Turner County herald. (Hurley, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-04-18

8; : ; :: =: :: :: !: !: :
pering with bolts is
rats" work; and
Countess Manola has
abjured all made COOP
Grafton.
~ Men are poor crea-
tures," she said on
quitting the Abbey of Clairvaux in the
Lnustrous Valley. Men are clumsy,
noisy, big-mouthed, violent, impulsive.
without patience. without self-control.
II you want trouble. take man."
None will recognize her in Cairo.
Naples. Rome. Vienna. Botzen. st.
Morttz, Como. Lugano, Madrid, Tan
sters. The severe elegant, intellectu-
al great lady. we'll on toward middle
age, will promenade her melancholy
hauteur to only sympathetic and ad-
miring glancee.
American tourists. beware: death
stalks Invisible beside her. mystery.
suspicion, loss of jewels. travellers
checks. bank notes and letters Of
credit
She can strike at distance. After
she has left a fashionable resort. rich
tourists who admired her may wake
Of morning, safe in their rooms. and
md they are robbed, stripped, desti
tute.
Let them be happy that they wake
The gouine is out and loose again
upon the world. The jirmouichs are
tailed and scattered; but the shadowy
alocheuse de coils, the glider In the
hallway" has her choir of wicked vir-
gin nymphs to stay behind and do her
will, while she moves on. with the
new perfume in their hands.
BY day, they may be English old
maids, French blue stockings. plain
dressed yet with an air of ease, cold.
aloof yet capable Of impulsive kind
nesses when touched by friendship
for the rich and inexperienced. They
may be pathetic young widows, Rus
sian or Italian, seeking forgetfulness
round Casino gambling tables. at con-
certs, teas. subscription balls and ho-
tel dances, where the most modest
tourists flash their diamonds. II an
observer, you might be struck by
their eyes, the eyes Of nyctalops, OF
great or little animals that see by
night, the eyes of mice. mice. mice!
The great old mother gouine loved
to frequent the Villa des Fleurs at
Nice or the public rooms at Monte
Carlo, where fortunes are won in an
evening. too late to be banked She
moved from table to table, noting the
great winners, smiling as the roulette
ball whirled.
Then the Countess Manola mods an
aristocratic good night, pulls her
sables about her. steps into the auto
limousine and speeds home to the rich
hotel. So the naughty English old
maids. severe French blue-stockings
feverish Italian widows. with their
eyes of nyctalops.
They lock their bedroom doors and
wait. The noises cease, the lights &C
out. They dofl their frou-frou dinner
gowns, however sober, cracking pail
lettes, tinkling jet, rustling batiste
and silk. They dress again, you would
say for deep mourning; black stock
ings, black slippers. black gloves
black skirt and coat of softest wool
and round their heads, covering theil
faces, covering their mouths anc
noses, q veil of black mousseline de
scending below the neck and CAREFUL.
tied round the shoulders
Is it the Countess Manola? Is Il
the Honorable Helena? Certainly no;
1t is the gouine who turns out the
electric light of her bedroom. A feeble
light struggles through the transon
to the ceiling Nike phosphorescence
Gliding past the long mirror OF thu
wardrobe, she glances at 1t and does
not see herself.
Satisfied. she turns up the light
Naught jars in the costume. From
her trunk she takes what seems ;
curling iron of dull bronzed steel
only both p!ncers are convex: ant
then another with the pincers longer
similar: and little instrument will
steel teeth. like comb, that pusl
back on slight pressure and sprini
out again, marvel of mobility ant
changing forms; and then three slin
steel picks, as If for dentists. Fac!
slips into its compartment of vel
vet bag, not to tinkle or rattle. Fin
ally, she takes phial of liquid
She turns out the light again an,
stands before the mirror. All is darl
and silent. Five minutes pass. Tel
minutes Is 1t Countess Manola? i
It the soft, sorrowing Marchesa? Nc
certainly: for she begins to see her
self. quite clearly. in the darkness
in the mirror. 1t Is the nyctalop VIII
opens her room door with ferociou
smile-the hotel mouse who glide
down the corridor.
She knows the plan Of the hote
She has picked out three rooms to tr
rooms of big winners. rooms of os
tentatious tourists sporting diamonds
rooms of heavy spenders. cashin
large notes: rooms Of modest, soil
tourists who have shown travellers
checks.
She is before the yictim's room