Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-08-11

Poor Mary, her establishment bordered
on despair, and the fury of her mood left
its marks upon her pale face and purple
shadowedeyes. Yet she had been forced to
rouse herself at last and dress to go out to
fll two or three engagements for the after
noon and evening. and had borne herself
with forced gayety though she inaglneo
have been told by Frances. and suffered
indeed, a thousand imaginary tortures. Nor
was her night better, for sleep was I'M
possible, and she lay tossing on her pill
lows, thinking the subject over and over
until morning found he- exhausted enough
to sink into a troubled sleep from Which
she was only reused by the maid bringing
IN her tea-tray. On 1t was blue sealed
miss!ve addressed in the flowing hand of
Christine Jerome.
MY dear Mary" it ran, will you go to
the House with me today TO hear Lawrence
Ryland speak? I got tip last night that
he was going to make great speech. l
have the Speakers card I'll come for you
at noon.
sul thrill of pIeasurabe excitement; she
forgot for one moment that it was also
the day OF Mr. Apples trials. and dashed
off a line of acceptance and dispatched it
by the maid
1t was already half-past ten and she had
barely time to make a light breakfast and
prepare to keep her enga cement: Her face
was no longer pale; lovely flush Of ex-
element came into her cheeks and her eyes
Frightened; she let the nightmare of the
last twelve hours slip from her, and with
characteristic elasticity of mood began to
recover her spirits and her self-confidence
But she WAS not to escape so easily the
consequences OF her folly in the midst Of
her toilet-which she was making unaS-
sisted in the absence of her nlaid-there
was q tap at the door and she was handed
q slip Of paper on which Frances Fennel
who always came by ten to attend to the
mail and the messages. had scrawled a
telephone from Fred Cheever in which he
assured Miss Hadding that he had exc
cutsd her commits sion and that there
no danger Of any failure Of her plans. This
eaigmatical message, which was intended
to convey the fact that he had made the
loan to Apple and taken up Sche!ing's
note, was capable of almost any intecpre-
tatiOn to an ingenious mind like Frances
Fanrel's and Mary shuddered as she real
ICED that she was falling deeper and deeper
into the snare. The flash of pleasant ex-
ctemant which had transformed her mood
was dissirated, and 1t was pale ard de
termined looking young woman who passed
silently and swiftly downstairs IN answer TO
Christine Jerome's summons.
Christine was waiting in hanson under
the pOrte-cochere, her rather Snowy beauty
softared by skillful hand to harmonize
Gith her sable stole and her pale blue vel
vet toqua. She leaned forward to greet
Mary, as she came out attended by foot
nan. Il was late she explained, so
didn't come in; l thought there might be
crowd and we'd better go ea-ly. They say
IitT1 Is oite!i d crown "'eh i|d"IeAc9
speaks
BY this time the footrnan had helped
Mary in and given the order to the driver
and as the vehicle wheeled slowly out into
the street Christine turned her full gaze on
her companion. Why, Mary, you look like
a ghost She exclaimed, why didn't You
touch up? You've been doing too much
Mary smiled blaakly. That must be 1t,
Christine she replied; Il haven't slept
well and feel rather done. But I'm glad
You came for ne; wanted to go up there
before but there is so much to do
We'll. you know 1t isn't very fashionable
to go, except on great occasions" rejoined
Christine with q shrug. unless you're a
widow IN search Of an eligible senator. It's
the funniest thing in the world the way
the widows come here, and yet when one
IS making up dinner it is absolutely aw-
Cul to find women of the proper rank to go
out with the men who have titles-am-
bassa6o-s and so on. OF course there are
fearful lot of old maids. but They're not
ranking ladies' and there you are in a fix
with lot of detached men too old and i'm
portant for the girls. There's Portucar-
rero. for instance. if an ambassador who
ranks him takes out the hostess he can re-
duce you to madness, so few women know
how to talk to him
He has always seemed easy to talk to-"
Mary ventured, her mind recurring to her
own painful interview with him.
Easy. That man" cried Christine in a
crescendo of establishment. We'll. my
dear. I know he admires you, but If you
can make sphinx talk you deserve a
medal OF honor"
"Balaam's ass spoke when the angel
stood in the way" laughed Mary. assum-
ing her usual manner. her courage rising
as 1t always did when the occasion de-
manded it.
AS she spoke she looked out and saw
Leonard Bishops figure disappearing around
a corner which would carry him to the
door she had just left, and Mary could not
resist certain grim enjoyment of her own
q M 6Nt tod wi a n
Interview with him after her miserable
night would have been too much for flesh
and blood. She was correspondingy CRATE
full, therefore, to Christine a deliverer.
and tried to keep up with the flow of her
fippant talk as they drove slowly through
the more congested business streets and
finally assembled Capitol Hill Christine,
from force OF habit preferred the arsto-
cratic atmosphere of the Senate wing and
directed the driver to stop in the tunnel on
the northeast side. and the two young
women made their way across the Capitol,
through the rotunda, to the House wing.
The corridors were crowded and they had
some difficulty in making their way to the
elevator.
What a mob" murmured Christine
land what lot of impossibly rugged
whom you know here. Look a that woman
who has dyed her hair In streaks and has a
bird of paradise on her hat! l wonder how
many times she's been divorced? It's
printed all over her that she has BEEN she
might as well carry the bill on her back.
Did you ever hear of Fred Cheever's
cousins the Strothers? They've had three
divorces in the family within the year.
Harriet won't invite them any more: she's
the biggest prude; and to think of her as
Freds wife,
Mary drew a deep sigh Of misery; she
was thankful that they had now reached
the elevator and that Christine was forced
TO stop. 1t was full OF middleclass people
who were undoubtedly sightseers and
Christine and Mary stood In a corner in
their rich gowns and furs. looking like
creatures OF another sphere. the butterflies
OF the world.
The House well filled when they en-
tered and even to an Inexperienced OBJ
server like Mary It was evident that there
was an atmosphere of expectancy, a tremor
of some subtle excitement. The Speaker
was -apping for order. and nearly every
seat on the floor was filled instead Of the
usual vacancies. 1t was overheated and
the atmosphere OF the galleries oppressive.
yet they were already quite full. The,rou-
tine business had been interrupted by a
political skirmish between two congressman
and there was greater attention than usual.
fewer members were reading or writing.
and at frequent intervals others came in
from the Hobbies and committee rooms until
it looked like q sea Of heads from the gal
lerics.
Almost Immediately Mary discovered
Representative Apple: his seat was d.
NNNNr 0v1S h.A