The Washington herald., 1908-05-27
CHAPTER XIV.

CHAPTER XIV.
OF the crowd Of women who glitter in
that slow parade OF four-wheeled life
which flows like an exotic river through
the Bots de Boulogne, there is always one
to whom the other women render an un-
willing homage of attention. 1t may
take the form OF unpleasant remark, or
envlous remark. or frankly admiring re-
mark-that is a detail; the point is. that
on her last daring innovation in dress.
millinery. or turnout, all eyes are To-
cused. Well-gloved hands gesticulate
the story. struggling shoulders receive it.
plume mods to plume in confirmation OF
it: the story Of how 1t was achieved, the
daring Of the strokes which carried her
from the mud In the bed Of the stream
to It's dazzling surface.
But little month ago q cab. q taxi
meter cab!"
Surely, only last month a little one
horse victoria!'
And then the second hoFse"'
And now the fOotman,'
With each change OF turnout another
name is mentioned. A richer man has
outbld her former friend TIL he, in turn,
is outbid.
This year. the woman at whom every
one looked was Veeda Venestra. sur.
named the Cobra, because OF her small.
| fat head and supernatur1ly black hair.
/ broOding low on her forehead. She al
ways wore a minute hat. also fat with a
/ black ostrich plume, fitting close 10 her
head. as nearly resembling, as millinery
could make IL, a cobra's head. Her eyes
were narrow. but curiously glitterlng
when the slow lids lifted. Her features
were cut out OF some dusky-white sub
stance, In a blunted design. The only
really beautiful thing about her was q
perfectly-shaped mouth. the carmine OF
the lips owing nothing 70 art
The Venestra had first attracted atten-
ton by appearing at Laxime's s, dArmen-
onville-wherever IL was advisable 10 be
seen. and always alone. No man ever
shared her table. and no woman. She
would sit eating slowly. and looking
/ mysteriously wicked at a vacant chaiI
| tilted against the table. Sometimes d
| smile which came from within would
take possession Of her face, and ther
she looked very wicked indeed. Black
and yellow were always the prevailing
notes in her dress. rubies were the jewels
/ she affected, set out with Just enough
/
| Sometimes q man had been known tC
sit down amicably at her table She
| would look at him across IL with half
closed eyes. leaning her chin on the bach
| Of her hand, waiting for him 10 speak
| Slowly the curtains of white skin and
black lashes would roll up, till the mar
was gazing into her wide-Open eyes
then he would start back. with the sound
men make when the bath is much too hot
or much too cold stammer an apology
and get out of her line Of vision anc
over the eyes the curtain would fall
again.
An American who had. most jauntily
sat down opposite her. came away with
a pale face, and declared he had looked
right down into hell And yet the mer
who had looked into Veeda Venestra's
eyes were Of kind whom ordinary
wickeduess would attract as strongly as
would Veedns sinuous figure, which also
carried out the suggestion of the snake
There had been discussions as 10 what
quality 1t was In the Cobra which sent
men shuddering from her table. The
American excused his defeat on the
grounds that she seemed to demand a
higher standard OF wickedness than he
was prepared to supply. a Frenchmar
/ decided that il did not do for a woman
to take vice too seriously; she must be
prepared to pour out exactly the measure
the man calls for. whether the vintage
| demanded be vice or virtue. All decided
that their sensations had been those of q
man who has seen a veiled woman whom
/ he thinks to be beautiful, has made love
to hei till he coaxes her TO lift her veil
and then sees some horror of dishgure-
ment
/ ~ e. 4
/ to the contrary, Veeda Venestra was a
virtuous woman. Investigation revealed
the fact that no man had ever been seer
TO come or go from her little fat Every.
where where women showed themselves
she showed herself. 1t was certain that
she would take afternoon tea at the
Elysee Palace. but she was never seer
in the American bar. 1t was Just as Ger.
tain that she would be seen later driving
up the Champs Elysees in her own neat
little victoria. TO join in the stream In
/ the Bois-always alone. and busy with
her own thoughts In the evening she
might be the sole occupant of a box al
the opera or the theater
The more that curiosity and mystery
| gathered around her, the greater grew
her fame During a brief space she was
one Of the features Of Paris. and to hap
/ pen 10 select the same restaurant fOI
supper was considered a great piece OF
luck. Greatest luck Of all II it was q
night on which some unsophisticated mar
/ tried TO scrape acquaintance with the
/ Cobra. A hush would follow the mis-
guided person up TO her table, where
there was always a second place laid
and chair tilted. The restaurant would
look like the palace Of tho Sleeping
Beauty; food stopped half way to mouth
the wineglass arrested on its road to the
| lips. walters frozen into rigidity. dish in
hand, till the amiable smile on the man
face had given place TO CONSERVATION,
followed by the hasty retreat Then
once more the restaurant would wake 70
| life. and in the hum of conversation
which followed you would hear these
questions asked:
But what is her game? Who is she
waiting for? Where did she come from?
How long viii she keep II up7"
/ One by one the questions were answer
ed. An American who had not been In
Paris for years returned to his old
haunts, wealthy. sun-dried. and weather
beaten. He happened to dine az d'Armen-
onville on a night when the mysterious
woman sat alone at her table.
Who is she?" he demanded. excitedly,