The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1897-07-13
1Irr m noErMOaEAoY YLATa
How an ,.OrisntAi Corner" Played Havoc
with a Clab Man.

ambitious for an oriental corner, Fortu-
nately, there was a purposeless little
rom in her apartments, which opened
out Of the back parlor and which SEEM
ed TO be made for tete-a-tetes by soft
,mp.llght AS Mrs. Kent Is always In
search OF that which is piquant she de-
eIdol TO devote this room to orlentalIsm
and tete-a-tetes.
She got diyan. OF course, and guam
uues Of rugs She hung y canopy OF
maryelous stuffs above the divan, from
,be center OF which she depended an
,ron lamp. witch, when lighted, emitted
GLOW al once mysterious and exqui-
s,,s With a bewllderment OF pillows,
nm tniatd tabnrette at hand, Uttered with
,rinkets and cigarettes from Cairo; with
s,ne Benares brass stuck here and
mere. a cutiass or two and a murderous
leaking knife said to have been used
arainst the Armenlans, the place pre-
sentgd truly oriental atmosphere.
II goes without saying that In waiting
Or results Mrs. Kent had reasonably
distinct idea OF what she wanted to
Fhera was one man In Mrs. Kent's set
U,ho could talk. This was remarkable,
Lerause the men Mrs. Kent knew were
m, as a class, afflicted with -pversoul
This man had got In through the acci-
dsnt OF his having married girl In the
ss,-he had, indeed, taken undue nd
y.ntage OF her and married her when
she was too young to realize the indls-
erection OF introducing brilliant man
among her acquafntances.
The night he called on Mrs. Kent-his
wife was east and he was making a
dinner call-she took him at once to the
oriental room, where he sunk quite nat
urally among the perfumed pillows ana
without hesitation put red fez, which
happened TO be lying near, on hts lux
uriant black tresses. These tresses
were, no doubt, a relic of those bohem-
ian days 10 which no one referred In his
presence-days when he worked hard
and dreamed much, and did not, as now.
furnish a background for fashionable
women at the opera, or dine-in the ar
tIstIc sense Of the word.
lie was quite conscious OF the situa-
ton: OF the wondrous glow OF that os-
GLAZING lamp, OF the insldlous perfume
OF those pillows; of the vlvncious flow
OF Mrs. Kent's conversation.
THE funny part about Mrs. Dennlse's
,scsptlons," she was saying, is the peo-
nIs YOU meet there. OF course you see
Everybody you would expect to see, but
Won also see a lot OF people you would
never expect to meet anywhere-unless
Il Ia in heaven. They don't know any
INDY. doubt " they even know them
selves. Certainly they don't know what
10 do They cit huddled together IKE
sheep at storm, and you politely avoid
looking at them much as You wouldavoid
looking at defOrmed persons, lest 1t en-
bsrrass them. You can't go up and
sueak 10 them as you would to boys at
the ragged school, In patronizing and
cheerfilly religious tones OF voice--even
they would resent actions 50 obtrusiyely
phllauthroplc. The Dennises are an old
family, YOU know. and they have been
Acquainted with these people ever since
the massacres, In which. unfortunately,
they we're not Killed. don't mean the
Dennlses, but the other people. You
never know what to do when oil those
creatures are present. They are hor-
rlbly depressing. The wonder to me Is
that they haven't the sense to stay at
home and improve themselves. They
always look as II they would attach i'm
portance to Improvement and intelll-
gence and all that sort OF thing. You
know what mean, don't your"
Mrs. Kent was perfectly aware that
she was talking fooiishiy. but she also
knew she was so pretty that 1t dldn l
matter.
y know perfectly" responded the
brilliant man, who had acquired his
reputation largely by means OF these
mastery sllences. but you know am
something OF an outsider myself"
How can you say so? You repre-
sent nearly all that is picturesque
among us!"
III were really the proper thing. my
dear Mrs. Kent. wouldn't be pictures
que. You people. who are the proper
thlBg, merely patronlEe the picturesque.
You never really condescend to be part
OF IT, l am quite conscious OF the fact
that am admitted on suffeTance."
The word 'sufferance' Is not applied
tn that which is delightful" cried Mrs,
Kent
The conversation had lasted a long
time when 1t reached this point and II
might have lasted u good deal longer
had It not been for an interruption In
the shape of Mr.. Kent, who came home
from somewhere. bringing three men
friends with him and begging for a
Welsh rabbit. OF course he asked the
Brilliant Man to stay, but he insisted
he had to meet q friend at the club to
make a date with him for the marshes.
where they we're going TO shoot some
thIng-he Ind forgotten what.
81 he made his way TO the club. The
rooms were well occupied and he was
about to tender his usual elegant greet
ings when a roar Of laughter went up,
most evidently at his expense.
You seem very jOvlal," he said, rs
good naturedly as he could under the
circumstances
Where In thunder have you been2"
they shouted at him.
II don't know that it's any OF your
he began and then happened to look
down at himself and never finished the
sentence. From head to foot In front
be was sprinkied with candle grease,
which had drlppel from that swinging
limp with It's mystic light; from head
to foot In the rear ne was covered with
wlnsdown from those luxurlant pill
lows Of the orient These were the
mcmentos OF that entlclng eastern cor
nee
1t COS, him $50 and Il got to Mrs.
Kents ears, somehow. So presently
people were whispering to one another
lmllinglY that Mre, Kent had a dear
little, Lauis Quin2e tea room on her
back parlor, with chare In which her
guests were forced 10 SIT bolt upright,
and electric lights. nrtlstlcally shaded