The Washington herald., 1908-05-19

HlVittn Sotu escaping from the furnace.
Your face is luminous with the hazy
dawn OF womanhood. ! have had such
visions at da@n-golden with the intan-
gibie lights OF sunset in a wood. 1 have
seen such visions in the clouds at sunset.
The blue Of your eyes begins before
l come 70 them as I have seen the azure
lights in forest glade foreshadow the
wonderful pool al the end.
They are vaguely troubled, Elsa.
remember that the pool was also stirred,
for overhead. and far away. the wind
stirred IN the tree tops-the wind that
blows between dawn and sunrise.
The wonder OF the dawn is In your
face. Elsa, but the wisdom Of the night
has not left Il: and 60 you will know what
I feel For never nature lifted the veil
20 give me a GLIMPSE Of you, but ycu
caught a glimpse Of me-
And Fabian was not lying to his Jour
nal, for, although Elsa could not analyze
her sensations as he could, she dimiy
felt that the haggard youth her father
had brought home stirred more than her
sense Of pity. Being a woman. her con-
seiousness recoiled, vaguely resenting the
intrusion. seeming the danger that lies
ambushed in all great loves.
Her life had been curiously secluded in
the midst Of great cities and much travel.
She had dim infant recoIleetions of a
world OF sand, tawny faces moving among
tents, under palm trees; but her real
consciousness was Of Vienna, New York,
ard, lately. OF London. But always she
and her father had been people apart.
Even in the crowded apartment house
In New York. not far removed from the
tenement class, where one life overfowed
into other lives because they were SO
similar, people had looked at them only
with curiosity or mistrust
No doubt the Oriental instinct toward
female seclusion had something 20 do
with the manner OF their lives. Then.
too, Abdul Won Tarsenheim, with his
mocking smile. and strong. saturnine
face, aroused the superstitious dread OF
the evil eye in neighboTs mostly Irish.
They salved their fear by Jumping them,
contemptuously, as Dagoes, but kept a
respectful distance.
Elsa's mother died In Vienna when
Elsa was ten years old. She had had
many lessons on the violin. and acquired
a mechanical knowledge Of the instru-
ment. but she had no natural love or tai
ent or ear for music, as her mother had.
One day. not long after her mother S
DEATH her father had hypnotized her.
When she woke UP she realized a change,
as though she WIS not quite the same
person. She was taken TO a concert 10
hear a great violinist, and found that
music had suddenly acquired a mean
Ing for her. When she went home she
was able 10 play everything she had
heard. Her music lessons ceased. She
never again heard a note Of music but
she could improvise or repeat what she
heard. Her father made her play TO him
a great deal. debating the nature of the
music. and. as she played. he would be-
gin TO concentrate his mind on Sorne-
thing. Then his face would wear the
look of a man searching for the elusive.
At last he would say, Yes, I have il.
You may cease. Elsa" He never told
her what it was. or took her into his
confidence in any way. She had 20 feel
ing of love for him. and. as far as she
knew. he had none for her. Their rela-
tons were more those of master and
servant.
It was The sixth day Of Fabian's inn
prisonment in st. Martins street, for the
occultist never left the fat without lock-
ing the door and taking the key.
Fabian had heard him go out, after
speaking rather angrily to Elsa, while he
himself was confdiHg TO his diary:
'Eisas not a real woman" he wrote.
she is not yet IN contact with the earth
at any point. Only he nebu,a Of a wom-
an drifting down toward reality. I see
her as a crystal taking shape. viii it
be my touch which shah dictate her
form? She"
He was interrupted by the entrance of
the girl herself. Her pretty face looked
troubled, The young man wondered
whether it had anything to do with the
alteration he had heard between herself
and her father.
She came and stood in front of Fabian.
You must tell me, Mr.. crawley' she
said, earnestly. what is this experiment
in which you help my father? I ask
him. and he only laugh There was a
suggestion Of terror in her wide-open eyes.
The young man rose from his chair.
Won't you sit down?"
NO, no. Tell me! It Is something I
must know
But Well, the fact Is. / don't know
anything about it"
Then how can you help him? You
cannot" she said. getting more agitated.
I tell you. you will be the experiment.
he is my father, but he is not as other
men. He will do terrible things TO you.
He viii hypnotic you. and take some-
thing out OF you and put things into you.
What he will do / DO not know. but it
will be terrible. You must Eo-1uickIv.
before he comes back-and you must new
er let him see yeu again! have a key
my father knows not OF"
In her excitement she came up TO him
and took him by the arm. It was the
first time she had touched him. He knew
now she was a real woman. She tried
to push him toward the door. repeating.
you must go! You must go,''
But you do not understand I can
not goi I am piedged-I have taken
money-it would be most oishonorable! /!