The Washington herald., 1914-09-02
THE SILKEN Z URE
By ANNA sTEEsE RICHARDsoN

sne nad Hunk MN q careless fnclsnDory
nod. to which his pulses had replied with
familiar and never-repressed throb.
J Now, as she raised her veil. he started
for the delicate features were a BIZ
sharp. Under the appealing eyes wsrs
] great circles.
Il must go 10 St. Louis tonight, Mr..
M. VIII you take meT'
Take your" echoed the man meehan-
icaIly.
Yes, must go to St Louis on thi,
traIn-and IL haven't q cent"
oh" The man, looking down into
her frightened eyes was thinking rap
idly. Does Tom knoW?"
Mono. Thats-thats why I have no
money"
Had quarrel?"
! ''No-please don't waste any time
I'll tell you everything on the train. II
have work as soon as reach ST. Louis
and III pay You back. I've only few
minutes -
The man was looking at his watch
She gripped his coat sleeve. He looked
down at her trembling hand. and into
his eyes came the light which since the
and souls.
I "Please-please,H she sobbed
I'm take care of you. Take the last
| seat in the fourth car Got a trunkg'
He was lifting her up the icy-coated
steps.
"A boy has it--on a wheeIbarrow-in the
alley"
Those were the good old days when
refund checks were unknown When a
conductor received a cash fare, he and
the brakeman fiipped II up to the bell
rope. II it stuck. 1t went to the COM
pany. II 1T fell the conductor and
brakeman divided it. AS for carrying
friend now and then. that was the
railroad mans perquisite. So they rode
out into the night together. the dark
eyed man who knew women so well, and
the 1.-the. girl-woman who knew moth
] ing but the silken lure. and loved moth
( ing but its soft embrace.
Drew Her from Him.
Two days later. in the Bispham ONCE
J Tom signed a note to protect his wife
from arrest and extradition. Her skill.
full peculations would absorb his profits
for a year. A week later. he stood
watching her in the small show room of
St Louis shop. For the benefit Of a
| loW-browed. diamond-decked brewers
wife: she was trying on French evening
frocks. Her graceful figure was draped
/ in soft, shimmeriAg silk. clouded with
tuIle, sparkling here and there with
| iridiscent crystal Slowly she turned
before his aching eyes, 4 Tanagre figure
swathed in cObweb raiment. the very
embodiment of the silken lure which had
drawn her from him.
NO-she never went back to him. Not
that she cared for the handsome railroad
man nor those other men who followed
him. They were just part of the price
she paid for the feel Of silk and lace
against her soft flesh. that she might
wear silk while others wore cotton, stroke
soft furs. crush satin-soft velvet under
her little fingers, look upon herself
/ through the opalescent light Of the silken
lure.
And Tom:
! NO-he did not kill her nor the man
who rode out with her into the blackness
of the night. There are men like Fred
erick Wagner in To-day who in their
/ primitive love must kill. and there are
others who find hell by a slower. but
! none the less sure route. Tom went II
the silent Businesses Of the great north to
! seek his
Today
NO-eighteen years ago!
New York;
No-a midwest city where women are
given 20 clubs and good works and large
| families,
The silkeR lure recognizes no geograph-
ical boundaries. and it is no respector Oi
social lines II defies moralists and psy-
biologists. love and religion. II sweeps
women unstirred by passion into social
depths II is not of New York. but Of
the sex And il lives and thrives because
women com einto life wanting TO be fair
in the eyes of men. II is inherited, like
the color of the hair andSCyes, like tastes.
habits-passions. =.
The world since woman was born has
believed that for her all things silken, soft
and caressing were made. The touch OF
! them-the intoxication Of them, II lures
women OMIT wraps them in rose dreams
as opium carries the smoker into his par
| adise. That Is why To-day is not of
any year. of any land. Of any race, but of
some women in all lands. in all times-the
! tragedy of the silken lure for those who
follow its shimmering hand.