The Wagner post. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1912-current, 1912-05-31
THE HEART OF A WOMAN
sY BARONESS ORGY.
Author Of "The Scarlet Pimpsrnsi" "Pettieoat Rule" Etc

the dearest gift they can bestow on a
woman Is the right for her to efface
herself. the right for her to be the
giver of love, of consolation, of sacri-
flee.
Commonplace, plain. sensible Louisa
understood everything that Luke felt;
those great luminous eyes OF hers,
fearless yet brilliant, res every line on
that face drilled into impassiveness.
No one else could have guessed the
precise at which softness crept
into the hard determination OF jaw ana
lips; no ear but hers could ever have
perceived the subtle change in the
quivering breath. from hard obstinacy
that drew the nostrils together, ana
set every line of the face, to that IN
drawing of the heavy air around caused
by passionate longing which nam.
mered at the super-excited BRAIN, ana
made the sinews crack in the lniSh's
physical effort at Self-represSlon.
But to all outward appearance per
feet calm. correct demeanor, the attn
tude and tone of voice prescribed by the
usages of this so-called society.
Lou" he. said. lit Is not fair 10
tempt me. l should be a miserable cur
il / held you to your word. L am a
| penniless beggar-a wastrel now, with
out a profession, without prospects
soon to be without friends.
He seemed to take pleasure in recall
ing his defects, and she let him ramble
on: women who are neither p~sychologi-
cal puzzles nor interesting
have a way of listening patiently
whilst a tortured soul eases its burden
by contemplating it's w martyrdom.
IT am a penniless beggar he re-
iterated. II have no right to ask any
woman to share my future dull ana
humdrum existence. A few thousands
$. .-l rlnt al WIFI
marry soon and then l can go ABROAD
i must go Abroad must do some
thing
Well do 1t together. Luke"
L feel" he continued. rebellious now
and wrathful. all the primary an
stincts alive in him of self-preserNatlon
and the desire to destroy an enemy.
Il feel that if / stayed in England
| should contrive to be even with
that blackguard. His rights? BY God!
I would never question those. Inc
knew that he was Uncle
Arthur's son I o have been ready
to shake him by the hand, to respect
him. to stand aside as was his due.
| But his at~titude-the influence he exer-
cises over Uncle Rad-his rancour
against US all. Jim n Eide! what had
they done to be all turned out OF the
house TX a pack of poor relations
and DOR Uncle Rad
he CNeCkSu nttIlScil, " SfbS hoN 49,
a hand on his coat sleeve.
Luke. il is no use." she said.
You are right, Lou! and L am a
| miserable wretch. III you only knew
how 1 hate that man. !.
Don't" she said, let us think OF
him"
How can 1 help it? He o b me of
| you
No" she rejoined. not that"
Her hand still rested on his arm, n
| he took 1t between both his. The cou-
| piles in front of them all down the
| length of stairs paid no heed TO them,
and through the hum OF voices, from a
| distant room beyond, came softly
| waited on the hot. still air the strains
| of the exquisite barcarolle from the
"Contes d. Hoffman,"
Louisa smiled confidently, proudly.
| He held her hand and she felt that his
hot and dry-quiyered In every
muscle at her touch. The commonplace
| woman had opened the magic book or
| love. She had turned its first pages,
| the opening chapters had been simple,
| %unruffled, interrupted by the hand OF
| men or of fate. But now at last the
read the chapter which all along she
| knew was bound to reach her ken.
| The leaves of the book were crumpled;
fate. with cruel hand. had tried TO blur
the writing; the psychological problem
of today-the n that goes by the
| name of modern woman"-would no
| doubt ponder ere she tried TO read
further; she would analyZe her feel
ings. her thoughts, her sensations; she
| would reyel over her own heartache
| and delight in her own soul agony. But
simple minded, conventional Louisa did
none of these things. She neither
rufiled her hair. nor dressed in i'll made
serge clothes: her dress was perfect
and her hand eXqusitely gloved. She
J;l Nothing ont nf The way. she 0nlK
loved one man altogether beyond her
self and she understood his passionate
love for her, and all that troubled him
in his world in which they both lived.
Il love that barcarolle. don't your
she said after awhile.
Il did not hear II" he replied.
Luke"
It's no use, Lou he said under his
breath. You must despise me for be-
ing a driveling fool, but l have neither
eyes nor ears now. | would give all /
have in the world to lie down there
on the DOR nov before you and to kiss
the soles OF your feet"
How could l despise you, Luke. for
that?"
put your hand on my knee. just for
a moment, o l think l shall go mad
if I don't feel your touch"
She did as he asked her, n he was
silent until the last note of the bar
q "h~N $1,000 AAe-
INJURED breath
VIVA a cowardly wretch i am he
said under cover of the wave of en-
thusiastic applause which effectualIy
covered the sound of his voice TO all
ears ave hers. 4 think I would sell
my soul for a touch of your hand and
all the while l know that with every
word I am playing the part of a cow
ard. Ii Colonel Harris heard me he
would give me a sound thrashing. A
dog whip is what / deserve
II have told YOU" she rejoined simp-
ly, that father does not wish our en-
gagement to be broken off. He sticks
to our u and will do so through
thick and thin. He still believes that
this Philip is an imposter and think
that Lord Radcliffe a taken leave of
his senses"
She spoke quite quietly. matter of
factly now. pulling. by her serene calm.
Luke's soul back from the realms of
turbulent sensations to the prosy facts
OF today. And HEN answer to her
mute dictate and with a movement
wholly instructive and mechanical
drew himself upright. and passed his