N'OllTlt I'LATTK SEMI-WEKICLY TRIBUNE.
The Magnificent Ambersons
VC Copyright br floubledar. rc
OHAPTER XIX Continued.
14
A month after Jicr denth he walked
abruptly Into Fanny's room, one night,
and found her at her desk, cngerly
adding columns of figures with which
ihe had covered several sheets of pn
per. "George I You startled me."
"I beg your pardon for not knock
ing," ho said huskily. "I didn't think."
She turned In her chair and looked
at him solicitously. "Sit down, George,
won't you?"
"Ko. I Just wanted "
"I could hear you walking up and
down In your room," said Fanny. "You
were doing It ever since dinner, nnd
It seems to mo you're at It almost
ovory evening. I don't bellcvo It's good
for you and I know It would worry
your mother terribly If she " Fan
ny hesitated.
"Seo here," Gcorfo said, breathing
fast, "I want to tell you once more that
what I 'did was right How could I
havo done anything else but what I
did do?"
"Oh, I don't pretend to Judge," Fan
ny said soothingly, for his voice and
gesture both partook of wlldness. "I
know you think you did, George."
" Think I did 1' " ho echoed violent
ly. "My God In heaven I" And ho
began to walk up and down tho floor.
"What elso was there to do? What
choice did I have? Was there any
other way of stopping tho talk?" Ho
stopped, closo In front of her, gestic
ulating, his volco harsh and loud:
"Was there any other way on earth
of protecting her from tho tnlk?"
Miss Fanny looked away. "It died
down before long, I think," she said
nervously.
"That shows I was right, doesn't It?"
tm cried. "If I hadn't acted as I did,
tint slanderous old Johnson woman
would have kept on with her slanders
oho'd still bo"
"No," Fanny Interrupted. "She's
Head. Sho dropped dead with apoplexy
bno day about six weeks after you
left. I didn't mention It In my let
ters because I didn't want X
thought "
"Well, tho other peoplo would havo
kept on, then. They'd havcj "
"I don't know," said Fanny, still
averting her troubled eyes. "Things
are so changed hero, George. Tho oth
er people you speak of one hardly
knows what's becomo of them. Of
course not a great many wcro doing
tho talking, nnd they well, somo of
them are dead, and some might as
well bo you never see them nny moro
and tho rest, whoovcr thoy were, aro
probably so mixed In with the crowds
of now peoplo that seem never even to
havo heard of us nnd I'm sure wo
certainly never heard of them nnd
peoplo seem to forget things so soon
they seem to forget anything. You
can't Imagine how things havo changed
kerot"
Gcorgo gulped painfully beforo ho
oould speak. "You you mean to Bit
thoro and tell mo that If I'd Just let
things go on Oh I" Ho swung away,
walking tho floor again. "I tell you
"1 Did the Right Thing, I Tell You."
1 41d the only right thing I
You think
; was wrong I"
"I'm not saying so," she said.
You did at tho tlraol" ho crlod.
Ton said enough then, I think. Well,
what havo you to say now, If you'ro
M sure I was wrong?"
"Nothing, George."
"It's only because you'ro afraid to I"
ka said, and ho went on with a sudden
Mttcr divination: "You'ro reproach
tag yourself with what you hnd to do
with all that; and you'ro trying to
wako up for It by doing and saying
what you think mother would want
you to, and you think I couldn't stand
it If I got to thinking I might have
done differently. Oh, 1 know! That's
exactly what's In your mind: you do
think I was wrong I So does Undo
George. I challenged lilin about It
tlio' other dny, sml liu Hnuwered Just
1 i
By BOOTH TARKINGTON
Company.
as you'ro answering cvndcd, and
tried to be gentle I I don't care to be
handled with gloves I I tell you I was
right, and I don't need nny coddling
by peoplo thnt think I wasn't! And
I suppose you bellcvo I was wrong not
to let Morgan see her that last night
when he came here, and she she was
dying. If you do, why In the name of
God did you coino nnd ask mo? You
could liavo taken him In ! She did
want to see him. She "
Miss Fanny looked startled. "You
think"
"Sho told me so !" And tho tortured
young man choked. "Sho said 'Just
once.' She said 'I'd llko to have seen
him Just oncel Sho mennt to tell
him good-bye I That's what sho
meant I And you put this on mc, too;
'you put this responsibility on mel
Rut I tell you, and I told Undo
George, that tho responsibility Isn't
nil mine! If you were so suro I was
wrong nil the time when I took her
away, nnd when I turn nil Morgan out
If you wcro so sure, what did you
let mo do It for? You and Undo
Georgo were grown people, both of
you, weren't you? You wcro older
thnn I, and If you were so suro you
wcro wiser thnn I, why did you Just
stand around with your hands hanging
down, and let mo go ahead? You
could have stopped it If It was wrong,
couldn't you?"
