Show he w was a famous man who had lost himself aimse through fear but found corrai courage e in an inspiring womans comans wo mans 10 love ve mary roberts rinehart tells the story y WV T belleve believe that a girl sa s1 of eighteen should be thrust into a position where she immell TO H YOU y 6 us stay y has all of her ber illusions about life s smashed ached like a glass bowl a place where a I 1 she sees justice defeated and evil thrive where the good suffer and the weak are ex 9 plotted ed where little children pay heavily tor for the sins of their grandparents just rend this installment of K picking up the threads of the story you will recall that a strange and ch charming armini i I 1 young man ac K lemoyne becomes a roomer at the page home where sidney lier her mother anna and her old f i maid aunt harriet preside through the influence of dashing dr max wilson sidney goes to the hospital as 1 1 a probationary nurse minor characters in the story are dr ed wilson family friend christine lorenz her etchum chum who Is to marry palmer howe joe drummond her high school sweetheart katie the cool cook and char lotta harrison a nurse in love with doctor max who in turn is playing up to sidney it CHAPTER VII continued 6 all ail the small loose ends of her life frere ere gathered up except joe she bhe arodd uld have liked to get that clear too abe he wanted him to know how she felt tout out it all that she liked him as uch nuch as ever that she did not want 0 o hurt him but she wanted to make I 1 it t dear clear too that she knew now that r bhe e would never marry him she rh ought she would never marry but f she did it would be a man doing a mans ans work in the world her eyes arned ed wistfully to the house across 4 ha e street K N s lamp still burned overhead but tl s restless tramping about had ceased 4 ae a must be readi reading fig he read a great 15 leal deal she really ought to go to bed A neighborhood cat came stealthily cross across the street and stared up at the little ittle balcony with green glowing eyes came come on bill tatt taft she said lt c come on ti joe drummond passing the house i for the fourth time that evening aheard heard her voice and hesitated uncertainly on the pavement joe come in its late rd id better get home y the misery in his voice hurt her ill not keep you long I 1 want to wk ik to you he came slowly toward her K well he said hoarsely why you been to see me if I 1 have done anything l her voice was tingle a with virtue and outraged friendship fa you done anything but show me where I 1 get off he sat down on the edge of the balcony and stared out blankly S it if the way you feel about lt it tm im not blaming you I 1 was a tool fool to think ever care about me 1 I 1 dont know that I 1 feel so bad about ae the thing ive been around seeing some our girls and I 1 notice glad to see me and treat me right too there was boyish bravado in his voice but what makes me sick to Is to have everyone saying youve jilted d me good gracious I 1 why joe I 1 never promised well we look at it in different ways all I 1 took it for a promise then suddenly all his carefully conserved indifference fled ile he bent forshe I 1 J 7 opened it with excited fingers ward quickly and catching her hand hem held it against his ups lips im 11 crazy about t you sidney tte the M truth I 1 wish I 1 could die III 1 the cats cat finding ending no active antagonism UP sprang up on the balcony and grubbed rubbed against the boys quivering 4 B ders a breath of air stroked the morning glory vine ine like the touch of a friendly endly hand sidney facing for the kimt time the enigma of love and de calr sat rather frightened in her chair you yon dont mean that thail ill 1 I moan mean it all right it if it for the folks s rd fd jump in the river I 1 ailed when I 1 said rd id been to see other tans what do I 1 want with other girls cirla levant youl I 1 this Is wild silly talk te tc i sorry wy h 7 narrow arow 19 its the truth doggedly but lie he made a clutch at his self respect he was acting like a crazy boy and he was a man all of twenty two I 1 when are you going to the hospital PT tomorrow Is that Wil wilsons sons ho hospital yes alas for his resol resolve vel 1 the red haze of jealousy came again ayoun be seeing him every day I 1 suppose 1 I dare say I 1 shall also be seeing twenty or thirty other doctors and a hundred or so men patients not to mention visitors joe youre not rational no he be said heavily tm rm not it its got to be someone sidney id rather have it the roomer upstairs than wilson theres a lot of 0 talk about wilson it necessary to malign my friends he rose wilson had better look out TO PH be watching it if I 1 see him playing any of his tricks around you well hed better look out 1 I that as it turned out was joes farewell ile he had reached the break ing point he gave her a long look blinked and walked rapidly out to the street some of the dignity of his retreat was lost by the tact fact that the cat followed him close at his heels sidney was hurt greatly troubled she even shed a tear or two