Evening star., 1924-03-16

now every tone of her voice and
every word she said and every move
ment Of her hands lied to him-lied
foolishly without the least hope OF
deceiving him. She asked what was
the matter, exactly and entirely what
was the matter. She knew that he
was profoundly hurt and anxious
Her odious tranquility proved that
she was insensible to his suffering.
II am not going in to dinner until
that fellow at the next table has
come out" Philip announced, with
finaIity. And then the little pause.
and then the clinching phrase. And
SO now you know"
She gave q low. light laugh.
''Oh! It's that? You're still worry
ing about that she said, just as
though ten minutes earlier they had
not had quite 4 scene in the bedroom
about that fellow who sat by himself
at the next table. Her method of
conducting an argument was ex-
asperating to the last degree.
I told you l shouldn't" said Philip.
with restrained savageness.
But dent tell you I've never even
spoken to him?"
The mans q cad. That's certain"
Il don't see that he's a cad"
mo. Women often like cadS. But
he's q cad all the same. He makes
eyes at you all the time, at every
meal. And upon my soul, you smile
at him. Do you think I'm blind?"
L think you're very silly" she re-
piled, this time with conviction "I
can't understand you at all. I never
heard of such thing! I suppose you
think 1 ought to feel fattered by
your jealousy"
"Jealousyn' he sneered.
But I'm not" She still spoke
evenly and kindly, somewhat like a
mother to a child, though she was
by six years his junior.
SHE imagined that her equanfmity
was very clever. But 1t madden
ed Philip. He began to lose control
OF himself and found a terrible salts
faction in doing so. The dreadful
thoughts. suspicious accusations,
criticisms, condemnations about our
best friends which lie hidden at the
bottom Of the hearts of all of us and
upon the concealment of which de-
pends the safety and decency of hu-
man relations, rose up unchecked to
the surface and escaped in speech.
He called his wife a fiirt; he re-
ferred to her ruthless hunger for
pleasure and luxury, to her egotism,
to her vanity, to her faulty upbring-
ing, to the absurdities Of her parents
and other relatives and to his own
conhding. trustful, foolish nature,
which his wicked wife had known
how to deceive.
I'm AFRAID I've married a Jealous
monster" said she in reply, sadly:
and then, with an assumption of
courage. still, there it is, and I ex-
pect 1 must make the best Of it.
Anyhow, il you aren't going in to
dinner, I am You'd better take q
stroll. The exercise will calm you
and pull you together"
Smiled at the mani" How GRO
tesque! She had never smiled at the
man. She had smiled at the room.
smiled notwithstanding more. The
man was absolutely nothing to her.
Must she scowl to please Phil? He
had gone clean off his head. She had
always suspected that he was in.
cfined to be a bit jealous; but this
scene was indeed too much It was
incredible, tragic catastrophe. II
was the ruin OF all her chance OF
happiness
She thought of the weddinr-onlv
the other day-and Of his tenderness
and his passion. She turned avav
with a fixed. expressionless smile to.
ward the dining room She would see
the thing through. She would eat
and drink. though she choked for II.
She did not guess that IL she had
burst into tears and fed upstairs he
would have followed her, furious at
first and then contrite.
Philip watched her depart. Hi,
hand behind him touched a blind.
cord He pulled at it, and It broke
and q large blind ratified down with
a noise astonishingiy like thunder.
stout cord, a cord nearly a quarter
or an inch in diameter, and he had
the thoughO scarcely touched IL: and
yet it had broken between his fingers
as bit of cotton might have broken. |.
The noise and confusion of the blind
seemed to him somehow to symbolixe
what had happened to his n,arriaxe
He suddenly felt exhausted and also
frightened. He was quite alone
Ethel had disappeared into the dis
tant dining room. The whole brood.
ing expanse of the deserted lounpe
lay between him and HUMANITY ~.
ought according to his own code to
have sworn and ragged manfuIly. But
there was no occasion to keep up ap-
pearances. and he moaned to him.
self weakly, despairingly:
oh dear! Oh dear! Oh dearrs
Then he was aware in the gloom
of face peering at him round tbe
nap of a huge easy-chair that was
slightly turned from the direction NJ
the window. He was not alone! He
mad not been alone! The episode
from beginning to end had had an
unseen, unguessed spectator. phiIin
discountenanced and wondering how
lie ought to behave in the very start
ling circumstances, did not move
Il know exactly how you feel" said
the spectator in a quiet, worn voice,
and 80 naturally, so simply and ami
cably that Philip could not take
offense at the unhear Of Familiarity.
The man rose from his chair and
slowly approached Philip and stood
Close to hfm--little gray-haired
man, apparently about sixty. Phil;p