The Sauk Centre herald. (Sauk Centre, Stearns County, Minn.) 1886-current, 1912-08-01

/ W1uO =
"She expressed a desire to see
Cairo again." answered Mrs. Ched-
Doye.
I'VE never deny her anything" The
major rose and yawned suggestively.
In the corridor, Ryanne whispered
softly: why not, Gioconda "
She shall never marry a man of
Four stamp" coldly.
Charming mother: How tenderly
vou have cherished her!"
Horace" calmly enough, "is It wise
to anger me?"
1T may not be wise, but I have
never seen you in rage. You would
be magnificent
Cease this foolery," patiently ~
am in no mood for it tonight. AS an
associate in this equivocal business
you do very well; you are necessary
But do not presume too much upon
that. For all that may not have been
what mother should be, still have
some self-respect. So long as 1 have
any power over her, Fortune shall
never marry a man so far down in
he social scale as YOURSELF"
Social scale? Gioconda, how you
hurt mel" mockingly. Il should real
ly like to know what your idea of
that invincible barrier is. Is it be-
cause my face is in the rogues' gal
lery? Surely, you would not be
| cruel!"
"She is far above us all, my friend" "
continuing unruffled. Sometimes I
stand In absolute awe of her"
"A marvel! If my recollection is
not at fault, many a man has entered
the Villa Fanny, with view to court
ship. men beside whom am as
Roland to the lowest Saracen. You
never objected to them"
"They had money and position"
magic talisman! And If had
money and position?"
my objections would be no less
strong"
Your code puzzles me. You would
welcome as son-in-law a man who
(, stole openly the widows mite. while I,
who harass none, but the predatory
rich, must dwell in the outland? Rank
injustice!"
You couldn't take care Of her"
Eyes, could. With but little effort
I could make these two hands as hon
est as the day is long"
Il have my doubts" smiling little.
Suppose, for the sake of an argu.
ment, suppose Fortune accepted me?"
Mrs. Chedsoye's good humor re-
turned. She knew her daughter toler.
ably we'll; the child had horror of
men. Poor Horace! Do you build
upon that?"
LESS, perhaps, than upon my own
bright invention. My suit, then to be
brief, is rejected?"
"Emphatically. I have spoken"
"Oh, we'll; the feminine prerogative
shall be mine, the last word. Good
night; dormi bene" He bowed
grandly and turned toward his own
| room.
He possessed that kind of mockery
which was the despair of those at
whom it was directed. They never
knew whether his mood was one Of
harmless fun or of deadly intent. And
rather than mistake the one quality
for the other, they generally pretend.
ed to ignore Mrs. Chedsoye, who
had a similar talent, was one of the
] few who felt along the wall as one
does in the dark, instinctively. To
night she recognized that there was
| no harmless fun but real desperate.
ness behind the mask; and she had
held in her temper with a firm hand.
This was not the hour for clash.
She shivered little; and for the first
time in the six or seven years she had
known him, she faced fear of him.
His great strength, his reckless cour.
age, his subtle way of mastering men
/ by appearing to be mastered by them,
held her in the thrall of a peculiar
| fascination which, in quiet periods.
| she looked upon as something deeper.
| Marriage was not to her an ideal state.
nor was there any man, living or dead,
who had appealed to the physical side
of her. But he was in the one sex
what she was in the other; and while
she herself would never have married
him, she ragged inwardly at the posi-
bility of his wanting another woman
To her the social fabric which holds
humanity together was merely con.
| venience; the moral significance
/ touched neither her heart nor her
mind. In her the primordial craving
for ease, for material comforts, pref
| ty trinkets and gowns was strongest
developed 1t was as if this sense had
been handed down to her, untouched
by contact with progression, from the
remote ages, that time between the
fall of Roman civilization and where
modern civilization began. In short
beautiful barbarian, whose intellect
alone had advanced
Fortune was asleep. The mother
went over to the bed and gently shook
the slim, round arm which lay upon
II 60 !