Books: Reno

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However, he evidently thought this woman different or at least out of
the ordinary, and he was right; she was a most unusual and unusually
interesting woman.

They drifted into a rather serious conversation; they spoke of the
old-fashioned chivalry; the profound respect men had for women in the
old-fashioned bygone days; he spoke of his father with so much
reverence, dignity and pride, and this boy-man with all his premature
experience, gave Eileen glimpses into a soul, into his soul, which was
pure and clean and good.

Eileen was rapidly becoming interested in this young head of the
household; she found herself listening most attentively to every one
of his words. After hearing nothing but silly wordly chatter for
years, it seemed good to listen to this man who seemed to have
absorbed all the romance and mystery of the land of his birth. At one
time he would speak like a boy of twenty; the next moment like a man
of forty; always there seemed to be present two personalities, one the
care-free, happy boy, the other the all-wise, far-seeing man, with a
keen intellectual understanding of every phase of life.

So much were these two people interested in each other that neither
noticed that it had grown quite late and a little chilly. Eileen
shivered slightly and rather unconsciously; young Holbrook noticed it.

"Why, you are cold, and it is late; I am sorry I did not realize it,"
he broke out in astonishment as he glanced at his watch; "really you
must forgive me for keeping you up!"

He extended his hand as he bade her good night. Eileen returned his
good night in her most charming manner, though rather mechanically;
something had come over her; she did not know it, but for the first
time in her life she seemed to have fallen in love....

Much to my surprise and strangely enough after that evening these two
people seldom met and were never alone together; it seemed to me as
though young Holbrook avoided Eileen without seeming to do so. I could
not understand his attitude unless he felt himself slipping and was
trying to avoid temptation. I felt that his apparent indifference only
served to fan the flames in Eileen's heart. She struggled with her
wounded pride though there never was any outward sign of her feelings
until she became ill.

The first day's illness brought a gorgeous bouquet of red roses. "Oh,
why did he do that, and why did he send red roses, the emblem of love
and passion?" and why did Eileen clasp them madly to her heart and
drink in their sensual sweetness? For three long weeks Eileen lay ill
with burning fever, and always there were fresh red roses, but he
himself did not come until Eileen began to convalesce. And one day he
came and stood by her couch, and looked down, at her. He saw that she
was paler, but the lips were still as scarlet as the petals of the
American Beauties on the table by her side. The rose-colored light
cast a glow over the prettiest breast and shoulders God had ever
moulded! They said very little; it would be interesting to know what
their thoughts were.....

Shortly after Eileen came out of the hospital she sent a little token
of appreciation to Mr. Holbrook, in recognition of his unfailing
kindness during her illness. That same evening they met, by chance,
and as he clasped her hand and thanked her for the little gift, the
pressure of his hand sent a strange thrill to her heart; she stammered
something in a tremulous voice and rushed away. Later in the evening
they met, shall we say again "by chance", at dinner. They danced
together, and the pressure of his strong arms nearly maddened
Eileen.... Oh, why do we play with fire and why is forbidden fruit so
sweet!

A strange woman this, with her dual personality: a Madonna and a lover
of all things good and beautiful, but a Cleopatra when the passionate
fires of her soul were stirred; and this night, a passionate love that
lacked all reason, dominated everything else in her being. When they
had parted and she was alone in her room, sleep refused her offices:
twelve: one: two.... and her eyes still were staring into the
darkness.... Not a sound; all was quiet. She rose from her couch, her
hair streaming, her body all aglow. She donned a flimsy, rose-colored
dressing gown, opened her door, crept silently down the hall and went
bodily into young Holbrook's room. In a dressing gown and slippers he
sat, reading a magazine; he must have been restless, too. "Why Mrs.
Reed--Eileen--what is the matter?"

"The matter is, Boy, that I love you with all my heart and soul." And
as he held her in his arms he whispered: "And I love you."

For the first time since he had held her in his arms early that
evening her reason asserted itself for a moment, and she pressed her
hand over his lips to stifle the words. She had thought of poor little
Marjory and her white face in the stream, and of a thousand other
reasons why they should part. There were sacred promises on both sides
to be kept. "But be mine," she pleaded, "just for tonight."

He held her in his arms; she was his very own, and she counted his
heart-throbs as they beat against her breast. He scented the perfume
of her breath against his cheek, and drank deep of the wine of her red
lips, as she whispered again her sweet confession through a mist of
tears.... "The Woman Thou Gavest Me!"

