m
SINNERS
IN HEAVEN
BY CLIVE ARDEN
(Continued)
Tht vicar coughed: Mrs. Stockley
refused her favorite game hi her etu
barrasshient. . . . Mrs Rochdale
remarked tactfully:
"Dear, dear?
Isn’t It all like a novel? If you hud
been there, Hugh, it would have been
really romantic!”
Hugh laughthl “I shouldn't be much
good on a desert Island,” he observed
modestly. “Must have been beastly
uncomfortable."
“I bet Bab often wished you were
I'ere!" smiled old Mr. Rochdale, In
Ida genial way. "Only,she won’t own
1‘. Now. Hugh, make her co n fess!"
But Hugh’s glance had fallen upon
the girl’s left hand, and he did not
reply
Ba bara felt like one undergoing
slow torture: her n e n e s seemed Ulcer
ated. it was the constant repetition
of little drops of water which sent the
condemned man mad.
‘■Bub,” asked Hugh, "whatever are
you wearing in the shupe o f a ring?
Where is mine?"
Everybody craned forward, and she
hastily withdrew her hand. It seemed
as If curious hostile eyes were peering
at something sacred, the only thing of
value to her now In life.
“I—have lost your ring. Hugh. It
was left on the Island with everything
else.”
“And you are wearing that Instead?
F m ust get another at once. What Is
It? A key ring?"
"Y-yes."
"Once," remarked the vicar, rising
from his oblivion. “I had the case of n
wedding party forgetting the ring ; and
I married them with a key ring!”
“Really 1” asked Miss Davies. “I
suppose It Is quite legal?”
“Quite! Provided, of course, that
everything else Is In order and a
priest performs the ceremony."
Barbara’s right hand closed con
vulsively upon her left, under the
table.
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pressed her bare arm to his side.
“Bab, darling !’• he whispered, "don’t
Mrs. Rochdale gave an annual local you think I'm Just longing to be alone
dinner party before Christmas every with you, too? I—I counted the hours
year, over which she presided like a until I got back, today 1”
Barbara sat down at the table, her
good-natured hen—clucking, with her
Buff Orpington smile, upon the chick heart like lead. She felt like a mur
ens pecking nt the goad things pro derer who, about to drop poison Into
vided for them. Everybody who was the cup of a trusting friend, talks amt
Then Hugh Came Up and Chatted.
anybody In the neighborhood received smiles upon him the while.
The vicar’s enthusiasm over the mis
an invitation, so that the parties bore
A craving for freedom from stone
sionary results of tills providential
a singular similarity.
walls, for vigorous action, had seized
visit
to
"children
of
darkness*’
(having
Fresh Interest was aroused this year,
her. The cold air stinging her face
owing to the expected presence of Bar a double meaning, thia phrase was con
the wind buffeting her skirts, dulled
sidered
witty
in
Darbury),
broke
loose
bara. So fur, she had been seen by
momentarily the agony within. The
few. For a week a severe chill had almost in the same breath wherein he
lake glistened In the sunshine: here
kept her in bed, invisible to the curi concluded grace. He was not amoug
and there sprigs of ling still showed
I those whose importunity had been
purple amid the russet of dead heather
ous eyes of those who buzzed around Y crowned with success where seeing the
and bracken upon tlie common; the
Lake cottage. The more persevering, “Wandering sheep" was concerned.
white sandy paths were crisp with
after her arrival downstairs, spread In
"I am ao deeply interested in your
frost.
teresting reports of the extraordinary work among the natives," he began,
At the corner where the lane Joined
change wrought In her looks and be his clear clerical tones arresting every
the main road, she paused. Here, she
havior.
body's attention. “I gathered from the
nnd that other liad first met. With
To the girl, weak In health and tor papers that yon obtained a wonderful
exquisite pain, memories of those far laughter in hla voice as he made some
tured In mind, everybody und every Influence over them?"
off first encounters seethed Into her tensing remark. . . .
