Show 7 T > > tor o 7r 1f r I p 1 tf I I 1 I I fJ 0 f 1 Y I J err t J < Ilf + a I fiE DELUGE Jjjjj CTAHAM PIillIIJ6JAlJhor O17UiCOS lr I 1 > eG tPIT aS 4ths 85 Jl1Z tvQbVY PTER xxn cont intitd she hissed her j scounclul cater toJj sbaKlnrf and hor caro wvated at p + iranco of tho fra Lalns of youth swallowed up cyclone of hate You gut at J God will punish you for ol t Lyoii hail brought uponus Mir and bowod With the used tho desire without even sped Insult for Insult had not ua nde tly again mul finally ro them and chosen mo As gassed Into the private hall 1 for Sanders to como and let hen I turned back Into tel irtsgroom Anita was seated tiling a book I waited until sle was not going to speak 1 laId What tlmo will you inner Uut my faco must expressing somo of the joy KD t Jtude that filled mo She has I was saying to myself over m never you usually havo it the 4 ithout looking up ocloclt then You had amen tell Sanders us for hm and wont into my ooklngroom She had resisted rents final appeal to hor to ret tJ re-t them She had cast In her Ji me The rest can bo loft to laid I to myself And review Hat had happened I let a wild end tenacious roots dteop Into low often ignorance is a bless loW often knowledge would make tp falter and the heart quail XXIII KLOCK ATTENDS FAivilLY PRAYERS kg dinner I bolo tho whole 3 ot conversationthough bur did not find It Llko most close ed men I am extremely talk Silence sets people to won I and prying he hides his se tot who hides them at tho bot ci 1 a river of words It my spire spir-e I often talk aloud to my hen there Is no ono convenient how could my spirits be anything Igh with her sitting there op e me mine mlno for better or arse through good and ovll re ffij wife e was only formally responsive Hut and brief In answers vol ring nothing The servants ag on us no doubt laid her man to shyness I understood It or hI I didbut I was not troubled IS natural for me to hopo as to tie and with my knowledge of icier how could I take seriously cods and Impulses of one whom irdtd as a childlike girl trained Mse pride and false ideals has chosen to stay with me I to myself Actions count not I or manner A few days or i and she will be herself and And I went gaily on with 1 orts to Interest her to make her and forget tho role sho had sanded herself to play Nor was holly unsuccessful Again and I thought I saw a gleam of In t In her eyes or the beginnings smile about that sweet mouth w I was careful not to overdo art t artwon loon as wo finished dessert 1 You loathe cigar smoke so Ill myself In my den Sanders will ETou the cigarettes I had my telephoned for a supply of her early in the day made a polite protest for tho fit of the servants but I was and left her free to think things alone In tho drawhng room r sittingroom I called it I Dot finished a small cigar when tame a quill knock at my door ew away the cigar and opened ought it was you said I Im w with the knocks of all tho x And this was now llko a aer wind tapping with a lower IdlJlsslon at a closed window IlauglaetI I with a little raillery Ihe smiled colored tried to seem and hostile again an I go with you to your sit rocm I wont on Perhaps dgar smoke heron 0 hero-n ° sho interrupted I dont I mind cigarsand tho windows I tIde > open Besides I camo for I a moment Just to say the cast about foe words to carry Dn I drew up a chair for hor lOOked at it uncertainly seated elf When mamma was herd alt rnOIIJ site wont on Bho urging mo toto do what she N And after she had used soy arguments she said something I Ie been thinking It ovor and It e4 l ought In fairness to tell Hied e Bald In a tow days moro ho t Incant Youho will 1 bo ruined kiCa tho worst Is over for uben In fact theyve only I be erl I tI repeated Who arp thiBi Tho LaBl n8 1 Wink thJnk so she replied with an She did not aayI8 told I i 1 1 W you hCr exact wordaas far as as 1 can Well said I nnd why didnt you goo goShe She pressed her lips firmly together I Finally with a straight look into my eyes she replied I shall not dls cuss that You probably misunderstand misunder-stand but that Is your own affair Yon believed what sbo said about mo of course said I I neither believed nor disbelieved she answered Indifferently as she rose to go it does not interest me Como here said L I I waited until sho reluctantly joined mo at the window I pointed to tho steeple of tho church across tho way You could as easily throw down that steeple by pushing against It with your bare hands I said to her aa they whoever they arc could put me down They might take away my money Hut If they did they would only bo giving mo a lesson that would teach mo how more easily to get It jack I am not a bundle of stock cer ililcates or a bag pf money I am here and I tapped my forehead Sho forced a faint scornful smile She did not wish me to seo her belief be-lief of what I said You may think that Is vanity 1 wont on But will learn