The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-03-12

What ais couiA ~ ~ 1vseE
thing was alive M hlsn~the ~
dow viii ~ varyel 6as6 VIM
which - stsisulsd y look 81 and
sec Y ~ pteAt was Ans, wheAhes
no shesM ~ fsr . taxiS ~ NO.
tslpisoe upsa which, unssbuhad, 10
had mads nAshs " knoekins ont
bis pipe; tho biottss. = tho ons
shsst Of which : few words IA bis
writing were preserved. Il was his
room. the place whore 10 haA stood
among her friends. cheerful snd
popular. whore womsa AaA made -
to him. while IRON tins to tims hs
threw her glance 81 completely IN
tell her that Il was al right, that
she hAl her bhars IN the joks.
This happened nearly every time.
though she stzrggisd against II
and BY degrees was managing -
sxpel the most material evidences
Of him. She had burnt that sheet
Of blottins papSr. sent back Ne
book he was reading. She had done
what she could. bat n . way. she
suffered more IN the pisces lsss
definitely associated With him-ths
stairs. her bedroom. the bathroom
that had no personality. II was 20
silent in this house; her feet made
NO sound upon the stairs: her bed.
room was 90 large She felt 10 fear.
fully alones OF coursA she had
been alone for thirteen ysas. 20 II
WASN'T quite that. but whom she had
bob It was ~ II kindly wrath
went with her. She was mot alone
then, but only waiting. Now there
was nothing to wait fort tomorrow
would 10 % today; she would 20
on among those many empty rooms
and sssk sounds for company.
And there would b. nothing. Il
made her . little frightened. she
didn't know why. but 1t was-how
could she put it!-as II in any room
except the one In which she found
herself something lay dead, inoffen.
sive but so still: something that lay
white and could not rise again.
Sometimes the day dream grew
literal. She made picture OF Bob
lying under q white sheet, his fair
hair In order. his eyes closed, his
body defined by the little hills under
the sheet made by his feet and his
breast. The candle by his side cast
upon his pale cheek the shadow of
his cleaning eyelashes. Once she
, went downstairs to see II It was
true, and though. of course. there
was nothing there she was fright
ened; it was as II something had
been there and had been taken
away. 1t was uncomfortable, the ST.
lence. the vast space, the sense OF
depending only upon herself, hold
ing all this up without human con.
tact or relationship. 1t was glacial.
She tried to do things She smoked.
She read. She ratified ornaments
to make sound, she noted decays in
carpets and boards to be put right,
but it didn't seem to mean anything.
all that. It was worse than being
haunted By q ghost. She was
haunted by an emptiness.
Among the definite anguisfies
that Mrs. Caldecot experienced was
her loss OF communication with the
world of ideas. It was hot that she
missed the letters which she had
forbidden. Those had never been
very many, for they met one way or
another almost every day, and he
had written only to make appoint
ments, and occasionally, as he put
It, sent her a love'letter to keep her
In a good temper. What she missed
was the constant talk about the
events of the day, the political
movements which she knew so'inti-
mately, the secret intentions Of this
group or the gossip about that Min
lister. Mrs. Caldecot knew the de
tails of a good many bills before
they were drafted, and so she reaG
her daily paper. not like the ordi-
nary reader, but criticized 1t through
private knowledge, smiling at its
errors and amusedly guessing ex-
actly what this piece Of news would
cost the Cabinet. She had lived in
the middle Of political drama, and
as II had been a daily excitement
she did not know how to do with
out It.
She had been apart from Rod
bourne less than two months, so
she could still draw on accumulated
knowledge; she still guessed things
from the news, but lately she had
been puzzled. Things were printed
which she did not understaNd an