Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-11-13

CHAPTER Iu.-Continued.

CHAPTER Iu.-Continued.
do you know still have that money"
he said. pulling a handful of great Ave
louis pieces from his pocket II can't
spend it. I've tried to. bought dog
yesterday, but he wanted to bite me and
l had to give him to the hotel porter.
All this gold makes sn.il bulge in my
pocket
When Fora explained that the coins
were only used as counters and could be
changed for notes at the rooms, he was
astonished at her sapience. He had never
thought OF it. Thus Fora regained her
sense of superiority.
This lunch was the first OF many meals
they had together: and meals led to
the theater. II she desired still further
to convince the wretch with the evil eyes
of her befriended state she succeeded;
but the wretch and his friends speculated
evilly on the relations between her and
Septimus Dix. They credited her with
pots of money Fora, however, walked
serene. unconscious of SANDER. enjoying
herself prodigiously. Secure in her scorn
and hatred of men SheS saw no harm In
her actions. Nor was" there any, from
the point of view of her young egotism
to her that Septimus was man. IN
some aspects he appealed to her instinc-
tive motherhood like child. When she
met him one day coming out Of one OF
the shops in the arcade. wearing new
~ bought Homburg hat too small for
him, she marched him back with a deli
cious sense of responsibility and stood
over him till he was adequately fitted. In
other aspects he was like a woman in
whose shy delicacy she could confide She
q NC Ixn a IN nov i&o fInn-fhat M
power. Now, to use power with pro-
priety needs wisdom. AMI the woman who
Ia wise at Internationally cannot make
out at sixty why she has remained an Old
maid. The delightful way 20 use 1t Is
that of q babe when he first discovers
that a stick hits. That is the way that
Fora, who WAS not wise, used it over
Septimus. For the first time in her life
she owned human being. A former joy
in the possession of devoted dog who
did tricks was as nothing to this rapture.
1t was splendid. She owned him. When
ever she had a desire for his company
which was often. as solitude at Monte
Carlo Is more depressing than Fora had
realized-she sent a page boy. in the true
quality Of his name Of chasseur. TO hunt
down the quarry and bring him back. He
would. therefore, be awakened at I'M
earthly hours. at O'Clock I'm the after
noon, for instance. when. as he said. all
rational beings should be asleep it being
their own unreason if they were not; or
he would be tracked down at 10 in the
morning to some obscure little cafe in
the town. where he would be discovered
eating ices and looking the worse for
wear in his clothes OF the night before.
AS this meant delay in the execution OF
her wishes, Fora prescribed habits less ir-
regular. BY means of bribery OF cham
berinaids and porters, ami the sacrifice OF
food and sleep. he contrived to And him
self dressed in decent time in the morn
ings. He would then patiently await her
orders. or call rnodestly for them at her
residence, like the butcher or the green
grocer.
''WAy does your hair stand up on end,
in that queer fashion," she asked him
one day. The hat episode had led to
general regulation Of hts personal ap-
pearance.
He pondered gravely over the conun-
he must have lost control of 1t. The COM
msnd went forth that he should visit
barber and learn how to control his hair.
He obeyed. and returned with his shock
parted in the middle and plastered down
heavily with pomatum. q saint Of more
than methodistical meekness. On Fora
declaring that he looked awful Che was.
indeed incoEceivably hideous), and that
she preferred Struwel Peter after all. he
dutifully washed his head with soda
bermaid). and summed himself once more
In the smiles Of his mistress
Now and then. however, as she was
kind and not tyrannical, she felt PIN
prick Of compunction.
IF you would rather do anything else,
don't hesitate to say so"
But Septimus after having contem-
plated the worlds potentialfties OF action
with lackluster eye. would declare that
there was nothing else that could be
done. Then she could rate him soundly.
IF / proposed that we should sail up
the Andes and eat fried moonbeams. you
would say yes Why haven't You more
intiative?'
I'm like Mrs. shandy.' he replied.
Some people are born SO. They are
quiescent; other people can jump about
like grasshoppers. Do you know grass
hoppers are very interesting" And he
began to talk irrelevantiy on insects.
Their intercourse encouraged confiden
tial autobiography. Fora learned the
whole of his barren history. Fatherless.
mothcrIess, brotherless, he was alone I'm
the world From his father. Sir Eras-
mus DIX. we'll known engineer. to whose
early repression much Of Septimus' tim
idty was due he had Inherited modest
fortune. After leaving Cambridge he had
wandered aimlessly about Europe. Now
he lived in little house In Shepherd
Bush, with studio or shed at the end
of the garden, which lie used as a Iabora-
tory.
why Shepherds Eush?" asked Fora.
"Wiggleswick likes it, said he.
And now he has the whole house 20
himself? I suppose he makes himself
comfortable in your quarters, and drinks
your wine and smokes your cigars with
his friends. Did you lock things up!"
"Oh. yes, of course" said Septimus.
And where are the keys?''
why Wiggleswick has them" he re-
piled.
Fora drew In her breath. You don't
know how angry you make me. II ever
l meet Wiggleswick-
"Well?"
'.I'H talk to him." said Fora, with a fine
air OF menace.
She on her side. gave him such of her
condolences as were meet for masculine
ears Naturally she impressed upon him
the fact that his sex was abhorrent to
her in all its physical, moral and spir-
itual manifestations. Septimus. on think
ing the matter over. agreed with her.
Memories came back to him Of the men
with whom he had been intimate. His
father, the mechanical man who had cogs
instead of corpuscles In his blood. Wig
gleswick the undesirable. a few rowdy
men on his staircase at Cambridge who
had led shocking lives-once making
bonfire OF his pajamas and a brand-new
umbrella In the middle OF the cortland
mad since come to early and disast Gus
ends His Impressions Of the sex were
distinctly bad. Germs Of unutterable de-
pravity. he was sure, lurked somewhere
in his own nature.