The Virginia enterprise., 1901-09-20
MY LITTLE ENEMY.

She haG a thin. delicate nose that
Showed penetrati1Vn and a quick, nervous
susceptibility; there was just the least
suggestion Of length to ner chin. Her
dark. eyes Were decidedly long. her mouth
iiEresistibly, lovely, in its smile, but: capa
Die of an .'ironic expression exasperating
daint!ly made little ladies of whom a
man feels half-atraid-a butterfy's wing
would be, coarse, everyday stuff in COM
parison. Her name was Winifred Gale.
At first felt her beauty only as part
Of the universal charm. Among the: Bar.
ketshire mountains each new day has a
unique value of its own. there is bloom
upon it. a little super-earthly. The rich
morning air stirs' your blood With a soft
excitement, a sense OF life beyond the
power Of words to convey. You rush to
your window to discover whether the
magnificent shoulder OF grand old Alan
der remains there in full view, unre-
of the wide, shimmering moOnlight-it is
all little like enchantment; it has that
effect, perhaps, especially upon one accus-
toned to life on a dead level.
l was there-it must be the usual way
merely by happy accident. At Harm-
man an old classmate, and a thoroughly
good fellow, was with me, and we had
AO1AAAG ~ w AO1 q lC" "CChS Dul "
make the most Of our luck. It's no ordi.
nary summer resort, you understand; you
find only an overgrown farmhouse Sc;
here and there, with few big trees
around it, and wide piazzas looking to-
ward the mountains, and the clouds are
your next neighbors. II you can't live
on privileged terms with all out-of doors
are already in possession: But if you
have eyes and ears and are on good
terms with yourself (for that is essentiaD,
there couldn't be fairer chance to live
with joy in each hour as it passes, and
forget that there is a workaday world.
Beauty is all around you; you dwell with
her as with a gentle yet never common
finite variety. as changeful as woman
Now it is all modest softness, now ten
der, serious, now dazzling and splendid;
again, vast and solemn. Every mood is re-
flected, every longing soothed or satisfied.
And with all this for ones secret soul,
sparkled and light hearted laughter rang.
My acquaintance with Miss Gale began
the first evening. On the broad piazza
the talk among half Gozen fellows ran
easily upon vacation exploits. l began
telling of the lake fish that we caught up
at Superior the year before. Oh, there
are big Ones-lake trout, you know, and
we had royal luck. Suddenly grew con-
scious Of a ripple and murmur of merri-
ment in a corner that somehow sounded
a little challenging, and | caught CLEAN
of malicious fun in pair of particularly
telling eyes that shone out from the
vague duskiness That was all that |
could distinguish clearly. just~a pair of
dark. flashing eyes above white flowing
drapcries.
She was a mystery hid in darkness that
hrst evening. but upon the second she
was the very center of great bright
ness. \ group of clever people will make
intellectual sport anywhere there were
two judges of the Supreme court and a
brlgadier-g+neral on sick leave among the
company. and of bright women not a
few, and with small ceremony big, un-
filled barn had been turned into the
"Haymarket theater.' Here French
comedies and Shakespearean scenes were
gwen cn alternate weeks, with plenty of
dash. however skimped the preparation
Seated in the parqnet upon carriage rugs,
substantially stuffed from a low hay
NOV, we almost held our breaths at the
aprarition Of an astounding Desdemona
in shrimp pink evening gown, smoth-
cred at last in full view by huge, over
blackened Moor. Such intensity was
thrown into the scene that it brought
down the house, and she had to die over
"e"Ahs III outrageous UFoicH or
courtesy. AS Shakespeare it might be
more or less fanciful, but as for pretti-
ness-well. l never happened to see any
thing prettier than that small, pointed
face. over which the rapid movement of
felgned emotion made scintillatiug play.
like dance of sunlight upon frostwork.
1t was not until the third evening that
tine actual bitterness Of our quarrel be-
gan. though | am sure that from the first
l recognized something inimical. It
wasn't a quarrel, to begin with; it was
about nothing, of course. Quarrels are
the most serious ones.
In that summer OF 1898 war talk was
going on continually, in season and out
of season. l was perched upon the big
horseblock-it was section of mighty
tree, with steps cut in one side and
favorite mount, facing as it did the slope
Of the great mountain. / remember
there were white flowers looming out of
the warm twilight, and the garden
smelled family sweet, an ethereal frag-
rance like that deliacte odor Of your
mothers room that always makes a calf
brigadier in attendance, sauntcrcd out to
watch the moon rise and stood not far
off. The evening mail had arrived: they
were talking of street encounter in
Porto Rico in which three men had been
killed. The general was just saying in
his nOarSe, rumDllng voice, that there
were several men from the Indiana in
volved.
mo wonder, then!' 1 put in, they're
brutes, those Jackiesv'
How was to know, pray. that her
young brother had left Harvard to 20 on
board ship with: the naval reserves? As
it an}v ha2R9en7ed' 2}9e7 a 'acky was her one and
II my my abuse was uncalled for, there
was no malice in II. Rnt Il was no+ =
thing that a woman could be expected
to forgive. Miss Gale accepted it as
ground for fullfledged enmity-full-
aedged-a perfect peacock of a quarrel,
the day. .:=.&s
Morning, noon and night was made
to feel the sharp edge Of her wrath and
scorn. 1t was an anim0sity that sought:
opportunities. and found them in abund-
ance. Her first one was to treat me as 8
person OF weak nerves and great physi-.
cal delicacy. Don't laugh 50 loud" she