IV
thing seemed unbearable. Perceiving
“Weren’t they awful creatures?” put
mind. She saw again the half-mock
The ringing of a bell brought her
the suspicious curiosity around her, in Hugh, with a grimace. “I wonder
To Barbara, that evening seemed ing smile upon his lips; remembered
she Instinctively cloaked herself with you weren't scared stiff. Babt"
never-ending, her false position Intol I lls teasing words and her own annoy sharply back to reality, the auddih
reserve, throwing no Intimate side
"I was at first,” she owned. "But I erable. She craved yet drended, the ance, atier speaking of her heart's de cruel contrast cutting her like a whip.
lights upon the vital point causing so grew very fond of them.”
morrow when she could talk with sire. . . . She understood, as she With a low moan all« sank upon a
couch, throwing herself face down
much conjecture. News from De Bor-
"Capital!” beamed the vicar. 'Y)ur Hugh.
turned hurriedly away, how, from the
ceau was all she craved, and she felt brothers In spite of difference in color.
Once by themselves, the women’s first, those keen eyes had rend Into her ward among the cushions, her ftps
pressed to the unresponsive portrait.
fresh anxiety concerning the lack of It. Doubtless they responded to your af tongues buzzed over their coffee cups
heart, penetrating to wliat she was but Despair again clutched her In Ita re
Had Mrs. Stockley's weak mind not fectionate overtures, poor souls?”
concerning the latest local scandal. vaguely conscious of herself. . .
been poisoned, making natural talk
A vision of Alan’s affectionate over Mrs. Rochdale proceeded with a gar Her henrt's desire? Ah, how changed morseless daw s. . . . She lay inert
in her blind tearless abandonment,
upon the Island life Impossible to her, tures with electrified wire. Hashing rulous account of a housemaid treas
It all was now—how changed. . ,
oblivious to all things. . . .
things might have been vastly different eyes, and fearful rhetoric, until his ure, possessing nil the virtues. In
Since trending last these familiar,
The opening door and quick foot
for all. As it was, the topic became brothers became responsive, brought whose room four empty whisky bottles
heathery pntlis, a lifetime seemed to
increasingly difficult of approach
the shadow of a smile Into her white had been found, during her absence on have elapsed. SI10 looked back with steps crossing the room did not dis
turb her. At the touch of an arm
until it assumed the character of some face, which old Mr. Rochdale saw and holiday ! As she had been a frequenter
wonder upon the Inexperienced girl
thing mysteriously tabu. Only the answered.
)f temperance meetings nnd had taken dimly yeurnlng after an Intangible about her shoulders she started vlo
wreck and possible fate of Aunt Dolly
”1 Imagine Croft got ’em under more the pledge, this was In itself a terrible something beyond the dally horl lently nnd raised a drawn face. Hugh
stood beside her, consternation in his
were discussed.
Croft's name was by bullying than affection ; didn't he?" sin, even though she had never been zon. . . .
eyes.
never even mentioned between them.
he laughed. "That wireless stunt was seen drunk. Whether to allow her to
Presently she turned her steps to
'Bab!" he exclaimed, shocked by her
Urgent business on Mr. Rochdale’s a brainy notion! I suppose he had to return, or to write and denounce her the house where so many liHppy hours
expression. "My dearest I wliat eve
Devonshire property summoned Hugli whip up the lazy beggars pretty hard forthwith, exercised her mistress’ sim
had been spent. The garden looked
thither before Barbara came down
afterward, to make 'em work?"
ple mind to the exclusion of sleep. , . . (Inserted now, the tennis court frost Is the matter?"
She sat stuwly upright, the portrait
stairs. Still, therefore, the full ex
“No." she replied, aware of many After much discussion. It was decided hound and dreary. But the house
still clasped with both arms, regarding
planutlon she Intended to give hlin
to
ask
the
vicar.
k
e
e
p
e
r
welcomed
her
warmly;
and
the
hung heavy on her mind, assuming In eye» upon her face at this open allu
The girl shrank Into her chair, sick fpw school teachers Installed there for him dumbly.