Fanny shook her head. "No, Gcorgo,"
she said slowly. "Nobody could hnvo
stopped you. You were too strong,
and" .
"And what?" ho demanded loudly.
"And she loved you too well."
George stared at her hard, then his
lower Up begnn to move convulsively,
and he set his teeth upon it but could
not check Its frantic twitching.
IIo ran out of tho room.
Sho sat still, listening. IIo had
plunged into his mother's room, but no
sound came to Fanny's cars after tho
sharp closing of the door; nnd pres
ently sho rose nnd stepped out Into
tho hall but could hear nothing.
What Interview was sealed away from
human eyo and ear within tho lonely
dnrkness on tho other sldo of thnt
door In that darkness whero Isabel's
own special chairs were, and her own
special books, and tho two great wal
nut wardrobes filled with her dresses
and wraps7 What tragic argument
might bo thoro vainly striving to con
fute tho gentle dead? "In God's name,
what elso could I havo done?" For
his mother's Immutnblo sllenoo was
surely answering him as Isabel In life
would never have answered him, nnd
he was beginning to understand how
eloquent tho dead can be. They can
not stop their eloquence, no mntter
how they hnvo loved tho living; they
cannot choose. And so, no matter In
what agony Georgo should cry out,
"What elso could I hnvo done?" nnd
to the end of his life no mnttor how
often ho mndc that wild appeal, Isabel
was doomed to answer him with tho
wistful, faint murmur.
"I'd like to have seen him. Just
onco."
. . . A superstitious person
might havo thought It unfortunate thnt
Fanny's partner In speculative Indus
try as In Wilbur's disastrous rolling-
mills, was thnt charming but too hap
hazardous man of tho world, Georgo
Ambcrson. IIo was ono of those op
timists who bellcvo thnt If you put
money Into n great many enterprises
ono of them Is suro to turn out a for
tune, nnd therefore, In order to find
tho lucky one, it Is only necessary to
go Into n largo enough number of them.
"You ought to havo thought of my
record nnd stoyed out," ho told Fanny,
ono day the next spring, when tho nf-
fairs of the headlight company hnd
begun to look discouraging. Things
do look bleak, nnd I'm only glad you
didn't go Into this confounded thing
to the extent I did."
Miss Fanny grow pink. "Rut it must
go right I" she protested. "Wo snw
with our own oyes how perfectly It
worked out In tho shop. It simply '
"Oh, you'ro right nbout that," Am
berson said. "It certainly was a per
fect thing In tho shop I"
"Rut think of that test on tho road
when we "
"That test was lovely," he admitted
"Tho Inventor made us happy with his
oratory, and you and Frank Rronson
and I went whirling through the night
at a speed thnt thrilled us. Wo must
never forget It and wo never shall
It cost"
"Rut somothlng must be done."
"It must Indeed! My something
would seem to bo leaving my watch at
my uncle's. Luckily, you "
The pink of Fanny's cheeks beenmo
deeper. "Rut Isn't that man going to
do anything to remedy It? Can't ho
try to"
"IIo can try," said Amberson. "lie
Is trying, In fact. I'vo sat In tho shop
watching him try for sovcral beautiful
afternoons."
"Rut you must mnko him keep on
trying 1"
"Oh, yes. I'll keep sitting!"
Ilowevcr, In spite of tho tlmo ho
Hpent sitting In tho shop, worrying the
Inventor, of the fractious light, Ambcr
son found opportunity to worry hltn
self nbout nnother matter of business
This was tho settlement of Isabel's
i estnta.
. VR'
It's curious nbout tho deed to her
house," he said to his nephew. "You're
bsolutely sure It wasn't among her pa
pers?''
"Mother didn't have any papers,!'
George told him. "None at all. All
she ever had to dq with business was
lo deposit the checks grandfather gave
her, nnd then write her own checks
against them.'
"The deed to the house was never
recorded," Amberson said thoughtful
ly. "I've been over to the courthouse
to see. I think It would be Just as
well to get hltn to execute one now In
your favor. I'll speak to him nbout
It."
Gcorgo sighed. "I don't think I'd
bother him about it; the house Is mine,
nnd you nnd I understand thnt it Is.