No one could better grace love's throne, nor rule more royally. Voice
so low and tender and heart so warm, all herself she gave, and gladly,
thoughtlessly, recklessly. Is it true that all humanity means to do
right though often wrong: that the heart at times must obey the
mandates of circumstances and environment: that even the purest and
best succumb to temptation? Another day, and reason rules!

He was engaged to a girl who had been his little sweetheart as far
back as he could remember. He had carried her books and pulled her
sled and fought her battles, and now he surely would never break her
heart. There is duty; an invention of the Devil, but it must be met,
though hearts break and burn; though we wander through a desert of
hallowed love and damning desire. This dream was to end. For months
those two beings faced their little world with only a nod as they
passed by; not even as much as a hand-clasp. Who can tell what the man
thought, or if he cared? But the woman wept out her sorrow in my arms.
Confession is good for the soul, so it is said; there is joy in a
heartache sometimes, and sweet content in tears. She told me how she
lay awake and listened for his footsteps. If he came into the room her
heart would almost cease beating. She almost fainted once when she met
him coming in with his fiancee... but in silence she suffered; pride
and duty ruled.

"How exquisitely he tortures me," she said. "He uses roses as his
weapons.... But what think you of this my friend? I shall bear his
image into life! What matter laws and customs, and sins forbidden....
I shall be happy again when I hold my baby in my arms"....

So terribly shocked was I that I could only gasp in amazement, but
when I looked into the face of the woman, behold.... the Madonna!

There seemed to be a spiritual light illuminating her face and she was
far away in the land of dreams, looking into the face of her blue-eyed
baby; born of a great, great Love, sacrificed to Duty. Life.... What a
tragedy! Fate, did you say? Thank God for Time, the healer of all
wounds. As someone has said: "Never a lip was curved in pain that
could not be kissed into smiles again!"

Just half an hour before she was leaving Reno, as we were dropping the
last of the little silver toilet articles into her small traveling
bag, and gathering up the odds and ends here and there, the telephone
rang. At Eileen's request I answered. A manly voice said: "Mr.
Holbrook speaking; I would like to come and pay my respects to Mrs.
Reed if she has a few minutes to spare, and will permit me!" Of course
she would, poor girl; she looked as though heaven had suddenly opened
and beckoned her enter. I left them alone.

Whatever was said must have taken the bitterness out of the parting,
because it was a sweet-souled, courageous girl that joined me ten
minutes later, to take her departure for life's everlasting battle
fields; to begin anew. Perhaps she knew his love would crown the
awaiting beyond with divine fulfillment......

When I saw her off on the Eastbound train, she answered my questioning
look by taking a small photo from her bodice--"No, I have not
forgotten," she said with a smile that was more tragic than all the
tears the world has ever shed. "Here, next my heart, I shall carry my
love always, but there is his duty and mine, and so much do I love
him, that I want to bear all the pain myself...."

Being a trained nurse, Eileen when she got her divorce went to France
with several other Red Cross nurses, "where," she said, "I shall try
to mend my broken heart while I help to patch up some of our mutilated
soldier boys. My only hope is that I may be of some use, and I feel
sure that my own miserable little wail of bereavement will get lost in
the shuffle, when I am face to face with the tragedies of the battle
fields..."

Shall we forgive her? Yes, if we follow the teachings of the
Nazarene..... I sometimes hear from Eileen; she is somewhere in
France, and so is young Holbrook, I am told! I may yet continue their
story some day. Methinks it is a promise; a whisper across the miles
of unrest; a pledge of the fulfillment of a prayer; a surety for
tomorrow's sunshine! Already I can see a smile in the East: may I
hope, and hoping believe?....

"To Helen, my full blown rose, spirit of perfect womanhood, my
inspiration and guide; to her whose love exceeds all others, to her
memory I bow my head in everlasting devotion and admiration...."

Thus spoke a man who had watched the train disappear eastward with the
body of his sweetheart, four years prior to the writing of this book.
When I think of all the tragic stories of the divorce colony, Helen's
was perhaps the most pathetic. She was the daughter of a wealthy
family in New York State. She ran away when only sixteen, and married
a man whom she thought she loved, and for years she struggled to find
happiness, ignored by her people because of her choice of a husband.
She found herself poverty stricken and unloved, paying the price of
her folly. What a pity that we must be young and know too little, and
then grow old and sometimes know too much! Ideals are simply mental
will-o'-the-wisps, of which we are always in pursuit, but which we see
realized but seldom.

