The San Francisco call., 1905-02-26

ten minutes
can't get a rise out of you, / see.
You Englishmen are such phlegmatic
creatures. 1 don't believe there is a
spark OF impulse left in your island
You are very brave young
woman"
'Why?" She drew her eyelashes to-
sether, shooting forth audacity.
DO you want me to kiss your
The muscles of her sace twitched an
grily.
An Englishman's only idea of wit is
impertinence."
What have Englishmen done to you
that you are SO bitter? 1 don't believe
those lordlings / have heard OF pro-
posed, after all.
They did," replied Miss Belmont
emphatically, and quite restored.
Every last one of them. 1 made Dyne-
Dor fetch and carry like trained dog.
1t was great tun. / used to- say, be-
fore room full Of people, Go get my
tar, little man; / lett 1t with Charley
Rollins in the conservatory And he,
would troI off; he was that hard up,
poor thing,"
i am glad you did not marry any
u them; L ala sure they were not good
enough for YOU"
How polite of you. Why don't you
step out and let me sec you?"
My vanity will not permit 1 feel
sure that your remarkable frankness
would not allow you to disguise your
disappointment"
Well. L shall Sc you on Sunday. You
are coming with Miss Gordon to dine
with me. She has accepted for YOU"
l shall wait until then. 1 look bet
ter IN evening clothes and when l am
Clean
Il like your voice and your figure,
and you certainly have remarkable
amount of magnetism" she said medi-
tatively. Good heavens! what a row
those idiots are making. And do look
at that bonfire. 1t looks for all the
world as if the earth had run its
tongue out at the moon"
Give wondered why he did not kiss
her. He certainly wanted to, and he
certainly would have been justified He
recalled no other attractive woman
who would have had to offer half the
encouragement with which Miss Bel
mont had recklessly toyed. A man
who coined epigrams fer sale had once
said OF him; Give is thoroughbred; he
can drink the strongest whisky, smoke
the blacklist cigars. and he never fails
portunity Offers" And yet, so far,
something about Miss Belmont stayed
him. He had no intention that it
should endure, however
The scene was growing more and
more picturesque. Behind them was a
great roar, crossed by the bowling and
yelling of two hundred and twenty-one
abandoned throats- The remCtest aisles
of the forest were crimson Every
needle of the delicate young redwoods,
every waving frond was etched min
utely on the red transparency. The
thousand columns with their stark
capitals wore d softened and gracious
aspect, albeit the general effect of the
night was internal.
Are you going?" asked Give.
Nc" She curled her lips defiantly
away from her teeth.
Give crossed the short space between
them with one step, lifted her in his
arms and walked rapidly up the trail
Fer moment she was too stupefied to
protest; then she attempted violently
TO free herself.
What do you mean?" she cried
furiously. do you know who 1 am?
l am in the habit of doing exactly as l
please. Everybody knows me, here. If
you have misunderstood me it's be-
cause you are a thick-headed English
man, used to women who are either
stupid or bad"
You mean that the men you sur
round yourself with are idiots who per-
nit you to play with them as you
NHOOSS- hSep quiet. Don't you see
that you can't get away? If you strug-
gle shall hurt you, and 1 don't want
to do that
Il have sat up all night with men
and they have never dared to kiss me.
however much they may have want
ed to-"
Then they were rotters, and you can
tell them so, with my compliments. If
l sat up all night with you, L should
Nn1 al nd -
Well, you never wilIi''
They reached the road. She stiffened
suddenly and tried to spring out of his
arms. He placed her on. her feet and
grasped her firmly by the shoulders.
Now he said, kiss me. and don't
be silly about it. If you go in for larks
Of this sort you must take the conse-
quences." She wrenched again. He
caught and held her SO firmly that she
could not struggle.
You brute CT an Englishman," she
gasped
Give clasped his hand about the low
er part of her face and lifted it gently.
As he did so he shifted his position and
the light, for the first time, shone full
on his face The girl became suddenly
quiet. Something leaped into her eyes
which his own answered. But as he
bent his face, she moved her head
backward along his shoulder.
Please, please, don't" she said be-
seechingly. "Oh, please, don't"
Give let her go. He walked with
her TO the horse. helped her mount, and
watched her dash away.
What a stupid ass 1 am" he
thought. why on earth didn't / kiss
that woman?"
He walked up the road for a few mo-
ments, then turned and made for the
clearing.
The names We're still leaping SYM
metrically upward into a dense column
of smoke, the men still dancing about
the pyre, their enthusiasm unabated
AS Give suddenly appeared in their
midst an immediate and disagreeable
silence fell Give had never felt so
uncomfortable in his life. He con-
cealed a certain amount of natural
shyness under naughty bearing,
which would have repelled strangers
had 1t not been for his charm of ex-
preston, the quick laughter of his
eyes.
Does Mr.. Charles Rollins happen TO
be here?" he asked stiffly. Il have
brought letter to him. My name is
Give. have an apology to make 1
stumbled upon your strange ceremony