Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 26, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 30 September 1905 — THE LITTLE DOUBTS [ARTICLE]

THE LITTLE DOUBTS

[Copyright, 1906,-by T. C. McClure.] Slowly the canoe crept out past the point and drifted lazily on the bosom of the lake. The big, Imperfect disk of the moon, nearing its full, hung just above the ragged line of hills to the east. On the other side the hotel was ablaze with lights, and the biweekly hop was In full swing. Faint, disjointed bits of music floated across the water to the two voyagers. It was evident that the moonlight paddle was an Impromptu affair, for the man was 9 ln faultless evening clothes and the girl wore a gown of dazzling white. The man, propped comfortably In the cushions in the bow, smoked thoughtfully, and silently regarded the girl as she deftly wielded the paddle or, laying it across the gunwales, allowed the canoe to drift aimlessly along the moon’s path. When they reached the middle of the lake, the man sat suddenly upright aud tossed his cigarette into the water. "T shall have to go back tomorrow,” he said. Ite iilgly. "In light of that disaster,” he went on, "I am going to ask you to change your plaus a bit, and instead of waiting the whole month for my answer I shall ask for it tonight—now.” The girl took up the paddle, and with a few deft strokes sent the canoe Shooting ahead. Her eyes were intent on the water, but he noticed the deep color come slowly into her cheeks and heard her quickened breathing. Presently she shipped the paddle, and, turning her eyes to him, regarded him steadily. “Your answer is ready,” she said slowly. And it is”— he asked with eager impatience. • “It is—no,” she returned quietly. The man said nothing, but he put back his shoulders and bls square jaw set in determined fashion. “Do I presume too much,” he said at length, “In asking the inevitable ‘why?’ ” The girl’s head drooped and she was silent. Oue little hand nervously clasped and unclasped about the handle of the paddle. “Is it because you <ion’t—don’t love me?” he persisted. —She shook her head tn denla 1. ‘Til really like to know the reason,” he pleaded. “It’s because,” she said with much hesitation, “it's because I’m afraid of the shadows of the little doubts.” Suddenly she leaned toward him and her eyes looked frankly into his. "I won’t deny that I love you, John, for I do,” she said. “It’s not the big things I’m afraid of. In those 1 know you would never be found wanting. But, oh, the little doubts, John! You are ambitious. Your profession is your god. You will grow more and more absorbed in it, and I” She suddenly ceased speaking. He heard a little choking sob. For a time he lay back on the cushions and stared silently into the cloudless sky. “Is that all?” he asked at length. She nodded miserably. “Is it quite adequate?” he asked quietly. She was silent. “Amy,” he said, “look at me and listen.” Slowly her eyes were lifted to h's. “You say that my profession is my god. It may be so, but if it is I am an arrant backslider.” “Why?” she questioned faintly. “Because,” said he, “for the sake of being here these two weeks with you I sacrificed the chance to make a name for myself on that • tunnel in South America. Remember, dear, I had striven for the opportunity for years, but when that opportunity came and I found that I must choose between it and these two weeks with you I chose —and with all my heart I say I chose wisely—the latter.” He leaned forward until bls face was close to hers. “That is what I did for my profession—my god—remember,” he said tensely. A strain of music drifted out to them. He smiled rather bitterly. “Well, let’s go back and have one more waltz at least,” he said. But the girl laid her arms on the paddle and burled her face in them. He watched her In uneasy helplessness. “Amy, Amy,” he pleaded, “don’t do that. Believe me, I didn't mean to hurt you.” She lifted her face, flushed and tear stained. “You haven’t hurt me,” she said brokenly. “It’s simply that I’m gladglad that the shadows of the little doubts are gone.” “You mean”— he began. “Yes, I mean”— she said demurely. The canoe rocked dangerously for a moment, but there are times when the Instability of a canoe Is a secondary matter. Then it drifted into the kindly shadows of the pines on the farther side of the lake. “Where are ye, oh, ye shadows of the little douLAs?” he apostrophized heroically. And a muffled voice from the vicinity of his coat collar answered faintly: “Vanished, thank heaven!”

T. BLAIR EATON.