OCR Text |
Show 1 THE BELUGE Zfcr DAVID GRAHAM PimUP3,Auwof"77f,CasZlVc i laamZi-jT JSC& lylA SQtkS XEJ.Zi. ttryx'.? J CHAPTER XXIV. Continued An the Allnironit steamed Into tlio Utile harbor, I nan Man bray Lang don't ludolonio at anchur I glanced toward Btetibcn Point w hero hid cousins, the Vivians, lived anil thought I recognized Ills launch nt tht'Ir At Wo saluted the Indotenco: the Indolence saluted oa My launch wa piped away ami look me ashore I strolled along the path that wound round the base of the hill Inward the kennel At Hie crossing of the path down from the house, 1 iieused mid lingered on the glimpse of onii of the corner tower of the ureal show) palace I wot muttering something I lliitened In m)self It nan "Mill-holland "Mill-holland Mr Mulhollmid and the four 1 lltttn Mulhollands" And 1 felt Ilk laughing 'nloud, such n Joke was It that I should he envjlng n jiollreinnti Ilia potato patch nnd 111" fat wife nml hla four brain, and that he should bo In a position to pity me I You may be Imagining that, through all, Anttn had been dominating my mind That In the nay It In In the romance; but not In life. No doubt there are men who brood upon tho Impossible, nnd moou nnd maunder nwny their Uvea over tho grave of a dead lovo; no dortht (hero are ienplo who will ay that, because 1 did not hoot I.nngdon or her, or myself, or fly to a desert or poso In tho crowded places of tho world as the last scone nf a tragedy, I therefore cared little bout her I olfer them this suggos lion' A man strong enough to give i lure worth n woman's while Is strong enough to live on without her when he finds ha may not live with tier As I stood there that summer dnv looking toward the crest of the bill at the mocking mausoleum of my deai' dream, I realized what the Incessan' liattla of tho street had meant to mo There Is peace for mo only In th( atorin," said I. "nut, thank (iod, Ihcru Is peace for mo somewhere " Through tho foliage I bad glimpses of some ono coming slowly down tlio t glKtag'path. Presently, at ono of tlio luratagt half-way up the hill, appeared Mowbray Langdnn. "What Is ho doing do-ing horo." thought I, scarcely ablo to bellovo my e)es. "Here of all places!" And then I forgot tho strangeness nt Ills being at Dawn Hill In the strangeness strange-ness of his expression For It was n-luirent n-luirent even nt the distance which separated us, that ho was suffering from some great and recent blow Ho looked old nnd haggard lie wulked like u man who neither knows nor cares wliero he Is going He hud not seen me nnd in) Impulse Im-pulse wits to avoid him by continuing 1 on toward the kennels 1 hud no es peclal feeling against htm I had not lost Anita because she cared for him or he for her, but because she did not caro for mo simply that to meet would be uwkward, disagreeable for us both At tho slight nnlso of my movement to go on, ho halted, glanced round eagerly, as If be hoped the sound hud been made by sumo one he wished to see His glance fill on mo lie stopped short, was for an Instnnt disconcerted; then bis fnca lighted up with davllleh Joy. "You!" ho cried "Just tho man!" And ho descended moro rapidly. At first I could makn nothing of this remark. Hut as ho drew nearer nnd nearer, nnd his ugly mood became moro apparent, 1 felt that ho was looking look-ing forward to prooklng mo Into giving giv-ing him a distraction from whatovir was tormenting him I walled, A fow minutes and wo wero faro to face. I outwardly calm, but my anger slowly lighting up as ho deliberate!) applied to It tho torch of his Insolent eyes He was wearing his old familiar ulr of cynical assurance Hvldently, with Ms rocovorcd fortune, ho had rorov-I rorov-I I erod bis conviction of his greut superiority su-periority to tho rost of tho human ' raco tho child had climbed back on t tho chair that mado It tall and had ' forgotten Its tumble And I was won- jj riortng again that I, so short a time " before, had been crude enough to bo fascinated and fooled b thoso tawdry lioslngs and prelensos Tor tho man, as I now saw him, was obviously shal low and vain, a slave to those poor "ninn-of tho world" passions ostcntn Hon and cynicism and skill at vices old as mankind nnd tedious us a trend mill, Iho commonplnco routine, of tho Idle and foolish and purH)oea A (clovor, bnndsomo fellow, but tho moro pitiful that ho was by nature above the uses to which ho pro"iuted him Ho fought hard to keep his uvea sted lly on mine; hut they would waver and shift. Not, howover, before I hail found deep down In thorn the begin nlngs of foar. "You see, ou were mistaken," said I. "You have nothing to say to mo or I to you " Ho knew I had looked straight to the bottom of his real self, and had seen tho coward that Is In overy man who has boon bred to appearances July Up roso his vanity, the coward's sub . stltuto for courago "You think I nm afraid nf you''" he I sneered, blufflng and blustering like tho school bulk i ' I don't In the b ml tare whetln r )ou aio or not trilled I VAhm bio ou doing here an how It wus as If I had thrown off the