The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1939-03-11

continued from Page T~Ol
He sat down on the end of the
table. crossing one leg over the
other. and smiled at her. Then in
a low voice, so that he would not
disturb the sick, he said. Il have
10 tell you that I think you've been
a brick, II isn't easy, what you're
doing, not for somebody who has
never done II before"
I'm not so wonderful she said.
Two or three times I almost gave
in and quit. But that's over now
! don't mind anything. I don't
even get sick any more. It's
funny how quickly you get used
TO things"
He was silent for a moment and
then taking up the bottle of alco-
hol. he soaked a bit of cotton and
carefully swabbed his hands and
said, You are an astonishing
woman And when he did not
60 on. she could think of nothing
better to say than, English people
are very often eccentric
Il don't mean anything so banal
as that" Then he looked at her
and said. please don't think I'm
being personal for any silly reason.
It's so difficult for people TO get
together. to understand each other.
Neither of us is a child"
No"
1T has occurred to me that you
are intelligent"
Perhaps"
Il don't think So"
She had a sudden image of her
self as she had been that night
at the palace beneath the bee
filled chandeliers. Quietly she said,
There wasn't any reason for you
TO think so"
Suddenly he shook his head as
if he would clear his mind of
WEAKNESS.
What I'm trying to say is diff
cult-especially TO you. l know you
have had plenty of experience"
Yes. that's true"
do I seem naif?"
NO" 1t occurred to her that
he could never have been naif,
eve as a child. But now he was
making himself vulnerable. He
was giving her, whole-heartedly,
openly. his friendship and admira-
ton. She might hurt him by
trampling on it, by disillusioning
him. The woman she had been
that dreary afternoon in the Sum-
mel Palace would have hurt him,
not in his intelligence, which was
great, but in his human sensibil-
ity-the human sensibility which
she was beginning to believe was
so great a part of Indians.
He was saying, You remember
that afternoon when you offered
tea at the old Summer Pal
ace?' She looked away from him
at the list marked dead and
dying and he went on, Il found
you attractive then and exciting.
And | knew what you wanted.
That's why l stayed and had a cup
of tepid tea ..."
She looked up quickly from the
lists. filled with shame and a wild
impulse to protest that what he
was saying was not true. but al
most at once she thought, NO,
that would be a lie. That would
spoil everything. That would
bring back the woman who offered
him the tepid tea-into this place.
And she does not belong here. She
has nothing to do with this" And
she saw that he was holding up
his hand as if to check her words.
Wait" he was saying. II don't
think much of responsibility. 1
think a great deal more of truth.
That afternoon l knew some
thing lay behind the flushed cheeks
and trembling hands I saw. And 1
was right. I know now l was
right. 1t was the difference be-
tween a counterfeit and the real
coin. Do you see what I mean ?"
She was looking again at the
table with an odd turmoil of shame
and triumph in her heart. No man
mad ever talked to her like this,
and for a moment she experienced
again that feeling of confusion and
terror that had come to her in a
nightmare after she had quarreled
with Esketh.
Don't think I'm being compli-
Gated and Latin" he was saying.
Only human relations are such
strange things, and l like to have
things straight. Most people go
through life and die without ever
knowing what life may be and the
glory that there can be in human
relationship. But the glory only
comes when one can rise above the
pettiness of daily life. You see.
that is the end of all religion. That
is what all of them try to attain.
That's what I mean when l say
responsibility is of no Importance.
Responsibility is for the stupid.
the weak and the hypocritical."