The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1897-07-08

why not in the orchestra row, Wa1ch-
ing the danseuses?"
That was clever enough to be pre-
served as sample of repartee. she told
him; for she insisted upon seeing him
through very rosy spectacles, and when
she found the rosiness fading or wear
ingaway in spots, she laboriously tinted
them up again. She talked diplomacy,
the world, life, ambition, to him con-
stantly She lost sight of the fact that
an officer has very little use Tor that
sort of thing. She brought him TO cor
rect tastes in the matters of art, and
literature, and music, and, above all, per-
sonal appearance.
lie absorbed how to cut his finger
nails. probably. for she never actually
told him, and he stopped chipping them
on the bias lie tried at saying things
with his eyes; pretty generally the
things had to be said over with his
tongue, but both of them laid that down
to Mrs. Torrey's stupidity. After all.
Gordon was improved. 1t took IS
months to get him into shape, and then
he said he was in love with Mrs. Iorrey.
The way she had brought him up made
| him hard to handle. He had all kinds OF
| ideas that do in books and salons and
French but are bad. in fact, in The army
and in England. 1t began with the eye
| talk, and Mrs. Torrey understood that.
| But she pretended she did not; so he
thought her stupid again and put it in
words. He was very fiery about it-as
in the books. They were on the porch to-
she was careful of appearances, usually.
do you know that you have become
life itself to me?" he asked.
II have tried to show you life
Don't talk to me in that cold. in
structiye way, as though you were years
older than land homely. You are only
half a wear older, and what is that: -
wherein the Balzac showed-"and you
are beautiful"
ooh. no, | am not"
at least you have the face Of Ma
donna"
ITO you it should be the face of q
brother officers wife"
Cant you see that I love you pas
s;onately?'
II can see that you think you love mt
romantically, but you DON'T
lie did, however. He was in earnest
and he had had the decency to keep II
to himself for long while. Then 1t had
burst out. and after that he made her
life a burden. She saw that 1t was her
| fault, she ought to have seen that the
kindest thing to do in the long run
would be to drop him relentlessly then
and there. Instead of that she tried &c
reason with him and to comfort him
which, of course, did not work
lie said that if she shook HIM
altorether, he would kill himself
and he might have done so, be-
cause his brain was romantic mud
die. Mrs Torrey was in very bad pre-
dicament when Uncle Sam came to heE
aid. He ordered Lieut.. Torrey to Bal
timore on recruiting service.
Torrev lived in Washington, and went
over to Baltimore to the office every day
In two months Gordon had sick leave
and was in Washington. Mrs. 1orrey
was frightened. She flew into rage
and told Gordon what she thought o
his actions. lie retorted by calling he7
heartless. 1t ended in a parting witt
tears and curses; and Gordon married
an heiress before he went back.
Mrs. Torrey felt sorry for him. Sh
knew she had broken his heart, wrecked
his life. She would do what she couI'
for him. At least she would further HI
ambitions. He should owe his WorlGl,
success to her. She had learned goot
deal by real experience now, and sh
+ was Young, brilliant, very pretty ant
marvelously attractive. She becam
: quite a feature in Washington society
a woman of the world who never los
her head whatever she might max
I others do. All this in less than tW
years. She knew there was no use /
trying to advance her husband, and sh
f did not particularly care to, becaus
she had found out now that she was III
: happy, horribly unhappy, and that he
q life was flat thing. She cared for tb
Gordon she had made more than sh
guessed. The real interest of her llf
+ lay in him. Her influence was grca
because of her social powers and he
+ beauty and attractivencss, and by din
n ! Of trying in those thousands of untol
+ ways that there are of doing sue
4 things she got Gordon an attacheshi
& at the court of St. James. He had
6 rich wife and he could accept it.
d 1t was improbable that he did nc
|. know whom to thank, but however tina
IS might have been, he gave no sign an
t neither did she, except to turn horribl
$ pale when she met him on Connecticl
II avenue one afternoon. She smiled wa
IS eringly and pitifully, and he only locke
e dcepintp her soul with hurt eyes. He ha
V mastered that much of eye-languag
1. He was IA ther pleased at the obviou
J. success of it, but she believed his heal
k was broken, and was as miserable as
e naturally good and honest woman
0 when such thing is on her conscienc
c A year later she was in another frul
d tier garrison, and her husband came
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