Evening star., 1926-01-30

am TO conSluei ina 80;
have told me this IN conn
Sapce them" he observed 10
Hargrave. =.
..,ol, If ANYTHING arrives pc
tween you ana Nloie'' '
III There was a brief silence. The par
MAS hecomirg crowded. Gorse roee
abruptly to his rect. ,,+ talk
.IIargraye." he said, I'VE can talh
bere like men. There's somethlns 10y
artificial aboute the atmosphere.
feel choked. Come outsloe ioi
time" . reluctance
.o his feet. He was not at all sure nc
carad TO indulge in palmer speech.
Nevertheless, Gorse was 50 terrlpIy III
aarnest he had no alternative. lhey
,rocured their hats and coats anu
made their way on TO the terrace ho"
almost deserted. .o,,,,ad
because l have lost your sSrnpathH
for some reason. Try TO De pdtlen.
with me. You know l nave hetel
philandered with women, never even
harbored the idea OF narriase ,t,,.
what makes this thing so oNer"hel,ll.
inc Until lust these last few weeks
=, hos seemed to me the most natural
thing in the world to live alone ana 10
think of other people. L nave oseh
full Of sympathy for every one. ne
greatest maxim of Christianity mas
6een a reality with me, because II was
so natural. l have loved my leilo"
human beings, been interested III
them, done what l could for tnelr WEI
fare. always found my happiness IN
service and I've suddenly become
hrutallv selfish. The other will all
come back, but just now every spark
of feeling l have is centered on one
nerson. It isn't altogether happiness,
you know, Hargrave. I'm afraid or
what NV life may become if I should
fail. I'm afraid of what 1t may pc,
come in relation to others II shoulo
succeed"
They paused for a moment. In the
eagerness of his outburst Gorse $
hand had frightened upon his friend S
arm and he had brought him to
standstill at the edge of the gardens.
Around them was a little oasis or
sweet smelling, violet darkness. Ihey
could lust hear the music from the
orchestra at the Cafe de Paris. Inc
lights on the hills were like pinpricks
of fire. Hargrave felt his wave OF
selfishness pass, felt the stirring OF a
deep sympathy for the man VINO
seemed to him to be suddenly aged
and into whose clear and fearless eyes
had crept the shadow of new ap-
prehenSion.
II should ask her and get it over,
Philip" he advised.
II mean to. l mean to almost at
once. And yet, in way, I'm afraid
Il know she likes you very much
admires you, too. From the pulpit
you have been one of the friends OF
her loneliness"
-, nd a
I'm afraid Of" Gorse confessed. I'm
afraid OF her respect. 1t Is the char
acter and not the man for whom she
has some feeling"
You can't be sure" Hargrave OBJ
served Violet is impulsive, but she
is quite capable of hiding her feelings
at times"
II have watched her with other
men," Gorse admitted. a little dlfn-
IDENTIFY. You won't mind. HarGrave.
but | have sometimes feared-it has
been on my mind a great deal lately
that she has some sort of feeling for
YOU. 1t may of course, be only graft
tude and d sort of hero worship, but
sometimes-well l would have given
anything on earth to have had her
look at me as I have seen her look at
YOU when you haven't even noticed
it,
Under the circumstances. tar-
grave pointed out. with d resurgent
note of bitterness finding an outlet in
his tone, II am scarcely a rival to be
feared, am I?'
Gorse was acutely contrite, con-
scious of sort of tactless egoism, in
asmuch as his question had brought
back to his friends mind the ever
present tragedy of the passing days.
Nevertheless, he was unable to aban-
don the subject.
"All the same" he persisted, you
must tell me something. If you We're
perfectly well-''
Don't ask me such damned silly
questions" Hargrave interrupted
harshly. "One can't tell. and it
doesn't matter. The situation so far
as I'm concerned is ghastly enough
without adding the pinpricks of tor
ture"
Gorse took his friends arm and
held 1t tightly.
'It may hurt us both, old fellow
he said, but I must have the truth"
''Then, for Gods sake. have it,
was the impassioned reply You
know who she is. you know where 7
found her. you know with what OBJ
ject brought her out here. You, too,