Show I 1 A L STORY a vy ff R by JENNETTE LEE pictures by A P copyright cwg by J B Up co all righta ihde reBer veu f SYNOPSIS richard derring returning from a winter in the woods wooda to ills his mothers farm arm home iome la Is overtaken by hla his uncle accompanied acied by hn his eccentric wife coming to pay ay a visit at the farm aunt Jerus has hals questions about emily hutton supposed to bo be richards sweetheart bring out the fact that she Is to marry a merchant edwards Der berrings derrings rings disappointment sti stimulates m hla his ambition and under the advice of seth kinney a hermit of the woods he resolves to fit himself for college acin ney promises to teach him greek derring tells lily hiki mother his resolve and in his grandfathers grand fat liers old laboratory begins the study of greek seth kinney hears richards greek recitation in the woods while I 1 he ie and tom bishop ply the alio crosscut cross cut saw derring learns that ho he can look indifferently upon the loss of emily lie he visits aunt jerusha teru alia who volunteers to help him through college the greek learned in the woods carries canies richard triumphantly aly through entrance examinations wins approval from the professor and insures his F popularity popularity opu larity among his fellows four our years n i college obliterates the memory of ern emily derring dorring begins journalistic work vork in chicago lie he meets helen gordon an a artist derring Is promoted to art critic on his paper ile he makes rapid progress in comradeship helen helen refuses to marry richard and hamper his career and her own they enter into a compan compact CHAPTER XII continued zi 1 gradually lie he came to understand that her determination not to marry him was influenced by something stronger than a mere inere personal shrank ing from afaese a false mai marriage ariage she would not marry becaj ahe he would not take a selfish liap pili the expense of her mother and taise that depended on her but more than that and deeper she would not by a rash promise add one more to the mar marriages biages that end in vain regret or divorce volice di gradually too lie came to understand more fully what she had meant by saying that if they were made for each other they would find it out without promises and if not it were a thousand times better they should drift apart and as lie he came to understand an element of reverence mingled with ills his love for her deepening and intensifying it ile he himself would not have questioned he would gladly have married to him it would not have been a test but a consummation but that they were not to mwry marry did not trou brou ble him chy should he ask more of it a love that was proving the fulfillment of all the longing of I 1 its his boyhood and youth it was transforming him mind body and soul his frame which had been tall tali spare and loosely built began to fill and settle into strength ills his step became firm and quick his head tool a firmer poise above the square shoulders even his eyes shared in tile the metamorphosis they lost their dreamy pleading look and became alert laughing and full of happiness and a strange power that seemed no longer to ask but to command help and sympathy from all who met their glance something of this change D derring aring himself recognized he knew that he was alive glowing in every fiber but he was less analytic in his happiness than in his misery he did not see that ills his overflowing vitality communicated itself to everyone with whom he be came in contact it was only ihn some one spoke of the change that he knew that it was wag being marked he exulted in ills his heart that no one guessed the cause he was settled down and working with a vigor of which he had bad not dreamed himself capable everything bent before him he felt within himself power to conquer the world should it stand in his way sometimes lie he clenched his hands and stretched his arms to their fullest to give outlet to the play impulse that could not exhaust itself in work in his inner life too a change less perceptible but no less real was taking place sight and hearing were opened to new beauty music had become to him a medium of soul speech and the sordid city streets with their overhanging clouds of smoke started to picturesque life and beauty A long archway with a slant of sunshine at the farther end an italian woman stealing into the shadow a huge bundle on her back and colored kerchief hief about her head would stir his pulses like an old painting the unsightly process of building with its debris of mortar bricks and lath gained artistic value as ills hi eyes took in the grouping of the men at work around the mortar beds the soft gray white of the mortar the dull dullee lre red d blue or orange of the shirts upon the supple or stolid figures of themen with tile the play of muscle beneath sometimes it was a single figure that might have stepped from a ram brandt canvas appearing for a minute and disappearing in the shifting crowd always everywhere there was beauty until derring seeing it all fanged at times to relieve his overcharged over charged senses by a loud cry so wonderful so overpowering had the beauty of the world become undoubtedly much of this quickened insight was due to the thought of helen who was never for a moment absent from ills his mind whatever work was engaging his hand or brain deep below it all was a consciousness of her existence like a second ego only a thou thousand gand times dearer and more inspiring than his own personality it seemed to give him a sixth sense by which lie he perceived the beautiful until helen gave up in despair the attempt to transfer to canvas all that he brought to her notice it became a common sight for her sketching stool to be set up in some sheltered corner of the busiest part of the city derring who had dreaded the experiment saw with a thrill that the quiet power of her personality that so rested and soothed him was felt here the crowd either cither passed lier her by or stopped for a moment to look with respectful curiosity as the work grew under her hand sometimes a mason filled her water can or a carpenter paused for a moment in ills his work to adjust her umbrella it was tile the chicago spirit laissez faire and help when you can except for the dust and rattle of the street she nv