The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1914-08-15
ted by This Newspaper

Too vital was the spirit in her. too redly
flowing In her veins was the bleod OF
hghting ancestors, too strong the fortress
Of self-command within the blossoming
gardens Of her youth and beauty for the
word surrender ever to come to her mind
True, she had found an adventure that
stirred her more deeply than the peril Of
land or sea or sky could have dome. Here
WAS = thrill that had never been listed
among her intended tremors. But there
were not moro than flve minutes OF weak
ness. She sent for Owen.
Masked ~ ever In his suave exterior
and his manner Of mingled obsequaoumess
and fatherliness, he came instantly.
'Mr. Owen-have you known-have You
known that this was going onr
'I feel that 1t IL my duty to know what
concerns you-even what concerns your
happiness, Miss Marvin. he answered.
you mean
Il mean that I have long had my sus-
picions"
But again the very perfection Of his de-
ceit brought Pauline that feeling that she
had had since childhood-that sense Of IN
insidious influence always surrounding
her, always menacing and yet never re-
uealed. This influence. which Owen seemed
to embody. was the antagonist Of that
other mysterious power. so real and yet
30 inexplicable, that warded and protected
her-the spirit Of the girl that had stepped
from the mummy.
But Pauline had seen with her own eyes;
she did not need any word Of Owens to
convince her of the falsity Of her lover.
She was quite calm now. She dressed
with the utmost care. Margaret, who had
seen her In such anger only a short time
before. was surprised ct the sprightliness
and graciousness Of her mistress. A
slightly heightened color that only added
to the lustre Of her loneliness was the
single sign Of her inward thoughts. She
summoned her own car and left the house
alone.
The drawing room Of the Clarence
Courtelyou mansion was ablaze with light
There was a little too much light The
Clarence CONTIGUOUS always had little
too much Of everything.
There was a little too much money;
there was little too much gold leaf dec
Grafton in the drawing room, a little too
much diamond decoration of Mrs. Cour-
telyou. and. If you were 50 fastidiously
impolite as to say 30, = little too much Of
Mrs. Courtelyou herself.
But Mrs. Courtelyou was struggling
toward gentility in such an amiable way
that better people liked her. The mother
liness and sweet sincerity of her-the fact
that she loved her frankly iliterate hus-
band and worshipped. almost from afar,
her cultured daughters-was the thing
that brought her down from the base
height of the climbers" and lifted her
kindly, harmless -arsonality to the high
simplicitiess of the elite.
Il love her." said Pauline. @She says
what she means; she means what she
says"
"she kissed me on the cheek and said
1 was . sweet GIRL" gasped Lucille. Polly.
my own mother never did that"
This conversation followed the first
meeting Of the girls after q reception Mrs.
Cortelyou had given for young wom-
ans charitable society. Thereafter Mrs.
Courtelyou had found sincere. II little
indulgent, recognition.
She made the natural mistake that
other wealthy mendicants at the outer
portals of society have made-the mistake
Of pounding at the gates. Instead OF let
ting the splendor OF her charitable gifts,
the gracefulness Of her simplicity, carry
her through, she went In for the gorgeous
and the costly.
AS sort OF GROWING glory she began
to take up" artists and actors and mu-
sicians. She gained the good graces Of
the best of them, and in her kindly limo
cence she won the worship of the worst
It was thus that she came to the point
of holding reception for Baskinelh.
black. or even shadowy. against Bassi-
nelli He had arrived recently from