Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-12-16
I he Room on the Roof
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. HHaRuulHmm

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90. yes; they'll soon give it, up. I'm
sorry" With a vague little smile he, held out
his hand.I A moment later he was fleeing
from her, aware that he'd cut a sorry figure.
He got himself out of the house. After;
all, the great thing was to get it over with,
he haa got it over with! 1t hadn't been
well done, with one clean, sure stoke; he
was leaving the victim a good deal mangled
and still writhing. Some sense Of that was
in his mind as he briskly crossed Letitia's.
lawn. Yet the thing was done; and that waf
what mattered most.
There was upeasiness in his mind, also.
-Letitia's dark, steady eyes at the moment of
parting sort Of haunted him. 1t seemed to
him that something ~satirical and inimical
had lurked in them. Was she, perhaps. medi-
tating some vengeance upon him? He was
aware that he hadIan exposed iank-irst, in
the matter of that money of his daughters
which he had made ducks and brakes Of, and
FOR which he was legally accountable; second.
in his. immediate financial position. He had
taken an option on some motion picture
stock; he owed the Consolidated Bank a hun.
dred and forty thousand dollars. Letitia
Belknap might launch an attack on that tex-
posed flank-for example, by stirring UP the
Sam Cutters to stir up Mathilde to ask for
al dCcouHIHS, or through bryan t1Olt, cn01r.
man Of the Consolidated Bank. Letitia had
many strings in her hands; she might make
it very uncomfortable for him just at this
neoinent when his affairs We're 80 unsettled.
He might have temporized with her-in
vulgar words. 7" strung her along !" in respect
of Bess. But he got consolation in the re.
Election that he had acted honorably; or at
least as honorably as the circumstances per.
United. And, of course, Letitia wouldn't at
o. tro1r xL1t y,Arr1 a-~lr AL-A ,,,1.1l ~ %~>
low! How she had lit into him, though. fay
ing Kim in her cool way|. That gave him a
new idea of what life with I4etitia. might
have been like! Shed let him alone now.
BY the time he reached his own house his
%sanguine temper was painting the picture to
his taste. She'd, let him alone. This after.
moons talk would be the. last Of it.
He felt, however, bruised and wound
frcm-that talk in which finally he'd cut a
sorry figure.> But the great consolation was
near at hand-the anodyne that drowned
all hunliliations and disappointments. lie
telephoned fer Bcss, could she come for a
little ride?
Once more the miracle worked. She was
ready at the hotel door when his car drew
up at the curb.~~She came tripping down
the, steps, radiant, her eyes sparkling into
his eyes as they shook hands on the side
walk. He handed her into the car, and as
he sat close beside her the bewitching fra.
GRANGE Of youth and beauty enveloped him.
1t seemed to him her charm had never been
SO potent, and nothing else mattered. Let
Lctitia go hang!
She was gay during the ride-for one thing
telling him again all about the pictures. She
went to- his house with him for tea and
stayed to dinner. She had never before been
so close to him. never quite poured herself
out to him SO freely, never before SO sweet.
with swift. thrilling little touches of tender
ness that were new to him. 1t seemed as
though she, wished, this evening, to let him.
know what being loved by her was really
llike.s -
" She had, In fact, been thinking it over
Always there had been a certain reserve in
regard to him-as though they might kiss
only by rote. with due pr6priety. There was
by no means an overwhelming compulsion in
her feeling for him-by no means a pas
sionate abandon. She was fond of him.; felt
sure she quite loved Unnecessarily, with de-
corum. She had be thinking all that over.
She was going to marry him. He was giving
her very much. And there was going to be
no cheating about it; she was going to make
it all up to him.; she was going to love him
as much as he could wish. Something like
that-thought out and resolved pon-gav
her manner toward him this new color of the
rose.
She even looked around the house with a
somewhat different sense of it. Heretofore
she had pretty frankly coveted. it. The
thought of being the mistress of this hand
some place, and all the accessories that went
with it, futtered her breast very much as
the discovery Of a gold mine might have
done. Tonight she was trying to see the
house, not as her acquisition. but as a part.
nership. n t<
The sweetera charm carried HARDWOOD be.
4 yond himself. Sitting beside her in the H.
! brary; before a crate fire, he felt an .exulta-
ton at once tender and fierce. Letitia Bel
KNAPP might indeed 60 hang! The pictures
and-1he fortune and the drive might all go
hang! He would take her against all the
world and. exuit. Il was the highest moment
Of his life. There was a little breathless
uncertainty IN his voice as he said:
n When snail it be, Bessie?"
Obviously he meant their marriage. She
looked. back at him with clear eyes and an
swered simply: "' st
Whenever you wish"
1t might be next week. then, or in a fort
night. But something whispered in his ear.
No desperate hurry; there was the exposed
flank; announcement OF an engagement now
might stir Letitia to action. Even~for Bess'
own sake he must be reasonably prudent.
" Thanskigiying?" he asked.
Yes she said. readily.
That was six weeks away; his affairs Would
be in impregnable order then.
Next morning he went down t. the office
in high impatience to see for himself those
two pictures of which Bess' had spoken so
enthusiastically. \ But two hours passed be.
fore Krom came leisurely into the cabinet.
Harwood would have gone upstairs with
him at once. but Krom said it would take
a quarter Of an hour to prepare the appa.
ratus, put up the shutters. and So on; the
lawyer might as well wait until THE show
was ready. :
When Harwood did go upstairs the room
was prepared as when Bess had seen the pic
lures. He took the chair in front Of the
projecting machine. to which Krom pointed;
Me two views that Bess had talked Of were
thrown on the screen. The spectator
watched with hot satisfaction. There were,
indeed. the fresh. vivid natural colors and
the effect OF depth andlroundness which one
sees in stereoscope views. But he was disap-
pointed when the exhibition SO soon came