Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1908-02-20
A LACE
HANDKERCHIEF

After seven days at sea we plunged
into summer-the glorious blue, glow.
ing summer Of the subtropical Allan.
tic. Tiny white waves Tapped the
sides of the big ship all day, and now
that evening was come, and the avn.
ings rolled back for the sake of the
air, pink, purple, orange and gold
phosphorescence shimmered all about
us.
The evening was too fair to spend
beneath the glare of the electric lamps
in the smoking rooms, so I remained
on deck.
The deck was empty and the lights
lowered everywhere, save in the smok-
ing room, which glowered like hugh
jewel through the transparent night.
The band had ceased playing. l
unused idly and started, with eyes that
say nothing, on the cleaning waves
of opal fire that leaped in the wake
of the ship.
Very gently I moved forward. The
whole stern of the ship was bathed in
the whiteness of the moon and looked
as though snow had fallen on the
dack and touched the taffrail with
long lines of silver. Behind the ship
the fiery seas heaved and plunged, and
against all stood one figure.
1 caught my breath as first saw
her-tall, svelte, exquisitely nodded
into high, tight-ftting bodice of a
black silk dress. Her face was to.
ward the moon and the sea, but the
lovely lines of her shoulders, that
tapered to the waist and then spread
again to the rounded hips, told me
that was looking upon no woman OF
the northern country
The woman raised hand and
threw aside the wisp of gauze that
had yelled her head, and In the white
light her hair cleaned like the gold
of the sun and knew that looked on
Creole girl. l forced all my will
into my ardent eyes, hoping to make
her turn, but only an elusive perfume
aoated about me and now and then
the blue smoke of cigarette hung
about her like a misty cloud l must
find out who this gracious being was,
this young thing that stood in the
moonlight, with every supple muscle
throbbing responsive to the movement
of the ship.
moved out of the shadow into the
light; an absurdly small handkerchief
lay on the deck. My lips parted to
h,1t oh IL
than l. for she heard me and turned
sharply around. ooh! My handker-
chief; thank you SO much" She put
out hand as white and qink, as dim
pied and soft as roseleaf, and | so
contrived that, as she took the hand
kerchief our fingers met through the
filmy lace. What divine night" l
murmured, foolishly, while my eyes
devoured the oval of her face, the
tangle of her golden hair, the ripe red
ness of her parted mouth.
She drew a cigarette from gold
case that swung at her side.
Let me give you a light" 1 cried,
and then had the ecstasy for one mo-
ment of seeing the smooth grain of
her skin and the long curling lashes
that yelled eyes which guessed must
be violet by daylight, but that now
looked velvet blackness. She spoke
but little while we stood there, but l
was content to catch the lily perfume
from her hair and note the slender
lines of the round throat. "To-mor-
row." l ventured to say, as she tossed
the burnt-out cigarette into the waves.
Perhaps" she answered, and with
a bow she left me.
For four days and nights of burning
tropical splendor l watched for her
coming as the ship plowed on into the
heart of the sun and the glow of the
heat. We were nearing the equator:
the staterooms and cabins were un-
bearable. Part of the deck was ar
ranged so that passengers could sleep
in the open, but never passed the
night there or In the forepart of the
vessel, while others sat for hours to
catch the faint breeze made by the
ship. l always waited on the SPOT
where we had first met, and one night
I found her there.
After that night Of blue and silver.
our evenings on deck were many. and
the evenings grew to night, and found
us standing or sitting in the shadows
and looking at the round red moon
that shone in the blue enameled sky
like a golden guinea. We talked in
whispers, and were too earnest ever
to laugh, and told each other much of
many things in the past and more of
one thing in the future.
Thus many sunsets passed to dawn.
when we kissed and parted many
times. and stole quietly away to our