For ten long years this woman faced neglect, humiliation and days and
nights of anguish in her efforts to fulfill her duty, until she could
stand it no longer, and crept back to her father's door to ask
forgiveness. The millionaire father sent her to Reno, with ten dollars
a week to live on, and a promise of forgiveness if in future she would
promise to live according to his wishes. Poor little Helen! For years
her heart had been starving for love, and now Reno meant to her the
call of honor and duty, the sworn obligation of her family. But, alas,
Helen was beautiful: a girl who had only just become a woman; whose
sufferings had only served to develop a strong personality with an
intangible charm; whose whole being suggested unnumbered possibilities
of mind and character. Her face was like a lily, so fair, and almost
classic, yet showing unmistakably the warm heart and emotional nature
of the woman. A wealth of golden hair that crowned her regal grace,
and eyes that had stolen the tenderest blue from a turquoise sky
beneath the shade of modest lashes. Appealing lotus-like lips, rosy-
ripe and moist with the dew of promised bliss; sensuous curves and
graceful feminine lines..... such a woman was Helen. And he! Six feet
of Western manhood; a graduate of Yale, and still an athlete at 35. A
man with the highest ideals of fine, clean, strong manhood. He had
gone West shortly after leaving college and had made his fortune, but
he liked the West and its people, and there he made his home. The
rough mining life he had led had worn off a little of the drawing room
polish of his younger years, which made him even more fascinating, and
something had turned his raven-black hair just a little bit gray at
the temples.

This man sat in a lawyer's office one afternoon, his wide brimmed
Stetson pulled low over his eyes, and a cigar between his teeth, when
a rather timid little blonde lady entered. He removed both cigar and
hat and stood up. Jack Worthington was the man, and he was presented
to Helen by his old friend, Dick Sheldon, who was also Helen's lawyer.

Were you ever alone in a strange land, sitting between the four walls
of a barren, stuffy room with the blue devils swarming thick around
you? That had been the case with poor little Helen for two long weeks
before her meeting with Jack Worthington.

Two whole weeks!....it had seemed an eternity to this beautiful woman,
with the wreckage of her youth staring her in the face: a youth which
should have been all sunshine and flowers. She had risked all for the
price of love and lost....

"Gee! Some woman!" said Worthington to Sheldon when the door closed
upon Helen, after a private consultation with the lawyer.

"What's the matter, old boy; captured at last, after all these years?
Well, they say: 'the longer you wait, the harder the blow!' But I'll
have to hand it to you, you're a good picker. That little woman is an
angel if there ever was one in Reno, and you will be a lucky boy if
you can win her!"

Two days later there was a little dinner given at the home of Mr. and
Mrs. Sheldon, and strange to say, Helen and Worthington were among
those present. From that time on it was Jack who chased away the
shadows and kept Helen amused. There was something wonderfully sweet
and soothing about this strong, self-reliant man of the West. Life
cannot exist without sunshine, and this man was slowly becoming the
sunshine of Helen's life, with each walk in the moonlight along the
banks of the Truckee, and with each ride through the wonderful, silent
places, while they enjoyed Nevada's matchless sunsets, and glorious
freedom of open country.

[Illustration with caption: GLENBROOK]

In spite of all Jack could do in the way of chasing away the shadows,
Helen continued to grow more like the lily and less like the rose. It
was terribly hot in Reno as the summer months came on, and there were
reasons why Helen could not have all the comforts. Worthington, with
his thousands, was hopeless. She should be up to the lake where the
cool, fresh breezes could fan the roses back into her cheeks, but how
could he manage it?

"I know, I shall have the Sheldons go up to their camp at Glenbrook,
and invite us up for the week."....

The very next morning a very sweet feminine voice called Helen over
the 'phone. "Good morning, Helen dear, aren't you nearly cooked? Yes,
I know it's a hundred and ten in the shade. I say, dear, Mr. Sheldon
and I have a cozy nook up at Glenbrook, on Lake Tahoe. Won't you come
up and spend the week with us there?.... Oh, yes, we will call for you
at 8 A.M. tomorrow .... Oh, no, don't thank us, you will be so
welcome.... All right, good-bye."

