Evening star., 1923-11-18

I Althea looked into his eyes In spite
OF herself For a moment she gwayed
a little, dismayed by the sudden up
rush of feeling in herself. and then
his arm was around her and his face
was bent to hers. He kissed her, and
she kissed him back.
| "If I have any luck today" he
I, whispered. I'll come back for you"
Althea shook her head
mo-" she said. ''You will never
come back. And II you did
! shouldn't see you"
| "We'll see about that" he said
| confidently.
NO" said Althea. 'T shall never
see you again-but I'm glad you
came this once"
He moved as IL to kiss her again
But she shook her head, her lips set
primly. and stepped back.
mo. CO." she said.
He led the mare through the stable
door and swung into the saddle.
Good bye" he said.
"Good-bye," said Althea- The mare
whirled. broke into a canter. He
was gone.
4 LTHEA went back into the house
lunch and put them down for their
nap and set her kitchen to rights
again. Once she laughed at herself
for being such a fool, and twice she
shook herself. as If to free herself
from her memory Of the thing tina,
had happened. She was surprised at
| herself. shocked at herself. But she
wasn't sorry. 1t would never happen
again. And then the tears came to
her eyes. She felt so sorry for her
self because 1t never would happen
again, became it was already like a
| dream!
Her mind ran on things she had
never experienced. places she had
never seen, delights she had never
known. She thought of dinner
parties and dances and the opera.
She thought of clothes. of lustrous
silks and soft furs and lovely colors.
Do what she would. she could not
recall herself wholly TO common
sense, to the reality she knew and
must go on with. She told herself
! that Jimmy was very dear, and the
children and this little house of hers.
She cared about them. She cared
very deeply. 1t was only now that
she knew how deeply she cared about
them. Only
What was 1t that was lacking?
It was. of course. the thing the
stranger had brought. But what was
| that?
She was still asking herself that
question when she put the children
to bed for the night. She sat for
long time in the dark. going over
and over it while they went to sleep
She lay awake for long time after
she had gone to bed, pondering 1t.
At dawn she awoke with a sud-
den start of fear. Jimmy hadn't
come home. And then she remem-
bered the dashing stranger. She had
been dreaming of him again. But he
was gone-gone forever. He must
never come back. She must never
think of him again. She had been
very silly.
She realized that she was cold. She
got up and found her dressing gown
and slippers and stood In the window.
IL was not yet iISHl. Sne NOHutTeu
If she loved Jimmy after all.
She wished Jimmy would come
home. She wasn't worried about him
He had got stuck in the mud some
where and stayed overnight. He al
ways got home eventually. She never
| worried about him. She only wished
that he would worry q little more
about everything.
Perhaps he did worry. Perhaps
that was why he was so slow-so
cautious She did not want cautious
man. She wanted a man who was
so sure of himself and of the value
of his errand that when he got stuck
in the mud he could pull out $500 and
pay 1t over for a horse with which
to go on. A man who had the will
to do the daring thing
She thought she heard something
| in the distance. She peered into the
mists that wreathed the road They
were lifting now, and she could see
| a long way. But there was nothing.
She sank back against the window
casing. her head resting against 1t.
She saw a man coming down the