The Holly chieftain., 1922-03-16
By
KATHLEEN
NORRIS

uEtSSeu Ll0 cuVctOpt. bOu Hchu
that name out loud" she said, softly
but very slowly and distinctly, to the
girl at the desk. She put gold piece
down on the note. keep the change.
and for Gods sake get that to the
Harvard. sailing from Dock 81, before
eleyeni" 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. sharp rap
of the clerks pencil summoned boy.
George, there's dollar in that for
you If you deliver 1t before eleven to
the Harvard!" said she. The boy
seized it, stuck 1t in his hat, and fed.
"And now for the boatl" Cherry
said rejoinlng Martin. and speaking
in almost her natural voice. They
went back to the Sausalito ferry en-
trnnce 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 rlshes
Of terror still, she had been absorbed
In the hideous necessity Of deceiving,
of covering her own traces, of anticl-
pating and closing possible avenues
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 moth
ing to her. But she had that to face
now.
She had it to face Immediately, too
She knew that every hour Of post
ponement would cost her fresh humlli-
ations 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 appalling
one that he did not dream that she
had decided to sever their union COM
pletely and finally.
well, how's the valley? Bore you
to death?" he interrupted the flow of
his own topic to ask carelessly.
"Oh. no. Martini" she quivered. II
Il love 1t there! always loved 1t {"
"Alix Is a fine girl-she's nice
girl" Martin conceded. "But I can't
go Peter! He may be all right. all
that lah-dI-dah and Omar Khayyam
and Browning stuff may be all right,
but 1 don't get It'll" And he yawned
contentedly In the sunshine.
After few seconds he gave Cher
ry an obllque glance, expecting her
resentment. But she was thinking too
deeply even to have heard him. Her
mind was working as desperately as
Gagged animal, her thoughts clrcling
frantically, trying windows, walls. and
doors In the prison In which she
found herself. mad for escape.
She blamed herself bitterly now for
allowing him. In the surprise and fear
she felt, in the shock of their unex.
pected meeting, to arrange this do
nestle and apparently reconciled re-
turn to the valley house. But it was
too late now! Too late for anything
but bald and brave and cruel half
hour that should, at any cost, sunder
them.
Quick upon the thought came an.
other: what should she and Peter plan
now7 For to suppose that their lives
were to be guided back into the old
hateful channel by this mere mis-
chance was preposterous. Within y
few days their interrupted trip must
be resumed, perhaps tomorrow-per-
haps this very night they would man.
age 1t successfully. Meanwhile. un-
| til she could see Peter alone, there
was Martin to deal with, Martin who
was leaning forward, vaingloriously re-
citing to her long speeches he had
made to this superior or that.
(TO BE CONTINUED)