The Washington times., 1926-07-19


his eyes were fascinating pools
of mystery In which strange fires
burned.
When he did go over to her she
was almost tongue tied in embar.
rassment. He did not seem to
notice that but chatted easily
about strange lands and peoples
and places without requiring her
to do more than nod or shake her
head.
Half an hour later the crowd
bundled into the cars and were
gone. The throb Of the motors
died away down the road, car
rying with 1t the last echoes of
their voices before Betty turned
back into the drawing room.
She wanted time to think The
folks were away from town, so 1t
wouldn't matter if she stayed over.
She was afraid 10 meet this man
again. Afraid Of herself; afraid OF
him. Yet she wanted to meet him.
She longed, to be alone with him
and with the mystery OF his eyesi
It was the first great battle of
her life and she needed to think.
The door closed behind her soft.
gs
rippling water. She leaned against
it and closed her eyes. The craelIe
Of flame in the hearth sounded
warm and comfortable, and invit-
ing. There, all alone, it seemed
almost human. It was motion and
warmth. and sound, and light, and
shadow all in one. Life was like
that she thought, trying to bring
some anchor forth to hold her
logic in control.
Her Own idea
She stood. uncertainty, a mo.
ment and surveyed the wreck
which she must restore to order.
The party had been her own idea.
and her parents might be urI.
reasonable II they should see the
havoc it had wrought. Suddenly,
as every other thought had come
this night, it came to her that
their objections would be perfectly
justified and that she had been
fool to let things go so far.
The table showed far too many
scratches from shoe pals to be
easily fixed. Her hard slid over
it slowly as though 1t could be
smoothed out like crumpled sheet.
Then the bigness Of it all came to
her, and what 1t meant, and what
life meant; and pounding on her
brain like q tiny hammer was
the thought that she was In love.
LOVE, LOVE!
The glow from the fire was
growing dim and she moved to-
ward It.
AS she leaned over to pick up
a piece OF wood, a lump came
into her throat, and caught. She
sank back dizzily into a chair.
There before the hearth, gazing
fixedly into the flames. sat the
stranger and in his eyes glowed
that same mysterious light which
had held her spell-bound earlier
in the evening.
The stranger did not move a
muscle, didn't even turn his eyes
in Betty's direction; yet she knew
as surely as she knew her name
that he was waiting for her.
Terror frightened the muscles cf
her throat, choking the words Of
protest back uniformed. Despite
herself she sat immobile, silent as
a craven image, but her eyes
never left his face.
Her brain was a tumble OF
feverish, topsy.turvy thoughts,
like rapids tumbling wildly
through the rocks, buffeted back
and forth, but moving forward
just the same. And like the
water flowing past rocky rapids,
her mind slowly regained it's COM
posure. A feeling Of calm came
over her and gave her mastery
over herself.
With the calm came resolution.
She scanned him up and down
deprecatingly trying to bolster up
her courage. taking mental notes.
He was almost commonplace, she
told herself. His trousers were
too short! So were his sleeves!
His features were too regular!
Perhaps it was fortunate she
couldn't see his eyes. Her lips
curled in a sneer which had never
failed of it's purpose.
The fascination she had felt
early in the evening had passed
and a surge of anger. swept her.