Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 28, Number 201, Decatur, Adams County, 25 August 1930 — Page 3

Twilight of the God by Mary Heaton Vorse

avTOS didn’t *ant to go home, and that was a fact. J S lie told as much to his mate, Dcutra, as he ..lanilx-red over the side of his v«wl, the Marin Virginia- Me said: <•1 don’t want to go home tonight. I'm damned if I do!” And to emphasize it, he spat in the water . flerted the violent crimson of the sunset. ot’” asked the mate, though he knew well enough the ’’th which many men married a long time turn their jducU l *’*' w ‘ l home because my house hates me,” said yu mean you hate your house.” said the mate. Ilf was a huge- red-faced man, whose belly swung as hi ”*said Santos, “I mean just what I say. I mean that hates me! It aeema, when I go in, as gloomy as a tn never wanted vou to come and who wishes you d go. foimi’ * no 1 „ Matting high on the dory thwarts. ITis well-shod e daintily where the lustre of his shoes would be <{ " ini In the evening light the face of the men rowing him "l"'-wrlet They gazed at Santos with affectionate and ,",fql eyes, for he was an able captain and a great killer and ere in from a great catch. • You should have stayed in Boston,” said the mate, eying Gntu. through his little piggy eyes which were like shining slits hi. fleshy jowls. “What you need is a bat. There isn’t a man ’’/Wt S’* tired of his wifc ”° W and thCn! ” In this Sin!,,|P - the mate interpreted Santos's discontent . Santos said no more, for he wanted understanding. The ■aaon Santoa hated his house was that it was drenched with tears pd it was empty. Santos's wife, Julia, was a plain, good woman. She was little and swart and her eyebrows nearly met in a sullen line. She lud been childless for five years, and for this she had somehow iMMged to shift the blame to Santos in a skilful woman's fashi®. Then she had had a child which had died aa it was born. At this Santos's mother commented: “It’s too bad. Manell, that you should be married to an awful plain, homely woman, but that you got a homely woman an’ a binen woman, too, is worse than any man deserves!” After the baby. Julia was harder to get on with than ever. The first few times Santos came home and found her crying over the useless baby clothes he had been moved and he had petted Julia and loved her; later h‘er tears had made him angry, for he h»d felt the lack of children to the core of his heart. The desire br children clamored loud in Santos to make up for his swarthy, nagging wife, who kept such a jealous watch on him. He could fed her watching him all the time, every minute, when tliey went uptown. When Julia was along he could take no pleasure in the idmiring glances of the girls who looked at him, for she was ; -ions in a covert, underhand fashion.

TINIGIIT Santos felt sure lie would find her snivell- • lag over the baby clothes igUD. He had .8 wordless |»er«ption that she did this to rivet his attention on her. But she aoly greeted him in An accusing art of way, and after supper he »t smoking on the veranda, figuring out all pyef hpvjr he had come to marry Julia. .'When he was a bachelor he iwnud at her g/ahdmother's, »ith whom she lived. He never policed Julia for. a.long time. Then he saw that when he P*“ed her an ugly red would eoVer her (ace. Kelt he noticed kow quick and triin she was •tout the house. Santoe was keeping company at that time ’ith Nellie Cabrfcl, a wild, •plendid-looking girl. He was *»en thinking it was time he got Burned, when he caught Nellie Rising his liandsome • cook, Anthony Silva • His pride and his vanity were hurt, and when be next saw Ndllie on the boardwalk he. didn’t speak to bor. Santos missed Nellie. He hissed her kisses and her pretty, ttjoling ways, and for several •kys he was misanthropic. On * night he can.e home and as e went Into his room he was *n«lous or someone there. Then “* that it was Julia sil“"etted against the window. ” ,ulla ’” he said, softly, "what is What do you want?" "You—” g h e ttngwere< i "W-what? ..." He had a sudfcn feeling of intense surprise; a W gladness swept through 8| >« stood there, little and hum- « and very lonely. all ehe aaM *nto the bant!* I,er vo,ce waß very low, y above a whisper, and clear ' the note of a bell. MdL£° Und hlmßelt shaking with In Ther ® was something e r sheer audacity that roused Uve r a " d (1 ple<ued hlm a<i beauti! B*e 8 *e here," he said, “see here, ■don't love you." y Oll hnow—l know—but I love I * Ve always loved you." 1 tOu ohed him inexpressibly. It

