Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1919-06-16

THE TWICE AMERICAN
b. Elaswor III. Istysm AxtAor Of 'F,snr the Car Behind



-.
She had taken of her gloves at the
table, so her small hand lay palm to
palm with his. From that contact
strange currents seemed to flow be-
tween them, until the mar could '
property. A slow, profound excite
ment began to beat through Noel like
a pulse.
This sirl-what IL she were a COM
promise offered by chance? Since her
mere likeness to Constance Bruce
could stir him SO. what If ne yielded
to that old weakness which it SEEM
ed he could not shake of? Better.
perhaps, to satisfy his eyes with the
substitute, rather than take home
some random princess who was q
stranger both to his gaze and heart.
All his life he had labored. What
II henceforth he laid down ambition
and drifted without purpose as this
dangerous waltz music eddied and
swing in lazy measures?
The music stopped. Bewildered,
David Noel jerked his mind out OF
fancy into fact, ana led the girl back
to their table. The olapping hands,
the curious stares, the chances ad-
miring or Jealous. were no to
him than q background for the cen.
tral ngure of his companion.
The girl was looking at him across
the table. her face vivid, even dazz-
ling, in its bright triumph and delight.
her futtering breath. Her curls EVIL
denced their genuineness by crisping
into still closer tendrils Of shining
bronze about her smooth-boyish fore
head and little ears. not dropping in
the hot, damp atmosphere. as did the
coiffures Of many Of the other WON
en-.
1--WE have won?" she questioned.
"Oh, surely we have won?"
You have" Noel replied.
II may have the doll?"
II should think there could be no
doubt of that
She sighed c%ontentedly, and ad-
dressed herself to the chocolate par
fait before her.
Noel watched the appetite, with
which she finished the sweet, half
melted during their dance. What
should he Say to her? How pleasant
a thing it would be to awake that
fresh candid enjoyment Of hers with
more durable sensations than orange
juice and ice cream! Frocks, for ex-
ample, Oh. he certainly was CLAM
CURED out Of al common sense; a man
beside himself!
Noel clenched his hand on the nap
kin across his knee. Because he dis
trusted his Owl folly, he did not
speak at all.
Yet. when he was silent. that mex
plicable excitement surged up again,
shaking him as a strong wind shakes
q structure which 1t cannot over
throw. 1t vas as If some opportunity,
mufrled from his recognition, were
his understanding.
"You sdid"-the girls voice slipped
into his reverie-"that a princess
lived in that house. twas abroad,
then? In Europe?" =
mo" he slowly replied. How she
returned to that subject! IT said
that it was built for a princess. She
w lived in it."
"She will?"
""She will?"
"Never. Some other woman may
And look across from the noun
tains to the sea, and go through the
gate Of the little shoes, and walk in
the deep garden? OH, But you are
spelling the play when YOU say 50.
You told it to me as q play, didn't
you? l mean, al a play at a theater
is, just to amuse
He checked the answer that rushed
to his lips.
You know all about theaters, I
suppose" he forced himself to re-
mari casually. "Of course, you are a
professional dancer-on the stage, I
mean. Your beautiful skill-'
No" she denied. "No, I am not"
David Noel experienced a sharp
shock of disillusion; a revulsion that
overturned his heart and scattered all
the winged impulses and desires that
had.~Aown there to nest since the
morning when this girl had faced him
in the street. For she spoke a lie!
He knew that only tireless, hour
ly practice, day after day. could have
produced that grace Of hers; that ex-
masked in apparent fragility; that
trained, unconscious posing OF even
each slender finger in action or in re-
pose 1t was as absurd to deny that
as to assert that some Italian garden
of ~fastidious cultivation had grown
up out of a wilderness alone and UNI
aided, producing Of itself the contrast
Of snowy sun-dial against clipped
turf, or the upleap of fountains in the
sun. She was a dancer, and she had
lied!
why?,
He was saved the embarrassment of
finding speech by the approach Of
Deltatlle with the doll, amid an ap-
proving murmur from those who
watched. No one wondered at the
award. or desired further contest: the
superiority of this couple had been
too obvious, too far beyond rivalry.
Miss Arlof turned in her chair to
meet the manager, and held out both
hands for the doll with such an inno-
cent face of eagerness that the de-
tempest of hand-clapping.
Thank you so very much!" she
said to the smiling Deltaille. 1T Is q
lovely doll, and / am very glad"
Against his will, Noel noted again
her natural se~lf-possession, at once SO
modest and so high bred. She settled
the doll in the curve Of her arm with
the simplicity of a little girl at play.
But the charm was broken. why
had she fung into their idyl the shat
tering mischief of a lie?
Well, it was done, and done in time.
He stood committed to nothing. TO-
morrow he would ask the girl on
Long Island to marry him. He met
Miss Arloff's glance, when it return
ed to him. without a flicker Of e
preston in his\gray eyes. His rath-
or hard face raj locked in GOODNESS
as a winter lake.
While he wondered sullenly how he
was to end a situation suddenly
grown distasteful, to him, the girl
f~orestalled his intention.
We may go now" she questioned.
II shall be able to thank you
enough, but I shall always remem-
Der how kind you have been-always!
rAn1AY her fhfngs YNa ~ ne1I