Carson City daily appeal. [volume] (Carson City, Nev.) 1907-1930, 1913-12-22

I1eT plS eyes uiiitteu. utI Sill uSulc
%quivered, her lips and cheeks We're as
white as her teeth: with her two little
hands she gripped the railing and
looked over. down. at her husband be-
low.
Van Zandt glanced up eager. expect
ant, waiting for her.
"Peterr.' she calculated in a curious,
hushed voice.
Yes. love girl, it's l." He played on.
81 see you Then he looked up at
her face again. seeing the bloom of it
no longer there. but he played on. little
struggling attempts. wheedling the
strings into what he perhaps fancied
was a melody.
'Come down." he said b%uoyantly.
Betty came down Obediently, her
hand upon the rail for steadying, per
haps.
Then. not ~relinquishing his violin. he
J put out his arms to inclOse her with it.
Betty held alOof. unresponSive.
"Were you the violin nan of Will
lard's y~OurSelf?" she asked in a thin.
! small voice. brittle as Dresden china.
with a little break Of heart in every
syllable it uttered.
YES" Peter laughed again. full of
youth. masculinity. possession and ra-
dating his lack of knowledge of WON
ankind as brilliantly as man eve did.
"YOu are testing. Peter!!' Her sweet
eyes quickly sought the guest. hither.
yon: in the shadows Of the long hall
way: her sweet breath f1uttered with
ecstasy ut the thought that her hus-
band was but masquerading. that the
real violin man vas of course in hid
ing and would come forth to be pre-.
scented.
He did not.
There was merely Peter who played
on in a fantastic fashion, meant to be
alluring. coaxing. conclusive. eXpletive
If the dominant sex coming into all its
own.
Not .iesting?" the little wife said
with a falling infection; the husband
shook his Lead.
at was absolutely you those days in
Washington?
Yes"
And you never told me the truth?'
"No."
"Why not?' Slowly and painfully
the words were spoken.
Because" he cried out gleefully.
because it'll your adorable perver-
sity l might have lost you if had"
! But the TRUTH she exclaimed with
the reverential reproach of u child.
ut went by the board, I'm afraid"
He laid the violin in the niche in the
wall. Come, little lady. I've not had
my kiss" be put out his arms.
But Betty hung back. Don't you
remember | said I'd have to send you
| flying if you'd been a musical MANI"
Eyes, of course l do, and for that rea-
/ son l never touched my violin from
that hOur 10 this. You're safely mine
now, dear. and you won't be so foolish
as not to want me to amuse myself
with my bow awhile every day."
Mrs. Van Zandt did not answer.
Shaddle coughed discreetly just then
as he emerged from the dining room to
| that dinner was served.
1t was a curious meal. The mistress
pOlltc, cNCiI diIluuic, Will q Sdu Suo
mission in her speech and manner; the
young husband Overgay, yet triumph
ant. He had ideas of being lord and
master in his w house. his own pur-
suits, his own ways; adoring her none
the less, but filed with the pious and
| perfect theory of mans superior wis
! dom and the duty of husbands to see
that they We're not too easy in even
the sweetest Of traces.
And Betty?
1t all looked like a wreck to her.
The silver, the crystal. the tall old
brass candlesticks, the big logs on the
hearth. the family portraits. the bril-
liant posy of a centerpiece, her w
furbelOws, the clink OF the ~wineglass-
es, the soft tread of Shaddle and Sup
ple-to her all these were nothing else
than a devastation. but the wreck of
wrecks was the overthrow of her own
supremacy. that in which he had most
minutely taught her to implicitly be-
lieve, swept to bits by this violin.
So 1t is-first we play at love; then a
little later maybe re learn to play
with love, later on perhaps love plays
with us. and BY and by, if we are not
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