Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-06-21
be natural and easy, to shut out the
memory Of that flaming moment.

|
AT twenty -nine," he told her, II
was First Secretary at st. Petersburg.
l am afraid that was rather dull
dog. too. All Russia. even then. was
seeming. and ] was trying to under
stand. I never did. No one ever lin .
derstood Russia. The explanation ol
al that has happened there is simp.y
the eternal duplication of history--a
hinge class Of people, physically omnip.
otent, conscious of wrongs, unintelli- :
gent; and led by false prophets. All
revolutions are the same. The purgins
is too severe, SO the good remains un
DONE"
T. There followed a silence, purposeful
on her part, scarcely realized by him.
she sought for means of escape, tc
ortng their conversation down to the
level where alone safety lay. She
moved her chair little farther back
into the scented chamber, as though she
found the sunlight too dazzling.
T. "fou are like SO many Of the men
who work for us. she said. "You
are just little tired. aren't you? You
come down here to rest. and dig up
all the cd problems and ask you to
vex yourself with them. We must. talk
about slighter things. You are going
/
later on?' :
II do not think so," he answered
II have forgotten what sports mean.
l may take n gun out sometimes. There
is little shooting that goes with the
manor, but very few birds, I believe.
The last ten years seem TO have driven
| all those things out Of ones mind.
Don't you think that you are in
clined to take life little too earn
estly?' she asked. "One should have
amusements.'
~ may fee! the necessity" he re-
piled, "but it Is not easy to take up
ones earlier pleasures at my time, Of
life."
Don't think me inquisitive." she
went on, "but. as I told you,. have
looked you up in one of those wonder!
about everybody. You were Double
Blue at Oxford = a..
'Racquets and cricket" he assented.
Neither Of them much use to me
now j.,
"Rncquets would help you with lawn
Tennis. she said, but beyond that. 1
find that not dozen years ago you
were scratch golfer, and you certainly
won the amateur championship. Of
Italy" .... .. ..... ~
1T is eleven years since touched d
club. :. he told her. = ., go -. .
Then you on ght to- be ashamed of
Yourself" she declared. "Games are
part Of an Englishman's life, and when
he neglects them altogether there Is
something wrong. shall insist upon
your taking up lawn tennis again.
have two beautiful courts here, and
very seldom any one to play with who
has the least idea of the game"
His eyes rested for moment upon
the smoothly shaven lawns.
$50 you think that regeneration may
come to me through lawn tennis?" he
murmured.
yourself far too seriously. you know.
How do you expect regeneration to
Gomez"
"Shal I tell you what It is I lack?"
think my will has suddenly grown
fiabby. the ego in me ,unresponsivc.
"You know the moods in which one
asks oneself whether it Is worth while,
whether anything Is worth while. Well.
I am there Mt the crossroads. ! think
I feel more inclined to look for a seat
than to 60 on
1.-THE strongest of us need to rest
sometimes" she agreed quietly.
He relapsed into n silence SO appar-
emily deliberate that she accepted 1t as
respite for herself also. From the
greater seclusion Of her shadowy seat.
She found herself presently able to watch
him 0ticed--the brooding melancholy
Of his face. the nervous. ,lnsatisfied
mouth, the discomfort of his somber
brows: Then, even rs she watched, the
change in his expression startled her.
His eyes were fixed upon the narrow
ribbon of road which twisted around the
other side of the house and led over the
bleaker mOors. seaward. The look
puzzled her. gave her nn uncomfortable
feeling. Its note of appreciation seemed
to her inexplcable. With quaint,
electrical sympathy. he caught the un-
spoken question in her eyes and trans
lated 1t.
"You are beginning to doubt me-" he
said. "You are wondering II the
shadow l carry with me is not somc-
thing more than the mere depression of
n man who has failed
"You have not failcd,' she declared,
"and ! never doubt YOU. but there was
something in your face just then which
was strange, something allen to our
talk, 1t was as though you saw some
thing ominous in the distance
ut is true he admitted. ''In the