The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1901-09-27
THE TANGLE.
By Mary L. Rendered.
vvvvWyvvyvvvv
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.

\ LISON COLEwas wondering wheth-
n er she might not be able to slip
away without offending her hostess,
when a voice said: Miss Cole, may
1 introduce Mrs. Kynaston to you?"
and in moment she was face to face
with the one woman in the world she
most desired to avoid. 1t had come
upon her so suddenly that she almost
lost her presence of mind, and a leap
of color dyed her face so richly
that she was painfully aware of it.
The strange fiutter of her heart and
the mist in her eyes prevented her
for second from either seeing or
hearing distinctly the individual who
was smiling and speaking to her-a
tall, plump woman of middle age, we'll
dressed, comely, with soft, shining
eyes and pretty teeth.
81 have long wished to know you,
Miss Cole" she was saying, ''for I
have heard so much about you, and
love your pictures so WELL"
'You are very kind" Alison muir
INJURED family. So this was the wo-
man! She had met her at last, after
Is years.
Yes; it was Is years since she had
played, with James Kynaston, in the
commonest of all tragedies, where
love is the hero, circumstance the vii
liam, conscience the stalking specter.
1t seemed long while-15 years
when she had passed through Heaven
and hell in six months, entering with
wings and coming out a strange chrys-
ais that was still alive and able to
notice vaguely the other curious.
wingless things about it. That state
had not lasted either. She had moved,
crawled, walked and learned to feel
again, looking back on the past as on
a previous incarnation, with but
faint sense of identity. Nova great
cloud of time was lifted; the old days
were painted before her in a sudden
glare of light. She shrank and trem-
bled.
"You can't think what pleasure you
have given me over and over again"
Mrs. Kynaston went on, gazing with
frank admiration at the paling face in
front of her; "those two last pictures
of yours in the Academy-The Way In
and The Way Out-are my favorites Of
all. They are eXquisite! The express
sion of the woman's eyes in the one
where her lover is seen going away
in the distance haunted me for days.
How can you put such pathos and
life into mere paint and canvas? 1t is
f,l1 P11f 7 mo
much now that I have seen YOU"
Her eyes begged a question, but
Alison could not ask it. She could
only mutter: sit is very nice of you"
Mrs. Kynaston, smiling sweetly, con-
tinued:
"Your face tells me plainly that you
know what suffering is, and that you
are full of sympathy for those who
suffer. Am I not right?'
cit is question of art, you
know" faltered Miss Cole, trying not
to meet the earnest eyes fixed on her.
Sand heart. But it is all amazing.
1 have so often longed to be clever
"Ncver do that" Alison exclaimed,
impetuously, adding, in a lower key:
DelleNe HE, III IS uuuSSlI dOiS.
Undesirable! TO be clever! You
cannot mean it, Miss Cole. l would
give the world to have your genius
your brain. They would have brought
me good deal of happiness that
have missed. But you will not under.
stand-I can't explain"
Alison felt cold. The woman's
voice, warm and sweet as it was, had
become a stabbing pain to her; its
note of sadness wrung her heart
When she spoke again her voice was
husky
"You are, fear, under delusion, y
She said. "The clever and talented
woman is one of natures mistakes
a freak that had better, perhaps, be
strangled at her birth. Too often