cover of n furnace I came to gi t the woman 1 hue," he cried "You store her from mo! You tricked me! Hut, by (lod, lllacklock, I'll never pause un III I get Imr back nnd punish you!" Ho was bravo enough now, drunk with tho fumes from his brave words "All my life" he raged arrogantly on, "I've hnd whalever I wanted I've let nolb lug Interfere --nothing- and nobody I've been too forbearing with )ou tint, because I knew she could never care for you and, then, beonuse 1 rather admired )our pluck and Impudence Impu-dence I like to see fellows kick their way up among us from tho common people " I put in) hand on bis shoulder. No doubt the fiend that roso within me, ns from the dead, looked at him from my )oh Ho has great physical strength, but ho winced under that weight nnd grip, nnd across bis face tinted the terror tint must ciuno to any man nt first sense of being In the angry clutch of one stronger thun he 1 slowly ro-lensodUilm ro-lensodUilm I had tested and realized m) ph)slcal superiority; to uso It would be cheap and cowardly. "You can't provoke, mo to descend to your level," said I, with tho easy philosophy phil-osophy of him who clearly has tho bet tur of the argument. Ho was shaking from head to foot, not with terror, but with Impotent rnge How much we owe to accident' Tho moro accident of my physical su porlorlty had put him at hopeless disadvantage; dis-advantage; had made him feel Inferior to mo ns no victory of montnl or moral superiority could possibly have done And I m)solf felt a greater con tempt for him than the discovery of bis treachery and his shallowness had together Inspired, "I shan't Indulgo In flapdoodle," I went on. "I'll bo frank A soar ago, If uny man bad fared me with u claim upon a woman who was married to me, I'd probably have dealt with him as )our vanity nnd what )ou call 'honor' would force you to try to deal with u . similar situation Hut I live to learn, nnd I'm fnrtunutely, not afraid to fol low a now light There Is the vault) of so called honor; there Is ulso the demand of Justice of fair ploy As I have told her. bo I now tell you she Is free to go Hut I shall say one thing to you that I did not any to her If you do not deal fairly with her, I shall see to to It that there are ten thorns to over)' rose In that bed of rose on which )ou lie You are contemptible In many ways perhaps that's wh) women like you Hut there must be some good In you, or osslbllltles of good or )ou could not have won and kept her lovo' lln was staring at mo with n dazed j etprtwttnn I rather expected Mm to show some of that amused contempt with which men of hit tort always receive a new Idoa that I beyond the range of their narrow, conventional mtnds For I did not exwet blm to undei stand why I was nut on I) willing, will-ing, but even eager to rellnunlah Woman whom I could hold only by asserting a pmpertv right In her. And I do nut think he did under stand me, though his manner changed to a sun of grudging respect lie wnx I Inline, alxiut to make tome Impulsive generous speech, when we heard the quick strokes of Iron-ehod hoof on the pnth from the kennels and the stables Is there any sound more arresting I'ast us at a gallop swept a horse mi bit liark Anltn Hhe was not In riding habit the wind fluttered the sleeves of her blouse, blew her uncovered hair this way and that about her beautiful face Hhe sped on toward the landing, though t fancied she had seen us Anita nt Dawn 1 1 111 Ijingdon, In a furious temHr. descending from tho house toward the landing Anita presently, pres-ently, riding like mad "to overtako lilni," thought I And I reail confirmation confirma-tion In his triumphant eyes In nn-other nn-other mood, I tupixwu in) fury would have been berotid in) power to re strain It Just then the day grew dark for me, and I wanted to hid' awav somewhere Heart tick, I was nsbamed for her, haled mjiwlf for having blundered Into surprising her She renppeaied at the turn round which she had vanished I now noted that she wns riding without saddle or bridle, with only n halter round the horse's neck then she bud seen us, had slopped and comu back ns soon as she could Hhe dropped from tho horse, looked swiftly at me nt him, nt me again, with Intense anxiety 'I saw )our yacht In the harbor only u moment ago," she said lo me Hhe was almost panting "I feared )ou might meet him Ho I came" "At jolt ace, ho Is qulto Intact," said t "I must ask that you nnd ho leave tho placo at once," And I went wSmmW-- "HOW TIIT IIOUIHIII.K KHAR ClIAN'OKl) MT WIIOt.E WAT OU I.OOKINU AT IIKII, AT HIM. AT KKmT!lKuiB AT V rapidly along tho path toward tho kcnhcls. An exclamation from Langdon forced mo to turn In spite of myself. He was half kneeling, was holding her In his arms. At that sight, tho auv-age auv-age In me shook himself frco. I dashed toward them with I know not what cursct bursting from mo, Lang-don, Lang-don, Intent upon hor, did not rcallzo until I sent him reeling backward to the earth and snatched hor up, Ilor whlto faco, her closed oye, hor limp form mado my fury Instantly