Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1907-01-11
Copyright 1sm b. b BobhsMerm COZ ~
6be Deluge
- BY DAVID GRAHAM PHILLIPS IN
By DAVID GRAHAM PHILLIPS

"a OSGioAi, IA klkS oAostk Va
beautiful young woman, especially II
she be dressed in those fine fabrics that
look as If only a fairy loom could have
woven them; and when a man loves
the woman who bursts upon his vision.
that spell must overwhelm him. espec-
tally II he be such a man as was L
@ product of life's toughest factories,
hard and harsh, an elbower and a
trampler, a hustler and a buffer. Then
you must also consider the xac cir
cumstances-I standing there. with de-
struction hanging over me, with the
sense that within a few hours | should
be a pariah to her, a masquerader strip-
ped Of his disguise and cast out from
the ball where he had been makin
SO merry and so free. Only a rev
hours more! Perhaps now was the last
time l should ever stand SO near to
her! The full realization of all this
swallowed me up az In a great, thick,
black mist. And my arms strained TO
escape from my tightly locked hands,
strained 10 seize her, to snatch from
her, reluctant though she might be, at
least some part of the happiness that
was to be denied me.
/ think my torment must have some
how penetrated to her. For she was
sweet and friendly-and she could not
have hurt me worse! If / a followed
impulse / should have fallen at her
feet AND buried my face, scorching, in
the folds of that pale blue, family
shimmering robe of hers.
DO throw away that huge, hideous
cigar" h said, laughing. And she
took two cigarettes from the box, put
both between her lips, lit them, held
one toward me. / looked at her face,
and along her smooth, bare, out
stretched arm, and at the pink, slender
fingers holding the cigarette. | took 1t
as if I were afraid the spell would be
broken, should my fingers touch hers.
Afraid-that's it! That's why / didn't
pour out all that was in my a l
deserved to lose her.
I'm taking you away from the 9TH
ers," / said. We could lei the muir
mur of many voices and of music. In
fancy l could see them assembled
round the little card tables-the we'll
fed bodies, the we'll ~cared-for skins,
the elaborate toilets, the useless jew
eled hands-comfortable, secure, self
satisfied, idle, always idle, always play
ing at the imitation games-like their
own pampered children, to be sheltered
in the nurseries of wealth their whole
lives through. And not at all in bit
terness, but wholly in sadness, a sense
of the injustice, the unfairness of it
ala ems that had been strong in
me In my youth but blunted during the
years of my busy prosperity-returned
for a moment. Fol a moment only;
my mind was soon back to realities
to her and me-to "us." How soon 1t
would never be ''us" again!
They're mammals friends Anita
was answering. Goldfish and tiresome.
When you leave l shall go straight on
up to bed"
I'D like toto see your room-where
you live" said /, more 10 myself than
to her.
Il sleep in a bare little box" she re-
piled with a laugh. It's like a cell. A
friend of ours who has the anti-germ
fad insisted on it. But my sitting room
isn't SO bad
"Langdon has the anti-germ fad"
said l.
She answered Eyes" after a pause,
and in such a strained voice that l
looked at her. A flush was just dying
out of her face. He was the friend
1 spoke Of" she went on.
You know him very well?" l asked.
We've known him-always," said
she. Il think he's of my earliest
recollections. His fathers summer
place and ours adjoin. And once-I
guess it's the first time I remember
seeing him-he was a freshman at
Harvard, and he came along on a horse
past the pony cart in which q roo
was driving me. And IL was very lit
tie them begged him to take me up,
and he did. l thought he was the
greatest, most wonderful man that ever
lived" She laughed queerly. When /
said my prayers, l used to imagine a
god that looked like him to say them
to-"
I echoed her laugh heartily. The
idea of Mowbray Langdon as a god
struck me as peculiarly funny, though
natural enough, toe.
Absurd. wasn't it?" said she. But
her face was grave, and she let her
cigarette die out.
II guess you know him better than
that now?"
"Yes-better,' she answered, slowly
and absently. "He's-anything but a
god!"
and the more fascinating on that
account" said I. Il wonder why wom-
en- like best the really bad, dangerous
sort of man, who hasn't any respect
for them, or for anything"
I said this hat she might protest,
at least for herself. But her answer
was a vague, musing, Il wonder-I
wonder"
I'm sure you wouldn't" l protested
earnestly, for her.
She looked at me queerly.
Gar l never convince you that I'm
Just q woman sara SHe mOCklnSly.
Just a woman, and one a man with
your ideas OF women would fly from"
II wish you were!" / exclaimed.
"Then-Pd not find it $3.50 impossible
to give you up"
She rose and made a slow tour of
the room, hating on the rug before the
closed fireplace a few feet from me.
/ sat looking at her.
Il am going to give you up" / said
at last.
Her eyes, staring into vacancy, grew
larger and intenSer with each long,
deep breath she took.
II didn't intend to say what I'm
about to say-at least, not this even
ing" I went on, and 10 me il seemed TO
be some other h a myself who was
speaking. Certain things happened
down town today that have set me TO
thinking. And shall do whatever /
can for your brother and your father.
But you-you are free!"
She went TO the table, stood there in
profile to me, straight and slender as
a sunfower stalk. She traced the sill
yer chasings in the lid of the cigarette
box with her forefinger; then she took
a cigarette and began rolling IL slowly
and absently.
Please don't scent and stain your
fingers with that filthy tobacco" said
/ rather harshly.
And only this afternoon you
were saying you had become recon-
ciled to my vice-that you had
c~anonized It along with me-wasn't that
your phrase?' This indifferently, with
ONT turning toward me and as If she