The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-11-14

 hreside, was Zenobia, welcoming him and the other newcomers to Utopia Adopted at first as her pen name. Zenobia was so appropriate to her that she was commonly called 1t even in familiar conversation. for In spite of the humble surroundings and the humble philosophy which she had adopted there was something regal about this intellectual beauty, and she had as much pride as any queen would have known what to do with. One of her fam cies was to wear always in her dark tresses a single flower of some rare and gorgeous sort. She wore one now, though how she managed to procure such speci- mems .so far from hothouse was a mys- tery. She gave each of the newcomers her hand in turn-a warm, white hand, larger than most women would like to have or could afford to have, but not whit too large for the spacious plan of zenobia's development.
 T am the first conner" she said. "so you shall be my guests tonight; tomor- rom we will have our various parts as- signed us.. and something winning and
 
 new arrivals.
 She was Queen Zenobia even in com munity founded upon the principles of strict equality; Fourier was powerless before the human equation as exempli- fled by Zenobia, and her presence caused their experiment to look like an illusion, a masquerade, counterfeit Arcadia, in which grown-up men and women were making playtime. Tt really yexes me that MT. Holllngsworth should be such a laggard," said Zenobia. Do you know him personality" asked Coverdale. "No." she replied, "only as an auditor-an audi tress. I mean-of his lectures. What a. voice he has! and what man he is! To tell the truth, I could never tolerate a philanthropist before; could you? won der if he will be content to spend his life, or even few months of 1t, among tolerably respectable and virtuous people like ourselves q doubt it, replied Coverdale. Tn order to keep him we must systematically commit at least one crime a day-mere peccadiloes will not suffice"
 They all seated themselves at their sup per In the kitchen. grizzled old Sllas Eos ter, his rotund wife and two bouncing handmaids with thent and Coverdale strove ostentatiousy but honestly to prove by his manner that he and Sias, of whom the farm had been bought and who had agreed to stay oRa while and set the new colony going, were equals and no more. And as earnestly did he strive with the other colonists to realize the higher life by drinking tea from heavy earthen cups and eating baked beans with two-tined iron forks. Silas and his family. regarding the Arcadians as simply a lot of rich people, slightly l cracked and out for a lark, stolidly l and the patriarch guessed they were | going to have quite a spell of weather 1 by way of breaking the rather strained | silence For the Utopians felt as self | conscious and as awkwardly out of place | at Silas Fosters table as Silas and his l family would have felt at swell" din ner in Beacon street.
 While they were thus seated the outer | dor opened and in out of the storm, into the warmth and radiance of the frelight and the lamplight. came Hollingsworth, | the snowfiakes clinging to his hair and | beard and to his greatcoat, bearing in his arms a bundle which. as he deposited ] it before them, resolved itself into the muffled figure of a woman-or rather of
 a small girl. As Slas departed to put
 up the horse and wagon in which Hol- ] lingsworth and his companion had ar- | rived, the girl was relieved of her many
 wraps by the women and stood looking
 about her with curiously shy and be-
 seeching expression.
 1 gown, made without any regard to fash ion or smartness, and brown, wavy hair
 fell around face the extreme pallor of
 which betokened seclusion from fresh
 air and sunshine. Her features were
 regular and with health might have shown
 beauty and there was 6 spiritual, ai-
 most weird. sort of light that seemed to
 faintly shine through the deathly pail
 Tor.
 For an instant Coverdale was seized | with the fancy that she was some deso- late creature of the air. doomed to wan ! der forever amid snowstorms. who had
 been attracted out of the night by tho