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, dismis

on at about two o'clock, Wats

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

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 summering

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

hey 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 ca

s, but he put a tight

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

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 wa

" he answered. She moved to the door, as

our wife thi

hrug

," she flung out, defiantly. "But tha

w wh

r face was lighted with a primitiv

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

e hall … just around the co

quickly. "Good-by!"

er and, suddenly, quite suddenly, she kissed him.

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

ridefully. "You certainly were lucky in having Hi

irror, brushed his hair. "Where ar

'll stay there a week or so for

from

e hospital a

Why don't you call it by its right na

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

bread. 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

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

rfect and whole again in the flaming crucible of a new birth… Gradually the m

laughter. 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 wo