Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-06-21
CHAPTER XIII

'he uoor peio".
CuApTEp VII
An. r,rn, u,,, 49, -,
And there @ never 'ap an woha schs ,hyt my friend!
A., Ala trouble ,Ss viii have an end,
anu the ram and the bitter blast!
Tallentyre looked up rather anxiously
when Ralph Hillyard entered the room.
The two men had been living together
In Tallentyre's fat since Kathy's death.
Iallentyre had insisted.
Il won't allow you to stay on in the
h9use alone, he said, angrily, when
Hillyard declared his Intention of doing
so. tits not to be thought % Of" q u'nS
He was fond of Hillyard, and these
last sad weeks had done n great deal
to cement the friendship that had incv
itably slackened since Ralph's mar.
riage.
"A wife always comes between n
man and his friends" TSllentvre had
once said cynically' and . ha3 manu anu
times since regretted the words.
II wondered where you'd cot IN {"
he said now he got IN and stretched
himself lazily. q
II went to see I'LL"
"Oh - Tallentyre turned away. at
hope She is well?''
''She looks unhappy" Hillyard said
deliberately.
There was a little silence.
1T must be a dull life for any
woman,'' Hillyard went on. II wish
for her own sake she would marry
again"
Still no answer.
Cad, how I used to hate that girl !"
to have turned upside down since then !;
oki 7
up and find it's all been damnable
of--hell!'
I'd give great deal for power to
wake you up to that" Tallentyre said.
~ know---but well, let's
talk of something else"
He looked at his friend with faint
smile.
"iou, for instance" he said delib-
crately.
MY dear fellow Tallentyre
frowned; he hated personalities.
"Cig-may l ask you q question:
"a hundred II you like"
Very well, then, why don't you and
Jill get married?"
There was a dead silence. Tallen-
tyre stared up at the ceiling, the in
evitable cigarette between his lips.
Presently he laughed, almost as IL he
were bitterly amused.
"Well-I've never asked her, for one
thing
Never asked her? Why not? It's
not my business, l know, but / always
guessed that there was something be-
tween you--last\ year / mean, before
w
"Oh, for Gods sake, don't ask any
To-
nothing to tell you-there's nothing to
tell"
Hillyard insisted quietly:
she's free--and II you were to ask
her, Gig 80
TIA beggar! My dear chap, she's
q rich woman, and I'm bankrupt,
clearing out Of England because ! cant
stay and face the music. Good lord,
man, You don't know what you're talk
ing about
He dropped back into his chair,
eaned back and closed his eyes.
you've woven a very nice little ro-
nance, no doubt" he said cynically,
but you've picked the wrong man.
I'm no hero, I'm a down and out
" aster, and If Mrs. Sturgess-' he
stopped. "Oh, go and answer the con-
founded phone for me" he added irri-
tably, as the bell whirred from the next
room. "And if anybody wants me, say
] IN dead and buried, anything you
like, but don't say I'm here
Hillyard went reluctantly, and Tai
entyre closed his eyes again.
There were lines of pain in his face
now, and the hands that rested on the
chair arms were clenched.
What cursed chance had made Hill
yard speak about Jill tonight? He had
,triven so hard to forget her had been
80 thankful that in another few days
ne would be beyond her reach and the
,hance of meeting her. He had counted
% much on absence to dim the longing
'or her that gave him no rest day or
light,
"Cig," said Hillyard at the door.
"Weil?" Tallentyre opened his eyes.
Hillyard looked little flushed and
embarrassed.
"It's Jill-Mrs, Sturgess. She wants
,ou to 20 around and Zee her."
Tailentyre lay quite still In the big
hair, From the quiet immobility Of
lis face 1t almost seemed as II ne had