soothed his vanity, too. He ad mired her blank courage. His heart pounded sc it hurt him. She stood there waiting. The air in the room seemed thick to Santos. Suddenly h» seemed nearer to this plain little girl with her heavy lips than he had ever been to anyone el e. Caution stood a moment beside him. But she had bared her heart and * left him helpless. Then suddenly she sank down on the edge of the bed. He could see her dim outline shaking with sobs. , .She had vanquished him by her humble audacity and he had married her. But always she knew he had never loved her, and for this and her childlessness she had never forgiven him. He was a handsome. gay man and the eyes of women followed him. She didn't forgive him for this, either. He was thinking of all these things when Julia Joined him on the veranda. After a time: "I'm going out to walk." said Santos. Julia answered nothing to this, and he sauntered down the brick ' walk. The streets were full of shadowy people; they seemed eager and happy to Santos, who felt remote and cut away from life. Two girls passed by, staring at Santos with the boldness of seaport girls. They were handsome, with cheeks like apricots, and well built. He wished he was In a etrange town so he could talk and laugh with them; but even away from Julia he was stl‘\ tied to her. Her sad. hostile pre.' - ■ ence was there beside him. There was no escape HE didn’t khow where he would go. He thought he might stop at the pool room or the movies. But then the music of a dance at the town hall struck his ears, and, indifferent as a jelly fish in the tide, he wandered up the steps. Santos, drifting in on a slack tide of idleness, all his desires adrift, everything in him slack, ebb tide of the spirit, ran into Victoria Sonza. He ran into her literally, caromed against her, drifting as he was on the stream of inertia and disgust. For a minute they stood staring at each other, at first in amazement and then in glad recognition, as though tb<’ mute, blind self who knows no obligations but the obligations

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT MONDAY, AUGUST 25, 1930.

11 |U Hi II I ~Z~ IT jl i, I I IILA | 4BMLW. 1 MIU Hix i. W* I -- I Brag LrAVSt 1 IHI i: I AS mIR FLY k "> ti i®' H wlfes /AA TtWi jju fts**** 1 ! \ ' ’'H ' iS S__ “Santos,” She Said, “Don’t Touch Me.” “Oh, You’re a Good Woman, Are You?” Said Santos.

of its desires had cried out: ."Here is my mate.” Victoria was a tall woman, and when this happens among the Portuguese such a woman is of extreme magnificence. Victorias eyes were deep and melancholy; her mouth, darker than a pomegranate flower, had the disconsolate droop of a woman made for love whose life is unfulfilled. Her face was a pale olive accented by her deep eyes and h r dark crimson mouth. Her skin was drawn smoothly over her cheeks. Someone Introduced them. Santos, with his eyes on this woman who suddenly seemed more his own than any other human creature, could not remember afterward jvho It was who said their names? He held out his arms and she came to them, and as they ■ danced they seemed to flow along ' like two streams joined. This woman danced close to him, enveloping him with her nearness. "Are you a single woman." he asked her, knowing well enough [ what the answer would be. “No." she answered. Though Santos had expected I this, her words were a sharp knife l in .®hls side. Then Santos knew [ that he loved this woman, Victoria, ! though he didn’t put It Into words. She did not spur his fancy as d d the little girls he met on the i street. She was not escape from Julia, cr entertainment, or passion. She was his woman. She was his mate without argument or question. He did not tell her these ! things; he only suffered because j both of them were bound to someone else. Yet he was glad. too. with an overwhelming gladness, as though he had always before been a cripple and now, with this woman In his arms, he was whole. To Spare himself from the silence of confession: “Do you live here?" he asked. "I don't remember I saw you before." * "We've just come. My husband just opened a tailor shop.” “Where'bouts do you live?" "Next Manell Santos's house. You know, the big white one with green verandas all around.' “That’s my house,” said Manell. "You I've next door to me. I am Manell Santos!" They looked at each other, glad and terrified at once as people are when in the hands of fate. The music stopped. “My usband's over there," she said. "Come and I’ll make you acquainted.” She itroduced Manell to a little stoop-shouldered man a half head shorter than herself. He was a drab little fellow, who looked at Victoria with submissive adoration. • She kept her husband in the conversation, praised him, brought him out us though defying anyone

