Arizona republican. [volume] (Phoenix, Ariz.) 1890-1930, 1911-10-06

BY MRS. WILSON WOODROW
Copyright. 1910, by the Pearson Pub
fishing company.

tine helplessly.
miss Hodgkins will pay 1t, of
course said her mistress shortly.
What else is there TO do?"
She turned and stared at the wall,
her mouth set. her eyes narrow and
contemplative. Seeing her thus, one
realized that ii was not the voice alone,
nor looks. nor even her years of hard
study that made Miss O'Hara the ex-
tremely notable person that she was,
the great artist. the consummate
actress: but that she had instinctively
laid TO heart Sir Joshua Reynolds ad-
vice to the painter. and had, f1gura.
lively speaking. mixed her palette With
brains.
Sings" murmured Ernestine to
Miss Hodgkins as they noiselessly
withdrew, will shortly happen"
They did. That evening. when the
vulgar If decorated business of dining
en- r,dSSe was at its height at the Riz
Wapiti, down the long. oak-paneled
room. with its antlered deer-head,
along the walls. the opera singer swept
through an aisle Of tables surrounded
by men in evening clothes: and women
in lace and embroidery and ethereal
fabrics, all white, white as the driven
snow.
Her dark hair was dressed after the
latest Partisan fashion; her eyes, those
famous eyes, looked serenely. indif
ferently over the assemblage; a little
smile lowered about her generous, fas
cinating, slightly crooked mouth but
for once, the interest she aroused was
due neither TO her fame nor to heI
beauty. Rose O'Hara had eclipsed her
self. Tonight, it was the scabbard anc
not the sword which drew all eyes.
AS she walked down that long room
with all her trained and plastic grace
1t was as II some belated ray from the
sun, already declining behind the
peaks, had fallen among them. But
for once let honor be given where
honor is due; this effect was owing
not to the personality of Rose O'Hara
but TO her gown Soft. gold-hued chif.
fon fell Imply over pale rose, the color
OF her lovely shoulders, and sparkling
all over the low bodice were yellow
and pink topazes. But this was ap
parently not enough Of humming bird
brilliance, for futtering from shoulder
to waist was a cluster of great hello
trope orchids with deeply fringed, pur.
pie lips. o
The head-waiter preceded her,
naughty, imposing, yet withal defer.
sntially courteous Miss Hodgkins, In
black silk, suffering an eruption of
pink bows, and with the minor attic.
lion Of white lace flchu, followed.
AS all were used to the public eye.
their stately procedure was unmarried
by Self-cOnsciOusness
The majordQmo drew out the
singers chair with the elaborate grace
Of an eighteenth century courtier. She
sank into ii and opened her napkin;
but the excitement all over the room
did not subside, rather 1T increased
the whole place was full of a feminine
stir and rustic, the soft clatter of
lorgnons.
Those who knew each other and
those who did not: those who happened
to be introduced and those who re-
sented even the possibility of such a
thing. turned and gave each other the
comprehensive stare of an outraged
sisterhood. nor were open comments
lacking 1t was as informal and uni
flying as fire or earthquake.
This blaze Of color, so loud, so in
absurdly out of place So spoka the
uninitiated; but the initiated said
nothing, only gasped and continued TO
sit In pale CONSERVATION before their
untasted food. They read. as IL Il were
scrawled in letters of fire across the
gold and pink gown. the name of a
great Paris house. and the head of that
house had confidently assured them in
the spring that this was to be a fluffy.
feecy-clOud summer: and here was
Rose O'Hara in the most clinging ia
booed chitfons. No old gown I'M
earthed from the bottom of box
either; that draping of the sleeves.
those insets of lace about the foot,
that ruffe cut in those peculiar points
these were the very latest midsum-
mer touches. What did it-what could
il mean?
At midnight. the consensus OF expert
feminine opinion inclined TO the belief
that It was a mere eccentric within on
the part of the singer. or perhaps her
latest method of advertisement. But q
further shock awaited them.
The next morning. after the porch
watchers had comfort ably settled them
selves for the day. and were eLgrossed
In the stimulating mental exercises OF
knitting. embroidery and gossip. Rose
O'Hara, accompanied by Miss Hodg-
kins, who bore a rug and drinking
cup. stepped out upon the porch. They
took two or three turns up and down,
running the rocking-cheir gauntlet with
high serenity, and then made tb.ir
way to the Springs. Miss O'Hara wore
q short, cra3e frock, blue as the sky.
and clinging as ivy. blue hat with a
scarlet bow. and she carried a scarlet
perasol. Startlingly vulgar, the cos
tune of 4 circus rider. proclaimed the
uninitiated, but the initiated minority
again kept an awed silence. For them,
upon both hat and gown was written
the name of one OF the most famous
Viennese designers.
without going further into details,
suffice II to say that the opera singer
continued to appear in the most bril-
liantly colored gowns. all new, and all
bearing the unmistakable hall mark
Of some great designer. Now his
torians of the feminine agree in pro-
n6uncing the American woman the
most adaptable In the world: and the
initiated minority at Wapiti had ap-
parently agreed that the time for
thought and discussion vas past, the
moment for action was at hand. ST.