very surreptitiously and then being human and much upset and the cat startling her by its sudden return she shooed it off the veranda and set an imaginary dog after it whereupon feeling somewhat better she went in find and locked the balcony window and proceeded upstairs le light was still g going the rest of the household slept she pa paused used outside the door are you sleepy sleep yI very softly there was a movement inside the sound of a book put down then no indeed 1 I may not see you in the morning I 1 leave toni tomorrow orrow 11 just a minute from the sounds she judged that he was putting on his shabby gray coat the next moment he had opened the door find and stepped out into the corridor 1 I believe you had forgot forgotten tent 1 III 1 I certainly not I 1 started downstairs a while ago but you had a visitor only joe drummond he gazed down at her quizzically and is joe more reasonable ho he will be he knows that I 1 that I 1 shall not marry him poor chap hell buck up of course but its a little hard bard just now when do you leave just after break breakfast fasUl 1 I am going very early perhaps he hesitated then hurriedly 1 I got a little present for you nothing much but your mother was quite willing in fact we bought it together 11 he went back into his room and returned with a small box she opened it with mith excited fingers ticking away on its satin bed was a small gold watch need it you see ho he explained nervously A watch said sidney eyes on it A dear little watch hatchl to pin on and not put in a pocket why youre the best perso I 1 1 I was afraid you might think it presumptuous he said 1 I any right of charse and then your mother said you be offended dont apologize tor for making me so happy 1 she cried its wonderful really and the little hand Is for pulses 1 how many queer things you know I 1 after that she must pin it on and slip in to stand before his bis mirror and inspect the result it gave le moyne a queer thrill to see her there in the room among his books and his pipes it made him a little sick too in view of tomorrow and the thousand odd tomorrows when she would not bo be there kept you up shamefully she said bald at last and you get up so early I 1 shall write you a note from the hospital delivering a little lecture on extravagance trava gance because how can I 1 now with this joy shining on me and about how to keep katie in order about your socks and all sorts of things and and now good night moved to the door und and he followed her ito stooping a little to pass under the low chandelier good night said mid sidney goodby good by and god bless you she went out and he closed the door softly behind her CHAPTER vill VI it sidney never forgot her early impressions pres of the hospital although they were chaotic enough at first there were uniformed young women coming and going efficient cool eyed low of voice there were long vistas of shining floors and lines of beds there were brisk In ternes with duck clothes and brass buttons who eyed her with friendly patronizing glances there were bandages and dressings and great white screens behind which were played little or big dramas baths or deaths as the case might be and over all brooded blooded the mysterious authority of the superintendent of the training school dubbed the head for short twelve hours a day from seven to seven with the off duty intermission sidney labored at tasks which revolted her soul she swept and dusted the words wards cleaned closets folded sheets and towels rolled bandages did everything ery thing but nurse the sick which was what she had come to do at night she did not go home she sat on the edge of her narrow white bed and soaked her aching feet in hot water find and witch hazel bazel and practiced taking pulses on her own slender wrist with K LIS s little watch out of all the long hot days two i periods stood out oui clearly to be waited for and cherished one was when early in the afternoon with tho this ward in spotless order the shades drawn against the august sun the tables covered with their red covers find and the only sound the drone of the bandage machine as sidney steadily turned it doctor max passed the door on his way to the surgical ward beyond and gave her a cheery greeting at these times kidneys Sid heart beat almost in time with the ticking of the little watch the other hour was at twilight when work over tor for the day the night nurse with her rubber soled shoes and tired eyes and jangling T keys having reported and received the night orders the nurses gathered in their small parlor for prayers it was months before sidney got over the exaltation of that twilight hour and never did it cease to bring her healing and peace in a way it crystallized for her what the days work meant charity and its ats sister service the promise of rest and peace into the little parlor filed the nurses and knelt folding their tired hands the lord Is my shepherd read the head out of her worn wor n bible 1 I shall not want and the nurses he mabeth me to lie he down in green pastures he me beside the still waters