Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1925-06-25

AOu DetI0r come into the mousse,
Compton," she said with a tone Of
authority.
She realized afterward that she had
leaped rather joyfully toward the con-
clusion that this moment explained
the menace which had hung over
them so long and that it promised
definite end of her obligations. She
remembered of thinking how like an
angry, impotent little dog he was,
coward at heart, but barking behind
gate at an empty road. She be-
lieved he had lost his mind.
Come into the house," she repeated.
he looked at her stupidity, his lower
jaw limp and hanging his eyes watery
and looking into her face with the
troubled expression of one trying to
discover the surroundings after loss
of consciousness.
"All right" he said hoarsely; I'm
all right, Brena"
He appeared weak, unable to carry
himself erect and his breath wheezed
unpleasantly as he followed her feebly
up the walk and the wet granite
steps or the frowning house.
go upstairs and lie down." she
commanded.
He stopped with his hands on the
black walnut newell post o. the stairs
and leaned toward her confidentially.
Footprints" said he, grinning like
a 1end. Footprints"
Brena, opening the door of his
library, walked rapidly toward the
telephone on his desk. At last she
had been driven to summon the aid.
counsel and authority of the world
beyond the doors of this damned
home. Parmalee was mad. But as
she put out her hand toward the tele-
phone instrument Ii knocked over an
empty glass. She raised this glass to
her nose. The supports of her heart
suddenly crumbled, for she knew then
that her husband was not mad, not
changed permanently from the crafty,
4 secretive, self-isolated ard haunted
man that he had been, but was only
at the end of long night Of trying
to drink himself into the freedom of
lnsensibility.
AT this moment she wondered WHY
she did not feel a marked Increase of
the old loathing and disgust that she
had been unable to weed out as 1t had
sprung up like some rank growth. At
this moment she remembered his first
appeal to her, how he had begged her
to help him win back the clean spirit
Of his boyhood, how she had once
seen the CLINT of that treasured some
thing, which men forget to keep. shin
Ing dimly in the midst of decay, how
having tasted the bitterness of sue
cess, he had built new hope. Now he
was grotesque failure, pounding to
pieces upon some unseen rock below
the surface Of the waters. He was
/ paying the account of lifetime, per-
haps; perhaps the reckoning of one
mistake. There surged up to the brim
in her heart great pity.
To Brena the cause of his panic, his
terror, his suspicious, his isolation,
the .hOrrid eXiled days he led, the
sleepless nights he spent now APP
peared of less Importance than the
fact that no man was suffering more
than he. But she was unable to help
him: his defenses were now impreg-
nable.
II do not know what you mean," he
said 1--WE live a clean, wholesome
kind of existence, don't we? You
never hear complaints from me. 1 do
not go out much, that Is true. But
am working. do not sleep well.
Neither do many men. / drank too
much Unce, that is true. But that was
thirty or forty days ago. You have
not seen me make the mistake again. /"
"You are forever sending John down
for a new bottle" said Brena.
He thrust glance at her.
1T Gains me. My nerves are not
good-there's no denying. But why
should you complain, Brena? You
have your freedom. You go your own
ways. You conduct your own studies.
You can have anything you want for
the asking. Why complain"
Pm not complaining" she had said,
shutting her lips into a firm line. 81
am inquiring"
'Tnqulring?" he said with sudden
heat. "Well, by Cd, il you ask once
too often-you shall know! I'll tell
you something about yourself you'll
not want to hear"
''You cannot" she answered quietly.
"Are you laughing al me?" he ex-
claimed angrily.
II was smiling"
"Smi1a IN 10 ha cnapnad "Tavho
you can tell where Jim Hennepin is.
Maybe in the end you won't smile.
Maybe you will learn what 1t is that
has chung to you unseen and un-
known"
81 demand to know"
"No-by G-d-you shan't. Not I'M
til l know all-myself. Not until !
know how / shall pay"
He paused.