Daily inter mountain. [volume] (Butte, Mont.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-02
A Matter of the Dark Room
BY H. s.. IA FIELD


hoped great things OF his particular neg
ative. That night, having lighted his
ruby lamp, he began the work of ''devel-
oping." Several of the plates were eight
struck of course. They always are with
amateurs. Several had been -"over ex-
posed" others had been under expos
ed" They came UP black as midnight
and "drab as a dead mans hand" At
length he immersed the negative Of the
spring. He saw almost in an instant as
the developing fluid covered it that it was
going to be a success. He handled It
with care, feeling that pride in it which
comes 20 all who are new to the art of
~sun-painting, and he watched it jealous
ly as it went through the various pro-
cesses from development to fixing"
Then, holding it to the lamp, ne saw ev-
cry delicate tracery of leaf and bough
and ripple and pebble reproduced as if
with a fairy pencil. He saw something
else, too. In its very center, framed upon
each side with a branch of hemlock, a
spray of leaves above it. as If 1t were
crowned. laughed a woman's face-dark,
symmetrical. eXpressionful, radiant. mis-
chievous and half-surprised. IT was a
young face and beautiful, with e certain
innocence of look, yet showing also the
nameless culture and self-possession
which come only from experience of the
world, a highly intelligent face, the face
of one we'll born, an unmarried face, the
face of a maid. There was nc single de-
tail of gown, or figure, or arm, or hand.
Not even the throat was showing. Look
ing closer, Strathmore saw tina the
woman must have ebeen hidden COM
pletely, and doubtless accidentally, BY
the trunk of the tree, which was much
crooked, and by the tangle of feathery
limbs which iutted from lit.
Next morning he entered the dining
r0nr1 Lotto fn1irr T. hayr aus -.
women guests. Almost the first counten-
ance upon which his eyes rested was that
OF an elderly woman. which bore a faint
resemblance to the head in the photo. "a
few minutes afterward a tall and grace
ful girl entered. 1t was She. Her gown.
OF strong, brown stuff, came almost to
her shoe tops, she was belted with plain
brown leather, laced boots went presum-
ably to her knees. the lower swell of the
calf more suggesting han revealing a
imp q exquisite contour. On her jetty
halr a canvas cap was perched. Her left
hand was gauntleted. Her right was
barred and she held a split bamboo rod.
with an expensive reel fastened to it.
She glanced but once in Strathmore's d.
rection, and there was no recognition in
her look. Under the velvety tan of her
cheek the rich blood came and went as
she talked rapidly to her mother of her
plans for the day, giving her advice with
sageness as to the best waters to be
ffshed, and the best lures to be used. The
freedom and SureneSS of her movements
and the swell of her bust and her upper
arm told he man that she was muscu-
larly powerful, and the tones Of her voice
as they came to him across the dining
hall We're full, round and ringing.
was the most beautiful creature he had
ever seen in his life, and he forgot his
breakfast.
Inquiry showed him that her name was
Dorothy Annesley: that she was at the
hotel with her widowed mother that the
two We're possessed Of ample means; that
they associated little with other guests.
and that they lived in Chicago. Strath-
more was by nature energetic and not at
all bashful, but it took him a week Of
lncessant effort so to arrange matters
that he might meet Mrs. Annesley and
without seeming to have
brought it about. 1t was done, however,
through the medium of a friendly young
fellow from Chicago. who knew them
well and was fond of billiards and cigars,
The amateur photographer found before
he had walked with the girl for a half
day that she was better educated than
he. had positive views about many things
and no knowledge whatever that she had
been Photographed hepeSXr. t 1890
been photographed. She expressed some
curiosity to see the finished picture, and
when it was shown to her explained that
She had been sitting by the spring read
ing, and had seen him approach with his
hand camera; had recognized his inten-
ton to make a snap shot, and had moved
away to avoid taking a place on. the neg
ative. she had turned, however, and
looked back, like Lots Wife when she had
traversed a few feet, and it was then
that her face was caught, though she
supposed herself to be invisible.
AT the end OF a month Strathmore was
hopelessly in love, out he could not see
that he had made any Roadway. The
girl fenced admirably. 1t was impossi-
bic to hold her still in conversation long
enough to begin a declaration of passion,
much less to make a formal proffer Of his
hand. He began to see himself reduced
to the necessity of the bald intersection,
II love you, will you marry me?" or else
giving up the chase.
Perhaps the affair would have been
fruitless after all, but for the kindly
elements.
On a sultry afternoon in August the
pair were portaging their light boa be-
tween two small lakes five miles from the
hotel. In the northwest a copper-colored
cloud sprang up and rolled across the
heavens. Almost Immediately the wind
came, and in an instant the sky was in
visible for the flying leaves and twigs.
Then, in a succession of dull crashes the
huge trees began to go down. Deep in
those massive woods. it did not seem to
either of them that the storm was of ex-
c%eptional violence until those arboreal
giants began to succumb. Even then
there was little. of the roar which they
had mentally associated with tornadoes.
There was, rather, a comparative still
ness. 1T seemed if some huge and invis-
ible hand was gently pushing the trees
to their destruction. Their danger was
apparent, however, and Strathmore,
grasping his companion by the arm,
called to her to rum. He had a dim
idea that it would be a good thing to
find some great run which had fallen
across the track of the wind, and lie
down behind it.
The next thing he knew he was in bed
at the hotel, with a broken leg. Miss
Annesley called upon him three days lat
er, accompanied by her mother. She told
him that he a been struck down by
her side while trying to escape. The
mother added that the girl alone had
made her way through five miles Of for
est to the hosiery and carried succor to