Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-07-11

on1- %y Iace expressed disapproval. Il vas
stsy+ao r q moment. I remembered in.
nmrs,Ivy : .h h l was dust, and that in so
nv ni. q business arrangement it was not
Gaoose to sit on the box.with her driver.
i e.1I ss an automaton I gave her my arm and
7 me her Gown the steps; like an automaton
aho,,pt ner into the carriage, but as I was
m nuoos 10 enter IL myself, a thought struck
ner msometh that could never have hap.
pper rG W. an automaton-the thought that
p mnnap I was not wanted there. and I said
box?" am 70 tioe on tne
by no means,' . she replied, with cold
ksaGlomsness. "What would tho coachman
man s.1o t be sure" ! thought, and I gave the
carriage, and presently we were rolling
silence. 40 "V'oA
~ we passed the street lamps, I glanced
a. ner from the corners of my eyes. She
h, leaning back looking out the window,
puG l 1ancied there was an upward curl to
the corners of her mouth, as if she were
smiling to herself. She certainly had an
aotractive face, in spite of her dignity
ana cnl!liness. All the way I wondered to
myself II she would take a box, and if this
m y of a tcte-a-tete was to be kept up
all the evening, but my fears were set at
rest when she requested me at the theatre
entrance to take seats in the body of the
mousse. In obedience to her instruction,
directed the man to call for us at eleven,
and we entered the theatre. Her first
movement, after we were seated, was to
use her lorynettc in a thorough sweep of the
house, after which she settled back with a
sigh of relief which I we'll understood
she had seen no one she knew, and should
not be obliged to talk to me for appear.
! ance's sake.
The play was "Marie A~ntionette," and
che actress, Ristori. Ihad never seen her,
and wooden man as l was I experienced
f.! pleasure at the thought of witnessing the
performance.
As it proceeded, I could not help seeing
that my pr0tegee lfor was I not protecting
her for the time being?) turned to me in
voluntary at times, as if seeking compan-
conquered my pride and met her glance
With one quite as sympathetic as she could
have wished, was l to blame? And why,
at tfat, should she seem offended, and re.
train from looking again in my direction?
In that thrilling moment when the des-
perate Queen catches up the little Dauphin
and holds him up on the balcony in view
of the hoarsely-roaring mob, 1 was called
back to the fact of my existence in the
Nineteenth Century and the New Worldly
a touch on my arm, n looking down I
perceived that my companions gloved
sAN$AAN III y IL Sonu Ill q SkASU
like death, and that her face was absolute
ly pale with feeling. My professional in
stinct was reused.
"Thi is too much for you," I said, au-
thoritatively, in a low tone; ''you will be
i'll il you allow yourself to feel it SO in
She looked at me slowly and wondering.
ly, as if she were just waking from a
sleep; II seeing the position of her hand,
she withdrew it. and her face Redeemed
slightly as she said: 81 beg your pardon,
p no wSndify you were a%nn0yed' I quite for
For the rest of the play, I scarcely saw
or heard it (though hope Ristori will
never know this), for 1 looked at the drama
through the medium of the face beside me.
I was perfectly safe in watching her, for
she became entirely absorbed again in the
relative positions with a feeling Of curiosity
and amusemenu; now something of bitter
| ness crept in. / watched the expressions
that fitted over her features-admiration,
sympathy. pity, indignation, disgust, hor-
ror-and guessed family from them some
of the possibilities Of her nature; then 1
reminded myself how quickly these would
fade away, and her face become monu-
mental in its immobility the moment she
should turn to me at the end of the play.
Why was Ito be looked at as if l were not
a s~entient creature! or as if a fellow-feel-
Il LIS OCu"OCA uS WOuAd No q SPOSAOS vi, pGSs
| nomenon akin to o monstrosity? By the
time the curtain foil I could nave taken the
palm from Lucifer, my pride had so ex-
ceeded its just proportions.
Her.cloak was on my arm as we made
our way nto the lobby. A cold wind
street-door, and without a word | put the
heavy silk wrap about her.
II do not want this" she demonstrated
with . sort of gasp at my GOODNESS, and
replied, rather sternly it seems to me
now: Nevertheless you need it,"
1t must have been ten minutes that we
waited for her carriage, walking up and
down the sidewalk, attracting attention,
amid all the confusion, by our evident per.
plexity and Impotence. Suddenly she
pointed across the street.
"There he isl" she cried, "that is Jerry
and he is fast asleep in all this noise, I be.
lieve."
"Shall we go over to him?" I asked.
She put out the tip OF her boot and re.
garded it a moment. cit is SO muddy and
my boots are SO thin; couldn't you bring
him over here!"
"Not without leaving you'll could never
make him hear across all this bedlam."
swell, leave me here; nearly every one
has gone-they are turning out the lights,
and no one will see me. Look! I will step
behind this pillar and wrap my cloak
tightly about me-"
l shook my head. Its not safe: you
must go with me-"
"It is perfectly safel Will you be SC
good as to leave me here and call for my
carriage? Otherwise"
She bad no need to mention an alterna.
tive. I bowed and was Sgone before she
could say another word. l awoke the
sleeping Jerry, who, it seems had been
awake all the night before with tooth-ache,
and was making up for lost time, as he ex'
planned with profuse apologies n order;
my way back among the moving carriages
as fast as possible: I had left my imperi
Gus and self-willed protegee at the back OF
the v.stibule, in the shadow Of the steps
and of the pillar aforesaid; as I turned ]
saw the last group of people enter their
carriage. leaving the vestlbule deserted,
and at the same moment a faint, startled
exclamation met my ear, coming from be-
hind the pillar. A man darted past me
with a muttered oath, frightened by the
sound of my footsteps, and something gilt
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