Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1899-12-21

| o. 80 ooouoIoA1eu 10 TINS. sort OF thing
perhaps, or more likely the fiery ordeal of
grlef she has just passed through makes
all else seem trivial and puny.
L can't, l won't bear it." cries Bella
III shrlll voice at last, as she glares at
them like maniac, and with her sharp
Iehne eyes detects a smile on the mans
mouth. "1'll kill him sooner than that
horrld woman should take him."
Bella walks UP and down, clasping and
unciasplng her great bony hands as she
always does while she ''brews." She is
| brewing now most fiendish thing, but
there is loose hinge somewhere, for she
knits her brow and screws up her thin
Fps and then bites her neither lip till the
| blood starts
Suddenly she halts in her constitution
al and opening her door a couple Of
| inches-listens.
Pierre, do not forget to take Lord En-
nlsfords coffee into his dressing room,'
Lady Ennisford orders
She is very angry-very hurt at her
husbands utter disregard of her feelings
and of the proprieties, but that is no rea-
son that little matter of his comfort or
habit, while he dresses for dinner, should
be neglected.
'Ah!' cries Bella, half audibly, with
sort of relief, sit looks as if it were d.
| vine justice and retribution! The coffee
is just what l wantedr'
Presently she hears Lady Ennisfords
light step passing up the stairs to the
nursery, and then she peeps once more
and sees Pierre the valet with a silver
salver enter his masters dressing room.
But no sooner has his figure disap-
peared downstairs than Bella creeps
stealthily across the dark passage and
into the room-creeps just like a cat
creeps just before it springs on its prey.
Her face is the color of a sheet, but her
eyes burn like couple of unholy fires.
She glances keenly first to the right,
then to the left as she advances toward
small tripod that stands near the Win
dow; then she takes a small folded paper
out of her pocket, looks at it with a fend-
ish smile, drops it's contents into the
coffee, and stirs it with a steady hand.
It is not a love philtre, this!-judging
by the look of diabolical malice which she
filings at the old lover through the win
dow
A quarter of an hour afterwards, Lord
Ennisford runs up the stairs, two at
time, whistling softly, and May, who has
scarcely left him since he arrived, and
who has been watching for him in the
passage, smuggles herself also into the
dressing room.
''Bon-bon," whispers the greedy little
mouth right in his ear, and smiling, he
searches in every nook and corner of the
drawers, but no yestige of any saccharlne
morsel shows itself, SO he looks round per-
picked in hopes Of discovering something
nice
A lump of sugar CLEANS up on the
round table hard by, and he fetches it.
The little one, who has commenced
very early to banker after the feshpots,
looks eagerly at the cup.
Papa! May thirsty"
'Thirsty!'
There's nothing but the coffee, so he
brings it.
papa is not thirsty, luckily for you,
Miss Greediness! Now then, you mustn't
have it all, because it is not good for
you. Only one, two, three Drops
But May is not an ordinary child; she
has willful, passionate spirit, just like
his own. She jerks herself away, and
turns up her tiny nose.
May shan't drink it!' she says, obsti-
nately, with an :mperious toss of her tan
gled curls. bad papa to try and give
May nasty, beastly physic! And then.
disappointed at her treat, she sets up
quite little howl. With any other child
he would be angry and impatient, but
this one he gathers up and soothes and
wipes away the tears of passion as gently
as any woman might do, and by the time
he has succeeded in restoring smile to
her face, the gong sounds for dinner, and
| he runs down the stairs with May still
| in his arms.
And the cup of coffee so carefully STIR
red by Bella remains on the table, black
and untasted.
LADY Aylmer comes down with many
opals burning at her throat and she has
lilies of the yalley-emblems of purity
clustering in her bosom. She looks like
Venus. or Clypso, with her flmy robes
billowing round her, and forms start
ling contrast to the Suzeraine Of High
cliffe. as for one accidental momens they
stand side by side. :,
Lady Ennisford wears black, dull
heavy black, high up to her chin, and
falling in mournful folds to the floor,
weighed down by yard deep Grape, and
unrelieyed by single CLEAN of white.
No Jewels glisten on her throat or arms,
only her broad gold wedding ring shines
on her third finger, hooking symbol OF
everlasting love. 1t seems to stare back
at her in scorn, as her eyes fall by chance
on it.
The gorgeous salon at Highclife has
never thrilled with such melody as when
Lady Aylmer sings in her superb con-
tralto little later on. Even Lady En-
nisford with all her horror Of the wom-
an. listens perforce, but suddenly looking
mn she catches sight of her husbands
face, and that's enough. Devils shrieklng
in her ears would be more welcome
sound to them.
As the beguiling voice floats past him
and appeals to his senses, Lord Ennisford
/ inst gives himself up to the spell, and
makes no coneealment of his intense ad,
/ miration of both singer and song, ana
1,,bon tba last notes, brilliantly given, die
away, Lady Aylmer sinks languidly into
= big velvet bergere, while her inamorato
Leans at the window by her side, making