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Show THE TIMES-NEW- iNNtRS N HEAVEN PART FOUR By CLIVE ARDEN Continued. 17 Copyright IV To Barbara, that evening seemed her false position Intolerable. She craved yet dreaded, the morrow when she could talk with Hugh. Once by themselves, the women's tongues buzzed over their coffee cups concerning the latest local scandal. Mrs. Rochdale proceeded with a garrulous account of a housemaid treasury 'possessing all the virtues, In wnose room four empty whisky bottles had been found, during her absence on holiday! As she had been a frequenter of temperance meetings and had taken the pledge, this was in Itself a terrible sin, even though she had never been seen drunk. Whether to allow her to return, or to write and denounce her forthwith, exercised her mistress' simple mind to the exclusion of sleep. . . . iftter much discussion. It was decided to ask the vicar. The girl shrank Into her chair, sick at heart, old talks with Alan In her mind. What key, she wondered, did these people use In substitution for the true one given to the world and lost again? "Charity suffereth long and Is kind." they read glibly; or "He that Is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone." What did half tue rigiueous souis, juuging everyooay In their own smug conception of Christianity, know of temptation, sin, the meaning of the word love with all Its manifold consideration, understanding, sympathy. . . . "My dear," broke In old Mr. Rochdale's voice, as he seated himself beside her, "we must bring back the roses Into your cheeks!" He took her hand and patted It. "You mustn't brood over the past. It was a terrible experience terrible! But It's all over now. Forget it, Barbara, like a bad dream, and cheer up again." The words were, to the girl, like blades of steel thrust into sore bleeding wounds. "Over. . . , Forget !" They seemed to reverberate In her mind, and her very soul turned sick and faint as, gripping the arms of her chair, she heard her mother's voice: "Her time will soon be full again tjntll her wedding, with all her old duties Then Hugh came up and chatted. In his usual cheery way, and somebody played and sang. . . , But all the time those two words beat upon her brain. God! was It true? Was this net once more to capture her? Was this nightmare to become the reality, and the splendid real all the very es sence of life to fade Into the dream? The morning was cold and bright. After a pretense at breakfast, she put on her coat, Hugh not being expected before lunch, and her mother not yet Bever-endln- sub-key- br The Bobbs-Merrt- ll Co. tures, all the past rose up and enveloped her: the comfortable English room faded. . . . Once more. In a hut, she prepared strange food for her mate, ever and anon running to look for his return, seeing little black figures at play on the sand. . . . And presently he came striding down the sunny slope, fresh from a dip In the river, laden with fruit, his dear eyes searching for her. . . . She hurried to meet him, taking some of his burden. . . . Again she felt the warm touch of his Hps, heard the laughter In his voice as be made some teasing remark. The ringing of a bell brought her sharply back to reality, the sudden cruel contrast cutting her like a whip. With a low moan she sank upon a couch, throwing herself face down ward among the cushions, her lips pressed to the unresponsive portrait. Despair again clutched her In its re morseless claws. . . . She lav inert In her blind tearless abandonment, oblivious to all things. . . . The opening door and quick foot steps crossing the room did not dis turb her. At the touch of an arm about her shoulders she started vio lently and raised a drawn face. Hugh stood beside her, consternation in his far-awa- y ... eyes. 'Bab !" he exclaimed, shocked by her expression. "My dearest! what ever Is the matter?" She sat slowly upright, the portrait still clasped with both nrms, regarding him dumbly. managed to get away this morn ing Martha said you were here " he stammered. "What Is it, Bab? I I thought something was wrong " It occurred to her that anybody less stupidly dense and unimaginative would have guessed the truth long ago. Then, swiftly chasing the thought. came the knowledge that It was his genuine simple trust In her and all "I - " now "You mean " he asked again huskily, as her voice faltered. "Croft?" She nodded. The color ebbed still more from his cheeks, and he laid a hand on her arm. "But my poor Bab! he is dead " "Oh. I know ! I know !" She clasped her hands in anguish. "But you shall hear all the truth, Hugh It is your due. He I he was my husband." Hugh started violently and dropped his hand. She stood motionless before him. For several long moments the ticking of a little clock and the crac kling of the fire were the only audible sounds. In his slow fashion, the man was trying, gropingly, to