That's enough for me, nnd there Isn't
likely to bo much trouble between you
nnd me when wo come to settling poor
grandfather's estate. I've' Just been
with him, nnd I think It would only
confuse him for you to speak to him
about It again. I notice he seems dis
tressed If anybody tries to get his at
tention he's a long way off, some
where, nnd he likes to stay thnt way.
think I think another wouldn't want
us to bother him about It; I'm sure
she'd tell us to let him alone. lie
looks so white and queer."
Amberson shook his head. "I won't
bother hltn any more thnn I can help ;
but I'll havo tho deed made out ready
for his slgnnture."
"I wouldn't bother him at all. I
don't see "
"You might see," said his uncle un-
easlly. "The estate Is Just about ns
Involved nnd mixed up as an estate
can well get, to the best of my knowl
edge. You ought to hnve that deed."
"No, don't bother him."
"I'll bother him ns little as possible.
I'll wait till somo day when he seems
to brighten up a little."
Rut Amberson waited too long. The
Major had alrendy taken eleven months
since his daughter's denth to think
Important things out. Ono evening
his grandson snt with him tho Mnjor
seemed to like best to have young
Georgo with him, so far as they were
able to guess his preferences and the
old gentleman made n queer gesture;
he slapped his kneo ns If he had mado
a sudden discovery, or else remember
ed that ho had forgotten something.
George looked nt him with nn air of
Inquiry, but said nothing. He hud
grown to be almost as silent as hi
grandfather. However, the Mujo!
spoko without being questioned.
"It must be In the sun," he said.
"There wasn't anything here but
tho sun in tho first place, and the
earth camo out of tho sun, nnd we
came out of the earth. So, whatever
wo are, we must have been in tho sun.
Wo go bnck to the earth wo came out of
to the earth will go back to tho sun
that It came out of. And time means
nothing nothing at nil so In a little
while we'll all be back in the sun to
gether. I wish "
lie moved his hand uncertainly as If
reaching for something, nnd George
Jumped up. "Did you want anything,
grandfather?"
"Whnt?"
"Would you llko a glass of water?"
"No no. No ; I don't wnnt anything,
Tho reaching hand dropped bnck up
on the nrm of his chair, and ho re
lapsed Into silence; but a few min
utes later he finished tho sentence ho
had begun:
"I wish somebody could tell me I"
Tho next day he had a slight cold,
but ho seemed annoyed when his son
suggested calling the doctor, and Am
berson let him havo his own way so
far, In fact, that nfter ho hnd got up
and dressed, tho following morning,
ho wns all alone when ho went nwny
to find out what ho hadn't been able
to think out all those things ho hud
wished "somebody" would tell him.
Old Sam, shuffling In with tho break
fast tray, found tho Major fn his ac
customed easy-chair by the fireplace
and yet even the old darkey could
see Instantly that the Major was not
there.
CHAPTER XX.
When the great Ambcrson estate
went Into court for settlement, "there
wasn't any," Georgo Amberson Bald-
that Is, when tho settlement was con
cluded there wns no estate. IIo re
proached himself bitterly for not hav
ing long ugo discovered that his fa
ther had never given Isabel a deed to
her house. "And thoso pigs, Sydney
und Amelia 1" ho added, for this was
another thing ho was bitter about.
"They won't do anything. I'm sorry
I gave them tho opportunity of making
n polished refusal. The estate was bad
ly crippled, even before they took out
their 'third nnd tho 'third' they took
wns tho only good part of tho rotten
npple. Well, I didn't ask them for res
titution on my own account, and at
lenst It will save you somo trouble,
young George. Never wnsto any tlmo
writing to them; you mustn't count on
them."
"I don't," George said quietly. "I
don't "count on anything."
"Oh, we'll not feel that things nrc
qulttt desperate," Ambcrson laughed,
9
but not with grcnt cheerfulness.
"We'll survive, Gcorgl(j you will, es
pecially. For my pnrt I'm a little too
old and too accustomed to full back
on somebody else for supplies to start
n big fight with life; I'll be content
with Just surviving, und I can do It on
nn elghteen-hundrcd-dollar-a-year con
sulship. An ex-congressman can al
ways, bo pretty sure of getting somo
sucli Job, nnd I hear from Washing
ton the mutter's about settled. So
much for met Rut you of courso
you've had a poor training for making
your own way, but you're only a boy
after all, and the stuff of the old stock
Is In you. It'll come out and do some
thing. 1,'H never forgive myself nbout
thnt deed; It would have given you
something substantial to start with.
