The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-01-10


look aS " only fairy loom could have
woven them: and when a man loves
the woman who bursts upon hiS Nlsion'
that spell must overwhelm him. cSpec-
tally " he be such man us was i
4 product or lies toughest factories,
hard and harsh. an clbower and
trnmpler. "A hustler and n buffer Then
you must also consider the exact cir
.umstnnCcs--I standing there, With de-
struCtion hanging over me. Win tne
sense that within few hours i should
De "A parlRh To her. "A masquerader STRIP
ped Of his disguise and cast out from
the ball where he had been making
so merry and so free. Only lew
hours more, Perhaps now was the last
time I should ever stand 40 near TO
her. The fun realization Of all THIS
swallowed Inc UP as In "a great. thlck,
black mist. And my arms strained 10
escape from my tightly locked hands.
strained tn seize h.r. To snatch from
her, reluctant though she might be, NJ
least some part or the happiness that
was Ia be denied me.
think my torment must have some
COW penetrated tn her. For she was
sweet and fricndly-and she could not
have hurt me worse, II l had followed
my Impulse l should have fallen nj her
I feet and buried my face. scorching. In
the folds OF that pale blue. fa!ntly
.
DO throw away that huge, hidcouS
cigar" she said, laughing. And she
| took two cigarettes from the box, put
! both between her lips, III them. held
one toward me- looked NJ her face,
and along her smooth. bare, out
\ stretched arm, and at the pink. slender
/ fingers holding the cigarette l took u
as II l were afraid tue spell would be
/ orokcn, should my fingers touch herr.
Nfraid-=that's e.. That's why | didn't
pour out all that was In ny heart. 1
/ deserved To- lose her.
I'm taking you away from tho 9TH
rrs." I said. We could hear the muir
muir or many voices and uf music. In
fancy l could see them assembled
round the little card tables--the we'll
fed bodies. the wcll-carcd- skins.
the elaborate toilets. the useless jew
Fled hands --Cumfortablc secure. self
I satisfied. idle. always idle. always play
ing at the Imitation ggmcS-llk' their
avn pamBrtcd children. 20 br sheltered
IN the nurseries OF wealth their whole
ivr~ through. And not nj all in bit
tcrncss. but wholly ~ sadness, a sense
b u the injustice. the ungIirncgs ~ lt
ala sense that hnd been strong In
me In my youth but hluut"d during the
years OF MY busy rity-rg turned
Tor a moment. For "a wCIJUt uuly:
ny mind WAS soon hack Ia rCglitlcE--
TO her ard mr--to "uH." How soon IL
would never be 'uE" again.
They're wuwMaV friends" Anita
was answering. "Oliigl and ilT" um..
when YOU leave / shall So straight un
up tu bed"
. Ia like to--to -rr yuur rao-r-wn.rr
you i've said l. nor, 90 myas.. iEau
tu h.r.
Il sleep ir a bare U,tlo br.." srr re-
pll.i with hsfsl. "l|g 'll,H 20 4. H. =
'ricUd ~ ours who hnv the anti. Tfu
FAD insisted "a 10. But any Sitting raun
igU't 40 bad"
"LanEion has the aau-sarm fad,"
sald l.
/ She aurwercd Yves" after ~ pause.
.nl in such a strained voice that !
looked az her. \ llush was just dying
aut of nor face. lie Was the friend
, spoke Of she went on.
I You know him worry wslla" asked.
We've known HiW-aiwlys." said
che. Il tEluk he's one O. uIy earliest
recollection. Ills fathers summer
plac" ana ours adjolu. And onCr--I
gur~s Us the FIRST time ! remember
seeing him-hc was u freshman ut
Harvard. and he came along ou horse
past the pony cart In which a groom
was driving me. And IL was very lit
. lie thCn--l begged him 20 take ne up.
and he did. l thought he was the
greatest. most wonderful man that ever
said my prayers, ] used To imagine q
god tina: looked like him to say them
20"
+ echoed her laugh heartily. The
idea OF MoWbray LanEion M god
struck mo rs peculiarly funny. though
natural enough. too.
! Absurd. wasn't IT," said she. But
her face was grave, and she let her
cigarette die out.
Il guess you know him better than
lhnt now:
Yes better" she answered. slowly
and abscntly. "He's-anything but a
god"
And the more fascinating an tina,
account" said J. Il wonder why wom-
en- IKE best the really bad. dangerous
sort Of man. who hasn't any respect
FOR them or for anything"
I said this that she might protest.
NJ least for herself But her answer
was vague. musing. Il wonder
wonder"
I'm sure you wouldn't" protested
earnestly. Tor her.
She looked n mo qucCrly.
Can I never convince YOU that I'm
Iust a woman suid she mocklnrly.
Just n woman. ana one man with
your ideas of women would ly from"
Il wish you wcTcl" I exclaimed.
''Theu-fd not Nnd u 500 impuasl 6ic
To- give you up
She rose aud made slow tour OF
the room. knltiug on the rug before the
closed fireplace few feet from me.
| sat looking at her.
II an going to give you up" | said
at last.
Her eyes. staring into vacancy. grew
larger and In'Cnsyr with each long
deep breath she took.
II didn't intend To say what I'm
about To suy-ai least. not this even
Ing" I went uH, and 10 IuH 10 seemed Co
be some other than myself Who was
speaking. Certain things happened
down town today that have set ur to
ihinkluR. And shall 10 whatever
can for your brother ana your father.
But yUu-.you are TrcC!"
She went To- the table. stood thCTc in
profile 10 me. straight and slender as
"a suunowcr stalk. SHE traced tn" sill
yer ChaSings In the liI of the cigarette
box with her forcGug,r. then she took
. cigarette and began rolling Il slowly
and Ibs.ntly
Please don't scent and stain your
hngcrs with that Ilihy tobacco" said
I rather harshly.
were saying you had become recon
cilcd 10 my vlce--that you had
sanonized Il along with me--wusu't that
your phrase % This !ndlffcrcntly. with
out turning toward me. nHd ls IL she
were thinking or something else.
so / have" rcturtcd I. But my
mood--ploase oblige me this once"
She let the cigaret fall into the box.