Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-05-21
THE STREETS OFLLFE
Before the Stroke of T,Uelue
ny HNNEI DEfW BHTCfFLUH
Z LoDYriDht, 1870. JD the Public Ledger co,

Anne carter had inherited much. Of
h,r mothers sUeetness, but her
totbsrs treatment Of her stnoe. child,
hood had so smbducd her hdt she had
grjsrds aud her father. chose a hits.
Sasd Tor her IN thts, however. Anne
,e,"ssJ ouu 10 be coerced. she hated BNI
SyndeT and int,titiUeIy diStrnsted MN.
Then Geraldine CARPENTER, Uconhy
,,oman IN to,on, became Interested !n
Ssr and for the first inbe ~ her We
I,ps EueD beauty and good times.
s5e did secretdrfdl duties for Geraldine
: f,,D hours eUery day, but she had 10
steal dteay trom hoS ,,oSd SeGretv, ~ ,rio,s Sry
Whe Ene,c. AZ The Carpenters she met
nouc Grev. a UIiter. a man iUorthy OF
Iii ber oiTihood ideals. on tho night
Of one Of her dinner parties Gcrd,dtnc
persuaded Awe ,usnsn.,,es 20 s,ug Gs" omi W t ,etS
tn hsy fgther IL Wds az this party that
naus, Grey understood hts feeling
toward the girl Bill Snyder came for
Anne and the girl refused to 90 home
Nth htm.
"A NNE heard the door slam on Bill
"A SNYDER with sense of relief that'was
40 great II almost overwhelmed her
Tben. with swift feet. she sped around
through the dining room to the conserva'
tory, which had two entrances.
The soft light from the garden, glinted
on her silver dress as she came forward
tentatively. II was difficult to see and
h,r heart beat so loud In her ears that
II almost deafened her. Then quite sud
denly some one spoke.
II was beginning TO give up hope"
And he was there, tall and distin.
gushed her prince! T..
Tbev sat on the wide seat that rar
along inside of the windows, and Anne
her boldness quite desertng her, said
hurriedly:
II mustn't stay ~
Mustn't you?'' he said. a little husk
Ily. II think I have something to say
about that Anne. Anne. what makes you
so loyely?" He was leaning toward hei
now, and she drew back little. -,
She was not woman of the world
enough 10, fence, not now In the grip Of
this strange, terrifying emotion. But she
ala .staf,mer out tremulously:
TITS this dress and the magic night.
And impulsively she flung out lovely
the smell Of lilac, the silent star-gem
med sky, and life as youth views 1t, al
yelled with rosy, dreams.
His fingers closed around the softnes.
OF her arm, and then quite suddenly hi,
own arms were around her, tensely. In
sistently. 80,
He had a fleeting impression of widen
cd gray eyes, frightened ana ruark, anC
then he kissed her, and he felt her rig
idness soften to surrender. ~
"Anne, Anne" he said, raising hi
head and looking down at her unbeliev
ingly. "It can't be that you care"
She smiled n little.
You're such child. Why, I'm year,
older than you are. You have all of III,
before you. But" he said suddenly
whlmsIcally. even though I know Tn
not good for you, 1t doesn't matter now
I'm going to have you. younger mar
couldn't appreciate you as can. Anne
are you going to bo my wife?"
II don't know; am IT, she said teas
ingly.
kiss me-" he demanded suddenl,
roughly. You haven't told me you Low,
and" his voice dropped to huskiness
you haven't kissed me yet"
But you kissed me-" Anne mur
INJURED. her face hidden on mis- shoulder
He laughed at that eXultantly. "On,
kiss" he mocked And how long dt
YOU expect me to be satisfied with that
How selfish you are. when you hav,
thousands. thousands that are all mine !!
He tipp'd back her head. and stoopet
SO that his lips almost touched hers
kiss me-" he whispered But she brok
away from him. She wanted to be alone
to think Of this wonderful thing tha
had happened to her. Womanlike. sh
was content to proceed with everythint
slowly to get the very most out o
everything. "a man always wants (,
exhaust the sweetness of n thing at once