Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1900-07-06
AN ISIS CoNsIDINE was the rage

black hair, which she was always con-
triving to wear as nobody else did, tum-
bling over her shoulders cloudily or
wreat thed about her small, elegantly
shaped head.
She was a stranger in the town. but
she brought letters of introduction from
people of the highest responsibility in
the metropolis, and was accompanied
by staid-looking lady of middle-age,
who always wore pearl-colored silk and
performed chaperon nightly in an alto
gether irreproachable manner.
Miss Considine's toilets were artistic
perfection. Her laces were priceless,
said judges; her jewelry dazzled the
eyes of even accustomed uppertendom.
Miss Considine was a mystery, and
the greater sensation, perhaps, for that
very chill whisper which seemed to
thrill in the air about her, and which
had it's foundation in the mere fading
of the beauty's brilliant color, the flick
er of her liquid glance at unexpected
moments. and for no apparent reason.
She was coquette Of the first wa
ter. That was discovery early made.
She had a way of looking sideways
through those long silky lashes of hers
that was infinitely more alluring than
a level glance would have been, and
the smile which visited those rosy lips
only now and then was doubly at
tractive from it's infrequency.
A creature of dangerous graces, she
was what people mean when they call
woman fatal. Men imagined heaven
in her glance, and counted that lost
when her smile was withdrawn.
My Lady Dangerous met her match,
however, toward the close Of the sea-
son. A yellow-haired German, whose
azure glance had a softer dazzle than
her own, and who called himself by
the fascinating title of Count Ludwig
Vermandorf, presented himself about
that time to compete with the beauti-
full girl for her place as sensation Of
the day.
He was shy of Miss Considlne at
first, but gradually he too seemed to
be drawn within the circle of her wiles,
yielding with such reluctant, pensive
grace as clad his radiant face with a
new charm. Even Miss Considine
dropped her dangerous eyes with a
fiickering blush under the tender bril-
lance of the Counts smile, and her fin
gers trembled in his clasp, instead Of
resentlng the fond, faint pressure of his
hand. Count Ludwig Vermandorf was
an assiduous wooer. Never devotee
knelt at the shrine Of his patron saint
with more rapt and untlring devotion
than he at the feet of Miss Considine.
1t was not new to the coquettish
beauty to be sought humbly. But this
man was her master even ut her own
game.
He knew how to clothe his most i'm
passioned moment with n reserve that
continually mocked and tantalized; to
say one thing and look another; to
sting with word and soothe with q
touch. He never said too much, but al
ways too little. His looks were elo-
qucnt of love; his tongue so silent on
that fascinating theme that the heart
of the naughty beauty grew to fairly
writhe within her with mingled pain
and anger.
Count Ludwig was an artist of some
talent, and he insisted that he must
paint Miss Considine's portrait. She
was not ut all loath, though she feigned
reluctance when 1t was first spoken Of
These sittings, from which she hoped
much, and for which she draped her
perfect shape with every artistic COM
bination her rare taste could devise,
proved utter failures as far as her OBJ
ject was concerned.
Whether 1t was the same with Count
Ludwig remains to be seen. He would
permit no one, not even the beautiful
subject, to look upon his picture while
IL remained Incomplete.
Miss Considine, since her acquaint-
ance with the fascinating Count, had
changed greatly. All that rich tropical
bloom, peculiarly hers, had vanished.
Instead was dusky pallor, varied by
ftful crimson flashes, like the leap of a
smoldering flame. Count Ludwig had
changed also. The soft radiance Of his
handsome face had turned to the chill
dazzle of snow peaks; his smile was
like the Ice beneath. His blue eyes
were like steel magnets.
1t was as though from this man ema-
mated some deadly creeping influence
which Miss Considine covered before,
but could not resist. 1t was scarcely
lover and loved one. 1t seemed rather
the eXecutioner and his victim.
One night Miss Considine invited a
select few to witness the mysterious
unveiling of the picture about which
there had been much conjecture. A
sensation was expected. The magniti-
cent drawing-room was ablaze with
light a-tlutter with eXpectant guests.
The yelled portrait occupied n magnifi-