The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1920-01-08
he TWICE AMERICAN
By LEANoR M. INGRAM

The business of their evening wa
over. She was not afraid or rude
it was simply that they had fin
lshed their affair.
Certainly" Noel stiff,
agreed.
But he was scarcely pleased b,
her calm dismissal of him, afte:
all. lie signalled his waiter, signed
the check when it was brought
and rose, still tongued tied.
Apparently his guest noticed
nothing wrong, She smiled hap
PLY at the attendant who drew
back her chair. Leaning across
the pink lighted table, she lifted {
stalk of gladiolas from the centra.
vase.
AS an echo from the BALL" she
sald lightly, drawing the Howe,
through her belt.
And she denied being an actress
Noel made a caustic mental com
ment. Why had she stopped to
falsehood2 Surely she did not
suppose him so stupidity narrow
minded as to be prejudiced against
her because she was a dancer? He
was neither a puritan nor an in
FAINT.
They made their way out, the
target of many glances. The mus
&c for the next contest was already
commanding noisy fox trot
marked by the crash of brasses
and the beat of a drum. There
was no dangerous enchantment
there, or anywhere, now.
Midnight was bringing little
GOODNESS to the painting city, but
the streets were less Sitting than
the interior of the restaurant had
been. Carrying her doll, the girl
walked silently beside the silent
man, her aerial lightness and
swiftness of step easily keeping
pace with his longer stride. Evi-
IDENTIFY she had perceived at last
that something was wrong. Noel
felt the puzzled scrutiny of her
gaze upon him as they passed be-
meath each street lamp.
lie was not pleased with his
own dumb mood. Why could he
not conclude gracefully a daintily
fantastic adventure? What was it
to him if this girl who fitted
across his path for an evening
chose to speak falsely or truly Of
herself? Surely it should be no
hard task to talk with a pretty
woman while they walked a few
streets in company!
The streets were passed, yet he
continued mute. The girl had
ceased to look toward him. She
carried her little head high, and
there was no meekness in her ST.
lent dignity; but he fancied that
she moved less buoyantly.
David told himself that a gentle,
man would have finished the cpl
sode CALAMITY. He was finishing
it like a gamin of the slums!!
They were in that still, ghostly
street where she lived. And now,
when their separation doomed as a
gate in the act of closing between
this night and all future nights,
Noel was gripped and shaken
anew by that curious and terrible
sense of opportunity lost.
A huge white hand, seemingly
thrust ~arrestingly out Of the dark.
ness before him, made his nerves
leap in almost superstitious recoil
, before he realized that it was only
the sign Of a glove cleaners shop
He wondered if the heat was at.
~fecting him. Then he could have
laughed at the absurdity Of thai
idea as applied to a veteran of the
tropics.
They were Ginning the steps tt
her door, and he had not yet spok
en-. Ii only she had been homes
with him!
On the threshold, the girl facee
him and put out her hand.
II shall never forget your yer,
great goodness" she said, gravely
formal, yet tricked by the soft ca
dences and delicious irregularitie,
of her voice into unsteady witsful
ness. II hope you may always b,
as happy as you are kipdi"
That was all. For an instant b,
saw her face against the shadow
like waterslily floating on a darl
lake. Her eyes, SO hauntingly Iik,
the eyes Of long ago, braved hi
sternly hostile regard. Then sh,
was gone through the dim open
ing. and the thick door had CLOSED
its barrier.
Too late, Noel would have spok
en- but she was gone, and he ha.
not found one word to give her
not even a bald good by
Slowly he turned away to tn,
head Of the steps, and confronted
a man at their foot. Dayit
4 A M V-p ~. ~