The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1940-04-05

Inc KEY! JOhn turned, reallZlnS
that he had reached the village.
Why had Uncle John made that
gesture? he wondered, walking
more slowly back toward the cabin.
He'd known, of course, of that young
attachment between himself and
Gay. 1t probably hadn't been diff
cult for Uncle John to read his
thoughts the morning after the party
in New York when he, John, had
insisted, stubbornly and not very
considerably, that they return to
Cambridge at once. And Uncle John
loved Gay. He had for her deeper
affection, perhaps, than for anyone
in the world except him.
But Uncle John should have fore
seen, he thought irritably, that Moth
ing of lasting value could come of
that attachment. He was romantic,
idealistic, in the way of his genera.
ton, but he was neither sentimental
nor impractical. He must have seen
that he, John, and Gabrielle Ora
ham lived in different worlds, that
each would be a stranger in the at
mosphere familiar to the other. Per-
haps though, the thought continued,
when you were dying, such things as
wealth or lack of it, the differences
in viewpoint which wealth engen-
dered, the distinctions and antago-
nisms it raised seemed relatively
unimportant. Uncle John had known
he hadn't long to live when they'd
gone to New York. Perhaps during
the following weeks, when his grasp
on living had loosened, some wis
dom had come to him which, by the
gesture, he had attempted to COM
municate to them.
Perhaps-But the wisdom which
might come with death was, now, of
no practical value. He and Gay
had, in all probability, a great deal
of living to do. Their divergent
courses were charted, had been de-
termined, he supposed, long before
they met here at the lake. That
meeting was accidental and had no
influence upon the direction of their
separate lives. He was going to
Portland to take over DR.. Sargeant's
practice for year in payment for
loans which had enabled him to
complete his medical course at Har-
ward. After that, if he could man.
age to support himself, he was going
on with scientific research. There
were before him years of work
which he loved, of loneliness which
he accepted. Gay was to marry
Todd Janeway-
He had not allowed himself to
think of that until now. His thoughts
had moved warily, lodging that
painful fact. But it must be faced,
squarely and honestly. The fact
must be accepted and removed from
his mind. He'd known, of course,
almost as soon as the engagement
had been announced. He'd thought
he had accepted it. He'd been able,
during the summer, to look at cam
era poses of Gay and Todd Jane
way with interest not too intolerably
mixed with pain. There had been
great many of them. It would be
an important wedding. Todd Jane
way was connected with the pri-
vate bank in New York of which his
father was president. The Janeway
estate on the Hudson adjoined'
Dunedin" the Graham estate. 1t
was all eminently suitable, he sup
posed. He'd met young Janeway
at Gays party and had been inn
pressed with his friendly manner
and blond good looks. Oh yes, it was
all eminently suitable, Gays desti-
ny, determined at her birth, an
eventuality which no chance meet
ing could alter or efface.
The cigarette he had lit and neg
lected had burned his fingers. The
smart of physical pain routed mem
cries, brought him abruptly to his
senses. What he'd been thinking
was madness. Uncle John had not
intended them to have stolen week
together, hidden away in the woods.
And he'd been presumptuous in as
Stunning that Gay had any such
thought or desire. Besides, there
was Miss Oliver
No, not too presumptuous, revert
ing to Gays possible thought and
desire. He'd seen the expression in
her eyes when she'd looked at him
through the lamplight. There was
no sane middle-course of friendship
for them. At word, gesture, the
antagonism which was their safe
guard would melt and with more
far-reaching consequences, now,
perhaps, than in the past, since now
they met as man and woman
and would never meet again.
His resolution wavered as he
opened the door into the kitchen.
Knowing that she was there seemed
to give the door she had opened an
especial significance. He felt her
presence in the atmosphere of the
kitchen and more materially in the
perfume that filed the air with
fading scent. A light burned in the
living-room. He would not go in
there. He passed the door with his
face averted. And then he heard
her voice calling his name. He