.
and moved 1t slightly to one side.
Then. from the nearby hut. they
brought out two cushioned wicker
chairs, homemade but comfortable.
Andrea sank into hers with a peculiar
feeling Of weil-being mixed with sus-
pense. The man sat down oppasite
her, the table within easy reach of both
but not between them. Something
swayed with a jerk above their heads.
Andrea. startled. looked up Just In time
to see an enormous white disk unroII
from its edges. letting fall in a circle
around them a snowy mesh of bob
binet.
They, and all they needed for COM
! fort, became enclosed In an insect
proof cage that swayed softly to the
evening stir of air. The servants
weighted down It's edges with fiat
stones and then lit two ~acetyIene
lamps that stood outside on stands
placed at right angles to the couple
within the net so that the eyes OF both
were spared the glare.
The maj poured coffee and liqueurs.
lit Andrea's cigarette. chose a cigar
for himself and sat down. During the
coffee they eyed each other In silence.
taking each others measure. at is too
bad" he said finally, shat we can't,
take this hour for itself alone and
drink together a cup of peace aud
stiffness and comfort"
His words were half a question and
II was SO that Andrea understood them.
She drew a deep sigh. shrugged her
bare shoulders and turned squarely to
her companion. ut is too bad" she
said. repeating his words with bitter
emphasis. ''that i can't forget that on
this night / lose everything that mat
ters--too bad l can't brush catastrophe
and ruin aside for the sake of a fool
moon and a cigarette"
AS she spoke. the man sFaeea him
self. Everything hat matters" he
repeated. "Ruini What have you lost
that matters7 Wherein have you been
rufned?"
The girl stared at him. ~open-eyed.
"You know who I am. what l stand
for in my world. and how that world
will make a chasm that I a never
recross after this night and you can
sit there and say II doesn't matter and
ask where's the ruin?'
The man looked away from her tense
face. ''The things that matter" he
said quietly. "are health--6rst of body
aud then Of soul-honor that Ear stand
alone. and the flame of an inner lamp.
There is nothing else that really counts
and you've lost none OF these. AS for
ruin He turned his eyes back to-
her and In them was q CLEAN of quiz
zical challenge. 'fShall I define ruin
for your
"Please do" said Andrea. unsmiling.
"Rrin," said the man, lis burial.
Whether It's PompeIi or an entire civ
ilixation lying under strata Of q ten
| thousand years. stride OF time-0r an
jndividual rotting under the 500 Of
conventions. it's all M and the same
| thing. 'Routine Is q tomb. and when
Won 10 10 deep In Its foul air thai you