and so on through the psalm to the assurance at the end and I 1 will dwell in the house of the lord forever now and then there was a death behind one of the white screens it caused little change in the routine of the ward A nurse stayed behina the screen and her work was done by the IL others liers when everything was over the time was recorded exactly on the alio reco record rd arid and the body was tit taken en away at first it seemed to sidney that slie she could not stand this nearness to death she thought the nurses hard because they took it quietly then she found that it was only stoicism resignation that they had learned these things must be and the work must go on their philosophy made them no less tender some such patient detachment must be that of the angels who keep the great record on her first sunday halt balf holiday she was tree free in the morning and went to church with her mother going back to the hospital after the service so it was two weeks before she saw le moyne again even then it was only tor for a short time christine and palmer howe came in to see her and to inspect the balcony now finished but sidney and le moyne hall had a few words together first there was a change in sidney le moyne was quick to see it she was a trifle subdued with a puzzled look la in her blue eyes her mouth was tender as always but he thought it drooped N there was ii a new atmosphere of wistfulness about the girl that made his heart ache they were alone in the little parlor with its brown lamp and blue silk shade K never smoked in tho the parlor but by sheer force of habit lie held the pipe in ills his teeth and how have things been going asked sidney practically your steward has little to rep report crt aunt harriet who left you her love has had the complete ord order er f tor r the e lorenz trousseau I 1 tho thought ug lit id ask k you about the veil were rather in a quandary do you like this new fashion of draping the veil tell from from behind behind the coiffure in the back sidney had been sitting on the edge of her chair staring there she said ji 1 I knew it this house Is fatal making an old woman of you already her tone was tragic ile he sucked calmly at his dead pipe katie has a new prescription recipe tor for bread it has more bread and fewer airl ai ioles one cake of yeast sidney sprang to her feet its perfectly terrible she cried because you rent a room in this house Is no reason why you yon should give up your personality and your your intelligence li gence mother says you water the flowers every morning and lock up the house before you go to bed I 1 I 1 never meant you to adopt the family f IL removed his pipe and gazed earnestly into the bowl bill taft has had kittens under the porch he said and the grocery inan e I 1 making an old woman ol of you already has been sending short weight weve bought scales now and weigh everything you are evading the question dear child I 1 am doing these things because I 1 like to do them for tor for some time ive been floating and now ive got a home sidney gazed helplessly at his imperturbable face he seemed older than she had recalled him the hair over his ears was almost white and yet he was just thirty that was palmer howes age and palmer seemed like a boy but he held himself more erect than he had in the first days of his occupancy of the second floor front and now he said cheerfully what about yourself youve lost a lot of 0 illusions of course but perhaps youve gained ideals a step life observed sidney with the wisdom of two weeks out in the world life Is a terrible thing K we think weve got it and its got us undoubtedly when I 1 think of how simple I 1 used to think it all was I 1 one grew up and got married and and perhaps had children and when one got very old one died lately ive been seeing that life really consists of exceptions children who dont grow up and grownups grown ups who die before they are old anai an d this took an effort but she looked tit at him squarely land and people who have children but are not married it all alt rather hurts all knowledge that Is worthwhile hurts in the getting sidney got up and wandered around the room touching 16 its little familiar objects with tender hands K N watched her there was this curious element in his bis love tor for her that when lie was ans with her it took on the guise of friendship and deceived even himself it was only in lonely hours that it took on truth became a hopeless yearning for the touch of her hand or a glance from her clear eyes there Is something else she said absently 1 I cannot talk it over with mother there is a girl in the ward A patient yes she is quite pretty she has haa had typhoid but she Is a little better ashes not a good person 19 1 I sm see at first I 1 bear to go new her I 1 shivered when I 1 had bad to straighten her bed I 1 im being very frank but ive got to talk this out with someone I 1 worried a lot about it because although at first I 1 hated bated her now I 1 dont I 1 rather like her she looked at ac K defiantly but there was no disapproval in his eyes |