Rocky Ford enterprise., 1913-08-08

phitheater of filed benches was to her
what the ballroom and the glittering
horseshoe at the opera are to the wom-
an or society. She saw many old
irienas among the throng, girls who
hao peen contemporaries of hers when
sne mad first gone TO work" and had
long since married in their own world
ana now dragged children by the hand.
She looked them over with an almost
passionate curiosity, discounted to
see the fresh youth of some, and
Pleased to note that others looked
weighed down with maternal cares
berny regarded women who had chill
dren as fools. and the children grouped
ABOUT these mothers of her own age
three and four sometimes, with the
husband carrying a baby-were to her
only annoying, burdensome creatures
tnat made the party seem little RI
diculous, and had not half the i'm.
pressiVeness or style of her elegant
costume and lilac frills.
Ihe magnificent afternoon had
Drought out throng of people. Every
seat In the lines of benches was full
and foot passengers kept constantly
coming up, standing for few meas
ures, and then moving on. They were
OF all kinds. The beauty of the day
had even tempted the more fashion
able element out, and the two sisters
saw many elegantly-dressed ladies' of
the sort on whom Hazel fitted hats all
day' and that evoked in Berry deep
ana respectable curiosity. Both wom-
en-, sitting high in their chairs, craned
their necks this way and that, spying
through breaks in the crowd, and fol-
lowing attractive figures with lodging
movements of their heads. When
either one saw anything she liked or
thought interesting she laid a hand on
the others knee, giving it slight dig,
and designated the object of her at
tention in few broken words, de-
tached and disconnected like notes
for sentence.
They were thus engaged when Ha-
zel saw Dominick and. rising, hailed
him with beckoning hand. He made
his way toward them. moving delib-
erately, once or twice pausing to greet
acquaintances. He was taller than
any man in the surrounding throng
and Berry. watching him, felt a sense
or proprietary pride swelling in her
when she noted his superiority. The
son Of an Irish laborer and a girl who
mad begun life as the general servant
In miners clearinghouse, he looked
as If his forebears might have been
the flower of the nation. He wore n
loose-iitting suit of gray tweed, wide.
waist belt of yellow leather. His col.
lar turning back from hi neck exposed
the brown strength of his throat, and
on lifting his hat in a passing saluta-
tion, his head with its cropped curly
hair the ears growing close against
1t. showed golden brown in the sun
light.
With phrase of greeting heIjoined
them. and then as they swept their
skirts off the chair they had been hid
ing. slipped in front of Berry and sat
down. Hazel began to talk to him.
Her conversation was of a rallying,
Joking sort. at which she was quite
proficient. Berry heard him laugh and
knew by the tone of his voice that he
was pretending and was not really
amused. She had nothing particular
TO say to him, feeling that she accom-
plished enough In inducing him to Join
them. and. sitting forward on the edge
of her chair. continued to watch the
people. A blonde coifYure some rows
in front caught her eye and she was
studying its intricacies through the In
terstices that came and went between
the moving heads. when the sudden
emergence into view OF unusually
striking female figure diverted her at
tention. The woman had come up
from behind and. temporarily stopped
by the crowd, had come to a standstill
few rows in front OF where the sis
tiers sat. She was accompanied by
a young man dressed in the Sunday
dignity of frock-coat and silk hat. AS
he turned to survey the lines OF filed
chairs. Berry saw that he had a pale
skin, a small black mustache, and dark
eyes.
But her interest in him was of the
slightest. Her attention was immedi-
ately riveted upon the woman, who be-
came the object Of a glance which in
spected her with a piercing eagerness
from her hat to the hem of her skirt.
Berry could not see her face. but her
habiliments were OF the latest mode
and Of an unusual and subdued ele-
gance which bespoke an origin in a
more sophisticated center than San
Francisco. Berry, all agog with curl
osity. stared at the lady's back, not
ing not only her clothes but a certain
carelessness in the way they were put
on. Her hat was not quite straight.
The comb, which crossed the back OF
her head and kept her hair smooth.
was crooked. and blonde wisps hung
from 1t over her collar The hand that
held up her skirt in a loose perfume
tory manner. as though these rich en-
castings were possessions of no mo-
ment. was covered by a not particular