The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1941-07-07
FOOTSTEPS
TN THE FOG
B, TLINORF COMAN sTONT

| NF>TFRDAA- BRIDGET rsteais that
II submarine has besn sighted a shorf
IdfstanUr of the coasf nehorah tries
Ito change the trend ~ the fanNrrsa-
Ifiou but even building q fire brings
I>trphan's thoughts bark 10 var. His
lathe. commanded 80 raider m
1914 The bell finEs Deborah open<
the donf 90 a stocks man aho ad-
drrsses stephan tn german. Nan
should not have come her VII
helm stephan repiiss
CHAPTER VIM
F For a moment. as stephan came
forward. Deborah caught her first
real glimpse q the man she had
only hslf suspected beneath the
E boy With whom size had played -
an older man. a little hard per-
maps a little ruthless.
F But II ~as necessary L come.
i ENceilency. the little man hurried
on before stephan could stop him.
You yourself would have been
angry not 10 know II 5 % be
earlier than We thought A fish
ing boat will slip You out through
the fog. The Coast Guard"
Enough stephan interrupted
sternly. Wait here We will talk
q. am sorry He turned to
Deborah. speaking again IN Eng
ish. He IS an old family servant
Wilhelm. I must talk with him.
j II YOU will forgive me"
i surely ASK him 10 come in
Thank You. but we shall 90
very well walking about outside
/ Already he had found his coat
in the closet where Bridge had
hung IT. and was Struggling into
II. In those brief sentences he had
gone away again - pleasantly.
Icourteouslv as always. but very
finally behind his wall
With crisp finality he stepped
out into the night and closed the
door
+ Deborah stood. straining her
eyes 10 follow him through the
glass of the door. but few steps
down the walk. his white raincoat
and fair head We're completely en-
quilted IN the mist. As if an un-
p sanity clammv head had
brushed her face Deborah shiv-
cred -. So II had come then
that time she had always felt must
come some day
Confused impressions raced
through her memory: They do he
sayin' that the crew Of a schooner
that run in out of the fog tells Of
sightin' wan Of thin furrin fightn'
ships, skulkin around off the
coast, Bridge had said
Stephan's startled absorption in
the messages the Coast Guard cut
tiers We're flashing out. Could he
read them If so. what about
them had disturbed him so much?
And now that strange. breath
less little foreigner: "A fishing
boat will slip you out through the
fog
Slip him out to what?
For what purpose
/ 1t seemed like hours-it was per-
haps Is minutes before Stephan
opened the front door. hung his
Iraincoat in the closet. and came
slowly into the living room.
He was pale. and more grave
than Deborah had ever seen him.
For a moment he stood silent.
looking into the fire ms eyes VIDE
and absent, as if. it seemed TO De-
/ borah, he were seeing for the first
time with complete clarity some
thing he had always known. but
had never quite recognized before
for what il really was.
Finally he said without looking
up, You heard? am not
sure how much you understood
Enough, Deborah said. And
not enough
So And the devil Of il is
/ that I cannot explain. can only
say that | did not plan it this way.
l am torn between wanting to kick
myself for coping here at all. and
Iunhappiness that l shall have so
little time with you"
But If you must GO Deborah
cried. why not go openly. as
hundreds Of others have done. I
could understand that. Why slip
out through the fog And what
have the Coast Guard cutters 10
do with il? Unless its you
that submarine the fishermen saw
off the coast Is waiting for-unless
they need information that you can
give them o"
For an instant he stared at her
lincredulously. Then he gave a
short entirely unmirthful laugh.
Then that's what you believe"
he SAID. 4 never dreamed that
you. too. felt this way about me
that you could hate me this way"
Hate Stephan, But that was
preposterous. when al that she
really knew about him was kind
and honora Die and generous.
Stephan" she I a m m ere 4
wretchedly. 4 don't know what
To believe except that am con-
fused and little frightened.
Believe me. 1t was not what
I wanted to have II end this way.
Yet II vas bound 70 come 10 the
surface sooner or lster-all that I
have never understood about you.
all that you did not want me %
understand Il must be better this
way than 10 leave it-Just drifting
there - like ha1f-Grt mr. e~gad