Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1912-08-16

SOCIAL scale! Gloconda, how you
hurt mel" mockingly. Il should real.
y like to know what your idea OF
that invincible barrier is. Is. II be-
cause my face Is in the. rogues' gal.
lery? Surely. you would not be
cruel!" q
She Is far above US all. my friend"
continuing unruhled. Sometimes I
stand IN absolute awe Of her"
"A marvel! II my recollection Is
not at fault. may man has entered
the villa Fanny. with a view to court
ship. men beside whom | am as
Roland to. the lowest Saracen. You
never objected to them"
They had money and positions o
Magic talisman! And i'll had
money and posltion?"
my objections would be no less
strong
Your code puzzles me. You would
welcome a. a sonJn-law q man who
stole openly the widows mite. while |,
who harass none. but the predatory
rich. must dwell in the outland? Rank
injustice,"
you couldn't take care Of her"
Yes, could. With but little effort
could make these two hands as hon.
est as the day Is long, o
Il have my doubts" smiling a little.
Suppose, for the sake OF an argu-
ment, suppose Fortune accepted NEE
Mrs. CAedsoye's good humor re-
turned. She knew her daughter toler.
ably well; the child had a horror Of
men. Poor Horacei Do you build
upon that"
Less, perhaps, than upon my own
bright invention. My suit, then to be
brief, is rejected?" :
"Emphatcally. have spoken"
"oh, well; 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 1t 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 a clash.
She shivered little; and for the first
time in the six or seven years she had
known him, she faced a 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 a 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 II this sense had
been handed down to her. untouched |
by contact with progression, from the
remots ages. that time between the
fall Q conan civilization and where
mode'n utilization began. In short |
beS Ill 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