Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-11-17
Shaken Confidence

\Ekl strange. but very true.
l. that the farther away from one ,
grasp thing is the more desirable il
becomes. Alinr could not get the
thought of Mabel Collins and Charley
out Of her mind. and it seemed to hor
as she Thought about it that Charley
had suddenly become more interesting
TO her. Sh" wanted to .nc nim. >hc
wanted 20 ask him about Mabel. and
yet she reasoned that sh" would have
TO be careful about approaching what
she had heard. Charley mustn't get the
idea that sh" cared one way or ano.h""
'hnut It that would b" fn;HI
bnt she didn see Charley that dav
nor me next. nor the neEt. Ordinarily
she would have thought nothing about
This. but now it worried her. Gould II
be poss iblc that Charley did not wan,
to see her. That he was avoiding her
purposcly? The thought made Alinc's
cheeks burn. Never before he'd she been
treated lik" this by any man. Alwavs
mon had done homage to her. and 81 y,
for her fnv"rH. We'll. Charley worId
IA" for this.
just tn" sam" Aline was rnhaurv
She was disturbed and not only nh III,
Charley. Mason Long was attentive
to her. hut she seemed 70 be making nc
progress with him. and because she hnd
given mp so much time 10 him. the otl, or
men that she knew had mad" no error,
to "cc h"r. 81" w"S lkn a Gvcrn who's,
sovereignty is threatened.
The, finally one morning Ch,riey
called her up and asked If he might sec
her Tint evening.
Alinr longcd 10 refuse. but she darot
not. She must get Charley back in
her tots immediately. II necessary sh,
must make n promise Of sorts to him
but sh." must do it without losin. AZ
inch of her dignity.
He came. and Alinn rccc.vol him
alone in the long drawing room. She
had dressed carefully. and was conscious
that she looked unusually we'll. I!e,
manner toward him was cha"minc, and
she did something that sh. vrry rarely
condcsccnicd to do. raised her l!ns to ,G
his TO be kissed
The kiHsss t!.nt here'o'oro had l..n
EXCHANGED h"tw'"n th"W l.al ycry ijf,le
Of passion about them. thor might have
E"rr cn!lrA al'no~t i''uronir. R,t -.
night rs Charley kissed h"r ..linn fan.
cicd that he did it lnwillingIy. and the
thought wns not ,''asau'. .tlMpye L,.
fore it had trcr Charley who wnnrcI
20 kiss her. 10 hoId her n his arms, and
Al;ne who had drawn bn"l: hofore n1y
show Of emotion. Size hal hr"n 50 sure
Of him, ST. certain of her nbi,,.v 70 Mold
him. Had she hcen wrong. had she
tried Charley too far with her insisteucr
upon freedom?
Charley seemed unusunlly 1uio. and
rather III Mt ease. He lighted cigl
rrtte and wien Al!ne said thtt she too
would have one he apolosizcl and ten.
deral his case To her.
lie waited while Hhc fitted tho ci.a.
re.ta into her holder md then dutifrrl,
held light. Aline drawing in tNc slnok,
watched him with what she considered
battling expression. But nevertheless!
his attitude worried her, and n.thougf
she wanted TO look like woman Of IL,
world. she was in reality only fright,
ened girl
Charley wandered about the room
restessly and finally dropped into
chair. Alinc tried to make light con,
v"rsntion. bUt he answered in ronosvl
. lables. II was rs though he wanted I,
say something, hut was uncertain q
how to begin. and Alive. sensing this
gave him no oHcnin?. hut chatterod o!
about inronseQU"ntin' things.
| Tomorrow--The End Of the Pretense