The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1915-12-16

chest, with the circle Of maboganys
skinned savages sitting silent before
her shrine.
That I had loved her was inevita-
bic. It was written, but that was the
lesser part. Here she stood looking
at me out of eyes that were accepting
my love without question. Why did
she, without even the siege of a long
wooing, so permit me to step into the
temple of her life as naturally as
though it were the temple of the coral
island where l belonged as high priest
and demigod?
She had, before tonight, met me on
" once, and then I had been the churl,
bruskly rebuffing her sweet courtesy.
Yet she had ridden across the hills,
and something sang to me that it was
to me she had ridden, though she may
have called it coming to her brother.
Why was It? Had I really con-
jured her soul to me by wishing It
across the world7 Had supreme forces
compelled us both, so that prelimi-
nary details were superduous between
as?
However that might be, the nor
eious smile died slowly on her lips %
q seriousness far sweeter, and as she
looked into my face her eyes widened
and dropped all ~concealment until I
was gazing into her soul.
When a woman meets the eyes of
. man in that fashion he ceases to
question, and wishes only to do rev.
erence. It is like rolling back the
waters Of the sea and revealing the
wonders Of the deep.
For 1t is decreed that the eyes Of
= woman are given her in defense, to
hide behind their dance and sparkle
the things which lie beneath-and to
disarm. When ono they have opened
in the miracle Of self-revelation and
have surrendered their secret, one
must be unworthy who feels himself
worthy of such a manifestation.
And the secret I read there was that
she loved me beyond all doubling. It
mattered no longer how the wonder
had come to pass. There was a mere
point of godcraft. It had happened,
and the stars were singing.
I dropped on one knee and lifted her
hand to my lips.
Later, I sketched rapidly, agitated.
ly, the story of the coming of her por.
trait to the island, of it's place on the
chest, and it's subsequent worship. I
told her of meeting Keller on the
steamer and Maxwell in New York.
l summarized the chain of evidence
which had, to my mind, proved her to
be Mrs. Weighborne. I have no doubt
that I told it badly; but that was O:
no consequence, since, back of my
broken narration, was the pent-up
rush of emotion, and to her this SEEM
ed important. Nor did my story, so
fantastic that I hardly expected her to
accept it without proof, seem to sur
prise her.
"And," I concluded, 81 am going to
build you a new temple which will
make the Tai Mahal a tawdry
mosque; for every block of rafter will
be love, and each year We shall add
new minarets of worship-and not on
ly five times each day, but a hundred,
it's muezzin shall call me to prayer"
Her eyes were glowing and her
laugh trembled.
II came quite a long way" she told
me, Ito make you say that, but after
all you have done it very nicely"
"But," 1 amitted after a long pause,
II don't yet UNDERSTANDINGS that it
matters now-but why? That word
is beating at my brain-why in the
names of all the gods should you
care?"
"Why shouldn't II" she Indignantly
countered.
"You have known me-" I said blank
ly, "a few days-and I should have
imagined that I made a sorry impress
sion."
She laughed again.
II have known you always" she re.
piled. II shook my head wondering
ly.
Listen" she commanded. "Once
upon a time-that's the way all fairy
stories start saw you. You didn't
see me, because you were rather busy,
trying to work a football through the
Yale line-and the Yale line was OBJ
jcting. II you had seen me you
wouldn't have looked twice. 1 was
just a kid, but l fell in love with you
that day. To be exact, It was ten
years ago this month"
There was no end to wonders. All
the loose threads of coincidence were
being plated into a single cable. and
the cable was my lifeline.
"As I grew up I met a lot of men.
and they insisted on saying nice
things to me-but they were all things
of one kind and that wasn't the kind
1 wanted. Besides, you see, I was
waiting. l knew that some day you
would come, and that if you had any
thing to say it would be different.