Still, you have -a little tiny bit, and
you'll havo a little tiny salary,, too;
nnd of course your Aunt Fanny's here,
nnd she's got something you can fall
back on if you get too pinched, until I
can begin to send you a dribble now
nnd then."
George's "little tiny bit" was sir
hundred dollnrs which had coino to
him from the sale of his mother's fur
niture; and the "little tiny salary"
was eight dollars a week which old
Frank Rronson wns to pay .him for
services as a clerk and student-nt-law.
George had accepted haughtily,
and thereby removed a burden from
his uncle's mind.
Amberson himself, however, had not
even a "tiny bit;" though he got his
consular appointment, and to take him
to his post ho found It necessary to
borrow two hundred of his nephew's
six hundred dollnrs. "It makes mo
sick, George," he said. "Hut I'd bet
ter get there and get that salary start
ed. Of course Eugeno would do any
thing In the world, nnd the fact is he
wanted to, but I felt thnt ah under
the circumstances "
"Never !" George exclaimed, growing
rod. "I can't Imnglno one of the fam
ily " lie paused, not finding It
necessary to explain thnt "the fam
ily" shouldn't turn a man from the
door and then accept favors from him.
"I wish you'd tnke more."
Amberson declined. "One thing I'll
sny for you, young George; you have
n't a stingy bone In your body. That's
tho Ambcrson Btock In you and I like
it 1"
lie added something to this praise
of his nephew on the day ho left for
Washington. Ho was not to return,
but to set forth from the capital on
tho long Journey to his post. George
went with him to the stntion, and
their farewell was lengthened by the
train's being several minutes late.
"I may not see you again, Georgle,"
Amberson said, and his voice was a
little husky as he set a kind hand on
the young mnn's shoulder. "It's quite
probable that from this time on we'll
only know each other by letter until
you'ro notified as my next of kin that
there's an old vnllso to be forwarded
to you, and perhaps some dusty curios
from tho consulate mantelpiece. Well,
It's nn odd way for us to bo saying
good bye; one wouldn't have thought
It, even a few years ago, but here we
are, two gentlemen of elegant appear
ance In a state of bustltude. We can't
ever tell whnt will happen nt all, can
we? Llfo and money both behave like
loose quicksilver in a nest of cracks.
And when they're gono we can't tell
where or what tho devil we did with
'cm! Rut I believe I'll say now while
there Isn't much tlmo left for either
of us to get embarrassed about It I
bellcvo I'll, say that I've always been
fond ofyou. Wo all spoiled you ter
ribly when you were a little boy and
let you grow up en prince and I
must sny you took to It I Rut you've
received a pretty heavy Jolt, and 1
hud enough of your disposition, myself,
at your age, to understand n little of
what cocksuro youth has to go through
inside when it finds that It can make
terrible mlstnkes. Well, with my train
coming Into tho shed, you'll forgive
me for saying that there have been
times when I thought you ought to be
hanged but I've nlwnys been fond
of you, nnd now I llko you ! And Just
for a Inst word; there may bo some
body elso In this town who's always
felt nbout you llko that fond of you.
I mean, no matter how much It seem
ed you ought to be hanged. You might
try Hello, I must run. I'll send
back tho money as fast as they pay
me so, good byo nnd God bless you,
Georgle 1"
He passed through tho gates, waved
his hat cheerily from the other side
of tho iron screen, and was lost from
sight In tho hurrying crowd. And as
ho disappeared, an unexpected polgu
ant loneliness fell upon his nephew so
heavily and so suddenly that he had
no energy to recoil from tho shock. It
seemed to him that tho Inst fragment
of his familiar world had disappeared,
leaving him nil alono forever.
Ho walked homeward slowly through
what appeared to be the strange
city, nnd, as a matter of fact, tho city
was strango to him. IIo hnd seen lit-
tin of It durlnc lils venrs In colleco.
nnd thon hud followed tho long ub-
senco nnd his tragic return. SInco that
ho had been "scurccly outdoors at all"
aa Fanny complained, warning him
tnut his health would suffer, nnd he
hnd been downtown only in a closed ,
carriage. Ho had not realized the
great change.
