The Mitchell capital. (Mitchell, Dakota [S.D.]) 1879-1918, 1906-12-07
~
Copyright sos. b. III BobbsMer- Coz NOWA
| ODE Deluge \ !
~ BY DAVID GRAHAM PHILLIPS 60
49,
BY DAVID GRAHAM PHILLIPS


He and l did not follow the others t
the drawing room, but turned into tn,
III airy adjoining. From where l seate,
myself l could see part of the draw
ting rcom-saw the others leaving, saw
Langdon lingering, ignoring the i'm
patient glances of his wife, while h,
talked on and on with Miss Ellersly
Her face was full toward me; she wa.
not aware that l was looking at her
I am sure, for she did not once lift
her eyes. AS i sat studying her, every.
thing else was crowded out of my
mind. She was indeed wonderful-toe
wonderful and fine and fragile, il
seemed to me at that moment, for one
so plain and rough as 1. Incredible
thought ], that she is the child OF
such a pair as Ellersly and his wife
but again, has she any less in common
with them than she'd have with any
other pair of human c%reatures?" Her
slender white arms, her slender white
shoulders, the bloom on her skin, the
graceful. careless way her hair grew
round her forehead and at the nape
of her neck, the rather naughty express
sion of her small face softened into
sweetness and even tenderness, now
that she was talking a her ease with
one whom she regarded as her own
kind-.but he isn't" / protested to my
self. "Lansdon-none of these men
none of these women. is fit to associate
with her. They can appreciate her.
She belongs to me who can" And I
had a mad impulse then n there to
seize her and bear her away-home-
TO the home she could make for me out
or what 1 would shower upon her.
At last Langdon rose. 1t irritated me
TO see her color under that indiffer-
ent fascinating smile of his. 1t irritated
me to note that he held her hand all
q time he was saying good-by, and
n fact that he held it as if he'd
as lief not be holding it hardly
lessencd my longing to rush in
and knock him down. What he did was
all in the way of perfect good manners.
and would have Jared no one not SUI
preventative, like me-an like his wife.
! saw that she, too, was frowning. She
looked beautiful that evening, in spite
of her too great breadth for her heigh
her s%toutness was not altogether a
oe1ect When she was wearing evening
dress. While she seemed friendly and
smiling to Miss Ellersly, 1 saw, wheth-
er others saw it or not, that she uuiy-
cred with apprehension at his milaly
tllr.atlous ways. He acted toward any
and every attractive woman as if he
We're free and We're regarding her as a
possibility, and didn't mind if she fiat
Gered herself that he regarded her as a
probability.
In an aimless sort of way Miss Eller-
Sly. after the Langdons had disap-
peared, left the drawing room by the
same door. Still aimlessly wanderins-
she drifted into the library by the hall
door. AS l rose. she lifted her ewes.
saw me-, and drove away the frown of
annoyance which came over her face
like the faintest haze. In fact, it may
have existed only in my Imagination.
She opened a large, square silver box
on the table, took out a cigaret, lighted
1t and holding it, with the smoke lazilv
curling up from it. between the long
slender first and second fingers of her
white hand. stood idly turning the
leaves of a magazine. I threw my cigar
into the fireplace. h light sound as
1t struck made her jump, and / saw
calm, she was in a nervous state full
as tense as my own.
"You smoke?" said L.
Sometimes" she replied. TT is
soothing and d%istracting. I don't know
how it is with others, but when 1
smoke, my mind is quite empty
ITS a nasty understanding" said I,
D o think SOP" said she, with
the slightest lift to her tone and her
eyebrows.
ESPECIALLY FOR a woman" I went on.
because I 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
one code for themselves and another for
women" she replied.
Tim Q man" said I. "All men have
the two codes"
Not ALL" said she after a pause.
al men of decent IDEAS said T with
emphasis.
Really" said she. in a tone thai ir.
ritated me by suggesting that what 1
0atd was both absurd unimport-
ant.
ut is h first time I've ever seen a
respectable woman SMOKE" l went on,
lpowerless to change the subject, though
conscious l was getting tedious. "Ive
read of such things, but I didn't be-
Heve."
That is interesting" said she. her
tone suggesting the reverse.
I've offended you by saying frank
" what I think said I. 'tOf course,
its none Of my business.
oh, no" replied She carelessly. I'm
In the least offended. Prejudices
always interest me-"
I saw Ellersly and his wife in the
drawing room, pretending to talk to
each other. I understood that they
were leaving me alone with her DELHI
erately, and I began to suspect she was
I'm the plot. I smiled. and my courage
n self-possession returned as sum
rnafily as they had fled.
Tn glad Of this chance to get bet
ter acquainted with you," said I. .I've
wanted 1t ever since I first saw you.''
AS I put this to her directly, she
dropped her eyes n m some
thing h probably wished me to think
vaguely pleasant.
you are The first woman 1 ever
knew" l Went on. with whom it was
hard for me to get on any sort of
terms. I suppose it's my fault. 1 don't
know this game yet. But I'll learn it.
IL you'll be a lltyle patient: and when /
do. I think Eli be able to keep up my
end"
She looked at me-just looked.
couldn't begin to guess what was going
on in that gracefully poised head Of
hers.
win you try to be friends with me?"
said I with d~irectness.
She continued to look at me In that
same steady, puzzling way.
will you?" / repeated.
II have no CHOICE said she slowly.
I flushed. What does that mean?"
Z demanded.
She threw a hurried and, it seemed to
me-, frightened glance toward the draw