Broken to the Plow

urt examinations, and formal red tape he would lie upon his narrow bed at the hotel reading his wife's message-that sharp-edged message which had shorn him of his st

, yes ... of course," Fred assented, dism

on at about two o'clock, Wats

tment and get some things together... Or see a friend... Just say the word." Fred roused himself. A fleeting rebellion fl

sted me-you know, near Jackson Street-drop in and

smiled

ck, with only a faint trace of make-up on her cheeks. Almost anyone would hav

said, when she had seated herself. "And I

"That wasn't anyth

xt to say. It was s

t of your mess all ri

e case and offered her

r worked a compromise... I'm going to a

e sanitariums, I suppose, where rich guys

n... I'm going summeri

in startled flight. "An insane asylum?" she g

ey send drunks... I know plenty who've been through

in silence and pr

ay? Railroading you? I don't beli

"No; you're right. An

as a time when I had them fighting over me. And that wasn't so long ago, either... I'm still young-younger than a lot that get by. But, anyway, I've got a lot of old-memory stuff up my sleeve that can

s, but he put a tight

ldn't quite have that, you know... I don't mean to be

entlemen in my day... Oh, there were a lot who had plenty of money and they were polite enough when it didn't matter ... but ... Well, I know th

ed cigarette in his han

know about

she retorted. "And lea

God I'd know

ows of indifference. For a moment the room seemed flooded in a truant flash of sunshine. She seemed at once incredibly old and

emed to have taken it for a sign of d

e," she faltered. "Mayb

.. if you

" he answered. She moved to the door, as

our wife thi

hrug

," she flung out, defiantly. "But tha

w wh

er face was lighted with a primitiv

ay defeated when a knock sounded on the door. Watson entered. Ginger drew herself flatly aga

hall ... just around the corn

quickly. "Good-by!"

r and, suddenly, quite suddenly, she kissed him. H

e and her lips more scarlet than ever, and her thick, black eyebrows

out," she began, coolly,

interrupte

is

ily; she did not flinc

infully. "Oh!" she s

*

e for him, or rather Wa

idefully. "You certainly were lucky in having Hilm

irror, brushed his hair. "Where ar

u'll stay there a week or so for

from

e hospital a

hy don't you call it by its right name

gesture. "You better not start any rough-house, Starratt-at

"Don't be afraid. ... I've got to the curious stage now. I want to se

a nightgown and led him to a bathroom... Presently he was shown to his cell-like room. Overhead the fading day filtered in

read. Fred Starratt lifted the bowl to his lips and drank a few mouthfuls. The stuff was without flavor, but it quenched his burning thirst... After a while he broke the bread into

ke memories materialized and vanished as mysteriously. Somehow the incidents of his life nearest in point of time seemed the remot

fect and whole again in the flaming crucible of a new birth... Gradually the m

aughter. He heard the heavy tramp of attendants in the hallway ... doors quickly opened and slammed shut. ... There followed the sounds o

dition was revealed. His life had been a futile compromise. He had sowed passivity and he had reaped a barren harvest of negative virtues. He would compromise again, and he would be passive again, and he woul