, 1923-04-01

mance The enchantment was sar-
donic now; the majesty was a Broc.
Ken ribaldry; the dim yuccas sarcas.
tic candles OF a black Sabbath.
Tho sea waited for the Dad wrig
Cling toward It reluctantly. in an in
finite laughter of contemDt
Claymore spoke wnen the silence
became unbearable:
Il tried to see something in that
dogs eyes or his name that I could
Identify him by. but I couldn't"
We're you thinking of describing
him to the p~olice7'
God. no! I Just want to beat
him TO death privately. We can't az
ford to start explaining how we hap
Tpened to DO there
1t was a little too Grass to word.
Mem blushed in the dirk. II was
errand. It was somehow a little
mere shameful to have been twarted
and frustrated. a perverse remorse
filled their souls with confusion; a
remorse because OF n wrong remorse,
a disgust for an accepted temptation
and for being SO temptable.
CHAPTER XIII
A woman never quite forgives 4
ma for not dying for her at the
first opportunity. She probably
never quite forgives him for dying.
either.
So the clever man eyAdes the sit.
uation where a choice is required, as
the virtuous man evades temptation
while II yet afsr off.
For weeks afterward Mem shud-
Cered at the picture OF what would
havo happened II Claymore had at
tackled the footpad and been shot to
death She would ave been left
alche in the titanic labyrinth of To-
panga canyon with a dead body to
explain and her presence there to
Excuse. Yet It was not quite salts.
factory that he should survive after
surrender.
She was acquiring n habit OF trans
lating life into scenarios and contin-
uities OF ingenious complication and
more or less thrill. and she spent
days and nights juggling with posi-
BILE conclusions to this adventure.
She had been dizzy with the swirl
OF Claymore's lovestorm and his in.
artlculate demands, when the gruff
demand OF the thug shivered her
whole being as a boat that scud be
fore a gale and rounds a headland
is snitten with an opposite blast
The road. returning along the sea,
was more populous h before with
dark cars stranded in shadow. In tho
distance Venice with Its countless
lights lay like n constellation fallen
in a heap upon the oceans edgo.
When they reached It Il was a
cheap tinsel affair 6arkly crowded.
They left 1t n turned into Washing.
ton boulevard. winding toward Los
Angeles. Vas stretches of dark field
were broken by brilliantly lighted
sheds where fruits and melons were
for sale. now and then a roadside
tavern. now and then a moving pic,
ture studio.
The Green Mil was eerie with greer
wheels studded with green bulbs
Dancing was the chief industry there
Inside III classic portico of th'
Goldwyn studio work wa evidently
gonig on. for the huge lot was alight
The Virginian mansion of the Inc
studio dreamed in snowy beauty. }
little farther rose the curious whimsy
of the w1llat studio with its fantastic
architecture; next were the lonl
buildings where Harold Lloyd mad,
his comedies.
They crossed Wiltshire into Holly
wood through a dark forest of OF
derricks invading tho very henrt O
the thronged bungalows.
Ciaymore. brooding Ceeply in hi
earnest soul. felt that he owed Men
| Ennna atnnarnanF II. p,a.nf a. &Ahlxr
but It sounded crude when he checked
the car in front d her little HON,
and took her hand and said:
ar you viii let me marry you, II
SEQ hat my wife divorces me-"
These divorces of convenience
marked the new-fnshioned way of nc
complishing an o~ld-fashioned right
eouSness. He wanted to make her
IAN honest woman"
But the times ha6 passed for that
Woman had como into the right &c
lose her own SOU on her own respon,
slbi,ity. Nc mar a MAKE her ar
honest woman by any deed OF his
Mem laughed ~nervously.
mo. thanksr' It was as u~ninspired
as possible. but then II Ia not easy
to mako a brilliant answer to a stu,
pid suggestion. She felt that che
must improve on IT a bit, but she
helped II little when she added: "Jusi
as much obliged. Good nightr'
She left him and went TO face her
mother. She a not h courage &c
tell of the robbery. She covered the
~nakedness of her ringiess fineer with
her other and, yawning ostentauous
ly, sneaked off to bed.
And that was the end OF her love
story with Claymore. It had been q
success in no respect as n love story
But as an education It had been in,
valuable.
He had taught her to know her
self n the volcanic emotions within
her. and how to release them Mt com
mand. She was far from being a
great or a complete artist, but she
had the ambition to be one: she had
some of the resources. and she know
what the others must be.
1t seemed an ingratitude, almost q
treachery, TO take Ciaymore's inspirn
ton and tuition and give him In re
turn only a few kind words and ar
evidence OF her frallty before tempta
ton.