The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1929-06-14
THIS HAS

moor IN 6dNdfd WIlH TIC
full secret of her marriage locked
TIGHT in her heart. Only MABEL
BLAKE, her dear friend, and
MabeI's fiance. JACK MOORE,
know of that wretched romance
with RICHARD EUSTlS. Sybii
met him on shipboard and mar
ried him after a wild courtship.
Almost Immediately he began to
drink and then-after learning
of his unbelievable infidelity-
Sybil left him and returned to
her mother in Boston.
Before meeting Eustis she was
ENGAGED, in an informal sort of
way, to CRAIG NEWHALL. Now.
NewhalI, sensing something
wrong, decides that Sybil has
v really loved him, and ef-
faces himself completely. Des-
perateIy lonely and unhappy,
Sybil tries to tell him of her
marriage, but Craig thinks n
is joking and she gets on further
with her condolences.
Months drag on. Sybil, alone
with her ailing mother, grows
morose. There has never been
any word from Richard Eustis,
and Sybil begins to feel secure
of her secret. Then she learns
that she is going to have a child.
She tells no one but Mabel
Blake.
NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
CHAPTER XVIII
It was the week before Christ
mas. Sybil, at the Settlement
Home, was helping Mabel tie up
Christmas packages for the child
ren. They had strung popcorn
and cranberries for the tree, and
Sybil had fashioned for the top
branch an angel with a cotton
batting robe and tinseled wings.
Craig had promised to be Santa
Claus, and now Mabel was putting
the finishing touches on his de-
mountable beard.
Over a lap of wool she glanced
surreptitiously at Sybil.
Honestly, dear, | think you
ought to tell him. The longer
you wait, the harder it will be-"
mot until after Christmas, Nab.
It's going to be hard enough to get
through the day as it is-our first
Christmas without daddy. Poor
mother don't want to make
things any worse for her"
They sewed for a while in sill
ence. The little bells that Mabel
stitched on Santa's bright red
jacket tinkled merrily. Sybil put
her angel down, and hemmed a
pink silk skirt for a fiaxen-haired
doll.
Damn Christmas anyhow"
Mabel bit a thread with her
teeth, and smoothed the scarlet
coat across her knees.
II hate to hear you talk that
way, Sybil. It's like blasphemy.
Christmas is such a happy sea-
son-really. And the sadder you
are, the more it warns your soul.
Take Wester House here. Half
our children are Jewish. That
means we cannot talk to them, as
we might to little Christians, about
Gods birthday. But we try to fill
their hearts with the spirit of Civ
ing. We tell them that Christmas
is a time when everybody tries, as
hard as they can, to make every
body else happy. And you should
see their faces glow, and their
eyes sparklei
You're selfish, Sib, and you've
got to snap out of it. l dragged
you down here today to give you
something pleasant to think about
and here you 90 damning Christ
mas. If you think you're abused.
you ought to see some of the poor
souls who come in here.
Zone woman today-she's got t.
band Lord knows what we're
going to do with her. Five child
rem and another coming. Hus-
band dead. Poor as poverty.
Babies all malnourished. Oldest
little girl has pernicious anaemia.
She's an unusually intelligent wo-
man, too. Above the ordinary run
of clinic cases. Thirty years old
and life's all over for her.
DIR. Kline gave her the dag
nosis, and when he'd finished, she
wiped her eyes with her decent
little handkerchief and said, God
have mercy on the children YOU
think you're to be pitied. Lord,
you make me sick"
savagely Mabel Bit another
thread.
ooh, it's all very well to be
philosophical, NAB, but I wonder
how YOU'D like to be in my shoes.
How'd you like to be going to have
a baby, with a husband God knows
where? And a perfectly wonder
full man whose heart you had to
break for your %foolishness. Well
that's done. Pretty. isn't it?'
Sybil held up the pink silk dress.