Los Angeles herald., 1891-06-14
A Seaside Episode.
BY MISS METH BoYcE.
Who is ahe2

Everyone was asking Gne quesui"h
from the fat dowagers who sat under
umbrellas and imbibed novels and gos-
sip. to the dudes, beautiful in striped
flannels and sashes OF every dye; from
the staid papas with one eye on the
matutinal newspaper and one on the
sand. grabbing baby, to the giddy daugh-
ters, stunning in blazers and jaunty
sailor hats. The old men were mildly,
the young ones madly curious; the old
women snifily observant, the young
ones outwardly scrutinizing and calm,
inwardly furious.
"Who is sshe ?" whispered one mamma
to another.
"Look at her dress-how absurd Is
that her mother with her? l pity her.
I'm sure my girls would never make
themselves so conspicuous.
Nor, indeed, was it probable that they
would-all three being sandy-haired,
pale-eyed, lank of figure and sheepish
(retiring, their fond mamma said) in
disposition.
"Wn no is she ?" murmured blonde to
a bruno.
"How terribly made up"
"Who is she?' asked a handsome
youth of his affianced. "What a fig
ure! !"
's "Cotton," shifted the maiden.
"What beautiful golden hairl"
"Bleached. Anybody but fool could
see it,"
"What walk-like queen, by Jove !
There isn't woman here to compare
with her!"
Who was she? A beautiful woman.
certainly. If her figure was cotton"
her modiste must have been an expert
anatomist, for her proportions were per-
feet II her hair was bleached, no one
mo man, that is-would blame her, for
its color was exquisite. Her dress,
which one maiden (herself apparelled in
an aesthetic combination of violet and
green) had called cloud" was white
and gold, simply made, but with an un-
mistakable French touch. For the rest,
she wore a big white hat, with small
downy yellow plumes upon it, and
carried an umbrella huge enough
for a mandarin. Her feet were
clad in the prettiest little
brown suedes ever seen, and as they
sauntered slowly over the shining sands,
their owner was the observed of all OBJ
servers. In spite of her ton, and the
brown-robed matron by her side "a
model of middle-aged "style' and re-
spectability-the women one and all
shifted at her. Perhaps her hair was
triAe too curly and golden, her COM
plexion shade too pale, her eyes too
unhinchingly dark. At any rate, there
was something wrong with her. "No-
body knew her."
Numbers Of people were very anxious
to know her, however, principally (need-
less to say men. But though many
resplendent youths congregated in little
groups and asked of each other nonchal-
antly: "Oh, abby the way, Cholly,
do you know that girl over there, white
and yellow-stunning fgure-pretty
girl" nobody could give any other
fellah an introduction. The fair
beauty paced up and down the
beach once or twice-ran the gauntlet of
curious and admiring and insolent eyes,
with superb indifference-an then took
herself and her huge sunshade and her
brown-clad satellite from the black
dotted sands and disappeared within the
portals OF the great hotel on the cliffs
above.
AT the lunch hour she was not visible
though her chaperone was-but half
an hour afterward the two reappeared
and drove off in the prettiest little phae-
ton, with the most fiery little black
horses in the world. They were staying
at the hotel-that was certain.
The pale and intellectual clerk in the
office clutched his long-sufering head
in despair, as the sixteenth man saup-
tered up and sought the fair unknown's
autograph in the register, and before
night everybody knew that the two
strangers were Miss De Bracey and Mrs.
Van Kull, of New York; that they had
the best suite of rooms in the house, and
paid $40 day.
Miss DeBracey made her third appear
ance that day in the ball room. She
came down very late-radiant in pale
yellow India silk, with gold filagree
girdle and golden butterflies quivering
on her shoulders. Her golden hair was
piled in bewitching puffs and coils and
braids-her dazzling arms and neck
liberally exposed.
"Atrociously low !" murmured "wil-
lowy' virgin Of thirty.
"But with such shoulders who
wouldn't!" sighed a more honest dam
sci.
Meanwhile in spite or because of the
comments of the women, the strangers
triumph was complete. The men
thronged round her-she danced as we'll
as she walked-and she who until now
had reigned queen of the place, scarlet
Angie Bramwell, had actually
to sit out one dance and watch her rival
whirled around the room in the arms of
her own fiance-the swell, the aristo-
cratic, the middle aged and rich and
''rapid" Brayston.
Ii to be followed by the secret ex-
ecrations of a whole roomfull of women
and the homage of most of the men
can make woman happy (and there
are those who assert that it CAM, assur-
edly the De Bracey was happy that
night. She wore her honors well, how
ever; refused to dance twice with the
III l1fA 4 LII IL