The Washington herald., 1914-11-01
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Winifred had lost the hand
of the range, and what sue
cesses she had were ruined
BY her inability to corral the
herd on time. The soup was salted
beyond the sanction of even the most
amiable palate. The chickens were
guaranteed not to be resurrections from
a cold-storage tomb; ). but they would
hanging and a little shorter cooking.
The vegetables had not been salted at
all. nor warmed quite through.
'T'Ye survived the freless and food
less cooking at breakfast and luncheon,
but the dinnerless dinner would finish
me. Winitred can afford to bant,
can't. Tmsgoing to give a party. Wen
all dine over at the Port of Missing
Men and have dinner on me; that viii
get US through until tomorrow at least."
Unable to shake of Willie, Persis
pleaded the need fer a little sleep and
retrsated to her room. Forbes wan
dered about, puzzled at the appalling
loneliness he could feel in so beautiful
a place with so many people around
and only one missing.
Eventually. however, the sun, which
had begun the day with such ecstasy
for him, began to approach the top of
the western hill, and the caravan set
out for the Port of Missing Men,
which proved to. be little cottage of
an inn set upon the edge of small
mountain and surveying vast pano-
rama
On the piazza the crowd dined well,
and returned through the great park to
the homeward roads, for when they
reached the Enslee bridge it was like
coming. home. The wings of the motor
had made It possible to run twenty-five
miles to dinner and twenty-five miles
back in almost negligible time; but the
exuitant speed of the journey and the
multitude of sights that had fed past
fatigued the mind like a long voyage,
and il was once more a subdued COM
pany that gathered before the living
room fireplace
Silence fell upon them all, and they
sat once more staring into the flames,
each finding there the glittering castles
of desire.
At some vaguely later hour Persis
rose and went into the adjoining music
room. Forbes longed to follow, but
feared to move. She strummed few
inexpert chords on the piano. Then
she went to the 'victrola and searched
among the black disks. A little later
she called out.
Everything in this house is last
years. There's not a turkey-trot on
the place, or tango
A little later she spoke again, Here's
a bit of ancient history" She cranked
up the machine, set the needle to the
disk, and "The Beautiful Blue Da-
nube" came twanging forth from z
SCARED record that riddled the melody
with curious spatterings.
The once world-victorious rhapsody
had almost a dirge-like tameness now ;
but II brought Willie to his feet, and
he began to circle the room with Per-
sis. She drooped over his inferior
shoulders like a wilted flower.
Other waltzes were played, but VIII
lies appetite for them was quenched
after the first He sank into a chair
by the living-room table and took up a
story in an old magazine
Persis waltzed with Forbes more
often than with the others; but Willie
never knew. In fact, it was not long
before his head grew heavier and
heavier, and finally, with his chin IN
his necl1tie, he slept
The dancing, the copious wine, and
the sudden warmth of the weather soon
led to the opening of doors. From the
music room one stepped out into a
kind of cloister opening on the lawn.
Eventually Persis set two-step rec
ord whiriing on the machine. Forbes
asked her to dance with him. As they
were passing one of the doors a little
gust of summer-pight air blew upon
them so appealingfy that Forbes swung
Persis across the sill and stepped out
into the cloister, where the moonlight
streamed like a distant searchlight
The music followed them, but muf-
fed by the pat of their feet along the
tiled floor. To silence this noise Forbes
danced across the margin of stone out
upon the smooth, short, silent grass.
Persis made no resistance, and he
danced always little deeper into the
lawn, little farther from the house.
He danced her round the inky plumes
of a cluster of cedars. These shut out
the lights from the door. The music
was quite lost here, and Persis hummed
the tune herself; seemed to Groom It
into his very heart
The moonlight fell about her in a
magic veil. and Forbes could not let
her 90. He caught her closer to him.
But before his lips could brush her
cheek, she broke his clasp and said:
1--WE must go back
"Oh, pleaser' he implored.
"The others will wonder"
What of it?"
I'VE can't afford to set them talking.
"We can't afford to waste a night
like this in a stuffy room"
There will be other moonlight
nights"
But we may not be alive. II may
rain tomorrow And the day after
must be getting back to my post
Really? Oh, that is too bsdP There
was such deep regret IN her-words that
he took courage to say:
"If we could only walk together a
long, long distsncei Doesn't the moon
seem TOTO command you to march?"
''Yes; but-but my slippers are all
wet with the dew"
"You could change them"
'And what would the others sayS"
Must they know?"
"How could they help knowing?"
'If you told them all goodnight and
went to your room ans changed your
slippers, and came out later, and met
you
II was a very elaborate conspiracy
for him, and she gasped:
DO you think I'm quite mad p
Il know / am, or If seems that I'll go