When Helen tripped lightly down to the big touring car the next
morning, she showed no surprise when Jack jumped from the back seat
and assisted her to a place by his side. It was a gay party that
landed at the camp a few hours later. Did these two people know that
they had grown to love each other? There had been no word of love
spoken between them but that night they went for a row on the lake of
many colors, just as the sun dropped over the hills and the moon shone
out in all its glory. Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon stood on the shore and
watched them with a knowing smile. Jack was the salt of the earth, and
he meant so well.... He did not mean to speak to Helen until she was
free, but alas! for the infinite cry of infinite hearts that yearn.
For weeks and weeks, when the days were the darkest, it had been Jack
who happened along just at the right moment with a book or some
flowers, accompanied by a funny story or a joke, some little kindness
that would brighten the path a bit. What a mixture he was, of
tenderness and brusqueness; of common sense and poetry; of fun and
seriousness, this adopted son of the sagebrush. These were Helen's
thoughts as she watched his strong body bend gracefully over the oars,
which sent them flying through the sapphire water of Lake Tahoe.

Already the color was beginning to appear in Helen's cheeks and she
looked happier and more bewitching than ever before. "An angel
pointing the way to Paradise," thought Jack. They discussed the moon-
kissed glades and leafy woods of shadowland. Did they know that in
each leafy bough Cupid awaited with love's weapon poised? Jack drew in
the oars and allowed the little boat to drift; it is sometimes
wonderfully sweet to drift; sometimes we drift into the harbor of
happiness; sometimes we smash against the rocks, and are left
shipwrecked. Little did Helen dream that soon this new found happiness
was to vanish; that her lips burning for kisses yet unborn, might soon
unbend and voice deepest anguish and piteous appeal; that those eyes
which betokened unsolved depths of fondest affection, of laughter,
love and life, might soon lose their lustre and dreamy languor, in an
ocean of tears..... There two people drifted silently along, conscious
only of the fact that they were supremely happy in each other's
company .... But lo! out of the quiet a storm is born: why had they
not noticed that the moon had hidden her silvery face behind a black
cloud? The spray and rain beating upon their happy faces was the first
incident which made them aware that a terrific storm was upon them,
and that they were many miles from home. The wind was whipping the
waves into a perfect fury, thus rendering unmanageable the little
boat. The thunder rolled and roared, and finally the wind drove the
frail craft against the stony wall of Cave Rock. Jack managed to grasp
a part of the jagged surface and drag Helen with him; the boat hit
against the rocks several times and finally broke up.

[Illustration with caption: CAVE ROCK] All through the struggle Helen
had sat motionless and fascinated at the strength and skill this man
displayed in his efforts to pull for the shore, but when at last they
were there, and she felt his strong arms about her, all her courage
and strength failed her, and she fainted. He clasped her closer to his
heart and looked into her colorless face. Her clothes were dripping,
and her golden hair was streaming about her face. Jack stopped for a
moment and pressed his burning lips to hers--they were icy.

"My sweet burden of glorious womanhood," he whispered. "Thank God you
are safe!" And he climbed up the rocky mountainside to the only
available shelter.... Cave Rock. There he took his dripping burden and
laid it on the damp, cold stones. There was no sign of life. He took
off his coat, rang the water out as best he could, and spread it on
the rocks and laid Helen upon it. He rubbed her hands and arms, and
bathed her head, but she remained chilled.

If he only had a dry match to start a fire with, or some brandy, but
alas! they were storm-tossed souls, with no means of warmth, except
that of the man's palpitating body..... He was aglow with warmth from
the exertion of rowing and climbing up the mountainside. He would
bring back life and pulsation to this woman whom he loved with all his
heart and soul, by the warmth of his own glowing body. As he drew off
his waistcoat and threw it aside, something fell to the ground. He
felt about in the dark until he found the object; it was a tiny silver
match case, some silly Christmas present which he never used and had
forgotten all about, but it was surely a welcome friend at this
particular moment. Were there any matches in it?.... He held his
breath for a moment while he opened it .... His sigh of relief told
the story. The rest now was only the work of a minute: some bits of
driftwood and the remains of some previous camp fire quickly started a
blaze.

Carefully he laid Helen upon his coat near the fire, and continued to
rub her body until her eyelids quivered and she opened her big blue
eyes and looked about.

She saw the camp fire, the strange looking cave and the big handsome
figure bending over her.... First she looked startled, then when she
slowly realized their predicament she became hysterical, threw herself
into her rescuer's arms and wept.

