Grand Forks herald., 1922-06-01
S IS I F. r S
BY KATHLEEN RR1s.

tried to call number, left the booth,
paid staring girl, and rejoined them.
, Busy" she reported.
4 II was just thinking" Martin said,
that, we might stay in town and go
to the Orpheum; how about it? Do
we have to have Peter and Alix?"
= Cherry flushed, angered again, in
her fright and stir. Her voice had
its old bored note.
''Well, Martin, I've been their guest
for two Inonths!"
"I'd just as soon have them!s Mar
tin conceded, indifferently.
But the diverted thought had help
led Cherry, irritation had nerved her,
and the remainder Of Martins old,
trying stupidities had lcssened her
kfar of him.
"a I've got to send a telegram-for
Alix," she said.
what about?" he asked, less curl
GUS than ill-bred.
"Goodby to some people who are
sailing!" Cherry answered, calmly
Only don't mention it to Alix. be-
cause promised it would go earlier!"
she added.
Il saw the office back here" he
told her. They went to it together,
and he was within five feet of her
while she scribbled her note.
Martin met me. Nothing wrong.
We are returning to Mill Valley. c..
L. She glanced at her husband; he
was standing in the doorway of the
little Office, smoking. Quickly she ad-
dressed the envelope. Don't read
that name out loud" she said, softly
but very slowly and distinctly, to the
girl at the desk. She put a gold piece
down on the note. keep the change,
and for Gods sake get that to the
Harvard, sailing from Dock g., be-
fore eleven" she said.
The girl looked up in surprise; but
rose Immediately TO the occasion.
Cherry's beauty, her agonized eyes
and voice. were enough to awaken her
sense of the dramatic. A sharp rap Of
the clerks pencil summoned a boy.
George, there's a dollar in that for
you II you deliver it before eleven to
the Harvard" said she. The boy
seized it, stuck it in his hat, and fled.
And now for the boat" Cherry
said, rejoining Martin, and speaking
in almost her natural voice. They
went back to the Sausalito ferry en-
trance again, and this time telephoned
Alix In real earnest, and presently
found themselves on the upper deck
of the boat, bound for the valley.
Until now, and in occasional rushes
of terror still, she had been absorbed
in the hideous necessity of deceiving,
of covering her own traces, Of antici-
OF betrayal. But now Cherry began
to breathe more easily. and to feel
rising about her, like a tide, the half
forgotten consciousness of her rela-
tionship with this man in the boldly-
checked suit who was sitting beside
her. She had thought to escape the
necessity Of telling him that she was
not willing to return to him; she had
been wrapped in dreams SO great and
so wonderful that the thought Of his
anger and resentment had been as
nothing to her. But she had that to
face now.
She had it to face Immediately. too,
She knew that every hour of most
ponement would cost her fresh hu-
Mutations and difficulties, and as the
boat slipped smoothly past the island
that roughly marked the halfway
point, she gathered all her forces for
the trial. The one distinct impression
she had from Martin was the appaIl-
Ing one that he did not dream that
she had decided to sever their union
completely and finally.
Well, how's the valley?' Bore you
70 death &? he interrupted the flow of
his own topic to ask carelessly.
"Oh, no. Martini" she ouiyered, "1
II love It there! always loved it,"
"Alix Is q flne girl-she's a nice
girl" Martin conceded. but I cant
80 Peter! He may be all right, ali
that lah-dt-dat and Omar Khavva,n
and Browning stun may be an rirht
but don't get it!' And he yawnaG
contentedly in the sunshine.