The streets were thunderous, a vast '
energy heaved under the unlversnl i
coating of dlnginess. George wnlked
through the begrimed crowds of hur
rying strangers and saw no face that .
he remembered. Grcnt numbers ol I
faces were oven of a kind he did not
remember ever to hnvo seen ; they
were pnrtly like tho old type that
his boyhood knew, nnd pnrtly like
types ho knew nbrond. He saw Ger-1
man eyes with American wrinkles at
their corners ; he saw Irish eyes and ,
Neapolitan eyes, Roman eyes, Tuscan (
eyes, eyes of Lombnrdy, of Savoy, ,
Hungnrlnn oyes, Ralknn eyes, Scandl-
nnvlan eyes all with n queer Ameri
can look in them. He snw Jews who j
were no longer German or Itusslun or
Polish Jews. All the people were soil
ed by the smokc-mlst through which :
they hurried, under the heavy sky that
hung closo upon the new skyscrapers, j
and nearly nil seemed harried by
something Impending, though here and ,
there a woman with bundles would bo I
laughing to a companion nbout somo
adventure of the department store, or
perhaps an escape from the charging
trufllc of the streets and not Infre
quently n girl, or a free-and-easy
young mntron, found time to throw nn
encournging look to George.
IIo took no note of these, nnd, leav
ing tho crowded sidewalks, turned
"Tfiere Have Been Times When I
Thought You Ought to Be Hanged."
north Into National avenue, nnd pres
ently reached the quieter but no less
begrimed region of smaller shops nnd
old-fashioned houses. Those latter hnd
been the homes of his boyhood play
mates, old friends of Ills grandfather
had lived here In this alley he had
fought with two boys at the same
time, and whipped them ; In that front
ynrd he had been successfully teased
Into temporary Insanity by a Sunday
school class of pinky little girls. On
thnt sagging porch a laughing woman
had fed him and other boys with
doughnuts and gingerbread; yonder he
saw the staggered relics of the iron
picket fence ho hnd made his white
pony Jump, on n dare, and In the
shabby, stone-fneed house behind the
fence ho had gone to children's par
ties, and, when he wns a little older
ho had danced there often, and fallen
In love with Mary Sharon, and kissed
her, apparently by force, under the
stairs In the hall. The double front
doors, of meanlnglessly carved walnut,
once so glosslly vnrnlshed, hnd been
painted smoko gray, 'but the smoke
grlmo showed repulsively, even on the
smoko gray; and pver the doors a
smoked sign proclaimed the place to
be a "Stag hotel."
This was tho lost "walk homo" he
wns ever to take by the route he was
now following: up Natlannl avenue to
Amberson addition nnd tho two big
old houses at the foot of Amberson
boulevard; for tonight would be the
last night that ho and Fanny were to
spend In the house which tho Major
hnd forgotten to deed to Isabel. To
morrow they were to I'move out," nnd
George was to begin hfs work In Hron
son's office. He hnd not come to this
collapse without a fierce struggle but
the struggle was Inward, and the roll
ing world was not agitated by It,
and rolled cnlmly on. For of nil tho
"Ideals of llfo" which the world, in its
rolling, inconsiderately flattens out to
nothingness, the lenst likely to retain
a profile Is that Ideal which depends
upon Inheriting money. George Am
berson, In spite of his record of fail
ures In business, hnd spoken shrewdly
when, he realized at last that money,
like life, was "like quicksilver In a
nest of cracks." And his nephew hnd
tho awakening experience of seeing
tho grent Amberson estnte vanishing
into such n nest In a twinkling; it
seemed, now that It wns Indeed so ut
terly vanished.
On this last homewnrd walk of his,
when George reached the entrance to
Amberson addition thnt Is, when no
enmo to where tho entrnnce hnd for-
merly been ho gave a little start,
nnd halted for n moment to stare.
This was the first tlmo he had no
ticed thnt tho stone pillars, marking
! the entrance, hnd been removed. Then
j 1 realized that for a long tlmo he had
been conscious of a quccrness nbout
i thl8 corner wlthout being aworo of
what mado tho difference. National
avenue met Amberson boulevard hero
at an obtuse angle, nnd the removal of
tho pillars mnde tho boulevard seem n
cross street of no overpowering Im
portance certnlnly It did not seem to
bo n boulevnrdt
George walked by tho Mnnslon hur
ricdly, nnd came homo to his mother's
house for the last time.
