Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1907-04-12

passed.
ITS only for an hour" he explained
| to Lillian 81 have an appointment for
H."
only an hour! oh, how unkind!
How should l punish him. LennieY'
Lillian looked round at Kaine with n
| lingering, caressing glance.
He bent toward her in quick re-
| Spouse and answered In q whisper.
She laughed and replied In an equally
| low tone.
Loder, to whom both remarks had
been inaudible, dropped into the vacant
seat beside Mary Esseltyn. He had
the unsettled feeling TINT things were
not falling out exactly as he had calc,l-
lated.
"What is the play lkef. he hazarded
as he looked toward his companion. At
! all times social triyiaIities bored him.
Tonight they were intolerable. He had
that there was no opponent. Lillian's
attitude disturbed him; her careless
gracIousness. her evident ignoring Of
him for KANE, might mean nothing,
but also 1t might mean much
ut Is a good play" she responded. ~
like 1t better than the hook. You've
read the book, Of course?"
No" Loder tried hard to fix his
thoughts.
ITS amusing, but far fetched"
"1ndeedW He picked up the pro-
gramme lying on the edge Of the box,
His ears were strained to catch the
tone of Lillan's voice as she laughed
and whispered with Kaine.
Yes; men exchanging Identities, you
| know"
He looked up and caught the girls
self assessed glance. "Oh?" he said.
! "Indeed? Then again he looked away.
1t was intolerable, this feeling Of be-
ing Gagged up! A sense of anger crept
| through his mind. 1t almost seemed
that Lillian had brought him there to
prove that she had finished with him, had
cast him aside, having used him for the
days excitement as she had used her
! poodles, her Persian cats, her crystal
gazing. All at once the impotency and
uncertainty Of his position gOaded him.
Turning swiftly in his seat, he glanced
back to where she sat slowly swaying
her fan, her pale. golden hair and her
pale colored gown delicately silhouetted
against the background Of the box.
| "What's your idea of the play, LII
lian?'' he said abruptly. To his own
ears there was a note of challenge In
his voice.
She looked around languidly. "Oh,
| it's quite amusing she said. 1T
makes, a delicious farce--absolutely
French"
"French?"
"Quite, Don't you think so, LennieT
| ooh, quite" Kaine agreed.
"They mean that It's SO very light
and vet so very subtle, Mr.. Chilcote, 4
Mary Esseltyn explained.
"Indeedy" he said. "Then my I'M
agination was at fault. / thought the
piece was serious
"Serious!' Lillian smiled again.
s.Why, where's your sense Of humor
The motive of the play debars all seri-
BUSINESS"
Loder looked down at the pro
gramme still between his hands,
.What is the lnotive?' he asked.
Lillian waved her fan once or twice,
then closed it softly. Love is the
motive" she said.
1 Now, the balancing adjusting OF
impression and inspiration-is, OF all
processes in life, the most delicately
fine. The simple sound Of the word
"love" coming at that precise juncture
changed the whole current of Loders
| thought. 1t fell like seed, and like
a seed in ultraproductive soil, 1t bore
fruit with amazing rapidity.
| The word itself was small and the
manner in which it was spoken trivial,
! but Loders mind was attracted and
held by it. The last time it had met
his ears his environment had been
| vastly different, and this echo of it in
an uncongenial atmosphere stnng him
| to resentment. The vision of Eve,
the thought of Eve, became suddenly
dominant
"Love?" he repeated coldly. $50
love is the motive"
| Eyes" This time it was Kane who
sresponded in his methodical contented
voice. '"rhe motive of the play is
love, as Lillian says. And when was
love ever serious in three act COM
edy-on Or off the stage" He leaned
forward in his seat, screwed in his
| eyeglass and lazi)y scanned the stalls
! The orchestra was playing a Hun.
garian dance, its erratic harmonies
and wild alterations Of expression
falling abruptly across the plnks and
blues, the gliding and lights Of the
pretty, conventional theater. Some
thing in the suggestion Of unfitness
! appealed to Loder. 1t was the force
of the real as opposed to the IDEAL
i With new expression on his face,
he turned again to Kaine.
"And how does it work" he said.
'This treatment that you find So
French!"
His voice as wen las his expression
had changed He still spoke quietly,
but he spoke with interest. He was
! no longer conscious of his vague
uneasiness; a fresh chord had been
| struck. in his mind, and his curiosity
had responded to it. For the first
I time it occurred to him that love-the