adjust facts. "But" he began at last, "I don't understand I You were only together a few weeks before the wreck. Where did you get married? Why didn't somebody write? I don't understand, he repeated, bewildered. "I thought you disliked him." She looked silently Into his agitated face. It was evident that tha truth was still far from his grasp. "Hughle," she said very quietly, "It was impossible to write. We were not married during the trip not until we had been on the Island for over a year." He gazed at her, speechless, his be wilderment gradually changing to dis may and dawning horror. "On the island? For a year?" he echoed. "But how on earth could you get married " Suddenly the blood rushed to his temples and the horror grew and deepened. He caught her arm, gripping It fiercely. "You you don't mean my God ! Barbara that you you, of all people and Abruptly he swung her arm free, his face blazing as she had never seen It. The swine! the the rotten swine!" he choked, at a loss for words. "I trusted him. He gave me his word ' "And he kept It," she cried quickly. He faced her, something nearer to a sneer than she hnd ever seen curling his lips. "In what way? By betraying the greatest trust one man can put In another? By dragginij ytm down " "Be quiet. Hugh !" The anger In her voice silenced him. He turned away, dazed. Sinking upon the couch, he covered his face with his hands. The girl was trembling with Indig nation. Her back to the room, she struggled with the hot anger seething within until her woman's understand ing won the victory. Then she turned round. "It was my doing," she said. "Your doing?" He sprang to his feet and walked about agitatedly, "What d'you mean? You were not the For God's sort of girl to encourage sake, explain everything!" "He kept his word to you," she re peated. "He saved my life at the risk of his own. In every possible way he looked after my safety and comfort nobody could have done more. Although he cared all the time, I never even guessed It I He he thought I belonged to yon." She paused, shading her eyes. good-nature- d - e "I care for you as much as ever," she went on hurriedly, seeing the look on his face. "But It was never love! I have learned that, Hugh. I know Croft" A g ing. 1 down. craving for freedom from stone walls, for vigorous action, had seized her. The cold air stinging her face, the wind buffeting her skirts, dulled momentarily the agony within. The lake glistened in the sunshine; here and there sprigs of ling still showed purple amid the russet of dead heather and bracken upon the common ; the white sandy paths were crisp with frost. At the corner where the lane Joined the main road, she paused. Here, she and that other had first met. With exquisite pain, memories of those faroff first encounters seethed Into her mind. She saw again the smile upon his lips; remembered Ms tensing words and her own annoy ance, after speaking of her heart's de sire. . . . umiersuHiu, as sue turned hurriedly away, how, from the first, those keen eyes had read Into her heart, penetrating to wlmt she was but vaguely conscious of herself. . . Her heart's desire? Ah, how changed 1t nil was now how changed. . . Since treading last these familiar, tieethery paths, a lifetime seemed to have elapsed. She looked hack with wonder upon the Inexperienced girl dimly yearning after an Intangible something beyond the daily port . ion. . I'reseritly she turned her steps to the house where so many happy hours had been spent. The garden looked deserted now, the tennis court frost tiound and dreary. But the housiv fcecper welcomed her warmly; and the few school teachers Installed there for Christmas holidays looked at her with riJrlosity. She hurried away, up fo Mm, Field's little den. Its owner being one of those whose ar Tlvnls ever had the charm of unexpect edness, the room had a cheerful fire and wns fragrant with hothouse flow ers. As Barbara looked round at the velvet cur huff wnlls and deep-blutains, the soft chairs built for comfort and shelves stacked with books, other memories of confidential chats and rozy tens caused her again to realize the gulf yawning between herself and the girl of long ago. She turned to the book shelves, then walked restlessly bark to the fire. . All at once she rnnght, with a little ry, at the back of a chair, ns her frlnnce fell upon 'he writing table. For the eyes she loved and had lost met her own. with the old straight pen etrntlnft look. . , . She ran forward He and nicked up the photograph. wore the uniform of an air force officer, and'Pta face wns set In the lines of doeged stubbornness when unpleasant huslnens was afoot, which she knew well. . . . The vlvl.l likeness was bittersweet "It's a d d iwlsann get It done! h could almost hear the thought she read behind the grim lips. . . . Then, the gazed upon the familiar fea then claimed her for his own, by the only bonds which