The Central Nevadan. [volume] (Battle Mountain, Nev.) 1885-1907, 1905-06-08
A Mood
~ KEITH GORDON
Copyrights. 1905. by t. c. Mcclure

TIT
And no man can foretelf what the
future has In store for him."
Nature herself. TO judge from appear
ances. had the dumps. A d~espalring
vky looked gloomily down on q de.
spondent earth through IN atmosphere
as damp and chilling as a wet blanket.
With a little shiver of discomfort at the
aspect of things, Katherine laid the
bpok a c downward ON her lap In he
way that one should not and, picking
up the poker. gave the fire a thrust or
so as a rider spurs his horse to greater
effort.
light What q dayy her thoughts
ran. Zone would think Joy were dead.
Fire won't burn. sun won't shine, even
thc sparrows huddle together lumpish-
n without energy enough to scrap"
she picked up the book again and re-
read the last sentence. And no mar
can foretell what the future has In
store for him." This time she closed
the book and placed 1t on the table be-
side her. Decidedly she was In no
mood for reading. and with hands
clasped idly In her lap she sat staring
Into the fire. But that last sentence
logged her thoughts. The past, with its
smiles and tears. was left behind. The
present seemed momentarlly a thing to
be endured as one might. But the fu-
lure!
At this point her eyes turned from
the crate and fixed themselves upon
the ring that she wore upon the third
finger of her left hand. 1t was n beau
fifuf ring-a pink pearl that reminded
one of tender dawns flanked by two
afamonds-her engagement ring. ordi-
sarily she could not look at 1t without
d klndling of the heart, a thrill or
Warmth and happiness. Today she eyed
H with languid. restless interest.
That. then, represented her future.
II was as fixed and ~irrevocable as the
past itself. How well she knew what
1t would be like. Had she not seen
dozens of her friends marry, bubble
b~llssfully for n brief year or SO and
then subside into the stale beer OF do
nestle existence? If she had ever
thought that with Jack and her 1t
would be different the Illusion had VAN
ished In the bleak light of this all re
sealing day, which brought out every
sordid detail OF existence with bitter
emphasis.
Different? or course they would not
be different. There would be the brief.
dazzling happiness of the honeymoon.
the glamour OF new possessions. and
then some day they would both sud
denly tire Of the play and see each 9TH
er for the FIRST time plainly. Jack
would sqaint his eyes critically and
discover that she was not the most
beautiful woman In the world after al
though, of course. he would he too
well bred to say anything. He woul~
simply he a triiie bored at the let-down
and plunge into business to forget, kiss.
ing her a0sently In The morning ana
evening as a mere form-a matter o.
habit.
And she? Well. she would rub he.
Eyes about the same time and see II
her amazement that he was just 4
plain. ordinary, average man, without
q single godlise attribute and with a
painful aud unmistakable tendency 10
grow bald and stout. But she. too.
would be politely reticent and held up
her face for that ~perfunctory kiss and
try to forget 1t all in n feverish En-
thusiasm over house and gowns. And
they would grow more and more ST.
liant t,xx-orl nnah nfhn~ aNnx-arCfnr
mostly in monosyllah,es. Never would
they quarrel-her lips closed a trile
more firmly at the mere thought-but
each would withdraw farther anu far
Their into his own little world. and the.
would communicate with each othe.
through small wieke.s. as the ticket
sellers at the thea1ers do with the pub
lie.
The details OF this gloomy picture
were as clearly visible to her mind as
though she saw them with her eyes.
and she laughed ruefully. Was this
sort of thing necessary? How did she
know that Jack was the man? Might
pot the real person still be imbedde1
In the future. Ike a fy in amber?
At the thought she caught her breath
and. leaning forward. dropped her face
upon her hands and gazed into the fire
with q new intensity. 1t was a tire
mendous thought. but what guarantee
had she that he was her IDEAL. lie
Seemed 80. perhaps. merely because he
approached 1t more nearly than any
man she had yet met. but no ore could
tell what the future had In store for
him. There was the RIB.
She proceeded to develop the thought
with applications u~nmistakably femi-
nine. Like an index finger her mind
pointed backward to the day when biz
sleeves had seemed the most ent-anc-
ingly becoming things a woman could
wear. Then ~inexorably 1t pointed again.
this time to the sleeves she was then
wearing. tight above the elbow. bat
with great pouches sagging below. And
these were now chic. and the Others
impossible. The poor old fashions OF