Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-05-26

thought 1t was Lulu Hammond. But it
- was Muriel.-
"You-" was all he could say.
Eyes. I couldn't wait any longer. was sc
lonely for you. So I came here and waited"
How long have you been here and where
did you waltz"
81 waited in the writing room until heard
you leaving. Then I came out. Who were
those menu"
"You waited in the writing room of a club
house and let the attendants see you trailing
me?" He almost choked with anger. He was
very proud, had hidden Muriels idiosyn-
crasies as far as possible and now-this!
I'm your wife. have the right to be with
you-where you are" She was bit frighten-
ed at his tone, but following her usual pro-
cedure determined he shouldn't know it. 1t
was her right
Head erect, shoulders squared, he strobe
on fast she scarcely could keep pace with
him. Finally, breathing hard, her breath com
ing in gasps, she caught his sleeve.
II can't go so fast" she insisted.
"You could go fast enough if you wanted
to, I'll warrant" But he slowed down a trife
and with her c1inging to him finally reached
home.
| In the brightly lighted house Muriel
shivered as she caught glimpse of his white,
strained face. Pretending not to notice, she
hustled about, going to the ice-box and fixing
a dainty supper on the dining room table.
| Then she said
Come, have some supper, dear. am sure
you can eat little to keep me company, even
| If you have had dinner"
| II don't want anything" he answered un-
graciously, and, taking a paper, sat down to
read.
Quietly she put the supper away untasted,
although she had eaten nothing since noon.
Her fasts, her constant worrying, her emo
| ton, intense at times, were having their eff
feet. Muriel looked years older than she was.
Her delicate, blond beauty had faded almost
| beyond belief. She was always scrupulously
neat, but of the little coquetries of dress she
cared nothing and never thought of using
them to gain and hold her husband She was
his wife. That was to her the Alpha and
Omega of the situation-the beginning and
the end.
the club, Bruce said when she joined him.
ut is my right to know where you are
You belittle me-you-"
ut is your own fault, Bruce You drive me
to it. If you came home from the office and
spent your evenings with me 1 would have
no reason to look for you"
"A man has right to some recreation, to
some time of his own. don't believe there is
another woman in WestfieId who would do
what you did tonight. They"
There isn't another woman in Westfield
who loves her husband as I do you"
"Piffle! Ann Mason is devoted to Tom. She
plans for him to enjoy himself occasionally
instead of standing in his way"
Don't quote that woman to me. I know
you admire her. Perhaps she's in love with
you and that's the reason she is so willing her
, own husband shall leave her"
Angrily Bruce threw down his paper.
What was the use of talking with her?
The next day Muriel, still fretting and won
dering how she could make Bruce under
stand her point of view, how to realize what
he owed to her, went shopping.
Suddenly she stood still. Coming from the
store she was about to enter was the vivid
dark girl Bruce had bowed to the day she was
with him, the girl to whom he had shown a
house.
Before her eyes there fitted the long black
hair she had found on his coat the night they
had almost quarreled and he had left the
house. The night he told her he had dinner
alone at a restaurant and walked in the park
afterward. This girls hair was black, Jet
black and-long. Yes, she could see the mass
coiled in her neck
Unconscious that she was staring she con-
tlnued to look until a sneerng expression on
Lulu Hammohd's face made her flush and
walk hurriedly into the store. But her sus-
p1clons were aroused. Could Bruce have been
with that girl?
She could scarcely wait for the day to end.
She thought of going to the office and asking
him then and there. Remembering that he
had left her in anger, she hestated. But she
forgot her errand and went slowly home
angry with herself that she had lost sight of
the girl with the black hair; that she had not
followed her and learned where she lived a
Who was that black haired girl you bowed
TO one day when [ was with you? That paint
ed creature you said looked at a house:~' She
had not been able to wait until after dinner
to question him, but almost as soon as he
entered the house put the query
"Oh, I've forgotten her name" Bruce
stammered, hating himself for the lie and
hating Muriel for forcing it from him. "She
didn't take the house, so I've no reason to re-
member it,"