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

r.. and ! iid siot follow The others to
the brewing room. but turned into the
library au,"iniug. From where 1 seated
myself I could see part OF the draw
ms room saw the Others leaving. SAW
i-tilsdoi lingering, iGuoriig the inn
patient CLAM cs Of las wife. white he
ialEed on ana IN with Miss iIiicrsiy.
fter lace Was fun ward me. she vas
not aware tirt 4 was looking 1T her.
1 ann sure, for she did not once lift
her "y"". AS | sat studying her. every
'hinE else was crowded out OF my
Hh''td. she WAS indeed wonderful too
wonderful and fine aud fragile. IL
Hciiit'. to mo ut that moment. for oue
30 pam ana rough as /. "incredible."
thought i, that she is the child of
Such II pair AS F~.llcrsiy and his wife
but again. has she amy less in common
with them than shed have with any
"ther pair of human creaturcs"" Her
slender white arms, her slender, white
shoulders. the bloom On her skin. the
graceful. careless way her hair grew
round her forehead and ut IN. nape
or her neck. the rather naughty express
sion OF her small face softencd into
sweetness and even tenderness. now
that she was talking a her ease with
one whom she regarded ~; her own
kind-"hut he isn't" l protested to my
sell. 't'ngdon- of these men
''''t W. NbI'itfl. IL II 10 associate
WIN her. They can't appreciate her.
she cionas To ne who can" And |
had q rad impulse thea and there TO
sciZc her Hri bear her away home
10 the BON" shr could make for me ont
or what ! would shower upon he,.
AT last I"angd"n rose. II irri;ated ne
to sec her color under that jndiffer-
rnt fascinating smile OF his. 1t irritatcd
me To note that he held her hand all
The time he was saying good-by. and
The fact that lie held IL as il he'a
as lief not br holding it hardly
Iessehcd my longing to rusl, i'm
end knock him Town. What he did vas
ali IN the way of perfect good
ana would have Jared no one NOT s;l-
p~erscnsitive. like me-and like his Wife.
] saw that she. too. was frowninG.
looked beautiful that evening. in spite
or her too great breadth for her height
her stoutness was not altogether 81
defect when she was wearing evening
dress. While she seemed friendly and
smiling to Miss Ellersly. I SAW. wheth-
cr others saw 1t or not. tina, she uuiv-
cred with apprehension at his mildly
Nlrtatious ways. He acted toward any
M every attractive WOIn.n as !! he
were free and were regarding her as u
possibility. and didn't mind If she flat
tered herself that he regarded her as II
probability.
-, "''''i.sS sort vi Way MISS t.iler-
sly. after the I.anSdons had Gisap-
peared. left he drawing room by the
M door. Silt aimlessiy wandering.
she drifted into the library by the hall
door. AS ! rose. She lifted her eyes.
saw me. and drove away the frown of
annoyance which came over lie. face
like the falntcst haze. In fact. it may
have existed only In my ima glnation.
She opened n large. squarc silver box
on the table. took out a cigaret. lighted
1t and holding 1t. with the smoke lazily
curling up from II. between tho long
lender first II second fingers of her
white hand. stood idly turning the
leaves of a magazine. I threw my cigar
into the fireplace. The light sound as
II struck made her jump. and l saw
that. underneath her surface of perfect
calm. she was Ia a nervous state fun
as tense as my own.
You SmOke"' said L.
Sometimes she replied. 1T is
soothing and distracting. / don't know
how 1t is with others. but when I
smoke, my mine is quite empty"
It's IL nasty nabit-smoking.' said |.
d. you think so?" said she. with
the slightest lift TO her tone and her
eyebrows.
"I,speoiaiiy for n woman | went on.
because l could think of nothing else
to say, and would not, at any cost. let
THIS conversation, so hard to begin, die
out.
You are one of those men who have
ono code for themselves and another for
Women she replied.
Tn a man" said !. A nen have
the two codes"
Not al'." said she after a pause.
AN wen of decent IDEAS said | with
emphasis.
"Reai!yc" aid she. In a tone that ir-
III n - ,,,1 l<, 49, - =
said was both absurd and unilnpur.-
ant.
1T is the first time I've ever seen n
respectable woman smoke" went on.
powerless to change the subject. though
conscious / was getting tedious. I've
read OF such things. but / didn't be-
lievc.'
That is interesting" said she. her
tone suggesting the reverse.
I've offended you by saying frank
~ what ] think" a I. O course,
It's none of my business.
oh. no" replied she carelessly. I'm
not In the least offended. Prejudices
always interest me-"
I saw Ellersly and his wife in the
each other. 1 understood that they
were leaving me alone with her DELHI
erately. and I began to suspect she was
in the plot. l smiled. and my courage
and self-possession returned as sum-
marlly ~ they had fed.
Tn glad of this chance to get bet
ter acquainted with yoN,' said 1. I've
wanted It ever since l first saw you.'
As I put this to her directly, she
dropped her EYE and murmured ONE
thing she probably wished me to think
vaguely pleasant.
you are the first woman 1 ever
knew" I went on. with whom 1t was
hard for me to get on any sort of
terms. I suppose It's my fault. don't
know this game yet. But I'll learn 1t.
n you'll be a little patient: and when
do. I think I'll be able to keep up my
end"
She looked at me-just looked.
couldn't begin to guess what was COINS
on in that gracefully poised head Ol