The Washington herald., 1921-03-27
By Holworthy Hall


wouldn't do. to have her think him for
ward That would spoil everything and
send him back into solitude. The delicscy
OF their Relationship must. at all costs, be
protected.
For the remainder OF the hour. he vas
abnormaiiy cautious. He chose imperson-
nj topics. such ss himself and his history,
the characteristic OF the average napper.
and the tendency Of the human male to
adore youthfuiness In the young. and ais
coursed fuentiy upon them.
what does . man really like best she
inquired OF him. 'pesuty or brsinsy'
Both said Dtivorth promptly
4 know; but II he had to choose be-
tween them7-
"Beauty-God forgive him." said pn-
average man
She Let him accompany her. this time. as
far - the fork In the path. and from there
he watched her out Of siGht He spent an
other day in retrospection: and he thought
q good deal abost her statement that he
was supersensitive- He began TO wonder
IL IL were true. He began TO ask himself
how much Of his obssssion was dpe 20 the
fact and how much TO his once shaken but
now convalesos.t Derves- To kill two
birds With one stese. he lounged for some
little time On tbs veraada OF the boat
house; this vas. hrst TO prospect for q
to study the passersby who glanced 1t
him
The expressions of middle aged men
and matrons he discounted in advance
But the nrst girl TO saunter past him
gave him her direct Ease. and he met
her eyes and detected only maidenly in
terest In them he was slightly shaken
In his Convictions Two girls went by
arm in arm: . college undergraduate in
haste; four girls in . row. Dilworth had
10 confess 10 himself that not one OF
them had betrayed revulsion. with some
OF the perpiexity Of the ugly duckinE
l. the fairy tale. he got up. and went
into the meas dressing room. and in
spected himself in q mirror. The scar
was undenisbly prominent, but a. he
sent his memory hack to April he was
forced to grant that IL was fading; and
In comparison with January. it was
hardly worth being sensitive about And
out Of the window he saw . flaming
bit Of color against the sand and knew
that IL was the girl Of yesterday. from
the boat landing.
He went out much faster than he had
come in. She wasn't more than . hun
dred yards from him but IL vas more
than ninety nine yards too far. She was
. graceful creature. and a. playful as
q young kitten Dilvorth's heart was
cramped as he stared At her-staret.
and unconsciously kept drawing nearer
and nearer to where she sat with two
immaculate youths in white nanneis- He
loathed them
At an interval OF . few yards. he
halted. The girl looked up in his gen
eral direction: and she was prettier thar
his fancy. Pretty. out-but something!
He held his breath He thought to read
in her brown eyes . message which only
hn Then
herself vigorously.
.-zowie" she said to one Of her com
panions. Il bet I'm bitten in more'n
. million places"
Dilworth turned swiftly. and went
away from there. That Miss Durham
had deceived him would have been bad
enough but that he had deceived HIM
self. with her assistance, was worse
What could have been her motive! Was
this the kindness she had been 30 ready
to profess? To let him describe . girl
he had thought to be Miss Durham her
self, only for the sake OF her own amuse-
ment! To let him practically commit
himself to what he thought was her type.
And then to have the geranium girl
prove to be so impossibly einerent
He was an irritable companion TO him
self until after sunset and he reached
the rock at the earliest possible minute.
His irritation slowly wore on. and eager
ness succeeded IL. Esgerness gave place
TO impatience. Impatience became tense.
And it was 1880 before he finally gave
up hope. thrust his hands in his pockets.
and gloomily went back over the moors.
The following day was the duilest he
could recall. out OF q lengthy calendar
of boredom He eliminated his morning
ride, and loitered away the entire morn
ing on the beach. skirting one group
ears for revelation. He achieved a tri-
umph over embarrassment by going UP
TO dine at the hotel. He went 10 the
golf club: he surveyed the tennis courts;
he tramped the hotel versnda from one
end to the other. She was nowhere.
And when he arrived at the rock, he
was the only person there and when he
ouirted IL he was very lonely. On i'm
pulse he took the forked path thruogh
the pine grove, came out upon . roadway
without house on either side. and found
himself hardly q stones throw from the
hotel. He said to himself that he'd so
up and look in the dancing for q
minute: but what he did was TO post
himself by q certain door. and wait in
ambush. II was the door by which the
dancers intermittently sought fresh air.
They got what they sought; but Dilvorth
didn't.
He slept badly, and bre.kfasted badly
After that. he looked interminsbly at
himself in the mirror. and then went
straight to the hotel and asked at the
desk for Miss Alice Durham.
NO such name registered" the clerk
told him.
A devastating thought rolled over him
Has she been here, and gomez"
''No such name here this season"
Dilworth lifted his eyebrows. and
moved of thoughtfully. Halfway across
the lobby he had an inspiration and
went back to demand . copy OF the IL
Illustrated folder which the railroad pub
lished about this village. He remember
ed that the booklet contained q list OF
boarding houses.
Including his own. there were thirteen
Of them; and by noon he had confirmed
his disbelief in luck. He had also inter-