The Birmingham age-herald., 1922-08-19
Loves Masquerade Dramatic Story of Love and Romance
 By IDAH MCLoNE GIBSON
By IDAH MCLONE GIBSON

Margaret refused, pointing out
 that he could not stand the storm of
 criticism.
 TEMPTATION
 Almost always, Dr. George, Harry
 made his widest love to me over
 restaurant tables. He always seemed
 to be afraid to let himself go Then.
 We were alone together.
 Just as he told me how my
 name had pounded on his heart, the waiter who usually interrupted his
 widest flights. came with our food.
 This was so prosaic that We both
 smiled.
 "'while the man was putting our dinner on the table I turned little. in my chair and looked about to dif-l ferent groups of beautiful women and apparently contented and admir- ing men.
 "'As always, when Harry and I
 were together in a crowd, the un- reality of it all came over me; as always, I wondered If the great drama of life was reaching its eli matic third act with any of the l others as it was with us. "I wondered to how many of i those who seemed to be, laughing anu tdiclAtt thC dAdAh94OA ACfO HoN ] ended and the curtain rung down. Were there any other men and women in that great throng who were planning a trip to some land which meant to them perpetual sum | mer, perpetual breathing of love. | Not one of them seemed to have any | great problem on his mind. but of ] that, the casual spectator might be
 mistaken. I thought as looked at Harry, who was smiling at me, that l no stranger would dream that such | pretentious arrangements were be- | ginning to take form in his mind as | he had disclosed to me.
 "'All that had said to him about | his growing tired did not seem to change him in the least. for he said l decidedly:
 Suppose, dear heart, that all l you have so pessimistically prophe- l sled about the duration of our love i came true2 Suppose 1t only did last i short time? Surely you cannos l deny that we would at least have
 had a few years of superlative hap | piness?
 "Does any one under any circum | stances have more? Why not have | the courage to take the chance? | "Life after all is mostly monot- | ony endurance test. We can always | count the ecstatic moments by which
 at the end we may compute time 1 but the long, long weeks and months l and years between never mean any | thing when one looks backwa- d in- stead of trying to pierce the futur~. "why not. if you, think it neces-
 sary, say: Yes, it will be for only /, year or two and we will try to get
 all the bliss possible out of it; make
 it that grand, sweet song of which | the poets sing, even if we know that
 we are to hear it's echo in minor | strain forever after.
 Why. dear heart, you should not
 worry about me. am perfectly will
 ing to take the consequences what | ever they may be-
 "'Perhaps, dear, I have not been | quite honest with myself; perhaps it ] Is of myself l have been thinking, Harry; perhaps it is because have l had a faint premonition of the days l that might come after when you | have grown tired and wish 70 leave
 me, and I still love and want you to stay.
 Harry gave me triumphant | look
 That Is it, he asserted. Now | you are getting down to the truth;. but why should you always think that 1t Is l that will tire only, and | that it is only you who will con | tinue to love? Why, Margaret, do' you not understand that I am grow ing older and perhaps-sceldere every | day that home-just the four letters -h-o-m-e-means more to me than anything else. I want someone who is interested in what am interested in; someone who can and will talk intelligently on the work l am do-' ing; someone who is human enough to understand human impulses, and urselfish enough to excuse human mistakes; in fact, Margaret, l want
 you.
 Dear heart, let me go back on the late train tonight and make all the arrangements. There are boats sailing every month I will book
 passage for us on the next one. "'Can you not see us sitting on the after deck of a steamship while the tropic. moon turns her wa to silver. Surely your imagination
 must tempt you. if nothing else "I will not disguise from you, my dear Dr. George, that the idea al- most took my breath away. wanted to go. It was such romantic dream; asked myself, could 1t pos sibly come true?
 "'After that we ate almost in si- fence, and I saw the sun set be- hind the palisades.
 Later we came back to the apart ment Someway it looked unfamiliar to me-so much had changed within me since I had been away. It al- most seemed as though I were bid ding good-by to my familiar house furnishings-and l had been so happy there. Harry seated himself in the blue winged chair with a sigh of content. I put a plaintive Hawaiian record on the talking machine and the melody of primitive love filled the air" Copyright. John F. Dille Co.