oollnpsu, In my confusion I thought that sho wns dead I laid her gently on tho grass and supported hor head, so small, so gloriously crowned, tjio face so still and tweet and whlto, Ilko tho stainless entranco to a stainless shrlno. How that horrible fear changed my whole way of looking at her, nt him, at her and him, nt everything' every-thing' Her e)ellds were quivering hor eye wero owning her bosom wns rising and falling slowl) as sho drew long, uncertain breaths Sho sliud dered. sat up, started up '(Jo! go!" shu orled IfHng him hack! Ilrlcg him back! Ilrlng him" There shq recognized me "Oh," sho said, and gave a great Blgh of relief Hhe loaned against a tree and looked nt Ijtngdon "YoM oro still hero' Then tell him " Langdon gazed sullenly at tho ground I can't," ho answered. "I I don't bclloto It flesldcs ho hot i jj Blv Vn 'o me, Let us go Ut we j'l m.'i to the Vlvlana" He hrev? lit h.s aina In a wild, pa ,,BJjrs' r'- h """ ulterl) unlike MmtfjlJ u ..motion burst thronxh and tjlji 1..1 peso and cynicism ane" h"r,ll'r' '' ''lnhnea like the ex plodl I r bursting the shell I ntitll v i up nlta' hi x clalmfllli i i me of utter desperation 'I call l ,1, f lint I i wns all this time stead lly on, i. if ale feared I would go, should" i H.k ownj I will tell you mJiY be snid. rapldh to me "Wo tm , Inward and I lead In the pafi In t.,-- had all turned against i nuil he brought me over here lit linn been telegraphing for you Tbl morning he went to town to search or vim About an hour ago l.nngilon nm I refuted to see him, im 1 hateliiir since the time I told you nbottt m Alvn He persisted, until nt Im I had the servant request lillll to l e the house" "Hut so there's no longer any reason for umr slaying Anita ' he pleaded.! b has said )n are free Why stay ln yon would really no more bo i thnn If you were lo go, leaving on' o( your empty dresses'" Bha lil tit for an Instnnt taken her gam ! nm me; and to ttrtnge wero hef is to compelling, that I seemed uillt lo move or speak Hut now fee rebased me to blase MKin hlm-Unil never shall I forget any detail o! her face or voice at tho said to lilirt' That I false. Mow. bray iJingdsn I told yon the truth when t told ou I loed him"' Bo violent was hei emotion that sho had to Jtuse for tell control And I? I ws overwhelmed dated, stunned When she went on, sho was looking at neither of us "Yes, I loved him almost from the flrttt from thn day he enme lo tho box nt the races I was ashamed, poor crea luro tlmt my parents hnd mado me! I wns nshnmM of It And I tried In hato him, awl thought I did And when ho showed mo that he no longet enrod, my pHds goaded mo Into thn folly of trying to listen to )ou Hut I loved him moro than evor. And as you nnd ho attad here, 1 am ashamed again ashamei that I wa evor so blind nnd Ignotant nnd prejudiced at to compare him with" tho looked at iJingdon "wltk you Do yon bellovo mo now nowjliat I luimblo myself boforo him hen In your presence" I should liavs had no heart at all If I had not Ml pity for him lilt faco was gray, and on It were thoso signs of age Oat strong emotion brings to lh surface nrter 40 "You could bars, convinced me In no other way," ti replied, after u silence, si-lence, and In volco I should not havo rccognlind, Hllcnco agajrii. Presently ha raised hit head, nndvtlh something of Ids old cynicism bowed to hor. "You hart nvonged much and many," said be. "I havo often bad a presentiment that my day of vrrnth would come Ho lifted til hat, bowed nt mo with-out with-out looking at mo, and, drawing the tatters of Ids pose still further over his wounds, moved nway townnl tho landing. I, still In a stupor, watched him until un-til ho had disappeared. When I turned to tier, tho dropped her eye I'nclo Howard will bo back this afternoon," Mid tho. "If I may, I'll stay at tho bouso until ho come to tako me" A weary, half suppressed algh escaped from her. I know how tho must bo reading my silence, hut I was still unable to speak. Hhe went to tho horse, browsing near by; sho stroked bis muizle. Mngerlngly tho twined hor flngcra la hit mano, at If about to tprlng to hit back! That reminded remind-ed mo of a thousand and ono changes In her llltls changes, each a trifle In Itself, )et, taken all together, making mak-ing a complete transformation "I.ol me help you," I managed to tay. And I bent, and mado a stop of my hand Hhe touched hor fingers to my shoulder, set her narrow, graceful toot upon my palm Hut tho did not rite, I glanced up, sho wns gazing wistfully wistful-ly down at me. "Women havo lo learn by exporlouco Just ns do men," said she. forlornly. "Yet men will not tolornte It " I suppose I must suddenly havo looked what I was unablo to put Into words for her eyes grow vory wide, nnd, wh a cry that was a sigh and a sob, nnd a laugh and a caruss all In ono, sho slid Into my arms and her faco wus burning against mine, "Do you remember tho night at tho theater," she murmured, "when your lips almost touched my neckT 1 loved you then Illack Matt lllack Matt!" And t found volco; and tho horso wnndorcd awny Tho Hnd |