sooner or illi l I p II I I llll I I I WAITED later tho difference between boasting and simple statement of fact You will learn that I do not boast What I said is no more a boait than forka walk I can man with legs to say only leg Because you have known 1 exaggerate the dim less men you for mo culty of walking Its as easy to make money as It is for some people peo-ple to spend It necessary for me to say It Is hardly not Insinuating anything I was against her people Hut she was Just then supersensitive on tho subject suspect It She though I did not flushed hotlytoil will not havo any people on that cause to sneer at my account hereafter she said I settled set-tled that tb day I was not sneering at them I protested pro-tested I wasnt oven thinking of ovenlmtlown hem Andy must know that Its anybody to ask me a favor to mo for to do anything that will Please you Anita A sfomado a gesture ot Impatience She tell you why I did Id hotter I see today I insisted them with not go back all they havo give that the taken from you And when they refused re-fused I refused to go refused or I dont caro why you said I I am retnsed hnaglnell YOIl the are content with tho fact that you tears misunderstand it sho an But you Bored coldly understand It I dont mis I dont reply I ace u idorstand it1 wan my ° ShoVurnod i from tho window turnoll away 8ho Sod roomyon who Iftod out of tho loved can Imagine love or at least havo Hor how It made mO feel 10 minor nglne about In those rocnaof mlno moving surface of my mind was While the w I taken UP with I hor I must have boon thinking underneath of tho warning Silt had brought for perhaps half or threequarters of an hour after sho lrt I was suddenly whirled out of my tevurlo at the window by a jhmmht like a pistol thrust Into my late Uhut If they should Include Roebuck And just as a man be ginn 10 defend himself from a sudden auger before he clearly sees what the danger is so I began to act be fore I von questioned whether my suspicion was plausible or absurd I wont into tho hall rnn < tho boll slipped a llshtWKlght coat over my oyetiliiK dress and put on a hat I When Sanders appealed 1 said Im going out for a fow mlnuttsJpor baps an hourIf any one should ask A moment later I was In a hansom and on tho way to Roebucks The door of Roebucks house was opened for me by a lIIallla manservant manser-vant would havo been a sinful luxury lux-ury a mama sennnt might bo tho hireling hire-ling of plotters against his life I may add that she looked the cheap timid ofallwork and her manners were of the free and fresh sort that indicates indi-cates a feeling that as High or higher wages and less to do could bo got elsewhere I dont think you can see Mr Roebuck Roe-buck she said Take my card to him I ordered and Ill wait In tho parlor Parlors In use sho retorted with a sarcastic grin which I was soon to understand So I stood by tho oldfashloncd coat and hat rack while sho wont In at tho hall door ot the back parlor Soon Roebuck himself camo out his glasses on his nose a family Bible under his arm Glad to see you Matthew said he with saintly kindliness giving mo a friendly hand Wo are Just about to offer up our evening prayer Coino right In I followed him Into tho back parlor Both It and the front parlor were lighted In a sort of circle extending Z op r y A I XV AMy l f tee A MK y it f it I 6ffI i I into both rooms wore all tho Roebucks Roe-bucks and tho four servants This Is my friend Matthew Dlacklock said he and tho Roebucks In tho clr clo gravely bowed lIe drew up a chair for mo and wo seated ourselves Amid a solemn hush ho read a chapter chap-ter from tho big Bible spread out upon up-on his lean lap My glanco wandered from faco to faco of tho Roebucks as plainly dressed as were their per vants I was ablo to look freely mine being tho only oyes not bent upon tho floor So absorbed was I In tho study of the Influence of his terrible master character upon those closest to itt dm it-t I started when he said Let u w n us pray I followed tho example of the others and knelt The audible prayer was iferedNnp by his oldest daughter Mrs Wheeler a widow Roebuck punctuated each paragraph in her series of petitions with a loud lywhispered amen When sho prayed for the stranger whom Thou has led seemingly by chanco Into our little circle ho whispered tho amen more fervently and repeated It The prayer ended and us on our feet tho servants ser-vants withdrew then awkwardly all tho family except Roebuck That Is they closed tho doors between the two rooms and left him and mo alone in the front parlor I shrI not detain you long Mr Roebuck said L A report reached mo this evening that sent me to you at once If possible Matthew said ho and he could not hide his uneasiness put off business until morrow My mind yoms too 1 trust Is not in tho frame for that kind of thoughts now Is the Coal organization to be announced an-nounced the ilrst of July 1 de