Evening star., 1933-04-23
INsTALLMENT xxx.

INSx AAA0NEN L <AAAhs
THOMAs had found the masked
woman with the seemingly
familiar shoulder again. He
i had torn the mask from hel
face and, as result, had got
q sharp slap on the hand. He made
his apologies as well as he could to
the strange lady.
Nevertheless, he knew that Sybil was
him so. One Of the two-dozen-odd
masked women was Sybil. At one
moment he thought he heard her
laughter behind his back; at another
he saw q familiar movement OF the
arms at the other end Of the ball room.
He was. as If bewitched, lured hither
and thither, only to be deceived. He
roved about, now here, now there, and
nowhere found what he was looking
for. Peace nowhere.
Thomas sat down with Stephanson.
Friederike was the only woman in the
hall whose cheeks were not flushed
with dancing. and wine. She Sat
there, cool and contained.
vice, doctor" said Stephenson. "You
remember our first talk? You recon-
mended that drop my harness. and
I told you was the slave OF my
money. Pure nonsense. ! have merely
all my life been obsessed with de-
sire for power. That's all over! On
this crossing I have become a changed
man, no longer a public figure, but a
private one. It's magnificent"
He reached for his glass. Thomas
put his hand on his arm.
Quite right" said Stephanson; "you
are quite right there, too. Why cham
l,rtvl L. writ Wi
and it Is bad for me. From now on
I will live a more normal life. Do
you know what We two have decided?"
He put his hand tenderly upon
Friederike's, so that it appeared as II
she were really in sympathy with his
plans.
I'VE shall build q house for our
selves on the edge Of the forest, in
surroundings that are like paradise,
where there will be eternal Spring. We
shall build 1t ourselves, do you un-
derstand, without carpenters or archi-
tects. We shall take along few work
ingmen and building material. For
ourselves, we shall sleep in tents until
everything is finished. We shall hunt
and plant vegetables and cook our
meals at camp fires"
With glowing eyes he developed his
dream of a rich man, who had all the
resources of civilization at his beck and
call-this dream of primitive life and
the struggle against the forces Of ma
ture.
IN will be simply divine!" he con-
cluded, and because Friederike's face
did not betray any reflection OF his
enthusiasm, he added, I'VE will, OF
course, take Boris along. He will ex-
pand like a Iower."
Thomas wandered through the ball
room again, lured by a womans laugh
ter. He then sat down for while with
little Mill, Wolzogen and Exl. Mill
had been enjoying herself beyond meas
ure. Many men had told her how
pretty she looked in her Dutch cos
tune. 1t was the first time in her life
that she had attended a ball with rich
people; and the first time she had
drunk champagne-heaven only knows
what she had said or done, or why
Wolzogen looked so bitterly glum.
1T Is q dirty trick" said Wolzogen,
without paying any attention to the
doctors presence, Ito steal friends
girl"
You haven't overexerted yourself"
said Exl, "and this girl is simply too
good for you.
Don't you put any such bees in her
Donnet," said Wolzogen. 1T will only
out the notions in her head"
Mill sat between the two and acted
a. II the conversation did not con-
sern her at all. 1t was only when VOL
Ogen. red with rage, roughly said,