Evening star., 1922-02-19

John Palmer stared back at her. his
teeth shut.
do you really imagine" Mabel
asked. 'do you really imagine that
you can give mo orders:"
John Palmer had q sudden violent
impulse to slap her. The impulse was
so strong that he clenched his hands.
1t was SO strong that for a moment
he could not speak.
You talk like q Turk" Mabel con-
tinued. you talk as If you owned
mo-"
why shouldn't II" he repeated.
Aren't you my wife,"
LIS tone was quite calm: it was so
IL calm it should have warned him:
1t was so calm that it should have
warned Mabel. But they were both
past warning.
'Why shouldn't l." he repeated.
And this time his tone was not calm
. Mabel was frightened. She had got
| in deeper than she had intended. But
| she was not going to admit It. She
was not going to give an inch.
There's just one reason. john"
she said. eff you do. shall go
! home"
NO" said John Palmer He rose
| to his feet. mo. You will not go
home"
Mabel slipped out Of her chair In
, fash she assumed that old air Of
hers. In one bYeathless instant she
| had ceased to be an angry wife and
become the challenging girl-the girl
| who seemed to say. Come and take
! me-if you can"
$50 good of YOU to tell me what's
| what" she said blithely. But I'm on
| my way
She started toward the door. John
stood watching her. She could not
| shoulder. ''Good-by," she said. and
started out Of the door.
| John started for her She ran. John
caught her. John held her tightly in
| his arms.
You will. will you:" he said
| roughly.
Mabel struggled to free herself
I'm going home" she said pas
| sionately.
You're going to bed" said John
Palmer fiercely.
! For perhaps a second. Mabel lay
relaxed in his arms. and then she
fought like a mad thing. Johns
arms frightened around her slim body.
| She tried to kick. But John held
her too tightly. She tried to scratch
But John Palmer walked up the stairs
with her as if she had been a child.
AS he reached the door of her room
she made one last effort. John Pal
| mer merely held her tighter. his
| fingers pressing into her soft flesh
like iron bands. Mabel turned like a
cat and bit the thick part of his
hand until the blood ran.
John Palmer was a big. powerful
man, slow to anger He had bee.
brought up to take the protective at
titude toward women. But he was
not an angel.
Ten minutes later. while Mabel
! sobbed with fury. John gently but
irresistibly put her to bed and tucked
her in.
The next morning, John rose at
| s o'clock. as he always did. He
looked at himself in the mirror He
did not look changed. And yet he
must have changed. The John Pal
mer he was accustomed to see in the
mirror could not have done what he
had done.
While he was bathing and shaving
and dressing. John caught glimpse OF
himself in the mirror. The mirror
kept reminding him what an i'm
menae body he had. what powerful
. shoulders, what a thick neck. What
! a brute he was! What a monster:
, Had he always been like this man
he saw in the mirror-this ape. this
gorilla:
He could never have Mabel again.
He had lost his right to her-forever.
1t was all over.
He could not think. He did not
dare to think. He could only press
| the memory of that horrible ten MIN
utes out OF his mind, that ten minutes
that had stripped him of all his train
ing. and revealed him as he was
an animal. a cruel. violent, vengeful
animal. without pity. without chiv-
airy. without decency.
John Palmer sneaked out of his
house on tiptoe. lest some one should
see him. He could not bear to face
the parlormaid. He could only run
away and hide.
He would walk. He would walk
for miles across country. He would
! get . train somewhere and 60 away,
| forever.
y + 4 Y
MABEL awoks at 9 o'clock. She
A'A awoke refreshed. She awoke with
some mysterious and secret sense of
Happiness. For the moment she only
knew that she was happy. And then
she remembered.
Mabel lay very still while she re-
membered. For q few seconds she
debated whether It had really hap
pened. It couldn't have happened. 1T
| must have been q dream. But as
she became wider awake she knew
I: that it was not q dream. On her
shoulder were four broad streaks Of
purple and green, the bruises left where
John Palmer's fingers had pressed
| into her flesh.
| Mabel stroked her bruised shoulder
tenderly, The bruises hurt. but she
| continued to stroke them n II there
were some obscure pleasure In the
ats 2hA wfsS s,n ana 10oyeAd NJ than