Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1900-05-11

looked at the girl. 1t was by no
~ means the first time he had met
her, and he would have been extremely
glad to know that it was the last. Ttat
Is to say, he would have wished, of all
things in the world, never to part from
her again. But this, he acknowledged
to himself, was past hoping for. All
her people were so clever, everybody
she knew had written something or
| other, she was only used to the very
most intellectual persons. Why, even
this party that he was now at was given
In the great room at the end of her ia
ther's garden where he wrote his won
derful books. And he-he was such a
countritied fellow. He only had money
and ridiculously, quite intellectually
useless strength Of body. he could
/ only shoot and hunt and play games
and manage dogs and horses. Boorish
pursuits, he thought, despairingly.
Once he frightened for moment as he
looked round the crowd Of nervous,
narrow-shouldered men.
I'D bet anything not one Of 'em could
bring down pheasant at 100 yards"
he said, and almost chuckled to him
self.
Nobody took any notice of him. He
felt that he had hardly any right to be
there. If he had ever taken a compost
tion prize at school, or even so much as
written letter to the papers, he felt
that he need not have stood there so
ashamed. Once she in her capacity as
young hostess had come and spoken to
him. Very shyly. And no wonder, he
thought bitterly. What single thing in
common with her could such a stupid
fellow as he have? And so she had left
him alone, after taking him to one or
two girls whom he supposed to embody
genius in its most terrible form, the
feminine specimen, and who therefore
found, and left, him dumb.
So he wandered off into far corner,
for it was a large room, and when he
had put himself behind small grove
OF portfolios he could watch her with
out being seen in anybody's way. For
long time he gaZed at her, very fair,
and in white, with what he called
Auhip Vi bidSh NClNSI dSuluSl ueE Sllu-
ing white shoulder. Then at last she
was lost to him in throng far away at
the other end of the room. He turned
his back on everybody and looked with
a curious, ingenious wonder at some
Inca drawings which were in the cor
ner on the wall.
He did not observe that the noise Of
voices grew less and less and then
ceased altogether. He was lost in a
dream Of her, till suddenly he was
awakened by the electric lights going
out altogether and the sound of the key
turning in the lock of the door. He
listened acutely then, and heard the
gay voices growing fainter and fainter
outside, as the guests went along the
Chineselanterned path into the house
to supper. He started out of his corner
to rush for the door and try to make
somebody hear him. But he entangled
himself among the portfolio stands with
n loud noise, and when he eXtricated
himself and felt cautiously round in
the darkness for landmarks, he found
that he had lost his bearings. The
sounds outside died quite away.
He stood still and wondered what he
should do. And where was she? What
more worthy man was handing her to
supper? His teeth came together at
the thought. 1t had been his one final
daring hope-and then to retire to vege-
tate and slowly die in the empty coun-
try. And even this had been denied
him. He felt chair near and sat heav-
lily down.
Then his sharpened senses seemed to
take in breath and a soft rustic a
very long way Off, and there came
low, sweet voice, Are you there, Mr..
Penwin"
Rapture. "Are you" was all he
could say, and he bounded from his
chair.
She laughed gently. "Yes, IL got
left behind as-as you did. you knoww
II can't imagine how did it." he
said.
"You were dreaming something beau
| tiful in your corner"
81 was," he cried out eagerly, and be-
gan to make his stumbling way toward
her voice.
-"something that I shall perhaps
read some day in a great bookT' she
breathed softly.
He stopped cropping with a gasp.
Heavens! this was worse than any
thing. She took him, him, for writer!
He blushed as he stood there in the
darkness. And, of course, how could
she suppose that any guest of her ia
theirs had not written, or was not about
to write, some world-stirring master
piece? 1t thrilled him for a moment