So he wrote out a check for her. And then in two months old Conboy died and left every other cent to Deolda. You might have imagined him sardonic and grinning over it, looking across at Deolda's luck from the other side of the grave.
But what had happened wasn't luck. I knew that she had sent her Johnny out informed with her own terrible courage. A weaker woman could have kept him back. A weaker woman would have had remorse. But Deolda had the courage to hold what she had taken, and maybe this courage of hers is the very heart of romance.
I looked at her, stately, monumental, and I wondered if she ever thinks of that night when the wallow of the sea claimed Mark Hammar instead of Johnny Deutra. But there's one thing I'm sure of, and that is, if she does think of it the old look of triumph comes over her face.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] The order in which the stories in this volume are printed is not intended as an indication of their comparative excellence; the arrangement is alphabetical by authors.
[2] Copyright, 1921, by George H. Doran Company.
Copyright, 1921, by B.W. Huebsch. From "The Triumph of the Egg and other Stories."
[3] Copyright, 1921, by The Dial Publishing Company, Inc.
Copyright, 1921, by Boni and Liveright, Inc. From "Ghitza, and Other Tales of Gypsy Blood."
[4] Copyright, 1921, by The Pictorial Review Company.
Copyright, 1921, by Charles Scribner's Sons. From "Chance Encounters."
[5] Copyright, 1921, by The Curtis Publishing Company.
Copyright, 1921, by Irvin S. Cobb. From a forthcoming volume to be published by George H. Doran Co.
[6] Copyright, 1921, by The Crowell Publishing Company.
Copyright, 1922, by Lincoln Colcord.