Kent High School - K Yearbook (Kentland, IN)

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ooocES55q:-:f -- .,,.,,.,, ----:r4:---1 45 ----- v- --------f- - The Girl in the Picture-Continued Do you find it hard to believe me? he went on. I need not swear to you that I did not murder the girl, nor do I believe she took her own life. She was a stranger to these parts, and evidently attempted to do so, with the result we know. I was constantly coming across her. The first time she spoke to me and said that she was lonely. Would you have had me answer her brutally? Forgive me again for what I am going to say. You will be doubt- ful, but I swear that what I did for her I felt I was doing for you. Still the girl did not speak. She told me she was going away, the man continued, and asked me, since she had no friends, to write her a little note saying goodbye, to take away with her. It was a fancy on her part, she said, and would make her feel less lonely. Would you have had me refuse? A little cry broke from the lips of the girl. The man moved as though he would have gone to her, but controlled himself, went on- How could I guess the outcome of it all? That what I had written should be found on her dead body, with piteous words of farewell added from herself, and also endearing terms? I had talked to her about you, he went on. She knew that I was living for your arrival. I had written to you about her. If she had not insisted that she must go away then and there I wanted you to meet her. I have told you all, said the man. Will you send me away un- forgiven ? The girl raised her face and showed eyes full of tears. Come near, she said, I have my confession to make. When I arrived the day after your arrest I got permission to see the body of the girl. He started. but Eleanor went on. What you had said about her in your letters inter- ested me. I had a sister. She went away. We never heard from her again, and my parents never recovered from the blow. Home was never the same again. She cast a great shadow on all our lives, yet I loved her. I thought one day we would surely meet, and we have met, but she was dead. Then I wondered if she was going to take you from me, as she had taken my parents. That -and she pointed to the picture- is she, not I, as you have always thought. She was my twin. Changed she must have been when you met her, but you saw me in her, you say. All this time the man never stirred. Let us lay her to rest somewhere in the sunshine, said the girl, for though she brought shadows to others, she walked in them herself. And now, she said, will you leave me ? She rose. I love you with a double love. The man looked up at the picture, and then at the living girl. He stretched out his hands and felt her warm ones clasp his. The light from the fire showed two faces glorified. 5- 20 2. ANA U-- sixty-five

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-:l::::::::1::::::v4:::::roc K :::u::p4::::: ---- ::::: The Girl in the Picture-Continued But he shrank from the thought. He did not feel dis- posed to meet scrutinizing glances, however kindly meant. Besides, it 'must be Eleanor first, he said to himself. She, as my afiianced wife, has a right to hear my defense. It was plain, as one watched the man, that beneath his calm exterior there was al smouldering fire raging. He was filled with a great impatience. As he turned from the win- dow his eyes caught the eyes from the girl in the picture. He held out his hands to her and in his face there was the light of a great sacrifice. At that moment Eleanor Saxby entered the room. It was the girl in the picture come to life. She it was who had been in the court that afternoon. People who met her for the first time were always impressed with her intense- ness. She filled the room now, seemed to dominate it with her personality, though she had not spoken a word. Eleanor stood looking at the man. Then impulsively she stretched out her hands. He was about to take them, and then drew back. No, he said, I dare not. You held them out to her, said Eleanor, pointing to the girl in the picture. I could do so safely, he repliedg there were no human hands to touch mine. Then as if to avoid further discuss sion on the point, he added, Let me help you off with your coat. ' She allowed him to do so, and it was several minutes be- fore the man spoke again. Eleanor, I have to say words that my heart denies. This last half hour has been worse than all that has gone before. When you caught me with my hands outstretched, I was saying goodbye and asking your forgiveness. The girl's face whitened, but she raised her head with a proud gesture. You wish me to release you, she said. Please don't waste your time by protesting. When I left the courtroom this afternoon I could not come straight home. I had to be 'alone and think things out. I came up for the trial, of course, and heard all the evidence. I knew that my trial was to come, and I have tried to prepare for it. Let me help you out. Your heart lies buried with another woman. Eleanor 2 The words seemed torn from him. He turned and seized her wrists. How dare you! I was not going to ask you to release me. I was going to say that, as a man of honor, I must release you. A man who has figured in the criminal courts has no right to offer himself to a good woman. He released her hands and stood back. Can't you see, he said, that it was because I knew a love like yours wouldn't break, that I couldn't take advantage of it? Do you think it costs me nothing to say this to you? All that has gone before is nothing to it. The girl looked down into the glowing embers. ---vac -- 20 - ,... sixty-four

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Wanting is-what? Summer redundant, Blueness abundant,- Where is the blot? Beamy the world, yet a blank all the same, Framework which waits for a picture to frameg What of the leafage, what of the flower? Roses embowering with naught they embower! Come then, complete incompletion, O comer, Paint through the blueness, perfect the summer! Breathe but one breath Rose-beauty above, And all that was death Grows life, grows love, Grows love! -Browning. ---------M-----M. 20 ----A-xx: A-----U sixty