The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1935-09-13
CHAPTER II

uerOlue OL LLllS cSCdpdue, COMFORTABLY
ensconced in her island homestead,
paid scant heed to the fact that she
and her affairs were continually on the
tongues Of the outlying community.
She was not ignorant Of 1t, for her
intuitive sixth sense made her well
aware her goings and comings were
watched. This knowledge, however,
far from netting her, as 1t might have
done had she been a woman blessed
with less sense of humor, afforded her
infinite amusement. She valued her
kindly, If inquisitive, neighbors at their
true worth; and met the world with
a smile singularly free from hard
ness or cynicism.
Bitter though her experience had
been, it had neither taken from, nor,
miraculously, had 1t dimmed her faith
in her particular star. On the con-
trary there still glowed in her gray
eyes that sparkle of anticipation one
sees in the eyes of one who stands
a-tiptoe on the threshold Of adven-
ture. Apparently she had in her ma
ture an unquenchable spirit Of hope
that nothing could destroy. She was
still young and the highway Of life,
alluring in rosy mists, beckoned her
along its mysterious path with per-
suasive hand.
Her start, she confessed, had been
an unpropitious one. But starts
sometimes were like that; and did not
the old adage affirm that a bad be-
ginning made for fair ending?
Furthermore, the error had been
her own. She had been free to choose
and she had chosen unwisely. Why
whine about It? One must be sport
and play the game. She was older
now and better fitted to look after her
self than she had been at seventeen.
Only a fool made the same blunder
twice. and if experience had been a
pitiless teacher, it had also been q
helpful and convincing one.
The past with it's griefs, its humilla-
lions, its heartbreak, its failure lay be-
hind-the future all before her. 1t
was hers-hers! She would be wary
what she did with it and never again
would she squander it for dross.
If there fingered deep within her
heart vague, unsatisied yearnings,
Marcia resolutely held over these filmy
imaginings a tight rein. To be busy
that was her gospel. She never al
lowed herself to remain idle for any
great length Of time. Like an athlete
set to run race, she gloried In her
physical strength.
Today, as she moved swiftly about
the house and her deft hands made
tidy the rooms, she had that sense Of
being in step with the world. The
morning, crisp with an easterly breeze,
had stirred the sea into swell that
rose rhythmically in measureless,
breathing immensely far away to its
clear-cut, sapphire horizon. The sands
had never glistened more white; the
surf never curled at her doorway in a
prettier, more feathery line. From the
Point, where her snowy domains dipped
into more turbulent waters, she could
hear the grating roar of pebbles mingle
with the crash of heavier breakers.
II all spoke to her of home-home
as she had known 1t from childhood
as her father and her fathers father
had known 1t. The salt of deep buried
caverns was in her veins; the chant
Of the ocean echoed the beating Of her
own heart.
Lonely?
If she needed anything 1t was a COM
panion to whom to cry: isn't It
glorious to be alive" and she already
had such one.
Never was there such a comrade as
Prince Hal!
Human beings often proved them
selves incapable of grasping one an
others moods-but he? Neveri
She would never want for a welcome
while he had strength to wag his
white plume of tail; nor lack affec-
ton so long as he was able to race up
the beach and race back again to hurl
himself upon her with his sharp. STAG
cato yelp or JOY.
Oh, she was worlds better off with
Prince Hal than If she were linked
up with someone Of her own genus
who could not understand.
Besides, she was not going to be
alone. She had decided to try an ex-
pertinent.
Jason had had an orphaned niece
out in the Middle West-his sisters
child-a girl in her early twenties,
and Marcia had invited her to the
island for visit
In fact. Sylvia was expected today.
That was why bowl Of pansies
stood upon the table In the big bed