The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1912-03-12

guilty of this absurd mistake"
Quietly but firmly, Miss Hodgkins re-
PEELED the insinuation. Again the singer
ran over the items Of the BILL and this time
Indignantly: "They think, Y she said Bit
terly, "that because am an opera singer,
and because my press agent and manager
publish the exact amount of my salary
trebled, they can impose upon me to any
extent. But this" she struck the paper
lightly with her fingers, is too much. "
"What shall we dor" asked Ernestine
helplessly.
miss Hodgkins will pay it, of course.
said her mistress shortly. "What else is
there to dor"
Sings" murmured Ernestine to Miss
Hodgkins as they noiselessly withdrew,
"wil shortly happen"
They did. That evening, when the vul-
gar if decorated business of dining en- mdSSe
was at its height at the Ritz-Wapiti, down
the long, oak-paneled room, with its ant
Tered deer-heads along the walls, the opera
singer swept through an aisle of tables sur
rounded 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, indifferently
over the assemblage; little smile lowered
about her generous, fascinating, slightly
crooked mouth; but for once, the interest
she aroused was due neither to her fame nor
to her beauty. Rose OHara had eclipsed
herself. Tonight, it was the scabbard and
not the sword which drew all eyes.
As she walked down that long room with
all her trained and plastic grace, it was as
if 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
OHara, but to her gown. Soft, gold-hued
chiffon 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 apparently not
enough of humming-bird brilliance, for
futtering from shoulder to waist was
cluster of great heliotrope orchids with
deeply fringed, purple lips.
The head-waiter preceded her, naughty,
imposing, yet withal deferentially cour-
teous. Miss Hodgkins, in black silk,
suffering an eruption of pink bows, and
with the minor affection of a white lace
hchu, followed. As all were used to the
public eye, their stately procedure was un-
marred by self-consciousness.
The majordomo drew out the singers
chair with the elaborate grace of an eigh-
tenth century courtier. She sank into it
and opened her napkin; but the excitement
all over the room did not subside, rather
it 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 resented even
the possibility of such thing, turned and
gave each other the comprehensive stare
of an outraged sisterhood, nor were open
comments lacking. 1t was as informal
and unifying as fire or earthquake.
This blare of color, so loud, so indecent
that it smote the sense was absurdly out of
place. So spoke the uninitiated; but the
initiated said nothing, only gasped and
continued to sit in pale CONSERVATION before
their untasted food. They read, as if it
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 fluffy, fleecy-cloud
summer; and here was Rose O'Hara in the
most clinging of tabooed chiffons. No old
gown unearthed from the bottom of box
either; that draping of the sleeves, those
insets of lace about the foot, that ruff1e
cut in those peculiar points - these were
the very latest midsummer touches. What
did it - what could it mean?
AT midnight, the consensus of expert
feminine opinion inclined to the belief that
it was mere eccentric whim on the part
OF the singer, or perhaps her latest method
of advertisement. But further shock
awaited them.
The next morning, after the porch watch
ers had comfortably settled themselves for
the day, and were engrossed in the stimu-
lating mental exercises of knitting, en-
broidery and gossip, Rose O'Hara, accom-
panied by Miss Hodgkins, who bore rug
and a drinking-cup, stepped out upon the
porch. They took two or three turns up
and down, running the rockingham gaunt-
let with high serenity, and then made
their way to the Springs. Miss OHara
wore short, crepe frock, blue as the sky,
and chnging as ivy, blue hat with scar
let bow, and she carried a scarlet para
sol. Startlingly vulgar, the costume
of circus rider, proclaimed the un-
initiated; but the initiated minority again
kept an awed silence For them. uDon