Clearwater Republican. [volume] (Orofino, Idaho) 1912-1922, 1914-08-21
CHAPTER !.
At the STAGE Door.

CHAPTER !.
At the Stage Door.
Courtlandt sat perfectly straight;
his ample shoulders did not touch the
back Of his chair; and his arms were
folded tightly across his chest. The
of his attitude was
tenseness. The nostrils were we'll de-
fined. as in one who sets the upper
Jaw hard upon the neither. His brown
eyes-their gaze directed toward the
stage whence came the voice of the
prima donna-epitomized the tension,
expressed the whole as in word.
Just now the voice was pathetically
subdued, yet reached every part of the
auditorium, kindling the ear with its
singularly mellowing sweetness. To
Courtlandt 1t resembled, as no other
sound, the note of a muffled Burmese
gong, struck in the dim incensed cav
ern Of a temple. A Burmese gong:
briefly and magically the stage, the
audience, the amazing CLEAN and scin-
tillation Of the Opera. faded. He
heard only the voice and saw only
the purple shadows in the temple at
Rangoon, the oriental sunset splash
ing the golden dome. the wavering
lights Of the dripping candles. the dead
Mowers. the kneeling devotees, the
,yellow-robed priests. the tatters OF
,goldleaf, fresh and old, upon the rows
OF placid grinning Buddhas. The
French horns blared and the timpani
crashed. The curtain sank slowly.
The audience rustled, stood up. sought
it, wraps, and passed toward the ex-
IT. and the grand staircase. 1t was
an over.
Courtlandt took his leave In leisure.
Here and there he saw familiar faces.
but these, after the finding glance, he
studiously avoided. He wanted to be
alone. Outside he lighted q cigar, not
because at that moment he possessed
. craving for nicotine, but because like
all inveterate smokers he believed that
tobacco conduced to clarity Of thought.
And mayhap It did. At least, there
presently followed a mental calm that
expelled all this confusion. The goal
Vaxed and waned as he gazed down
the great avenue with it's precise rows
Of lamps. Far away he could discern
the outline Of the brooding Louvre.
There was not the least hope in the
world for him to proceed toward his
goal this night. He realized this clear
". now that he was face to face with
sctualities. A wild desire seized him
to make night of it-Maxim's, the
cabarets; riot and wine. Who cared
But the desire burnt itself out between
two puffs Of his cigar. Ten year,
ago. perhaps. this brand Of amuse
ment might have urged him success
fully. But not now; he was done will
temfool nights. Indeed. his dissipa
lions had been whimsical rather thai
brutal; and retrospection neve
aroused . furtive sense Of shame.
He YVES young. but not so young q
an Idle glance might conjecture Il
passing. To such casual reckonin
he appeared to be in the early twer
tiss; but scrutiny. more or less infa
tuble, noting q line here or an angl
there. was disposed to add ten year
TO the score. There was in the nos
and chin a certain decisivenees whic
in true youth is rarely developed. Thi
characteristic arrives only with maj
hood, manhood that has been trie
and perhaps buffeted and perchanc
. little disillusioned.
What was one to do who had bot
money and leisure linked to an irr'
sistible desire to leave behind ON
place or thing in pursuit Of anothe
unfortunately? The inherent amb
ton was to make money; but recol
nising the absurdity Of adding to hi
income. which even In his extrav,
,gance he could not spend. he CAV
himself over into the hands Of gras
'ing railroad and steamship companie
or their agencies, and became for
time the slave of guide and dragoma
and carrier. And then the wanderlus
descended to him from the blood ,
his rowing Dutch ancestors. which ha
lain dormant in the several gener
lions following, sprang into active Ii
again. He became known In evel
port Of call. He became known ali
in the wildernesses.
Whatever had for the moment a
peared to his fancy, that he had don
He was alone. absolute master Of b
mllNons. Mammas with marriageab
. daughters declared that he was impo
sible; the manageable daughte
never had . chance to decide one W,
or the other; and men called him
fool. He md promoted elephant fgh
!. which had stirred the Indian prince
out OF their nalancholy indifference
and tiger hunts. which had. BY the
duration and magni6cence. threaten'
to disrupt the eficienN Of the Britt
military service whimslcal excesse
mot understandable BY hts iutimaN I