'I managed to get away this morn
creating proportions the more she pon sion. "They loved him and obeyed at heart, old talks with Alan in her
Christmas holidays looked at her with lng—Martha said yon were here—" he
dered over it. His horizon had been him because"—her voice faltered— mind. Whnt key. she wondered, did
Ul-concealed curiosity. She hurried
"because he had the personality to
so contentedly bounded by conven
these people use In substitution for away, up to Mrs. Field’s little den. Its stammered. “What Is It, Bab? I—I
thought something was wrong—"
tlonal, orthodox views, that it might be command obedience. He inspired them
It occurred to her that anybody less
difficult to make him understand the to work for their own good. They
stupidly dense and unimaginative
true case. She shrank from hurting learned cleanliness; nnd we taught
would have guessed the truth long ago
him. from destroying his futth, as she them to talk a little English—”
"Capltul I cap ita l!" The vicar beamed
Then, swiftly chasing the thought,
knew she must do.
again
at
her.
through
his
plnce-net.
came the knowledge that It was Ills
Mrs. Field's letter, full of the large-
genuine simple trust In her nnd all
hearted. far-seeing sympathy so vital a "How did they receive the Word?”
“Wonderfully quickly," ahe an
hla follow-crest urea which blinded him
part of her nature, brought a grain of
Rusplcloe was as foreign to his honest
comfort. Full of genuine grief and af swered, misunderstanding. “Some of
nature as subtle change* were beyond
fection for her cousin, which she took them could talk quite fluently In a very
I
his ken. 8he recognised, with a warm
for granted was shared now by the short tlnie—”
But the W ordl How did they re
rush of sympathy, that her affeqtlon
girl, there was no discreet avoidance
foe thia old companion remained un
of the matter. Being his nearest rein ceive the Gospel?"
"Oh! We did not attempt to dis
ch an r e d ; she alone wns to blame for
tive. she was kept Informed of all pro
mistaking It for anything more, with
ceedings concerning the recovery of turb their own religion.”
The viear gazed at her. aghast, as
the Inevitable suffering she was ahonit
his body: the lock of Information from
"You
to cause. She stretched out her hand:
the De Borceaus. with their possible did most of those present.
and be took It la both of bis.
fate, was, she said, causing renewed mean—" he beg-.tn. “you can't mean
"Htighl»! Everything 1»—wrong."
anxiety. She urged Barbara to use the that you neglected the first oppor
"Tell me »11 about It,” he urged, sit
"House on the Moor" and Its library, tunity o f giving ttsam the Truth?”
Y en” she said calmly, “If you look
ting beside her. "We can probably
whenever she wished, as usual.
put things right between us.”
Mrs. Stockley never encouraged—or upon ft in that l^gjit. We thought it
She shook her head, with ■ catch of
believed In—Invalidism other than her unwise, for many reasons. For one
her breath; then drew her hand gently
own. Once downstairs, her daughter thing, we had to ptny upon their super
free again
was expected to renew her old house stitions to insure oar own safety and
"I'm—I've got to hurt you—horribly.
hold duties and seek diligently to re obtain any Influence at all. It needed
cover parochial ones. That she showed greid wariness."
owner being one of those whose ar Oh! my dear! I can't bear doing it.”
the
true
one
given
to
the
world
and
But surely,” he remonstrated pe
tin Inclination for either Increased the
rivals ever had the charm of unexpect Rlslag tmpuMvely, she walked to the
lost again? “Charity auffereth long
sense of strain between them. Her dantically, "at the risk of one's life
edness, the room had a cheerful fire window and hack, her face working
"Can't you—guess,
shrinking from company would give on» should carry on tlA Gospel? Mis and Is kind." they read glibly; or "He and was fragrant with hothouse flow with nmotlaa
that Is without sin among you. let him
rise, her mother drended, to further sionaries have to risk—z’
ers. As Barbara looked round at the Hugh? Can't you realize that—that—
"We were not nilsshm arics!" she cast the first stone.” What did linlfj buff walls and deep-blue velvet cur everything Is different, nowT' she cried,
“talk." It was, therefore, strongly con
demned. She found It Impossible, as reminded him sharply. She looked im the righteous souls. Judging everybody | tains the soft chairs built for comfort, looking straight into hit bewildered
things were, to escape the ordeal of patiently at his aetf-comphrrent. horri In their own smug conception of Chris- • and shelves stacked with books, other face.