was as as unmolested as in her quiet studio CHAPTER XIII tho the fall aud and early winter had been mild in january it came on to snow and to blow and with the snowing and blowing the thermometer dropped many degrees old inhabitants told each other it was real chicago weather and now new inhabitants shivered in their sealskins seal skins or lacking these put on extra flannels it was during the cold weather that Der berrings derrings rings work took him odeaster noon to Lake lakeview view to look over the work of the amateur art club As he left the house after finishing his task a dull roar fell on his ear he started and listened eagerly yes it was the lake in a moment more ills his coat col lar was pulled up tip about ills his ears his hat settled bore firmly over ills his eyes and lie he was on ills his way to the shore the lake had a peculiar fascination for him he could never resist it especially ally when it was roaring and thundering like this A few minutes walk brought him in sight right of the mounting threatening white capped breakers his heart leaped with exultation the power of the storm was war on him ho he longed to run to leap to wrestle with it and scream himself hoarse against its tui tumult nult it was like the ocean that long stretch of lonely shore as yet unprotected by the breakwater gradually as he looked be became conscious of something homelike and protected in the midst of the uproar A thread of rose from the chim ney of a small rude house far do down wn the shore almost within reach of the threatening waves that ran up the sandy beach all about the house boats lay stacked evidently in winter quarters and here and there remnants of fishing tackle showed the occupation cu pation of fair weather the house was sheathed in rough red boards and patched with artistic regularity it was a sketch made to hand a touch of nature within arms reach of chicago helen was filled with enthusiasm and scoffed at his suggestion of waiting for warmer weather half its charm is in the contrast she protested dont you see winter quarters in the midst of all that tumult I 1 shall go up this afternoon derring consented unwillingly he was obliged to go to hyde park for the day and it was not till f four our that he was free to seek her on the north shore she was seated near tile the point from which lie he harl had first seen tile the house an old piece of sailcloth sail cloth fastened between two stakes sheltering her from the wind she looked up when lie he approached as casually as if he had stood there all the afternoon 1 I caught that wind and it cold enough too much blue there she asked holding her head back and surveying her work critically really arent you blue with too much cold he responded meekly dont be foolish I 1 am all right he had taken oft off his overcoat and was fast fastening aning it if around her shoulders oh you do that take cold well then if you will only you must go into the house and get warm find them highly entertaining besides being good she added they made me some hot cof fee and the man rigged up this sailcloth to beep off the wind and theres a pair of candlesticks in there I 1 would give my eyes for but not for sale so youre not to raise my bid 1 I raise it if it were only a glance of your eyes let alone the eyes themselves 1 1 I I hope you aldna come all the way up lip here in the cold just to be funny she responded severely but she did not vouchsafe him the glance she was absorbed in washing out the unsatisfactory sky for a second trial derring did not go into the house he walked rapidly up and down the beach watching the angry sky and tile the isolated little house ile he fancied that as the early twilight settled down it stood out more distinctly and vividly em emphasizing zing its individuality the work of man against the power of darkness at last he came and looked over her 8 shoulder hou 1 der rather better it she asked complacently without looking up you have caught the very demon N of the storm in those clouds it was true she had done what the watercolorist water colorist seldom achieves succeeded in washing out her first attempt and replacing it with the desired effect the thorough wetting of the paper or a touch of genius had aided the second attempt and the result was a wash clean and fresh in color and in the clouds what derring had called the demon of the storm come he said decisively as she sat putting in tile the last few touches lingeringly come you must stop it is too dark you will bo be frozen she began to collect her sketching materials leave those for me go on to the house and get warm ill bring your traps sho she started obediently obedient y towards the tha house breathing on her cold fingers to warm them but so fierce was th the br wind she made slow alow progress and before she reached the house he was at her hei r side he opened the door that ushered them into the low room tile the round faced dutchwoman Dutch woman who greeted them looked with kindly eyes d r on the young lady slie she bustled about ai the room and placed an armchair near 6 the fire you stayed out longer this i 1 time she said in it a deep guttural 14 voice she gave a quick look of inter 4 if est cst from helen to derring Do ning helen san into the chair with a grateful smile yes I 1 stayed out to 1 fin she had slipped noiselessly AW from the armchair to the floor with a quick exclamation dorring f 1 dropped to ills his knees beside her A its only the hoat heat said the dutch i woman practically give her this she had prepared a dra draught tight of brandy derring poured it between the white lips around which it a blue line was slowly settling they watched for the effect derring eagerly the wom an with close at I 1 the there re was no sign of returning life derring looked up in despair and the woman hurried away A into an inner room for some other remedy he leaned over tile the motionless figure listening slowly ho he gathered it in his arms tenderly Ten deily passionately lie ho drew her to him and pressed ME his lips on the white mouth with its k y t she seemed to 10 him already dead removed from caresses t shadow slip sho seemed to him already 1 dead reni removed oved from ea caresses slowly tile the lids fluttered a breath trembled through tile the lips and slie she lifted her eyes to ills his faintly TO BE BB CONTINUED |