Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-11-26
Copyright, 1904, by Izola Forrester.)

entrance of the Hotel de Paris. white au-
tomobile had passed. taking the road to the
Riviera. Everything about 1t was whlte,
even to the garb of the chauffeur. Inc glTl
beside the latter had worn an all-enveloplng
cloak of heavy white silk. Her white leath-
err cap set closely on a mass of fair hair, as
rich in color as clump of goiden roo oii
an autumn prairie back home In limos.
There was a continental repose ana nnisn
to her that placed barrier of separation
between her and the girls whom ne hau
seen about the Casino and hotels her ,, ioi,S
automobile veil Of white chiffon was hitea
from her face, and as she pa ssed, her dark
eyes had looked directly at him.
Clancy, Ward & Jaffray's European OPP
, orator. had told him who she was. Clancy
was the only familiar face he had seen since
he left the boat at Marseilles.
"She's beyond you, boy; way up, out OF
sight Dog and the moon. moth ana the
flame, light of the star and all that sort OIL
thing. That is the Marchesa Bea'a II IS
tria."
sounds solid and interesting" had COM
mented Ramsdell. Where does the mar
chesa lfve?'
ION the Riviera. beyond Mentone."
Clancy had bent to f1eck the dust from his
patent feathers with narrow-hem
linen handkerchief villa D'Istria. Going
ballooning after the starr
Ramsdell had looked thoughtly after the
dust raised by the white automobile. Some
how Its occupant had seemed above discus
sion with Clancy, and he had spoken CURLY.
The trouble was he had ridden often.
After one has passed the lemon and olive
groves east of Monaco there is the clin
road on to Mentone. and beyond where
the hills dip to the blue of the sea, one may
find the Villa D'Istria, white and stately in
the slences of its rose walks and orange
groves.
Ramsdell had found it. Every day he had
ridden over the cliff road watching for a
glimpse of the girl with the dark eyes and
hair like the tint of the golden rod And
one day he had found her, kneeling beside q
peasant boy in the road. The boy had been
run down by her chauffeur, and was more
scared than hurt, but his sisters and cous-
ms and aunts, together with the male popu-
lat.on of Rudella, had gathered en- masse,
with evil intentions toward the white auto
mobile. And Ramsdell had taken the curly
headed, sobbing boy in bis arms, and had
carried him up the rocky road TO Rudella,
bunch of gray stone houses, set like
gulls nests in the cliff crevices. The male
population had followed him, together with
the sisters, cousins and aunts, and he had
soothed their evil intentions with a goodly
display of gold.
When he had returned to the cliff road
the white automobile had been waiting for
him, and he had spoken with her merely a
few words of thanks, but 1t had been
enough. In the days that followed he had
wished devoutly that every peasant boy on
the Route de la Corniche could be bribed to
take tumble under the wheels of the white
automobile
ana lfldt ildQ' DeeIl all SHe might nave
been an empress of the orient for all the
chance he had of meeting her. and yet, in
the few last days of hopeless, reckless stalk
ing on fortunes within her face had been al
ways with him. In it's lovely serenity he
had found a peace that wooed him like a
promise of forgetfulness of his own misery.
So he had ridden to Mentone more frequent
ly than the average Casino player, and to-
night when the parting of the ways had
come he found himself musing on the face
of Beata DIstria rather than on the fact
that his word of honor demanded that he
take a short cut to eternity within an hour.
The promenade was deserted. Below 1t
the rocks jutted out like Titanic teeth of
some beast of prey above the still waters
of the Mediterranean. One could leap to
them; not here, when one could see the
lights of the Casino, but beyond at the turn