The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-12-07
sometimes see a walter or a clerk With tho
air of sharing the care OF the universe

s'oNeo HiS i!HiltatiOnS oy reEllrNlaS. after
ne had inspected: II must say. Black
lock. your architects ard decorators have
done we'll by YOU" AS If a mans sur
~roundfngs were not the unfalltng index to
himself, no matter how much money he
spends or how good architects and the like
he hires. AS if a man could ever buy good
taste.
was pleased out of all proportion to its
value by what Eilersly and his wife looked
alld sad. But. though L watched Miss Ell
iefSlE closely, though I tried to draw from
hef some comment ON my b~elonsings-on
my pictures, on my superb tapestries, on
the beautiful carving of nv furntture-T
got nothing from her beyond that first lcok
OF surprise and pleasure. Her face re-
sumed Its statuelike calm, her eyes did not
wander; her lips, like q crimson bow
painted upon her clear, white skin. re-
manned closed. She spoke only when she
was spoken to, and then as briefly as pos
sipie. The dinner-and a mighty good din
nef lt Was-would have been memorable
ior strain and silence had not Mrs. Ellers-
~ kept up her lncessant chatter. | can't
recall a word she said, but l admired her
Tor being able to talk at all. I knew she
was IN the same state as the rest OF us.
YET she acted perfectly as her ease; and
not until | thought 1t over afterward did i
realize that she had done all the talking,
except answers to her occasional and cley-
efly-sprinkled direct questions,
i.ilessly sat opposite me, and I was irrt-
tated, and thrown into confusion. too.
every time lifted my eyes, by the
crushed. criminal expression of his face
He ate and drank hugely-and eS.
,remely bad manners 1t would have been
regarded In me had l made as much noise
as he, or lifted such quantities at a time
INTO my mouth. But through his noisv
giuttony he managed somehow to main
tam that ~hang-dog air-like a thief who
mas gone through the house and. on his
way out, has paused at the pantry. with
the sack of plumber beside him. to gorge
himself eoe0
l looked at Anita several times, each
time with a carefully framed remark
ready; each time 1 found her gaze on me
ana could say nothing, could only look
away In a sort of panic. Her eyes were
strangely variable. L have seen them of a
gray so pale that it was almost silver
like the steely light of the snow line at the
eage OF the horizon; again, and they We're
SO that evening, they shone with the
deepest, softest blue, and made one think,
as one looked at her, of a fresh violet
frozen in n block of clear ice.
L sat behind her in the box at the
ehealer. During the first and second inter-
missions several men dropped in to speak
10 her mother and her-fellows who didn't
ever come down town, but / could tell they
Knew who ] was by the way they ignored
me. 1T eNasperated me to a pitch of fury.
that coldly insolent air of theirs-a jerky
hod at me without SO much as a glance,
and no notice of me when they were leav-
ing my box beyond a faint. supercilious
smile as they passed with eyes straight
ahead. l knew what it meant, what they
We're t~hinking-that the .fBucket-Shop
King as the newspapers had dubbed me.
was trying to use old Ellersly's necessities
as a jimmy and break into society,"
When tho o,,~toi,, -x-- -. a. .-A
1ntermission, two young men appeared; I
dld hot get up as / had before, but stuck
10 my seat-1 had reached that point at
which courtesy has become cowardice.
They craned and strained at her round
me and over me, presently gave up and
Ietlred, disgusting their anger as contempt
Tor the bad manners of a bounder. But
that disturbed me not a ripple. the more
as | was deliehting in a consolins dis
coVery. Listening and watching as she
talked with these young men, whom she
evidently knew well, l noted that she was
distant and only politely friendly In man
ner h~abitually, that while the ice might
thicken for me, it was there always. 1
knew enough about women to know that,
II the woman who can thaw only for one
man is the most difficult, she is also the
most constant. "Once she thaws toward
me-" | said TO myself.
When the young men had gone, 7 leaned
Will my iledu WIS close TO hers.
to her hair-fine, soft, abundant, electric
hair. Like the infatuated fool that / was,
l tore out all the pigeon-holes of my brain
in search of something to say to her.
that would start her to thinking
we'll of me. She must have felt my breath
upon her neck, for she moved away
slightly, and it seemed to me a shiver
yisibly passed over that wonderful white
of hers.
I drew back and i~nvoluntarily said, Beg
1 glanced at her mother and it
was my turn to shudder. / can't hone to
give an accurate impression Of that stony.
mean face. There are looks
paint upon the human countenance
the whole of a life, as a flash Of lightning
paints upon the blackness of the night
miles on miles of landscape. That look of
Mrs. Ellersly's-stern disapproval at her
daughter, stern thai she be
more civil, that she un~bend-showe me
the old woman's soul. And l say that no
old harry presiding over a dive is more
full of the venom of the hideous calcu-
lations of the market for flesh and blood
is a woman whose life is wrapped I'm
in wealth and show.
IF you wish it," 1 said, on impulse. to
Ellersly in a low voice, II Shall never
try to see you again"
l could feel rather than see the blood
suddenly beating in her skin, and there
q III lei SOlCe ii IlSINOuSuGSS VGrV like
fright as she answered.: I'm sure
mamma and l shall be glad to see you
YOU come"
'You?" | persisted.
Yes" she said, after a brief hesitation.
''Glad?" I persisted.
She s~miled-the faintest change In the
curve of her lips. You are yery
persistent, aren't you?"
Very" l answered. That is why I
nave always got whatever L wanted.'
Il admire it," said she.
mo, you DON'T" l replied. you think
it is vulgar. and you think 1 am vulgar
because L nave that quality-that and
some Others"
She did not contradict me.
We'll, l am vulgar-from your stand
l went on. II ave purposes and |
And L pursue them. For in
stance, you"
ZIP she said TRANQUILITY.
You" repeated. II made up my mind
the first day l saw you that I'd make YOU
like me-. And-you WILL"
Continued Next Week.)
IT, |