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Show -i l l llOVE and MARRIED lIFEl I tyy. Hie noted author J j i Ifflah MgQrlone Gibson ii j BESS MOR ELAND'S AMBITION .1 . -Is it any wpnder that I do not smile .' j often'." continued my nurse with a I rather wistful .'pmile. I looked at (her searchingly and 1 1 7 saw many things in her face that I i. never would have found had she not K ?" mid mo her story. There were the -3 Yi hitle dcc,) wrinkles at either side of , her mouth that spoke of soul-pain; i here was a habit of drooping: eyelids j I a? though to cover eyes that told too I much; and at times there was a quick Ii In-drawing of the lower Hp and a tight I t-htniping of the upper teeth upon it .J fe ilia made me feel fehe -was striving I , J; i. ith all her will-power to represse a r ner-ccaslng mental struggle agains; E :r fate. I; Observing these Ihings, I said to K hr. "Weil, at least you have lived! -t p Ii i our life has not been one great ex-' .M M panse of monotony. There must have fl i.fcn limes when, however buffeted fj .sou were, you could say to yourself. L. t At least I am the captain of my soul.'i IN "I'm proud of you, nurse, and I knowj i no" why you were so efficient. It is' vk b cause 'of the courage which you hae; courage wiucn i am arraid I : . J- - will never ho able to feel. I suppose j that little things never hurt you any j inorr." J ) Calmness and Poise Necessary j ; ' "01), my dear, my dear,' she said, 'k I i ' PVRV ,nat 'ou never arrive at the j Thi pjint of calmness and poise where you ,J rffP ran say to yourself, 'nothing and no i I fl ono ran '1U1L me materially,' you also pi l'.ivo reached the state where you J ,j must confess no one and nothing can J I fi "n you sreat Joy. Such immunity i to pain is only purchased at the price l ff of all joy, all pleasure. Tho only thing :i left that appeals to me Is work. I f'l M struggled over you, my dear. I almost rij 11 wrested you from death itself, andj -" rl when I saw you open your eyes and I Li initio the other day I had the nearest v ij thing to a thrill that I have had in it many months. I ra "The woman who is able to attune i ,'i l her emotions to groat happiness must fe; perforce sink her moods at times into ! I: the depths of sorrow. I must not talk t 1 to you any more of my futile existence ,'J Ii but jou asked for my story, and some- j ; way I had a feeling that you j jr were allowing' the little things in life 'J f; t0 nui't yo" too mlich." i' t, "It is the little annoyances of our $ !r everyday life," 1 answered, "that make "2 E tne modern martyrdom and who shall f ' ; ay that their continued prick does j I, not become in lime as torturing as the Si) K hair cloth shirt of the dark age or even tbn excruciating pain of ihe burning faggots themselves?" ! "Who is talking of excruciating pain j and burning faggots?" said Alice's gay voice. "Are you recalling the episode in Fox' 'Lives of Martyrs or arc you thinking of emulating one yoiysclf?" "Neither," I answered, "for who would choose to be a inariyr " Like a Big Pink Rose 'When she could lie there looking like a great pink rose among her sisters!" sis-ters!" "Alice, you must tell Karl he must not send me so many flowers." "Why not? It's good for him! 1 Ihink if he hadn't this way to express himself he would do something rash. I told him that he could pay lor all the flowers I sent you, and he seemed perfectly happy. The only stipulation he made was that I should keep your room aglow with them, and I'm going to do it!" "I don't know what John will think." I said. "He railed at your extravagance extrava-gance this morning." "What John thinks matters little to me," she said, with a scornful toss of her head. "But 1 wish I could shake him just the same. Then she stopped quickly, as though she had said something which she had not meant "What has John been doing now?" j I asked idly. I "Oh, he's, been letting Elizabeth I Morcland make a fool of him, as j usual." "Alice, do you think John would j rather be married to Elizabeth More-i land than to me?" "Nonsense! John wouldn't marry Elizabeth Morcland if she were the last woman in the world, and yet she is so clever in her appeal to his egotism ego-tism that he can not leave her alone. Elizabeth, my dear, is determined that she will wreck your life if need be to "hiarry John." "What do you mean, Alice?" Will Never Forget "Just exactly whut I say. I shall never forget her face tho day I told her the doctor thought you wouldn't recover. It was that of a malignant devil triumphant. And yet when John came into tlio room she was all sorrow and pity for him. However, she could not keep up the play very long, for she added in that silken voice of hers: "You will forgive me, John, if I say that you have not had Katherine long enough to miss her greatly.' I could not resist saying: 'Don't worry, Bess, John is soi"g. to have Katherine for. many years yet." 1 Tomorrow Alice and John j |