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Show IITFORD'S ' SACRIFICE BY KEITH GORDON. i 1 teht by KeIth Gordon) u- f ?4round the first corner of the 'J f fHUare table sat a slight .woman 1 i irk eyes met young Barton's f ( "c glance with a smile lurking , 'p(bA and whom, with the ar-I ar-I 0 youth, ho promptly cata-1 cata-1 his rohid as "old." Around J corner, and directly opposite f i fi-ure of a Juno-like young I & appear, silent and impres-1 impres-1 jjjj fa,Qdc 0f a handsome ' ""t hg left, a dapper mlddle-W mlddle-W tn whose hair showed a sliamc- ? Sncy to retreat by the back V : SSToun&Iady nor the little the slightest ripple of inky in-ky i h the stranger at the table, and ! f etosrfn a warm nature V friendliness has been sl- " Z .urflned. his wandering glance ! S to Miss MItford. - f?mr smile in her eyes seemed iJiVrt deepened, and whether It meant l' ll2n.ihr or amusement was an open IttSb-i. t any rate, Stuart Barton JMok hl3 decision and decided that Was not so eh old after all, and kT'!Lfce undoubtedly understood. MMzA heard of people so congenial v fif hr were old friends before they Vjjxfc t0 .become new acquaintances. MlVibi meal was over he was con-V con-V V FtbatMIfs MItford and he were I ,Lficf that description. To be sure, fifcrokeonlv In platitudes, but there 153 IK.:' raillery In her soft eyes and In JJWcRt that played about her lips BRKTfjyned to answer his keen but -Lted derision of their conven- iKsTon are young, eager and am-Ifc am-Ifc aD.J have come to New York to E-'yon have an aching need of Iht la K-t, sympathetic companionship. la Est week was past Stuart Barton K to flnd Miss Mltford's society as J j,y to his comfort as sleep or " listened to his arrogant, boyish j iocf men and things with an intcr-' intcr-' tliithad not always been accorded : eurd which did not fall of its ef-r. ef-r. After the jaded, cynical opinions ' i men, she really found them as ft fctitin? as wine Always they I ' riJ with a grudging sense of break-n break-n inlat the moat Interesting point, l lis parenthetical "to be continued," siKHal story. fef than, once she had surprised frJ rlanees on the faces otf other i;J,andshe was far too acute not dfftret their meaning accurately. ' n ek remained tranquil, toonappy llltroised to care what the com-i com-i a, conventional herd might think. ffEprosc you know that they are Jf fa all sorts of things about us?" a 'nidlohini one evening when Miss l' hn's behavior at dlnnpr had i : feaitd to nothing less than a reprl- t , she went on mercilessly: "They ritty fay that I am leading you on .1 hi I am old enough to know bdtter J tit lam a designing old maid and a a1 j core nice thlnes of that sort. I i circa to know all about It, because Of' ft1'9'(er than you sixteen long f of 245 days each!" Igt-aused with a queer, breathless Ijalbfthat was ah unpleasant surprise tisraJf. She wailed for his answer ml hir life hung upon his words. I iBW&htr your age!" he laughed gaily. wwzws are as young as as " He hesitated, casting about for a simile "as Miss Selwyn's. Indeed, they're a good deal younger, 'and so Is your mind. Your age 13 Just right! It Is I who am beastly young. Don't ever mention it again for I feel like a mere kid when you talk like this." Having disposed of the Question In this summary manner he began to talk of other and pleasanter thlrtgs, and before be-fore long Miss Mltford's clear laugh was ringing out like a girl's. Miss Selwyn was passing through the hall, heard It and w6ndered ln a vacuely nettled way what Mr. Barton saw In that old maid! There were times when she half regretted her hauteur to the young stranger. His eyes certainly were flne. Besides, it touched her pride that aouan should deliberately turn to another .Woman when she was at hand. The fact that the woman was her senior se-nior and no beauty only made the offense of-fense more heinous. By degrees, therefore, her manner toward to-ward him changed, thawing slowly but A big-, firm hand, closed over hers. surely, like ice before the sprlnc sun. But though she melted, Barton was po- litely Indifferent, and Miss MItford looked on with a keenly feminine appreciation ap-preciation of the by-play. She felt that the siren Was singing to her knight ln vain and she rejoiced with true womanly wom-anly exultation. "What possesses Miss Selwyn that's what I'd like to know?" that gentleman blurted out as they were swinging along through the park