THE POSSUM HUNTERS



star, it flared for a moment, then faded to eternal
darkness."
   Mrs. Easson understood the finality; Caroline
did not, the words had been pretty, she loved
pretty words, she pled:
  "But, Hughes, I tried to be good to you, even
when you were horrid to me; I was not bad, yet
you treat me as though I was even before you
have heard me say anything. Won't you believe
me Won't you, won't you -" She struggled
to find words but could find only guilty silence
compelled by his steady gaze.
  "Perhaps you have not been 'bad,' Caroline; it
is quite possible that you have been only guilty
of the sins of omission, I fervently hope so for
your own peace of mind; but of whatever you
are guilty, your own writings will convict you,
and words from your own pen have compelled
our separation."
  With the full strength of her dramatic nature
she emotionally pleaded:
  "But, but haven't I always been good to you"
  "Good to me For God's sake what do you call
goodness
  "What noble attribute of woman have you ex-
emplified What fineness, undeveloped before
our union, did you nourish into warmth giving
when marriage made us man and wife
  "The very tendrils of love which spring into
life from my heart and sought perfection in
growth while in the wonder of your love, tendrils
which clung to you even when you despised
them, crushed them, flung them from you in con-
tempt, have withered now, and are dead, tangled,
snarled, vines of hope hideous in the grave yard
of yesterdays.
  "Between you and me there is an impassable
gulf; and gloom, black as death unhallowed by



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