Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1907-11-07
CHAPTER LII.
A BREAK IN A CIRCLE.

My acquaintance with the T'rcmaines
In the weeks that followed. grew by
!m~perceptible degrees into an init
macy which was one OF the most pleas
ant Of my life. or Cecily / have al
ready attempted to give some idea, al
though l realize how cold and mad
equate IT is. AS I began to know her
better. l came To wonde more and
more at her complexity. her simplicity,
her swift change OF mood. her utter
ignorance OF social convention. An
other thing l saw. and that was her
absolute worship of Tremaine. l ques-
ton II he fully understood It's strength:
he had grown. in a way. accustomed to
II; but to a stranger, an outsider, 1T
was startlingly apparent. l say start
lingly. because n was vaguely con-
scious of unsounded. threatening
depths beneath that sweet exterior,
which promised l know not what of
passion and tragedy. should they be
rudely stirred.
AS for Tremaine. 1 hesitate to say
how utterly l fell under his spell. Yet
this was not in the least to be won
dered at. My life had been, on the
whole. so narrow. and his had beer so
broad; my experience OF the world had
been cast in the usual grooves. While
his had so evidently overleaped them,
had struck out a path for itself into
all sorts of unexpected places. Why
he so exerted himself to charm and
conquer me l do not yet fully under
stand-perhaps 1T was the mere delight
In power. In the exercise of his dazzling
faculties. or perhaps it was thai he
had leisure. that his mind was not yet
engrossed In the game on which he
staked so much.
l have said that his life had beer
cast in many curious places. Mar
Unique was only the last of these. the
moot VnC0nf on1 rnl4.oJ AI-H 49,
business which brought him to New
York was the forming of a syndicate
to build a railroad through the island.
Through is the right word. for 1t was
evident that. owing to the islands Pc
culiar formation. there would have to
be much t%unnelling. But he waved
all such practical difficulties aside and
discoursed Of h great future before
such a road with an enthusiasm that
was absolutely convincing.
1 remember n evening he got fair
ly started upon this hobby of his and
l uninterruptedly for at least an
hour-facts. details. descriptions at his
fi~nger-ends. Cecily. chin in hands, lis
tened intent to every word, n I, witt.
the remembrance of that evening still
fresh upon me. can understand how
he won the ear of even Wall street's
suspicious denizens. And, indeed. II
was q wonderful prospectus which he
painted broad sugar plantations with
nc market. the whole trafnc of the Is
land carried upon the heads Of m
he great sand heaps of the east coast
90 per cent. u STEEL. waiting only 70,
development. but worthless now be.
cause no ship can approach them-and
I know not what beside. but all o.
which. I nave no doubt. was substan.
TALLY true.
Perhaps I am lingering undul,
over this portrait OF Tremaine. bu'
! have never met his equal 10,
Daring. for audacity. for per.
n magnetism. In the days tina,
followed. I Was to see less and les,
OF him. but the memory Of those lrsl
evenings 10 q living and vivid one
I can see him sitting there yet be.
fore me with his wonderful w hi,
expressive face. his 1.-THE. graceful
form and his slim. white nervous hant
heldinG his cigaret. found mysel,
specializing sometimes az to his ma.
tionallty. French he seemed unoues.
tionably by temperament. and vet b,
spoke English with \ facility and care.
iessness unusual in q foreigner. I NJ,
often tempted to ask him, strairhl
out. but a feeling Of hesitation I'll.
ways held me back. I came At last n
the conclusion that he was Of Fro,.st
p~arentage. blu had lived in En1land ol
America probably from his youth.
mad just come In from dinner one
evening and was settling down n +
2erusat cf "L'ARaire Lerouee." vher
there carrc u knock at the door IN