The times., 1901-03-10
The Conversion of
Mr.. Bertie Valance

than the admiration Of men" The
strangers voice was very musical. and
Valance forgave her speech for the sake
of hearing it, Miss Grimm ooked at her
with curiosity and admiration.
A moment later Valance returned to
the attack.
We'll all I can say is-no lady noun
taineer for me- he said, with a light
laugh.
There is no such thing as a lady noun
taiutcr, salu Miss Grimm. sharply.
'GoulI be saying mountaiueeress direct
ly just as they used 70 say authoress'-
thank Heaven that's obsolete I've never
met olga Braun. but / should Ike TO.
She vas mere last summer. and so was J.
but she left the day before ! came
After mat Valance. who was OF a te-
uaciOus turn Of mind. appealed to two
young Germans, who had been listening
eagerly. md W=s assured Of their entire
sympathy. expressed with the help Of
many cultural sounds Of horror at the
idea OF their FraUs f9TsakIug their three
ks. OF four. rather. since Kleider has
been added to the list. 10 wander among
the mountains clothed ia bifurcated gar
ucuts.
There the conversation ended. for p
porter entered the room with the an
nOuncsment that the storm was over, and
that party Of people were 60 b- seen
through the hotel telescope completing
the descent OF the Sehwarzhorn.
Everyone bat the stranger. whose voice
had fascinated valance. rushed off 10 en-
joy tho thrills Of mountaineering through
. the exceedingly powerful telescope which
. the hotel manager provided for his less
adventurous guests
/ The Young man fingered a moment at
! the door
You are not Interested in mountaineer-
( ing hc asked.
/ = watched them so often last year"
/ thu stranger answered, with the swift,
brilliant smile that lit uD the quiet face
/ SO unexpectedly Then She rose and shut
/ hcT book. and. with slight bow, passed
ont OF the room.
/ Half au hour later Valance saw her
! leave the hutcl and walk down the one
narrow street. He noticed with pleasure
J that her short skirt was perfectly hung.
ana her T,Ct were undoubtedly trim and
shapely although heavily shod. lie felt
an unacCcuntable interest in this brown
haired young woman. he wondered where
she would sit at dinner.
Hs found that she had been placed on
his right and before the meal WAS half
way through he had made several dis
. cOE,rjes. She was by no means plain, her
forehead was fine and her eyebrows most
dellcatoIy traced and if she was rather
ColOrioss, there was certain charm IN
those neutral tints the pale skin, the
soft light-brOWu hair, and the eyes that
matched it to "a shade. And the charm ol
her manner heightened that OF her per-
s0uaI appearance. He put her down as
very intelligent and very good talker,
Tue. her words were few, but conNer-
satiUu does not consist in mere talking.
His discoveries 0ld not include her name,
the camaraderie Of table d hOte seldom
calls for formal Introduction. ANA no
one else iu the hotel seemed 10 know II.
The next morning dawned gloriousiy;
CloudIrss sky smiled down on that en-
chantcd valley, and the weather-wise
among the visitors declared that, after
an unusually variable spell for the month
. Of August, the fine days had come TO
stay.
+ After breakfast Valance set out on an
+ uEambitious tramp. and as he passed
. do gr The Ncranda steps he saw that the
br0Wn-haircd stranger was sitting at her
. ease in a wickcr-chair with "A Tauchnitz
novel and writing materials on the table
by her side.
lie doffed his cap. and she smiled IN the
way that was already beginning 10 haunt
him. and called out bon voyage.
As he wdla,,. along through the mead
4 ows, thick with many-hued flowers, 1t
! seemed TO him that the girls musical
voice. her refined, fragile-loOking face,
/ had in some mysterious manner pene-
trated into tho lumber-rOOm OF his brain
! and nshed out something that had lain
/ there for years a vague thing at best.
/ which in his bOyish days he had been
Z rather ashamed of-an ideal. She and the
. ideal: the ideal and she-there was some
7 connection between them. And, without
: warming light flashed in upon him-she
! was the ideal
/ Such was the woman he had dreamed Of
1 IN the days before the grinding struggle
/ that had landed him at tHenty-eight at a
! sufficiently proud altitude in the world of
art-he was q painter. Just such a quiet.
! refined. intelligent personality sympho-
/ ny in light-Drowns.