constitute, real possession of a woman. There may be other lawful ties, honorably recognized and adhered to; but, whether near In physical presence, or sundered by countless miles of sea and land, even by death Itself, only the man to whom a woman's heart belongs holds her In true possession. None other can turn the key which unlocks the real fountains of her soul. Hugh did not tear the cardboard to After a few moments' fragments. pregnant silence, he laid It upon a table and followed the girl to the window. His face was pale, and his voice toneless. "You mean, Bab that " "I I can never marry you." He caught at a chair, but said noth- Then Hugh Came Up and Chatted. s his which blinded him. Suspicion was as foreign to his honest nature as subtle changes were beyond his ken. She recognized, with a warm rush of sympathy, that her affection for this old companion remained unchanged ; she alone was to blame for mistaking It for anything more, with the Inevitable suffering she was about to cause. She stretched out her band ; and he took It In both of his. "Hughle! Everything Is wrong." "Tell me all about It." he urged, sitting beside her. "We can probably put things right between us." She shook her head, with a catch of her breath ; then drew her hand gently free again. "I'm I've got to hurt yon horribly. Oh! my dear! I can't bear doing It." Rising Impulsively, she walked to the window and back, her face working with emotion. "Can't you guess. Hugh? Can't you realize that that everything la different, now?" she cried, looking straight Into his bewildered face. Apprehension was spreading over his features. His brown eyes, with their dawning sense of trouble, resembled that of a faithful dog not understanding the meaning of some unexpected chastisement. The girl could not bear to see It. She looked Involuntarily down at what was still clasped to her breHsL Ills glance followed hers, and the apprehension deepened. what?" he "Guess muttered. "What's lhat. I'.abT A photograph T He suddenly stepped She nodded. toward her. "Whose? What I oh, lord! Tell me straight I" It was the cry of one upon the borderland of tragic discovery. Feeling executioner who let like an the n full upon the qnlverlng neck of his victim, ending the hopes and affections of a lifetime, she silently handed him the photogrnph, and again turned to the window. I,ooklng with unseeing eyes at the frosty landscape, her thoughts reverted to a curiously similar scene In the past, wherein the situntlon was reversed. Hugh's portrait had played Its part In that little drama. Alan, she remem ve- lth characteristic bered, had, Bemence, torn It Into shreds. . , fellow-creature- old-tim- e "Then" "Months went by, and no rescue Then I oh, Hughle, I couldn't help It I realized I loved hlra, and and he knew It, too. . . . We meant to wait and tell yon. But months pnssed again, and the position You can't underbecame Impossible. stand here. But there we had to face facts quite differently from ordinary standpoints to make our own laws. At He left the decision to me. last, after months again of struggle and uncertainty I became convinced thnt It would he right to make our own marriage, too" She touched her "This wns the only ring he finger. bad." Her words went Into silence. A faint relief replaced the look of horror In Hugh's face. To an essentially clean-llvlnBritish sportsman, the Idea of wantonness between the girl he loved snd the man he bad trusted wns unbearable. That hnsty Judgment was contradicted by her words. He could not, as she surmised, clearly comprehend the magnitude of the forces to be contended with opon the Island, sny more thnn a man learning swimming strokes In still water can realize ths difficulties to be encountered, by the sntue movements, out In the oen sea. I'.ut the simplicity of her explanation, offering no excuses, brought with It the force of truth. Evidently, however Incomprehensibly, each hnd nctpd In accordance with deeply weighed convictions. . . . This wns Hugh's first plunge Info such complications: be wns utterly lost, adrift from every mooring. came. ... g c NEPIH, UTAH S, Barbara, watching him, half held out behaved honorably, I should not have loved him as I did. Surely yon believe that, Hugh?" Mechanically he took her hand. "Oh, lord !" he ejaculated. "What a mess It all Is!" "It's hell for me!" she exclaimed, a bitter agony In her voice that startled him. Ha looked at her strangely. woman who amazed. This tragic-eyehad suffered so much, learning to love with such fierce intensity, was far removed from his old girlish companion. He 'felt In a turmoil : full of pity for her,, though still half incredulous. chaotically uncertain of his feelings toward Croft. Dropping her hand, he picked up the photograph once more. Then the full realization of his own loss to be faced for the second time-sur- ged up In his heart, as he looked at the pictured