t manded It has always been nna ft ways shall be my method to Hht In 1 tho opm This not Horn principle but from expediency 01116 men fight best In thin brush I dont Sol II alwajs bin bmlo by shelling thud I woods No 1m said nmazlng mo by his Instant tnuiknpHs Tho announce mont has boon postponed Why did ho not llo to mo Why did lee not put fled oTt the scent as ho might Ijislly have done with some slirewd I evasion I suspected 1 owed it to my luck in catching him ai family prayers Whon will tho reorganization bo announced I asked I can not say ho answered Some difficulties chiefly labor dim rhave arisen Until they arc snttlid nothing can bo done Como to me tomorrow and well talk about It That Is all I wished to know said I with a friendly easy smllo Uood night It wall his turn to bo astonished and he showed it whorl I had given not a BlRn What was tho roport you heard ho asked to detain mo That you and Mowbray haugdon had conspired to ruin me said I laughing Ho echoed my laugh rather hollowly hollow-ly It was hardly necessary for you to como to mo about such nI statement state-ment Hardly I answered dryly hardly Hard-ly indeed For I was seeing now nil that I had boon hiding from myself slnco I became Infatuated with Anita and made marrying hor my only real business In life Wo faced each other each measuring meas-uring the other And ate his glanco quailed before mlno I turned away to conceal my exultation In a comparison com-parison of resources this man who had plotted to crush mo was to mo as giant to midget Hut I had the joy ot realizing that man to man I was tho stronger XXIV MY WIFE MUSTI As I drove away I was proud of my siHf I had listened to my death sentence sen-tence with a face so smiling that ho must almost leave believed mo unconscious un-conscious and also It had not oven entered my head as I listened to beg for mercy Not that there would have been tho least uso In begging as well try to pray a statue Into life as try to soften that set will and purpose pur-pose Still many a man would havo weakened and I had not weakened Uut when I was once more in my apartmentIn our apartment perhaps per-haps I did show that hero was a weak streak through mo I fought against tho impulse to Seo her once more that night bet I fought in vain I knocked at tho door of her sittingroom timid knock for moNo mo-No answer I knocked again there loudlythen a third time still moro loudly The door opened and sho stood there like ono of the angels that guarded tho gates of Eden after tho fall Only instead of a naming sword hers was of Ice Sho was In a dressinggown or tea gown white and clinging and full of Intoxicating hints and glimpses of all tho beauties of her ilguro Her faco softened as sho continued to lOOK at me and I entered No pleaso dont turn on any more lights I said as sho moved toward the electric buttons I just came in toto seo if I could do anything for you In fact I had come longing for her to do something for mo to show in look or tono or act somo sympathy for mo in my loneliness and troublo No thank you sho said Her voice seemed that of a stranger who wished to remain a stranger And she was evidently waiting for mo togo to-go You will seo what a mood I was in when I say I felt as I had not slnco I a very small boy indeed ran away from homo I camo back through tho chilly night to tako one last glimpse of tho family that would soon bo realizing how foolishly and wickedly unappreciative they had been of such a treasure as I and when I saw them sitting about tho big fire In tho lamplight lamp-light heartlessly comfortable and unconcerned un-concerned It was all I could do to keep back tho tears of strong self pityand I never saw them again Ive seen Roebuck said I to Anita because I must say something If 1 was to stay on Roebuck she inquired Her tono reminded me that his navio conveyed con-veyed nothing to her Ho and I are in an enterprise together to-gether I explained Ho Is tho ono man who could seriously cripple moP Oh she said and her Indifference forced though I thought it wounded Well said I your mother was right Sho turned full toward me and oven In tho dimness I saw her quick sympathy sym-pathy an impulsive flash instantly gone But it had been there I camo in hero I went on to pay thatAnita it doesnt in tho least matter No ono In this world no ono and nothing could hurt mo except through you So long as I havo you tnoytho restall of them together cant touch me Wo wore both silent for several minutes min-utes Then sho said and hor volco was like tho smooth surface of tho rlvor whore the boiling rapids run deep But you havent meand foyer shall havo ITO told you that 1 warned you long ago No doubt you will pretend and people will say that I loft you because you lost your money But it wont bo so I was beside her Instantly was looking 1 look-ing into her faco What do youI I mean 7 I asked and I did not speaU gently To be Continued |