Evening star., 1924-11-02

then into a mere cart-rut, then dis
appeared altogether. After some
cross-country scrambling they struck
another, which. less amiably,- ran
steeply to its summit. Their boots
had gathered Jumps of wet mud by
now, and April's jersey was soggy
with rain. The east wind cut al
them sharply; and the sun, with a
final red leer between two Jagged
lines of black cloud, vanished, as il
seemed for ever. Marcus flung back
his head and whistled more furiously
than ever: Let us take the road!
Hark. / hear the sound of coaches"-
but Aprirs steps were beginning to
| knowledge that there would be no
supper till Marcus had inefficiently
worked for II. She stole side glance
at him, and her petulance was changed
to a sudden rush of warm pity. He
| looked so young and so delicate,
bare-headed, with his damp hair
ciinging in rings to his forehead, anG
his lips pursed out in that valiant;
attempt to whistle. She yearned t.
| and cozy, where she could dry hi.
socks and darn them, and give hiE
hot milk, and draw the curtains L,
shut out the eerie picture of the roa,
at spectral half-light. What Were
they doing here, town children, will
the evening drawing closer an6
closer?
Marcus, are you awake"
| "M-and there .are thorns and
| prickles sticking into me-" He was
puzzled why the idea Of lying OF
the bare brown earth had inspired
| scores of men to write in praise of
it. The bare brown earth was hard
| and rutty, and crossed by little twigs
| and stoRes; and it gave his stiff and
aching body no help when he tried
| to turn over; and the roaring camp
fire they had contemplated had flick
cred twice in feeble expostulation
against the rain and the wind, and
then had gone out.
Marcus" said the girls voice again
| with a little betraying quiver in it,
I'm not grumbling. really I'm not,
I'm enjoying it all most awfully, on
ly-only we shall have frightful
| colds in the morning"
And no breakfast" added Marcus.
grimly. He spoke grimly, because in
wardly he was cursing himself for
having exposed April to all the tor
| menting discomforts of a free life
| under the blue sky. Fool, dazed and
dreaming fool, to have imagined that
| the blue was always blue, or that he
I'm only fit to read about other
mems muscles he reflected. with a
fash Of insight. He tried to tell
himself how ripping it would be not
| to have to 60 to the Office in the
morning-but the halcyon day of
self-deception was over, and the Of
| flee would obstinately persist in pre-
senting itself most, attractively, with
| its mapped-out work. and the CHEEKY
companionship Of his fellow clerks.
| and the gossip. and the plans for q
| jolly evening at the theater; the tri-
| umph of getting through half an
| hour earlier than he had expected, the
certainty of a rise in his salary
and oh. the blessed, blessed certain
! ty OF work he was accustomed to and
| could do. and could do we'll, Three
hundred a year-oue might keep a
wife on that
! A sudden shrek from April; Mar
Gus. something scuttled across my
face. Take 1t away, quicki'
His hand strayed in the dark
across her neck. How soft it was
but how cold and wet! What I'd
! like to do" he began. abruptly.
| then halted.
A pause 49,. and the girl re-
piled in a lonE-drawn-out sigh: "oh,
| Marcus. so would L."
! SO she had understood.
:; x = =;
LIE groped till he found her hand.
L I've got some money saved up:
| not very much, but enough to fur
nish three rooms. We shouldn't want
| more than that. to start with. l saw
| a nice little suite in light oak COW
cred with green leather in Morrison's s
window, on my way to the Office yes
terday: not expensive either. And
I've got some pictures-Quiet land
scapes, you know: I don't like the
new gaudy kind. do your
She assented earnestly, and gave
him her view on carpets and cur
| tains and pansy cretonne. From
| there they passed on rapturously to
the imaginary furnishing Of their
kitchen. They were both being nat
| ural now. and their talk came bub-
| bling out of their hearts, and was
not pilfered from the pages Of pi-
| caresque fiction. They agreed like
clockwork-andp presently their dream
| was picked out in colors as warm
! and bright as freight and pansy
| cretonne could make it just
| the old ordinary sentimental dream
| of a little man and his little mate
| with their four little walls around
them. and their nice safe roof over
! their heads, and the nice safe street
| outside. with lamp-posts regularly
planted, and a policeman at the cor
ner. and a nice safe job, and three
mace safe meals a day
And IL Marcus Rudolph Whiting
ham had ever thought that he want
| ed anything madder and wilder than
| this, he cried out now: I'm sorry,
I'm sorry!' to the whimsical god who
had granted him a taste of his de-
sire.
And We could 60 in the upper
circle once a week." unused April.
| b1issfuIly. IT do so. love the theater"
| He cried, amazed at her enthusi-
aSm:
But If you're on the stage your
self"
The notion was disturbing. He had
forgotten that she was an actress.
That would mean lonely evenings,
after all-And he had meant to read
Robert Louis Stevenson aloud to her
after supper. ~.
T. A very tiny penitent voice next to
him said: please. I shan't be"
! and then he heard a sob, and then
| another, a very storm of. sobs; and
between them her incoherent childish
! confession: "Oh, you'll be angry, but
please I'm not an actress, I'm not
anything exciting. / thought on the
hill that you'd have liked mo to be
an actress. 1t was only to. impress
you. I'm always like that. I show
/ off, The other girls at the Office say
I'm much too fond Of showing Off"
"At the Officer Marcus sat up.
Yes. I'm a typist in the city, and
oh, / do get so. awfully bored. At
least-I did. I'd have done anything
, for a change; that's why this morn
| ing I went into the cafe instead of
| having my breakfast at home. There
was something special about this
NOR ming. something silly that made
me want to run and sing and smell
yiolets and do idiotic things :. I. :.