face. He put It down hurriedly, and passed his hard across his forehead. "It's a d d world now for us both, Bab ! I I'd better go It has rather bowled me over " He turned away. stumbling a little. "It will be such a blow to the old people," he muttered huskily. The girl watched him, helplessly, with aching heart. As he reached the door, ghe caught the suspicious glint of misery In his eyes which seemed to break down all barriers. Her defensive attitude melted into sympathy, as Ice melts at the touch of hot coals. In her Impulsive way she ran to him and seized the lapels of his tweed coat. "Hughie !" she cried, tears raining unheeded down her cheeks. "Forgive me! I couldn't help It. It It breaks my heart to hurt you like this." His hands closed upon ber arms, but he could not speak. "I couldn't bear to betray your "Believe me. trust," she sobbed. Hughle, I tried not to I tried to keep loyal to you " "Oh !" he Interrupted vehemently, "don't make it harder. D'you suppose I should have wanted you to marry nie from duty? out of loyalty?" He paused, regarding her thoughtfully for a moment. "There's one thing, Bab " "Yes?" "When you tell your mother or anybody of things being over between us, don't mention your marriage! They won't understand, and It will be rough for you." She threw back her bead, with something of Alan's old arrogance, and drew away. "I know you mean that kindly, Hugh ; but It's impossible ! It would seem as If I were ashamed. It would be implying that our convictions were wrong." "People are not overcharitable about here, as you know," he urged. "You may both have acted according to your convictions, and they may have been right ; but all the same It was and They will simply throw mud at you and especially hlni I Bab," he came back to her, speaking with unusual Insistence, "I can't btv.r For my to think of you facing that sake, as well as your own and his, don't tell them." She remained silent. The truth c,f his words, as applied to Alan, struck her forcibly. The contemplation of his name suffering calumny had already, thnt morning, proved unbearable. "It would be an awful trouble to your mother and my old people," he added, with his usual thoughtfulness. "They will be upset, as It Is. And they couldn't understand." She suddenly turned and caught his shoulders. "Hughle! do you?" she asked earnestly. "Ah! you must! I can't lose your faith, too." Then he acted In a manner thnt astonished them both. Passion and a sense of the dramatic had ever been far from his nature. Involuntarily, however, his fingers closed around her wrists. Raising her hands, he pressed his lips upon them. "Heaven knows what was right or wrong," he declared hurriedly. "But oh. my dear! God help you!" The door slammed, and he was gone from her life this man who hnd been friend and brother, playmate or lover, all her youth. . , . She stood gazing drearily through the window at the desolate tennis court, where they had played so often together, and an extra wave of lonely bitterness swept Into her heart. , . . She saw Hugh, with bent head, cross the grass to the gar Then she sank Into den gate a chair before the Are, crushed by an overpowering sense of physical weakness. rrnrtn i asm 1 j t ar " ' 27 i s - - . 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Verbal DlElM I P N U C a A 5 I TCTl COT NuRcriclOD A pie AlS Lj AINE N T ta tMga p ac t 3venp1Et NIC EE 5 JS M A H A R A ERMEFp T A MHE Th CS 1,3a TjDjTEj m p I'TSJa t t ac muV NrllglF- L oKs fLo A T I i i - THS 3 L. I b uN A 5 N T S I O R T C N Er. ,jw p rA Stlt' cwlj cw ttly WC sJe" n I M Q (5 A R . JyIop i.sj jjtffTEl PIE RHL Tl Ntjf P Mg uT S gj A TU CSC T AR" p P t WllU C - CI U K T i IN I I ETT N Forgive URSERY RHYME UZZLE4 (TO BE CONTINUED.) "Chameleon Lake" that the water of many lakes exhibits characteristic colors. Lake Geneva, at the western end of Switzerland, Is blue, while Lake Constance, at the eastern end of that country. Is green. Blueness Implies purity, since the natural color of water Is blue. A green lake has Its water slightly clouded with Impur ities. It Is said that green lakes sometimes become absolutely colorless for a time, and It has been found that this sudden change of hue Is due to the washing Into the lakes of mud colored red by oxide of Iron. Red Is complementary to green, and the result of the mixture is that the green color of the wnter becomes tot the time being neutralized. It Is well known Wig' (VINE shoe Hurry up your dressing, my son John; Long Worn Wlirs date back 100.000 years. If the curious covering of a prehistoric woman's head carved In Ivory, found by M. I'lette In a cave In the Land', may be Interpreted U a wig f the Sluue age. off, and one shoe on, Breakfast is ready, steaming on the table, v If all MabeL 'twill don't to come soon, go you Find Mabel and the speaker. aid down back of head. rlght Upper left corner down along back. Uppe |