together one day. "She used barely to speak to me and now butter wouldn't melt ln her mouth! She's so blamed pleasant she worries me. It doesn't seem natural!" For reply Miss MItford stopped short and fixed her eyes upon him expressively. expres-sively. His color rose and he looked rather confused. "You don't mean ?" "Yes, that's It!" she replied, nodding maliciously. Then they both laughed merrily after the manner of Irresponsible Irrespon-sible young things who laugh from mere Joy, until she abruptly remembered remem-bered that in a woman of 38 such behavior be-havior was 9hocklncly frivolous, and, resolving to be more dignified, she grew suddenly pensive. It was a soft April day. The tender greens and misty erays of the park were like a wistful promise of beauties to come. In the air, the dampearthy smells of early spring floated, the sweet breath of the soli as It awakened from Its winter trance. With a sigh of enjoyment she sealed herself on one of the green benches and Barton took his place beside her. For some moments they sat gazing at the scene berore them in dreamy silence, taking in long whiffs of the soft air with sensuous delicto. The blurred, faint loveliness of It all bespoke fairyland. fairy-land. He did not speak, but she knew that he was watching her Intently. With a sort of helpless, bewildered dismay, she realized that she was Hushing like a school girl. "A woman of 2S," she taunted herself savagely, "3S 3S 3S!" But it was no use. She flushed and fjushed until she longed wildly for an earthquake, for any deliverance that would rescue her from the absurdltv of her position. But none came, and with Hps that quiver.ed with annoyance she tried to form some diverting, impersonal imperson-al remark. A big, firm hand closed over hers and Stuart Barton looked 'down at her like a triumphant young god. "I know What you are going to say," he began, "but It's no usel I love you ana I'm old enough to know my own mind. This is an exceptional case, and there's no use of your tormenting yourself your-self and me by bothering about our ages! I am certainly going to marry you, so you might Just as well make up your mind to It." He paused for breath, and though she eyed him In disdainful silence, a dangerous dan-gerous excitement, a triumphant happiness hap-piness danced in her blood and she dared not trust herself to speak. "You love me you know you do, Alice!" he resumed, exultently, and at the protest that she tried her best to make convincing, he only laughed indulgently, in-dulgently, With a shock it came to her that he was rightshe did love him. When she spoke a moment later her voice was very low and tense. "We won't talk of It any more now, Stuart," she said, laying her hand on his arm, "but a year from now, If you feel the same no, don't interrupt! You think you will, but you don't know. I Don't you suppose- It is hard for me?" and she looked straight In his eyes 'with an expression he thought to remember always. But youth has ever a poor memory and a year contains 3G5 days. "I'm going away immediately," she continued, with a little break in her voice, as she realized what life would seem without him. "For a year I shall drop out of existence, so far as you arc concerned. But at the end of that time " A year had passed and another had begun before Stuart Barton found himself him-self again ln that particular part of tho park. As before, he was accompanied by a lady, young, proud and superb-looking, superb-looking, and as they seated themselves on the Identical green bench that he had occupied on a former momentous occasion, he awaited anxiously for the 1 reply that she had promised him. Later, ' the first flurry of excitement over, she looked at him with an Inquiring. face. "You were awfully attentive to that Miss MItford last year!" she remarked tentatively "I always wondered what you could see In a woman so much your senior!" , Consternation seized Barton. Now he knew why the spot hod vaguely haun't-ed haun't-ed him why It reminded him of some- ! ' thlnir once vivid, but now forgotten, f His face went pale. "She was a lovely woman," he said quietly. "She doesn't know that I gave him i to her.'" murmured Miss MItford, when sho heard of her truant lover's engagc-, engagc-, ment to Miss Selwyn. Then a3 two ' tears brimmed up in her eyes and rolled down her cheeks, she exclaimed -emphatically: "You idiot!" and then her face Went down to her hands. |