Emptiness was there, too, and the .
closing of the door resounded through
hare rooms; for downstairs there was
no furniture In the house except a
kitchen tnble in the dining room, which
Fanny hnd kept "for dinner," she snld,
though ns she wns to cook and servo
that meal herself Georgo had his
doubts nbout her name for It. Upstnlrs,
she hnd retained her own furniture,
nnd George hnd been living In his
mother's room, linving sent everything
from his own to the auction. Isabel's
room was still as It had been, but the
furniture would be moved with
Fanny's to new qunrtcrs In the morn
ing. Fanny hnd mnde plans for her
nephew ns well ns herself; she had,
found n "three-room kitchenette apart
mcnt" in nn npnrtment house whero
sevcrnl old friends of hers had estab
lished themselves elderly widows of
citizens once "prominent" nnd other
retired gentry. People used their own
"kitchenettes" for breakfast and lunch,
but there wns n table-d'hote arrange
ment for dinner on the ground floor;
nnd nfter dinner bridge wns played
nil evening, nn attraction powerful
with Fanny. Sho hnd "made all tho
arrangements," she reported, nnd ner
vously appealed for approval, usklng If
she hadn't shown herself "pretty prac
tical" In such matters. Georgo acqui
esced absent-mindedly, not thinking of
what she said and not realizing to
whnt it committed him.
He began to rcullzo It now, as ho
wandered nbout the dismantled houso;
he wns far from sure that he was
willing to live In a "three-room apart
ment" with Fanny nnd eat breakfast
and lunch with her (prepared by her
self In the "kitchenette") and dinner
nt the tnble d'hote ;n "such n pretty
Colonial dining room" (so Fanny de
scribed It) at a little round tnble they
would have all to themselves In flio
midst of a dozen little round tables
which other relics of disrupted fam
ilies would have all to themselves. For
the first time, now that the change
was Imminent, George began to devel
op before his mind's eye pictures of
v hat he was in for ; and they appalled '
him. He decided that such a life
verged upon tho sheerly unbearable,
and that after all there were somo
things left thnt he Just couldn't stand.
So he made up his mind to speak to
his aunt nbout It at "dinner," and tell
her that he preferred to ask Rronson
lo let him put n sofa-bed, a trunk and
a folding rubber bathtub behind n
screen In the dark rear room of tho of-(
flee.
Rut at "dinner" Fanny wns nerv
ous, and sodIstresscd nbout tho fail
ure of her efforts with sweetbreads
and macaroni; nnd she wns so eager
in her talk of how comfortable they
would be "by this time tomorrow
night.'
After "dinner" he went upstairs,
moving his hand slowly along the
smooth walnut railing of the balus
trade, naif way to the landing he
stopped, turned, and stood looking
down nt the heavy doors masking tho
.black emptiness thnt had been tho
library. Here he had stood on what
he now knew wns the worst day of his
life ; here he had stood when his moth
er passed through that doorway, hand-ln-hand
with her brother, to learn what
her son had done.
He went on more heavily, more slow
ly ; and, more heavily and slowly still,
entered Isabel's room and shut the
door. He did not come forth ngaln,
and bado Fanny good-night through
the closed door when sho stopped out
side it Inter.
"I've put nil the lights out, George,"
she said. "Everything's all right."
"Very well," he called. "Good night,
AuntFanny."
Ills volco had a strangled sound In
spite of him; but she seemed not to
notice It, and he heard her go to her
own room and lock herself In with
bolt and key against burglars. Sho
had said the one thing she should not
havo said Just then: "I'm sure your
mother's watching over you, Georgle."
She had meant to be kind, but It de
stroyed his Inst chance for sleep that
night. He would have slept little If
she had not said it, but since she had
said it ho did not sleep nt all. For ho
knew that it was true If It could bo
true that his mother, If she stlU lived
In spirit, would be weeping on tho
other side of the wall of silence, weep
ing nnd seeking for somo gate to let
her through so thnt she could como
and "wntch over him."
ne felt thnt If there were such gates
they were surely barred: they were
like those awful library doors down
stairs, which hnd shut her In to begin
the suffering to which he had con
signed her.
The room wns still Isabel's. Noth
ing had been changed: even the pho
tographs of George, of the Major and
of "brother George" still stood on her
dressing table, and In a drawer of her
desk was an old picture of Eugene and
Lucy, tuken together, which George
had found but hnd slowly closed away
again from sight, not touching It. To
morrow everything would bo gone;
and he hud heard there was not long
to wait before tho house Itself would
be dqmollshed. Tho very space which
tonight was still Isabel's room would
bo cut Into now shnpes by new walls
and floors nnd ceilings; yet the room,
would always live, for It could not die
out of George's memory. It would llvo
as long as he did, and It would nhvnyo
be murmurous with a tragic, wistful
whispering.
(TO BE CONTINUED.) .