|to wonder why she had married him. THE Sonzas and the Santoses became friends. They would all four sit on the Santos’s wide veranda and Julia land Anthony would talk about [their gardens. Victoria and Manell didn't talk; they had no need to. There were nights when Manell wondered that Julia wasn’t seized with jealous fury. He could feel love stream • out of him toward Victoria, his | woman, sitting there quiet, her eyes burning him. But Julia prattlqfl on about cuttings and eedlings. So things went on. But every time Santos came home from a cruise he would see Victoria waiting on a wharf. She would make no sign, she would stand there waiting until Manell was over the side of the vessel. Then she would be home before he was, her hungry eyes watching for him. One [thing they had. When Manell [was home they went to the [dance in the town hall, Anthony and Manell and Victoria, for Julia would not go. Then for a moment, as they danced, [Santos would hold Victoria in [ his arms; for a moment tlv’y belonged to each other. They said everything and they said nothing. Then one evening Victoria came to the b se. "Is Julia home?" s’he asked as Manell answered her knock. "She’s up the street. Come in. won't you?" Victoria hesitated as though trying to defy fate. "Sit down and wait.” Manell inserted, gently. For a moment they were silent, and then Manell reached over for her hand. "Victoria," he began—and before he could say any more Julia and Santos's mother came down the street absorbed In talk. Julia was voluble as Santos had never seen her, and she was angry! She w-as telling a long story to old Mrs. Santos, indignation in her sharp gestures. The old woman shrugged with the

fatalism of the aged. Victoria and Manell looked at each other. A thought leaped between them. It was: “They are talking about us!” All that night Santos didn't sleep. AU that night his mind buzzed like a fly in a spider’s web. One thing stood out. He loved Victoria and she loved him, and tomorrow they were going to the dance and the next day his vessel cleared. So as usual the trio went to the town hall, and during the dance: "Victoria,” said Manell, "come outside to the wharf wi.h me." They walked out proudly, defying the eyes of the curious peop'e thronging the doors. A strong tide bore them along. They walked to the end of the wharf, keep '.ig a space between them, not speaking. A shed at the wharf s end threw an impenetrable angular shadow. Manell drew Victoria into its sheltering darkness and would have put his arms around her, but she lifted a warning hand. “Santos," she sz.id. "don’t touch me." “Oh, you’re a good woman, are you?” said Sintos. “For all the way you hold me when you dance and t .e way I can’t come home from my vessel without finding your eyes burning me." For Santos when he was ar gry defied the world and didn't care f consequences. “No,” said Victoria, ’Tm only proud. I want everything cr nothing, Manell Santos! I'll run away with jou, Santos, or you let me be!" • Santos felt like a gutted fish. He felt empty and as though he had no Insides left. He felt as if he'd been drinking and couldn't find his feet. It frigh eied him to death to think of eloping and it burned him, tco. Thoughts crowded his brain like mackerel in a net He thought about his crew and what they’d say. and where people lived when they elop‘d. and about little swarthy Julia sitting snivelling ever the baby clothes. Stronger than all of this was Victoria’s courage. He could think of nothing to say. so he put hts arms around Victoria and kissed her. She struggled and fought with him and he kissed her to submission. "When will you come?" he asked her. though he felt a good deal as though he were asking her when they should jump off Fish Wharf together ”I’ll go tomorrow." she said. "I’ll go any time." HE sat in his room that night feeling winded. Then he began to figure what could be done. He sailed on the next day’s tide, and Vic-

