Evening star., 1922-08-20
p PURSUIT

him. too. as she saw with pleasure.
"A very little of that sort Of thing"
she said, 'and gossip would soon be-
gin connecting our names.'
Il don't think you run many risks
of that" he retorted with marked
stiffness. And l wish you'd cease
this-this extravagant way of talk
ing. It's provoking. Now come along
I-we'H enjoy it,
ION the contrary. l should die of
shame
You're being absurd. Come"
"A thousand thanks. but no."
There was silence. The breeze
fluttered her long hair.
Il see you actually prefer the So
ciety of drunken male f1irts to
that of And this is typical,
He finished. all but impulsively for
him: I'm sure you can't realize,
Laurel. how little we actually see of
each other-these days"
All. but did she not realize,
She leaned back against the slender
at him. liquid-eyed.
gracious. That's literally all can
say-good gracious, Seven days
week under the same roof, but sepa-
rated single day in
Il know. 1 know" he said in
another tone. embarrassed. 1T seems
odd, l own--Td hardly think 1t WAS
possible. And still was, of course,
sure you weren't conscious of it,
but
He hesitated, peering at her with
his short sighted eyes: and then the
natural man let go a little more of
the unnatural constraint.
| why. Laurel, You go out some
where every evening. with or without
me: or. if you don't go out. you have
people in. At odd moments. when
| there are any. in the little between
times. as l might term them. you're
always reading. or studying. or prac-
! ticing something. or else you're writ
| ing letters or you have a headache.
Saturdays and Sundays. and usually
week days, too, you have people stay
| ing in the house, all over the place
Noise. and dancing. and parties, and
rushing about. Never a quiet mo-
ment of-of just the domestic sort"
You certainly make it sound diff
ferent from the home life of our dear
queen. Id no idea it was SO bad as
that"
II understate it. il anything. But
we'll we won't go into 1t now. My
point is: Here. by chance. we have a
quiet hour for once-charming nature
| and no noise-no drunks. Well, don't
let's spend 1t standing on these rocks
when the lakes right there. Come"
| She shook her head in silence.
family smiling. Gently she released
the hand that he had abruptly clutch
ed. She thought his massive face
paled little then.
| IRON far away over the water came
the faint. muff1ed echoes of song.
The sound but accentuated the per-
| vasive stiffness. On the solitary trail
the husband and wife steadily eyed
each other. and she was thrilled with
the knowledge of her immeasurable
victory. In that second her minds
eye flashed backward. She thought
of Anders Carthew and the time and
scene which had been the turning
point of her life.
When she had married this man.
glowering at her now in the primal
woods, he loved her madly, and she,
as she had soon understood, was ac-
tually all but Indifferent to him.
Within six months her interest in him
had become acute and constant: while
he, incredibly, was detected in recur-
ring lapses of ardor. After two years
she adored him without restraint, and
for days and weeks together he was
frankly bored with her. Why? Was
it the everlasting law Of things that
relation can support only so much
love, as bucket holds so much
water? Certainly efforts to charm
this grave senior by doubling her
wifely thoughtfulness and sweet sub
| jections had but increased his ennuf.
| There had come the inevitable day
when she, with floods of tears, had
packed her trunks and gone off on
the usual indefinite visit to her
mother.
So far their story had followed a IA
miliar course. Would that have been
the end of it, right there. but for An
ders Carthew? Nothing seemed to
her more certain. Beyond doubt An
ders. who was twice her age and had
taken an interest in her, paternal or
| otherwise. from her sixteenth year,
had penetrated her with new and
startling concept. For Anders
| wouldn't accept - he would hardly
| listen to-her own ready formula, long
since smoothed by the women of all
ages. "Oh. no." he had said, in his
merciless, kind way. 1T isn't that YOU
love him too WELL That's letting
yourself down too easily. It's simply
that you love him with too little
pride-and no good sense at ALL" And
little later, when she had conquered
her first furious indignation and sat
down again. he spoke words which
, filled her in the end with an over
mastering purpose. For Anders had
said that mans necessity is not to
be loved. but to love: and that, to love,
| his fixed need is to pursue-and con-
quer.
co she, because she had a will, and
- it seemed that her. whole life was
at stake, had actually achieved this
| impossible. She had warped her
! nature, she had broken her heart to
i pieces; she had recovered the reserves
of maidenhood. made herself again
mysterious to this once familiar; she