The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1900-12-19
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IT THE Shadows
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7h(0RD|LLERA;;a:::t1 IT Il
+' Or, The ho0nofia Flower. II:
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'''f BY VIRGINIA LEILA wENrz. -.
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~. CopYRGnT, 1900, II
BY ERWIN WARDMAN f''''
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CHAPTER VII.


Llama had returned from the country
with dark half circles under her eyes
and all her pretty color gone.
TOO many long walks, too much vlo.
lent riding and that sort Of thing. I've
overdonc it," she explained 20 Mrs.
Morris. But she added, seeing the lool;
of distress on that lady's face. "Ill
soon freshcn up-you'll sec-'
She did. And when the season oprn.
eu she became most popular: she was
here and there and cvcrywhrrc Tho
piquancy Of her foreign flavor gave her
an additional attractivencss. Her so.
clal triumphs now for the first time
fully awakened the important De
Wltte to her charms, and he wondered
at his former comparative apathy.
AS to Llama, the awakening distress.
ed her greatly He was his mothers
idoliZed son; she Llama, was her pcn.
nilcss protcgcc. When her happiness
came To be weighed In the balance
against his L was no open question
which would tip the scales. And She
was beginning Ia feel something al.
most like Il rcpulSion for the man, i'm.
lnaculatcly groOmcd and tailored as he
was. His continual low whispers and
gazing eyes. the dulcct tcte-a-tctcs
when the family were out, the tanta.
liZing passages rs he waylaid her on
the stairs OF an cveuing-all these
brought her trouble and unrest All,
We're all men self seeking?
Margaret Maitland and Llama had
become fast friends, as their first meet.
I'm oil
summer had brought them closely to-
gether. 1t was the day after Anna
Abbotts wedding, ut which both the
girls had been bridesmaids, and Mar
garet, who was not feeling well, was
lying down i'm her boudoir. propped up
with cushions. Llama had dropped in
for few moments chat, but. finding
her friend indisposcd, had taken off
her wraps and decided to pass the aft
ernoon with her
anna looked every inch the bride,
didn't she" said Margaret; pretty,
flushed and trcmulous. hope she'll
be good little wife to Charles he's so
desperately fond OF her. And she's
such spoiled, pcttcd creature"
Llama acQuieSccd in all these things,
playing idly with her big mulf, which
lay on chair beside her. Somehow
her heart was heavy today. It was
"Lohengrn's Wedding March" which
had fetched the hcaviness, she said to
herself. Yesterday when the strains
had reached her ears in her usual
senseleSs fashion she had felt her lips
trcmhlc. and great, foolish sob nearly
had broken up from her throat
But Of this she said no word. She
began to talk instead OF the guests
who had been at the wedding, Of the
stream OF men and women, old and
young, people with n great deal Of
manner and not much else. 1t amused
her to see the fautlessly dressed men
edrcssing their hats, grinning vacuous.
~ and clacking out set phrases and to
near the women gossip turbulently
ABOUT such things as the shop windows
could bring to view any day, from
Alaskan seal garments at one end to
1eweled barbaritcs i'm buckles at the
other. with turquoise blue fantasies in
millinery coming somewhere In be-
tween.
They talked OF these people for
awhile until Margaret, rising impetu-
ously and letting an unrcgarded cush-
ion fall to the floor beside her, said:
LLAMA, I'm sick OF it al-this thing
they call society. It's only the click
clacking of gristless mill, whose
noise more than anything else pro-
claims its own emptiness"
zone must imagine to like It," put In
Llama, smiling nrchly. "That Is how
one learns. This Is how one could
wish things to be, and this is how they
are" She crossed one slim finger over
another as she laid out the case. But
we must imagine to like them all.
No?"
Margaret watched her silently. Then
she reached over to a table nt the head
Of her couch and picked up an open
pamphlet. 1t was n little essay writ
ten in the preraphaeltc vein and ar
gued against the prosaic outward fur.
niture Of modern life and the spread
Ing Of "the hidcous town." She found
the place she wanted and read:
"Say what you will, we are lost chill
dren, and when alone and the dark
ness begins to gather we long for the
close relationship Of the brothers and
sisters we knew In our childhood and
cry for the gentle arms that once rock
ed us to sleep. We are homesick amid
this sad mad rush for wealth and
place and power. The calm of the
country invites, and we fain would do
with less things and go back to sim
plcity and rest"
Child Of nature" cried Margaret,
suddenly turning on Llama, "how can
you be satisfied"
perhaps l am not" answered the
girl
"Well" said Margaret.
"Well," echoed Llama, and the shad-
ow OF the dear old peaks of the Cor
dillera crcpt over her face.
But Margaret had never seen the
Cordillera and did not observe It's shad-
ow She went on:
$50 1t came about, around the year
POOL, that men began to think, and
they said: Let us go home. All Is so
quiet there They found, having taken
u little time, that there was beauty
In the country they had quite forgot.
ten, and the melody Of the water run.
ming over the pebbles was a song OF
pleasure. They saw, too, that animals
and birds that lived in the open air ney.
or went into decline; that the chip
munk's health did not fail nor the
quail have nervous prostration."
"Yes," admitted Llama, who had been