toria could meet him in Boston. Afterward —he could think that cut later. He started to go to Victoria. The boldness of her [beckoned to him. He loved her because she had the bold design iof leaving with him. As he started for Victoria’s he met Julia in the hall. She did not see him. She was going toward her room. She was so little and looked so defenseless that suddenly Santos knew he ■ouid not leave her. She had in ife little enough; he could not 1 ave her defenseless to pity. He found Victoria waiting for him. She looked like a flower over which a blight has ■ passed. "Santos," she said, “I can't. I thought I could. Anthony—he’s so little. He's got only me. I—l never loved him right ” “I know." said Santos, "I know." They stood together unit d by their relinquishment. Then Santos left her. Santos went aboard , his vessel with the peace of death j in his heart. That summer a terrible st rm smote all the New England coast. It came down on the fishermen I without warning, and the.e were crews and there were vessels who never saw land again. Provincetown and Gloucester and New Bedford were full of lamentations of widows when the storm lifted. When 'he hurricane descei d d the Maria Virginia had just cleared George’s Banks, full of fish and bound for Boston. Santos looked in death’s eye with indifference. It was as though his will to live had gone out of his body. He had been dashed back and forth in the grip of love and the renunc ation of love, and he watched the storm without the tensing of will and muscle that danger usually brought to him. Slack and indifferent, he gave his orders. He welcomed the storm's Ceath-bringing fury. Let it whelm him in the sea. He didn’t care. Let it break the sinister monotony. Manell welcomed it. It made his h .art lighter to think if death, for Santos knew life was no good to him any more since it could not ho’d Victoria. At last the storm came crying In from the far reaches of the Atlantic. Something savage and glad sprang up in Santos to wel- ' come it. An ache for death ' rushed over him. He wanted at any price to be free. He wanted never again to hear Julia's flat ■ whine. Hs wanted never again

to feel Julia's damp, clinging i hands. He could have shouted in ’ answer to the shriek of the wind. i The seething madness of the . storm closed down upon him. | ;The wind came streaming down ' like the black madness of mur- i der. Bound incalculable filled , the universe. The Maria Virginia thrieked under the blow , like a living creature wounded to its death. Then suddenly, more powerful than the impact of the i . storm, sprang up Santos’s will to ' live. A single thought, unified as 1 ; light, had come on the wings of : peril. It was: “I must have Victoria." The vessel bent over to the gale j and fled before it like a live creature driven by fire. And then, with a terrible rending, her mainmast went and she almost with it, while her crew labored to clear her of 'his wagging burden. TIERE were hours when Santos saw his vessel overwhelmed. There were hours when he saw himself and all his crew at the sea’s bottom. And all the time there worked for Santos some unknown sense. [The storm never conquered him. i He was a puny human creature, j but with some spark in him to I match and conquer the blind, incomparable fury of the storm. He fought the storm for his 1 love. He wrested his love from [ the fury of death. In after years the crew told him how Manell Santos rode death as if it were a horse. The absolute necessity to live had gripped him —the supreme need of living that has dotted the pages of history with miracle and resurrection. Santos was born again and his new united soul could not know defeat. Later, as the storm abated and, crippled but safe, he sailed into harbor, pity had been burned from him and old scruples. The thou-shalt-nots of church and town had been torn away in the storm. His mind was made up. He stoop to run away? He would go to Julia and Anthony and tell them what was in his heart. For Satos intended to ride life as he had ridden out the hurricane. He had been saved to dve He bad come to this neces-

