Corvallis gazette. [volume] (Corvallis, Benton County, Or.) 1900-1909, 1900-12-04
A NEWPORT IDYL


60 HE ballroom at the Casino was
aglow with light and pulsing with
- music The ball was at its height
a moment before supper.
Standing near door was young
man whose features were drawn and
white, and whose set lips made a pic
ture sadly out of place in that gay
throng. His dark eyes followed slim,
graceful girl, with crown of golden
hair and tender, violet eyes, whose
dark, long lashes lent them a pathetic
look just then.
They seemed to be seeking for some
one, but whoever they sought was not
found until the dancers had twice made
the tour of the room. Then the two
pairs Of eyes met for second. Those
of the girl had a wistful, questioning
look; those Of the man an expression of
stern REIMBURSEMENT.
The music ceased just then, and in the
little ensuing futter they lost sight of
each other in the crowd.
The man, with sigh so deep as to be
almost groan, turned away, and,
scarcely knowing how he reached there,
found himself seated in an easy chair
on the wide porch. He gave himself up
to bitter reflections.
Il must be crazy to come here to-
night. l might in time have learned to
forget her, but to see her again, so
sweet and so far off. could not ask her
to marry me now on little or nothing a
year She has been brought up to
wealth and luxury. 1t is part and par
Gel of her daily life, and would be the
most brutal of brutes to ask her to
share my poverty. Poor little Nellie!
She didn't look any too happy, either.
Well, Jim, if you are not a coward you
will start now and go-so far away that
she will never hear of you again."
Just at this stage Of "Jim's" reflec-
tons, several persons came along, and
in their gay conversation Jim had no
part. He half rose to go when he heard
his own name mentioned. In spite of
the old proverb about listeners, he re-
mained in his chair, which was in deep
shadow.
Poor Jim Alden! Did you see him ?
He stood by the door looking like the
ghost at the feast. What a pity that
he went on Wall street! He might have
known better. He seemed to be par
ticularly cut up when he saw Miss Bur-
ton dancing away and never even look
ing at him."
Il hear that Miss Burton's engage
ment to Lloyd Appleby is announced .
what, that old man! Well, he's roll
ing in wealth"
''She did not need to marry money"
1.-The ways Of women are past finding
out"
The figure in the dark corner glided
away swiftly. He had borne all he
could. He strobe on down toward the
Point, scarcely knowing where he was
going, until with a sudden sense of a
new pain he found that he was stand
ing by the rocks where he had sat only
two days before with Nellie.
Then the hot sun blazed down and the
heat pulsated from the sand and sea
below, and the rocks above, and then,
too. there was not the knowledge that
he had lost every dollar he had in the
world.
The long line of silver light laid
across the water suddenly wavered and
grew blurred and dim as his eyes filled,
and a sob was wrung from the aching
heart. He remembered the dimpled
fingers that had clasped the parasol,
the odor of flowers at her breast, and
the clinging against his cheek of a few
strands of golden hair tossed there by
the wanton wind. He stood there, a
black outline against the moonlit water
beyond.
Back at the Casino another little
drama had been enacted. Nellie had
seen more than her trained features
had shown, and she knew that unless
she acted promptly she would have
looked her last upon Jim. Suddenly
Jim was more to her than all the world
All the other men and women in the
world were effaced from her heart and
mind as utterly as if they did not exist.
She must find Jim-she must.
Out on the wide portico she flew, with