And each knew, as the one man and the one woman will always know by
intuition, that fiction has no miracles such as are found in the book
of life. Lips may dissemble, but there is no need of speech when heart
meets its mate. Jack gathered her to his breast and soothed her as
best he could. It was so good to look in her face and to hear her
voice; her heart was so pure and her soul so lily white: her eyes like
violets wet with the morning dew....

When she was quieter, Jack whispered in his fine manly voice quivering
with earnestness: "Helen, my own, will you be my wife, my own sweet
little wife until death do us part?"

"Until death do us part, I will!" she whispered, and surely the angels
must have recorded that sacred promise. Her voice was suffused with a
world of tenderness as she breathed the words. From his coat pocket
Jack produced a plain gold band. "My mother's wedding ring," he said,
"it has never left me since I said good-bye to her and laid her to
rest. I have been looking for a woman who would be as worthy of
wearing it".... and he slipped it on her finger and kissed the hand it
graced. And then and there they pledged their troth.....

"I love you with all my heart and soul, my own sweet woman, and before
God we can do no harm: with love such as ours there can be no such
thing as sin. Society is a tissue of pretense: convention a fleeting
fantom. My sweet bride of tonight."

Splendidly conscious of her sweet sacrifice, she smiled at
tomorrows.... "There is this hour and we live; if sin it is, it is yet
divine; the happiest hour of my life, because I am loved and I love so
much."....

Adieu to duty and creeds, love's altar has vestments of rosebud lips
and starry eyes with whispered words of love divine: "Sin," it's said;
but if with the one all holy love, what care we for the reckoning
hour.....

"Oh! Helen dear, you are missing the most gorgeous sunrise of
creation!"

[Illustration with caption: LAKE TAHOE]

Why, it is Jack's voice.... Helen opens her eyes and looks around.
"What did you say about the sunrise, Jack dear?" She looks out of the
cave in the direction whence the voice came, and sees the silver dusk
turning rose.

"Oh! the sunrise! Yes, dear, I'll be there in just a minute." Helen
quickly brought back her gaze from the rosy-tinted silver light to the
cave and its surroundings. There was a camp fire lighted, and her
clothing was stretched on a line near it, and she herself was wrapped
warmly in a dry woollen cloak. In a very short time, she appeared at
the opening of the cave, fully dressed, as fresh and sweet as a rose
and radiantly happy.

"Good morning, my wonderful bride, my own sweet woman," he whispered
as he kissed her almost reverently. "Together we will enjoy this
glorious sunrise!"

"Isn't it wonderful?" she sighed, "not a sign of last night's terrible
storm: just see how beautiful the lake is; all emerald, sapphire and
gold! How the sun reflects its golden glory on the smooth water! How
wonderful, Jack dear, to watch the birth of a new day, coming forth
from the hands of its Maker. Oh, it is so good to be alive, my lover!"

And Jack again held her in his arms, pressed her to his heart and
almost smothered her with kisses. "And I want to say to you, dear,
that no fame, no glory, no wealth, nothing on earth can bring the
happiness, the real heart's content into one's life, that just one
hour's true, unselfish love can give. I know this after ten long years
of grief, suffering and despair, when all the time my heart cried out
for its own, for what was its birthright and its heritage! I want to
give you my whole heart, dear, a heart full of gladness and
rejoicing."

"My own sweet woman, it shall be my one and only thought to make your
life one beautiful day of gladness and joy! And now, dear, I am afraid
there is nothing to do but to walk back to the next camp which is
about four miles distant, and then telephone the Sheldons to come for
us. I am sure they must be worried; they are probably searching the
lake for us. The road is good, that is one thing in our favor. Do you
feel equal to the walk, or do you prefer to be left here while I go
for help?"

"Indeed I shall not be left here all alone. I could walk twice that
distance!" They started off, hand in hand......

And for three wonderful months hand in hand they wandered. Only two
people lived in this wonderful world for this man and this woman. All
its wealth and beauty: its unutterable joys: its pleasures and stores
of infinite happiness: all their very own! Together they wandered down
life's leafy lanes, treading its quiet paths: together they drank deep
of nature and enjoyed every moment without a thought of tomorrow. The
flowers shed their sweetest perfumes, the birds sang their sweetest
songs, and each leaf and bough nodded as though they knew. Of all men,
he was the one God made, and she,--the woman.... Their souls responded
to spiritual intuitions: their minds entwined as do the ivy and the
oak...

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