PAGE THREE

sity tn thn storm's unnpeakabl* ' nail. This resolve had t*MO welded in him by death itself H« sallad into harbor us now ■v R«d ajs man ever becomes. His I men lookc., at hl.n with humble adoration. Thny had b*cn d-ad men; he had r'ven them life. Mors than that b« hud won back Ute for himself. ir : . return. He had left Julia bcl.tr.d ;ui one 'eaves a dark dream. A« remit, rocted, he was conifii;; to elaint Victoria for !,!>, woman Victoria was not there to meet him. No one met Rantos. Other men’s wives were there but not Victoria, not Julia. a The women looked nt nirn with veiled pity in their eyes. No one came too near Santos. It seemed as if a vacuum had been mads around him. A feelim? of d seomfort grew o n him and with dis. comfort came nng"r. His own men were staring at him. What had happened? His men who had looked at him with the idoring eyes of those who have iieen snatched from the hard of death now drew back from Um. Santos was used to admiration nnd respect so he walked up the street In growing anger, in deepening amazement. Acquaintances ducked past him in embarrassed haste, in their eyes this puzzling, veiled pity—-pity for Santos who had been stronger than death. HE hurried along, his eyes searching hungrily for Victoria. She was nowhere, Julia was nowhere. He had returned braced for combat. He had expected to ride over the flood of Julia’s reproaches as iover the fury of the storm. And now there was nothing over which to ride. He felt winded as a man who jumps from a height —who feels the ground rise up to meet him. He stormed up the steps of ; his home. The door was locked. 1 j He shook the door and cried I out into the silence: I “Julia,” and again, “Julia,” but as he cried, his eyes searched Victoria’s home. It turned blank, empty windows on him <as stony as his own locked front i door. v Proad plucked at Santos's heart. Slowly he ‘went to his side door. It opened to his hand. The hous* I had an air of emptiness. There j was none of the cheerful litter of a lived-in abode. It was as neat as a room where death had been. I He walked through the house and !as he did a slow, stealthy fear travelled up Samtos’s back, a certainty formed itself in the back of his mind. * Downstairs a door opened and liffht footsteps sounded through the house. He turned and faced Victoria. "Oh, Manell,” she faltered. "Manell." All her anxiety, all her love was in the caress of his name. For her he was resurrected from the dead. "We thought—you—■ wouldn't get back." She was here in his house, speaking to him in the voice of love. He drew back from her as though to ward off her love in the presence of the wronged dcaA. "Where's Julia?" "Why, haven't you heard?” | "Dead?" cried Manell. "Dead!" Victoria exclaimed; “no, gone, run off with Anthony Sonza! i Who would have thought? Gone together and left us thia lettertelling how they couldn’t stand your ways—my ways—any more. And the town laughing and holding its sides. Gone like rats—cleared out!” > She looked at him with the eyes of love. Then, her arms dropped, the happiness in her eyes changed to blankness. "I thought you'd bo glad." she faltered. "Glad!” he said; "glad to have everyone laughing at me! Glad to have my wife run off with a runt . . .” he raved, while in Victoria amazement strove with anger. She had come to offer her love. Secure in the delight of her mate, with joyful news of all difficulties solved, and he raved: “Gone with that rat. My wife. My wi'e cleared out. Oh, a weasel will mate with a weasel! Blind! blind! And I—and I —looking at them talking over the fence. J never dreamed. I thought they were jealous! Time and time again I’ve 1 seen them and never dreamed . .." Victoria drew herself apart, watching his fury. Then suddenly she collapsed. Mirth rocked her, the malicious laughter of all timo shook her peal on peal. Her laughter rang through Julia’s empty house. Santos had landed from his vessel a god, master of fate, stronger than death. He was going to claim his woman arrogantly. Dike a god he was prepared to trample under foot the small moralities. Now, behold he was the butt of tho centuries, the most ridiculous creature on earth, a betrayed husband. Betrayed by his creature Julia, while his woman, Victoria, laughed. © McClure Newspaper Syndicate.