Apprehension was spreading over hit
Mrs. Rochdnle's dinner party without fied face and short-sighted dyea. “We tlnnlty, know of temptntlon. sin, the i memories of confidential chats and
hurting the kind old couple by actual tried to encourage them in chcanllness. meaning of the word love with all Its ! cozy teas caused her again to realize feuturas His brown eves, with their
Isn't manifold sub-keys: consideration, un > the gulf yawning between herself and dawning sense of trouble, resembled
rudeness. Having decided that Hugh gentleness, and conslderntk®.
that of a faithful dog not understand
must be told the truth before anyone that all jmrt of the Gospel's reel mean demanding, sympathy. . . .
the girl of long ago.
“My dear,” broke In old Mr. Roch
else, she was obliged, though shrinking ing? To have stuffed entirely new
She turned to Ute hook shelves, then Ing the meaning of some unexpected
In every fiber of her being, to dress doctrines down their throats would dale’s voice, as he seated himself be walked restlessly hack to the Are . , . cluistlaewent. The girl could not bear
side her, "we must bring back the
In one of her old evening frocks and have been ridiculous I”
All at once she caught, with a little to see It. She looked Involuntarily
Quick startled glances were directed roaes Into your cheeks 1” He took her cry. nt the back of a chair, as her down at what wns »till clasped to her
be fetched In the Rochdale's big car.
hand
and
patted
It.
"You
mustn't
upon
her
from
all
directions;
the
breast. His glance followed hers, and
. . . This had been one of her few
glance fell upon the writing table.
treats In past years. . . .
As she 'Negative»" present flushed uncom brood over the past. It was a terrible
For the eyes she loved snd had lost the apprehension deepened
listlessly finished her toile?, the fortably; Mrs Stockley tried, ineffec experience—terrible! But It's all over met her own. with the old straight pen
‘One«»— whatF'
he
muttered.
now. Forget It, Barbara, like a bnd
W lu t'i that, Bab? A photograph?"
poignant pain of It all struck her tually, to flx her with a stony eye.
e t rating look. . . . one ran forward
Apparently your success v as not dream, and cheer up again.”
She nodded. He suddenly stepped
afresh. . . . The reflection of shad
nnd picket! up the photograph. He
The words were, to the girl, like wore the uniform of nn air force officer toward her. "Whose? What—I—oh.
owy, sunken eyes nnd aureole of very great,” «H* observed tsrC'y.
blades
of
steel
thrust
Into
sore
bleed
Old Mr. Rochdale hastily smoothed
dark hair mocked at her. In the large
and his face was set In the lines of lord! Tall m t atrslghrl"
drawing room mirrors. . . . The >9 over possible trouble by Inquiring con Ing wounds. “Over. . . . F orget!'' dogged atubbornmws when unpleaannt
It was the cry of one upon the bor
conscious Irony of the conversation, cerning the persons! character of the They seemed to reverberate In her business was afoot, which she knew dertand of tragic discovery. Feeling
mind,
snd
her
very
soul
turned
sick
natives.
the kindliness of Hugh's parents and
well. . . . The vivid likeness was like an old-tlm« executioner who let
"They are v<!ry simple and real, ” the and faint as, gripping the arms of her bittersweet
their delight over her, his own affec
the ax fall upon the quivering neck of
chair,
she
heard
tier
mother's
voice:
tion, were unbearable torture. . . . girl replied warmly. "Too find the
"It's a d—d nuisance— get it done I" bis victim, ending the hopes nnd affec
"Her time will soon he full again
He had only returned that day, and same fears aw l Jealousies and fa ults
She could almost hear the thought glie tions of a lifetime, she silently handed
she spoke to him In desperation, as ss everywhere else; but they are not until her wedding, with all her old rend behind the grim lips. . . . Then
him the photograph, sad again tamed
they went In to dinner together. hidden by any thin veneer of cfvlllta- duties—”
to the window.
as she gazed upon the familiar fea
Then
Hugh
came
up
and
chatted,
In
tlon.
