Evening star., 1927-09-14
w EDL CK F. d
BY HAZEL DEYO BACHELOR.

cause she was chained to the past
and Tom?
She had thought that it would be
relief to escape to her ROOM but
now for some reason it wasn't. She
was restless. She made no attempt
to remove her dress and put on a
negligee. And after a time. she. too.
found herself at the window.
Such queer thoughts kept surging
into her mind. 1t was as II Martin
were definitely calling her And what
an absurd notion that was. Martin
didn't really need her.
Tom had needed her. And how she
had loved that little boy quality in
him!
But Martin was so reserved, so
self efficient. He wanted only to
dominate her. Tonight, though, he
had been so very sweet to her. She
was going to be free Her brain kept
persistently referring to that thought
| as if it were a defiance that she had
to throw to the world.
Restlessly, she turned from the
window. She couldn't seem to keep
concentrated on that thought of free
DOM Was it because she knew that
Martin hadn't gone to bed?
What could he be doing in the liv-
ing room all this time? Half an hour
| had elapsed since she had left him.
And why was she thinking about IL
so much anyway? Why didn't she
so to bed and try to get some sleep?
She sat down at her dressing table
and her eyes, big and strangely dark.
| looked back at her from the mirror
| She felt as If she were looking at
stranger. She simply didn't know
| herself tonight. Mechanically she
brushed her big puff over her cheeks.
and she questioned herself.
Why do such a silly thing when
she was going to bed?
| But was she going to bed?
Martin hadn't come to his room
and something seemed drawing her
toward him. Excitement began to
hum in her blood, and yet she
couldn't account for 1t.
| She found herself at the door.
| Now she was opening it, and now
| she was moving down the hall to-
| ward the living room. She had to
know what Martin was doing. 1t was
imperative.
In the doorway. she paused.
At first she didn't see him, and
when she did, the strangest little
shock ran through her body. He was
slumped in a chair, detected and
somehow terribly alone.
She had never thought of Martin
as being alone.
He had not heard her come down
the hall. He did not hear her as she
came toward him.
The floor lamp cast a streak of
light across his face. His mask of
indifference was gone now He had
given up to his suffering and there
were tears beneath his lashes.
Nan saw the tears and knew that
she had caused them. Something
began to mount and mount and
mount. Martin did need her. She
knew, of course, that it wasn't fair
to stare at his naked suffering like
this, but she needed to stare at it,
She hadn't known that he cared
like that.
He opened his eyes suddenly. saw
her. and was instantly on his feet.
Once more his face wore that look of
impenetrability. He was seeking to
hide from her what she needed to
know. He was trying to adjust the
mask.
She knew how he felt AS If she
must have known it all along but had
only just realized it. she suddenly
saw things as they were.
Once more they stood facing each
other, but everything was different
now. Nan was no longer uncertain,
nor blurred in her thoughts Nor
was she afraid.
| Continued in Tomorrow's Starr