The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1899-11-30
BY JACK LONDON.


The bon Dieu, In his inscrutablc wis
dom, had seen fit to place two women's
souls within two fairly beautiful bodies
and to cause them to love each other
dearly. He had likewise deemed II dis
cretionary TO create them sister and sis
ter. that this affection might bloom rich
and full nor fall prey to the deadly
germs ordinarily sown In the course of
feminine existence. Having done these
things, II is evident he rested from his
labors, leaving these two creatures to
the whirl of Chance.
Chance behaved sanely for long
while; but, having permitted them to
gain womanhood in each others COM
partnership. it flung them apart by half
the girth of n western state and caused
them to dwell in separate places, one In
a smoky metropolis by the seaboard and
one in a great valley where minerals
were as common as pebbles in a gravel
bank. Chance also brought many strange
things into their lives, and last of all
man. And this man came well recon-
mended, with moral probity, business in
tegrity, healthy bank books, unqualified
letters of credit and Introduction and
good looks. He became great friends
with Ernestine. who lived in the city by
the sea, and thought he thought much of
her. After they had come to know each
other well Lutte, whom an imbecile an-
cestor had classified as Luella and who
lived In the valley, came on a visit to
her sister Ernestine. And the man.
who may be known as Loren Ellery,
came to know her likewise.
And what do you think of Lutte"
Ernestine, who WAS the elder, asked one
day after her sisters visit had terminal
ed in a climax of sisterly love. kisses, ad.
monitions and promises.
"Now. Erna," Ellery answered-he had
long since taken unto himself this pre-
rogative OF address-"its this way:
Lute's fine girl There's no installing
It. She is bright, good looking, with
vim and go about her and glorious
color. But her brightness is of differ
ent order from yours, as are her looks,
her vivacity, her complexion. You un-
derstand She's pretty little witch and
all that, but Here he threw the
proper expression into his eyes and gaz-
ed upon his nterlocutor just the correct
number of instants to be thoroughly eff
fective and resumed But she never
could be to me what you are. l like her.
but in different way from you. i ad-
mire her. but not as l admire you.
can respect her, and | might have loved
her had you and never met. AS II is
Ernestine said "Ohr afterward, and
they both felt a high satisfaction with
themselves, each other and things in
general and particular.
After some time Chance, with his nc
customed arch manipulation of his hui
man dice tossed a man with n mine
across Loren Ellery's path. And accord
ing to the affinity which exists between
men possessing natural capital and men
possessing industrial capital these two
foregathered for cooperative eXploita-
ton and mutual benefit. In the course
OF the deal Loren Ellery, not desiring to
be mulctcd by the western gentle, hired
q mining expert and went to investigate
the pretensions of the hole in the ground.
II so happened that the mine lay among
the outjutting spurs OF the mountains
which fringed the rim of the valley
where Lutte lived and moved.
Naturally, society being limited and
travellers rare, she and Ellery met. and
they saw much of each other. So pleas
urable did he find her company that he
dallied day by day and postponed the
date Of his return. And as he took lib
critics with time. so did his tongue with
him till he said to Lutte things which
he should not have said and which he
had said before.
"It's something like this. Lutte" he
said one day as they drank iced tea on
her long, shaded piazza and thus strove
to adapt themselves more comfortably
| to their torrid environment. TITS some
| thing like this, you see: Now, that sister
| OF yours is a jolly. nice girl. clever and
all that. Not the slightest doubt In the
world of II. She's got looks and health
and complexion and all that sort of
stuff. You understand. She's just the
kind OF n girl TO carry most fellows
away, fall In love with her on the jump,
but And here he expressed that
"but" in mild pantomime, rendered
more effective by long practice, and went
on: But she never could be to me what
you are. She is clever, but not as you
are. She Is pretty, but so are you and
| in a different way. She may appeal to
| most men, but not TO ME as you can. In
short, like your sister, but there Is no
similarity between that and my affec-
| ton for you. / can admire her and re-
spect her, and 1t might have been i
could have loved her had not met you.
As it is-tell me, Lutte, dear, tell me you
understand"
As this repetition of stereotyped nice
ties Is an infrmity from which all mas
culines suffer TO greater or less extent
and which In like measure gives pleasure
to all feminines. II can be considered no
great evil. and evil things would not
have resulted from it had not the Dor
| niAs ~sae Lute's very conhding IA