Show BABS BAB'S DECREE It Is time to go to the boat said Tom Latham at last Are you going with me AlIx Allx to bid Duane goodbye Yes I replied shuddering despite myself at the thought of ot all that had happened What is the matter Are you faint demanded Tom with concern I think it must be the heat You are as pale as a ghost 1 Well you know Tom It breaks my thy heart to say goodbye to Duane I hate to see him go away I have ha always been very ery fond of him I have really cared as much for tor Duane Benton as I have for tor my brother Bart Again Tom proved his understanding for we rode to the dock without a word We Ve found Duane awaiting us He too was paler than I had ever seen him while his lips were drawn almost into a snarl across his strong white teeth I went forward silently and took his hand but he gathered me sue up In his arms and pressed me dose close to him con con- Many times he kissed me meas meas meas as he said brokenly You do care for tor forme forme torme me dont don't you Allx Alix You do not think that I am wholly bad Oh my dear Duane I think you are one of ot the best beat men in all the world Again he kissed me and I understood of course that It was not I 1 whom he was kissing kissing kissing-It it was Bab the woman he had loved the woman who had been his wife wIte the woman he still loved lo the woman he was leaving forever Men are like that They can close their eyes and imagine that the woman In their arms is the woman in their hearts commented Tom Latham as I told him afterward of ot the feeling that I had when Duane wn WI bidding me goodbye I shall never forget how Duane looked as he stood at the rail as the boat nut DUt out to sea It was the tho figure of o- o oman tL a man man to whom ambition and hope were strangers For a moment I felt that my sister had much for tor which to answer and I almost hated her Even my own life story which Duane was carrying to Ju Juge ge Turner In a far tar tarot ot off Jand and seemed nothing beside the events that had ultimately led up to that tragic figure outlined against tho the darkening sky My God murmured Tom Latham under his breath and I knew by that sign that Duanes Duane's vanishing form torm meant to him what it meant to me Toms Tom's hand stole over over- and caught mine ant an f he whispered though he might have shouted without fear tear of his words reaching Duane I wish your sister Bab were here My only answer was to press the hands which covered mine I determIned determined determined deter deter- mined to gO eo back to shore as quickly as possible and draw for tor Bab the vivid picture of ot Duane Duane Duane-a a picture I shall never forget When I arrived I went directly to Babs Bab's room I 1 found her quite as tragic a figure as the one that had sailed away from me a few hours earlier Yet I could not be ver very sympathetic although her face tace was swollen from weeping and her hands trembled as she 1 held out to me a formidable forbidding looking document with red seals on It There It Is Allx Alix Look at It Oh I never thought Duane would treat me melike melike melike like this I expect It was because I was so wrought up myself that I was hyster hyster- ical I 1 sat down doss and laughed laughed laughed-laughed laughed until I cried Bab turned to me in irs perfect fury I 1 have heard of heartless women but butI I 1 never thought one could be as heartless heartless heartless heart heart- less as you my own sister are at this moment Go away from me rte Leave me alone Everyone in tho the world Is Isa a against me My husband husband oh oh I have no husband He lIe wanted me to separate separate separate sep sep- arate from him Again she held out to me the legal document and then her mood suddenly changed She fell on her knees be beside beside beside be- be side me Oh AlIx Allx oh Mix Allx I didn't think he would do it think he would do what Give me this And she thrust the decree of ot divorce Into my hand Knowing what I did the paper fairly burned my fingers and almost unconscIously unconsciously unconsciously I dropped it to the floor There Is no understanding you Bab You wanted a divorce orce You Insisted upon a divorce And now that you I have it you are not satisfied But dont don't you see see Mix AUx that I did not really want a a. divorce I wanted Duane to say that he ho loved me so much that he would not give me rae a divorce I never thought he would do it she walled wailed again And so to please your our own petty vanity you held out Bab Dab I am afraid you ou will make me dislike you in the end It is women like you women who pretend to be good women who make men believe all women are either fools tools or vampires Oh AlIx Allx I 1 want him back I want him back I 1 realized that she had not heard a word that I had been saying but I an answered answered an- an ered roughly Well you will have hard work getting him back He sailed three hours ago for tor the other end of ot the world and no one knows when he will como back I think he is saying saying- I in his own heart that be ho will remain I Ia a away way forever I Babs Bab's eyes opened wide She seemed I to h have ve lost the power to speak For Fora a moment I thought she was dying and then she dropped In a pathetic littie little lit lIt- i tie tle heap at my feet i Tomorrow Tomorrow-B Tomorrow Dab Bab Sends s a Message |