| Show T rn Short Story of j Day rn C THE THE JOY OF RETURNING Pull In the oars Rose Rose and let us drift down the stream a bit I r obeyed willingly for It Jt w. w was a a. warm day and I realized after a an hours hour's steady rowing that the charms of the riverside could be better appreciated wh when n the hands I were Idle Leaning back In my cushions I listened to the drone of ot the bees and the musical lapping of the water against the sides of the boat watching meanwhile mean mean- while the varying expressions which flitted over my companions companion's face tace How swe sweet t tand and peaceful It all Is here she she half mus mused d. d Just a a. day for confidences Tell me Rose have I ever kept a secret from you Not to my knowledge I returned i Well VeIl there Is one big secret which I have always kept locked locke In n my y own heart the only one I think that I ever refrained from confiding to you I am going to tell you It now How long is IT rt since I first came to live with you Two years I answered somewhat anxiously and the be Happiest two years of my life Ufe Dont Don't sa say you are thinking of leaving me yet awhile Did It ever strike you as being a strange thing for me to leave my home and friends and come out and bury myself In the country like this I thought perhaps I began blunderingly that you might have had some disappointment that disappointment that Is IsI isI Is- Is I broke off In some confusion and my roy friend looked at me Intently from under under under un un- un- un der her long long- fringed eyelids You were quite right she said the smile dying away from her mouth and anda a shade passing over over her face You thought there was a man maii In the case Well there wa was Her voice sank as she made this confession and her per eyes strayed away over the water with the far away expression which had hac so familiar I looked at her silently desperately curious as only a woman can be be and yet not caring to put any question j Yes she said softly He was the cause of my going away I loved him too well to stay But why I began Impetuously not quite understanding this kind of af at- he care for you Yes she said That was the reason why I went Was Was was he married I asked nervously Yes she said bitterly He was married and to alvain selfish worthless woman a woman who cared for tor nothing nothing- but the Indulgence of her own Inor inordinate inordinate i- i nate vanity What he suffered through her no one knows know better than better than myself In six months she slie ran ran through all his money Incur incurred e debts which h were vere w re impossible impossible im Im- im- im possible to pa pay and altogether made his life a Rose Rose Roset there never was a greater curse to man than a bad That must have been hard for you to bear I murmured sympathetically But not nearly so hard as for him I And do you think he loved you Z I j I am sure of It she returned Do you think my life liCe these two years would have been possible If I had not known It was that that thai gave me the courage to go away and to keep away all aU through those terrible long months And now now now- I began anxiously staying the oars In their motion in the water i 1 She dabbled her hands In water before speaking i. i 1 And now she said I J am going to see him again i She saw the look of pained surprise which came upon my roy face race but did not he heed d It and went venton on talking as asH asif If to herself II II i iI I to meet him In the tomorrow H He am going city will be at the station when my train comes in I haven't seen him for two wh whole le years for years for two years Then his wife Is dead dead I made remark J I INo No she is not Women of that sort do not die easily But I Dut I remonstrated There are no buts huts about It she cried almost almosE angrily y We w have suffered suffered enough he and I and arid we are going to pretend that the other woman If iy Ia dead We aro aru going to forget all all alf the misery of the past He is going to take m mp mE abroad and we are are re going to start life over again It is the thought of this which has kept me alive these years You are a a. a very foolish girl I said with some emotion Do you Do you thing happiness happiness hap hap- will come at such a 0 cost Think over It all again or you will repent it bitterly You have had courage enough to keep away so long dont don't spoil it all now I am pleading now jiow for his sake and yours I She shook her head obstinately and her eyes shone with shone wl with h a lI light ht which v was truly maddening to me Knowing her as I did did this weakening change in her character surprised me more than I dared to own I looked at her silently nUy and met mether her glance of odd add defiance with a sorrowful thought of what she had been to 0 m mo me for fOl the last tv two years Then I found my voice But she tle did not heed entreaties and sat smiling half-smiling to herself elf as she played with the ste steering ropes rope I We are willing to risk everything she said When two people love each other a as he and I do nothing else counts counts nothing else in the world But that other woman I cried she whom he promised to love and honorat honor honorat at the altar altar Sh he leaned forward and anti caught my hands in hers and burst Into a light and nj happy laugh i You stupid she ele said laid I am that other other woman I am his wife Oh Rose to see him once more and to hear him forgive the folly of the past after aeter this lifetIme lifetime lifetime life life- time of separation Commercial Commercial Tribune |