When
they
love
or
hate,
t
h
^
do
"Hugh!" she whispered. “I must see
Looking wtth unseeing eyes at the
turea,
ail
the
past
rose
up
and
en
his
usual
cheery
way.
and
swmebodv
so openly.”
yon alone, to tell you—”
frosty landscape, her thoughts reverted
veloped
h
er:
the
comfortable
English
"I h o p e ," remarked Miss Davies, nof
played and sang .
. But all the
to a curiously similar scene In the past,
"I know!” he broke In eagerly. T m
room fuded. . . . Gnee more, in a
dying to hear everything! It was a much liking her tone, "you made t;*m 1 time those two words heat upon her
far-away hut, ahe prepared strange wherein the situation waa reversed.
wear
decent
clothing?”
brain.
God!
was
It
true?
Was
this
beastly nuisance hawing to go sway
Hugh's portrait had played Its part In
“Most of them were ruiked," wtfd ' net once more to capture her? Was food for her mate, ever and anon run
that little drama. Alan, she remem
Just th en ; but It couldn't be helped
ning
to
look
for
his
return,
seeing
little
Afraid we shan't get s chance tonight, Barbara; "some wore a Utfle mar ng.” thia nightmare to become the reality,
bered. bad, with characteristic ve
Everybody rather hurriedly we.it on and the splendid real—all the very es black figures at play on the sand. . . . hemence. tom it into shreds. . . .
though."
And presently he catne striding down
then ctslmed bar for his own, by the
"Tomorrow, then? Hugh. I ran«* eating Hugh hnrled him self Into the sence of life—to fade Into the dream?
1 nee, thinking to ch a n ie the st)h-
The morning was cold and bright. the sunny slope, fresh from a dip In only bunds which constitute real pos
•ee you alone tomorrow!” There v as
the
river,
laden
with
fruit,
hla
dear
1»
-
L
1
,
After a pretense at breakfast, she put
session of a woman. There msy be
a passionate urgency In her voice a
'What did you do about clothes. •m her coat, Hugh not being expected •yea searching for her. . . . She other lawful tlas. honorably recognized
tragic pleading In her eye»-—both sign«
before lunch, and her mother not yet harried to meet him. taking some of and adhered 1»; but, whether neer In
*hlch he entirely misunderstood. A , Bah? Did your own laat out?”
his burden. . . . Again ahe felt the physical presence or sundered by
"Fairly well. I made sonre breecheu, down.
C-ah overspread his face, and he
warm touch of hla Ups. heard the
and wore th e * ."
J
a
111
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FURNITURE
DEPARTMENT
when your wants are in this line. Our stock is ’
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’
We call your special attention to the
]
LUXE
BEDSPRING
countless miles of sea and land, even
by death Itself, only the raun to whom
a woman's heart belongs holds her In
true possession. None other can torn
the key which unlocks the real foun
tains of her soul.
Hugh did not tear the cardboard to
fragrrtents.
After a few moments'
pregnant silence, he laid It upon a
table sad followed the girl to the win
dow. Ills 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
ing.
“I—care for you—as much ns ever,”
she went on hurriedly, seeing the look
on his face. "But—it was never lo v e !
I hnve learned that, Hugh. I know
now—"
"You mean—" he asked again
huskily, as her voice fnltered. "Croft?"
She nodded. The color ehhed still
more from his cheeks, and he laid a
hand on her arm. "But—ray poor
Bah I he la—dead—"
"Oh. I know ! I know !" She clasped
her hands In anguish. “But—you shall
hear all the truth. Hugh—it Is your
due. H e—I—he wns my husband.”
Hugh started violently and dropped
his bund She stood motionless before
him. For several long moments the
ticking of a little clock nnd the crac
kling of the fire were the only audible
sounds. In his slow fashion, the man
was trying, gropingly, to udjust farts.
"But—” he begun at last. "I don't
understand! You were only together
a few weeks before the wreck. Where
did yon get—married? Why didn’t
somebody write? I don't understand,*
(Continued on page 4)
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