Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1906-12-13

in fact. so free did he Become that had |
not felred TO brighten him and so BRING
aoout the defea. of my purposes, l should
have sat on him hard very soon after We
made orr bargain. As it was. | stood ms
worst -mpuucnces without finching. and
partly eonsolcd myself VIII the amusc-
mtni | Sot out Of watching his vanity ieAd
MIN On INTO thinking his knowledge the
most vital matter in die world-Jnst AS you
sometimes see q waiter or a clerk with the
air Of sharing the care Of The universe
with the Almighty.
Eit even Monson could find nothing to
c~ilticise either in my apartment or in my
country house. And. by the way. he
showed his Limitations by remarking. after
ne had Inspected: II must say. Black
!ock, y"iir architects and decorators have
zone well by you" AS II q mans sur
roundings We're not the unfAiling index to
himself. no matter how much money he
spends or how good architects and the like
ne hires. AS if a man could ever buy good
taste.
was pleased out OF all proportion to its
value by what cilersly and his wife looked
and sad. But. though | watched Miss Eli
iefsly closely. though | tried to draw from
h"r some comment on my b~elongings-on
80 A"y HfVA ~ 49, ~
me beautiful carving of my furniture-l
got nothing from her beyond that first lcok
Oh surprise and pleasure. Her face re-
stunned its statuelikc calm. her eyes did not
wander; her lips. like = crimson bow
painted upon her clear. white skin. re-
NAMED closed. She spoke only when she
was spoken to. and then as briefly as pos
slh'e. The dinner-and a mighty good din
her II was-would nave been memorable
Tor strain and silence had not Mrs. Ellers-
~ kept up her tncessant chatter. can't
recall a word she said. but | admired her
Tor being able 10 talk ct all. / knew she
was IN the same state as the rest of ls.
yet she acted perfectly as her ease: and
not until l thought 1t over afterward did
realize that she had done all the talking.
except answers to her occasional and clev-
eHiy-sprinkled direct questions.
f.iieTa!S sat opposite me. and I was irr.-
lated. and thrown into confusion. TOO.
every time I lifted my eyes. by the
crushed. criminal expression OF his face.
re ate and drank hugely-and en-
'remely bad manners 1t would have been
regarded IN me had l made as much noise
as ne. or lifted such quantities at a time
INTO my mouth. But through his noisy
si'ittony he managed somehow to main
tain that hang-dog air-likc a thief who
mas gone through the house and, on his
way out. has paused at thu pantry. with
80 pAGiiOCl DcSlue ulsl. 10 gorge
himself.
| looked at Anita several times. each
tune with a carefully framed remark
ready: each time l found her gaze on me
ana could say nothing. could only look
away in a sort OF panic. Her eyes were
strangely variable. have seen them of a
gray. so pale that 1t was almost silver
l'ke the steely light of the snow line at the
cage OF the horizon: again, and they were
so that evening. they shonc with the
deepest. softest blue. and made one think.
as one looked at her, Of a fresh violet
frozen In a block Of clear ice.
L sat behind her in the box at the
theater. During the first and second inter-
missions severa, men dropped in to speak
to her mother and hcr-fellows who didn't
ever come down town, but l could tell they
knew who l was by the way they ignored
me. 1t exasperated me to a pitch Of fury.
that coldly insolent air Of theirs-a ierky
nod 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. 1 knew what Il meant. what they
were thinking-that the "Bucket-Shop
King" as tho newspapers had dubbed me.
was trying to use old Ellersly's necessities
as a Jimmy and break into society,""
When IN curtain went down for the last
ntermission. two young men appeared;
did not get up as I had before, but stuck
to my seat-I had reached that point at
which courtesy has become cowardice.
They craned and strained at her round
mo and over me, presently gave up and
retired. Disgusting their anger as contempt
Tor the bad manners of q bounde~. But
That disturbed me not a ripple, the more
as 1 was delighting in a consoling dis
covery. Listening and watching as she
talked with these young men, whom she
aNfInnf1S- Encu- vro11 r -@A11
distant and only politely friendly in man
ner h~abitually. that while the ice might
thicken for me. 1t was there ALWAYS. I
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 T leaned
forward until my head was close to hers.
to her hair-fine. soft. abundant. electric
halr. Like the inf fool that / was.
1 tore out all the pigeon-holcs of my brain
In search Of something to say to her.
something that would start her to thinking.
we'll of me. She must nave felt my breath
upon her neck. for she moved away
slightly. and it seemed to me a shiyer
visibly passed over that wonderful white
skin OF hers.
L drew back and nvoluntarilv said Reg
pardon" 1 glanced at her mother and it
was my turn to shudder. l can't hope to
give an accurate impression of that stony.
mercenary. mean face. There are looks
that paint upon the human countenance
the whole OF a life. as a flash of lightning
paints unon the blackness of the night
miles on miles of landscape. That look of
Mrs. Elle~rsly's-stern disapproval at her
daughter. stern that she be
more civil. that she ~unbend-showed. me
the old woman's soul. And l say that no
old harry presiding over a dive is more
run OF the venom OF the hideous calcu-
lations OF the market for flesh and blood
h is a woman whose life is wranped I'm
In wealth and show.
III you wish it," 1 said. on impulse. to
Miss Ellcrsly in 4 low voice, II shall never