The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-07-13
CHAPTER Nv
The Door Was Closed.

Jim and myself got out of the sit
uation. They howled with mlrth
over the feeblest jokes, and wher
Max told a story without any
point whatever, they all had hys
terra. Immediately after dinner
Aunt Selma had begun on the
connection again, and after
two bad breaks on my part, jim
offered to show her the house
The Mercer girls trailed along
unwilling to lose any of the pos
sibilities. They said afterwart
that 1t was terrible: she went in
to all the closets, and ran hel
hand over the tops of doors anc
kept getting grimmer and grim
mer. In the studio they came
across a life study Jim was doinl
and she shut her eyes and made
the girls go out while he covered
it with a drapery. Lollie! Wht
did the Bacchante dance at three
benefits last winter and wal
learning a new one called Eve"
When they heard Aunt Selma
on the second floor, Anne, Da
and Max sneaked up to the stu
dio for cigarettes. which left Mr.
HARRISON to me. l was in tn,
den. sitting in a low chair by the
wood fire when he came in. HI
hesitated in the doorway.
would you prefer being alone
or may l come in?" he asked
Don't mind being frank.
know you are tired"
81 have a headache, and I an
sulking," / said unpleasantly
"but at least l am not activel,
venomous. Come in"
So he came in and sat dowr
across the hearth from me, ant
neither of us said anything. The
freight flickered over the room
bringing out the faded hues of tn,
old Japanese prints on the walls
cleaning in the mother-of-pear'
eyes of the dragon on the screen
setting a grotesque god on {
cabinet to nodding. And 1t threw
into relief the strong profile o.
the man across from me, as hi
stared at the fire.
81 am afraid / am not very in
teresting," / said at last, when h,
showed no sign of breaking the
silence. "The-the illness of the
butler and-Miss Caruthers' ar
rival have been upsetting."
He suddenly reused with /;
start from a brown reverie.
II beg your pardon" he said
"I-oh, of course not! wal
wondering IL If you were of
Tended at what l said earlier ii
the evening; the-Brushwood Boy
you know, and all that"
offended" I repeated, puz
zledd.
You see, l have been livint
out of the world so long, an,
never seeing any women but In
dian squaws"-so there were M
Spanish girls!-''that I'm afrait
1 say what comes into my mint
without circumlocution. AnC
them did not know you were
mo, oh, no." l said hastily
But, of course, the more a WON.
an is married. mean, you can.
not say too many nice things tc
women. They u eed
them, you know"
had floundered miserably
with his eyes on me. and l halt
expected him to be shocked, or tC
say that married women should
be satisfied with the nice things
their husbands say to them. But
he merely remarked apropos OF
nothing, or following a line OF
thought he had not voiced, that
1t was trite but true that a good
many men owed their success in
life to their wives.
"And good many owe their
wives to their success in life,"
retorted cynically. At which he
stared at me again.
1t was then that the real COM
plexity of the situation began to
develop. Someone had rung the
bell and been admitted to the Ii
brary and maid came to the
door of the den. When she saw
us she stopped uncertainty. Even
then it struck me that she looked
odd, and she was not in uniform.
However, l was not informed at
that time about bachelor estab-
Iishments, and the first thing she
said, when she had asked to speak
to me in, the hall, knocked her
and her clothes out of my head.
Evidently she knew me.
Miss McNair," she said in a
low tone, there is lady in the
drawing-room, a yelled person,
and she is asking for Mr.. Wilson.
Can you not find him? ?" 1 ask
ed. He is in the house, prob
ably in the studio"
The girl hesitated.
Excuse me, miss, but Miss
Then / saw the situation.
Never mind. 1 said. "Close
the door into the drawing-room,
and will tell Mr.. Wilson"
But as the girl turned toward
the doorway. the person in CUES
ton appeared in it, and raised her
veil. l was perfectly paralyzed,
1t was Bellal Bella in a fux coat
and a veil, with the most tragic
eyes ever saw and entirely white
except for a dab of roupa in The