Union County courier. [volume] (Elk Point, Union County, D.T. [S.D.]) 187?-1913, 1896-10-15

risk.
Hansing hechild 10 ! nurn1wr
been watting In tho hal. ahes
her visitor to mount the stairs to tie
door above, and knocking u ! curtained
door entered . handsomely appointed
Studio. An odor Of the choicest cigars
was waited toward them. and through
q blue cloud which rose from = lounge
in the middle Of the floor they discover
ed the figure Of Olaf Brun comfortably
outstretched reading a yellow covered
French novel. He did not stir a. they
crossed the threshold. but continued
reading and smoking with tho imper-
turbability Of q Turk. d
Here's Mr.. Falck come all the way
from Norway to see us, Olaf" his wife
cried, waving the smoke aside with an
amused gesture.
Brun turned his head with an air Of
vexation and placing the book face
downward on q low Turkish smoking
table rose indolently and advanced to
meet the clergyman.
"Glad to see you, MI. Falck," he
said with . lazy smile as he reached
him two fingers to shake. II was not
feeling very brisk today and was taking
q little siesta-"
"Oh, I am SORRY, dear" Hulda ex-
claimed with the liveliest sympathy.
Have you got one Of your bad head.
aches AGAIN."
Eyes. / was struggling with that
deuced Prometheus, and I am afraid I
shall have to give him up as q bad job"
eyes, dear, ] would put him aside,
temporarily at least, If l were you-un-
til you feel in the right mood.
Falck was 50 impressed with the
change his old rival had undergone
since he last saw him that for awhile he
could not think Of q word to say. Brun
looked rosy and well fed, and all traces Of
past dissipation had vanished. He SEEM
sd to hare settled Gowss with lazy resig-
nation in his comfortable nest and to be
content to shift Oh his wife the response
bility Of making his living. There was
q luxurious elegance in his dishabille
AUD something Of the grand seigncur in
his languid p~oliteness. He received
Fa1ck a. q pasha might have done q
client to whom he owed some slight OBJ
legation. He did not seem in the least
surprised, but the instinct Of good man
ners, which was . second nature to him,
forbade him to show that he was annoy
ed hitter the first moment Of unpleasant
interruption. II he had been q jerome
or q Meissonier, he could not have pre-
sented a more artistic appearance. His
soft, wavy hair had been permitted to
grow quite long. and his dropping mus
tache exhibited . bold curl which was
nothing If not artistic. He o q loose
brown velvet jacket and wide light
trousers, aud q negligently knotted
bright necktie encircled an excessive
" low collar. displaying an amount
Of neck which seemed positively i'm
modest. Whatever his deficiencies may
have been as q knight Of the brush, it
was not to be denied that in point Of
costume he could scarcely have been
improved upon.
After having offered his guest q cigar
he sat down and began to talk about
art and the trials OF the artist in this
Mammon worshiping land with q so
norous volubility which filled his wife
with delight. She glanced every now
and then at Falck with radiant intelli-
gence, as If to challenge his admiration.
She was obviously disappointed at his
refusal to be impressed. and it became
clear to him that the kindness for him
which filed her heart suffered diminu-
ton during the interview. She was yet
SO completely absorbed in her husband
that her attitude toward others was
determined solely by their attitude to-
ward him. She OWNED in Falck's mind
q remnant OF the old antagonism, and
she read in his somewhat stiff reserve q
spirit of criticism which she would have
liked to resent. But, after all, abe could
afford to be magnanimous toward one
who had loved her 30 we'll and suffered
70 much for her sake.
It was, however, q relief to both HUI
da and her husband when Falck rose to
take his leave. They asked him to stay
to dinner. but were not sorry when he
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an amount Of eordiality which seemed
to imply that it was his going rather
than his coming which delighted them.
II would have been superhuman il he
could have conquered the feeling Of bit
tesnea which Alled him at the thought
Of leaving them togethes-the woman
he loved and the man he hated and de-
tested-in their fools paradise. He fan
cied their delicious privacy. emphasized.
~ it were, by his departure, and his
own loneliness seemed doubly bleak and
chilly since he had this glimpse Of a
bright and warm domesticity. His soul
seemed somehow TO have caught cold,
and at the prospect Of the long and
dreary years that stretched ont before
him little ICY shudders crept up his
spine.
He thought q he walked down the
silent street Of his first sermon on the
tares among the wheat, the moral of
which Hnlda had challenged.