Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1920-12-04
The Palace
of Darkened
Windows

| where Moses was found and the IN
! dentures in the stones In the crypt
/ of the Coptic Church where Saint
| Joseph and Mary sat to rest after
the flight into Egypt?" laughed the
Captain. And, with u teasing smile.
"Ah what imteciles they think you
| tourists"
But Arlee merely laughed with
him. while the, old woman changed
the plates for dessert. Her spirits had
frightened mercurially This was
really interesting. :. Uneasiness
had vanished.
rs that an cid Mameluke throne?''
she asked, pointing to the raised
chair upon the dais, with it's heavy,
dusty draperies.
The Captain glanced /, ut 1t and
shook his head, smiling family. mo,
that is the throne OF marriage" He
pushed away his sweet and lighted
a cigaret. "That is where sits the
bride when she has been brought TO
the home OF her husband--there she
holds her reception Those are the
fetes to which the English ladies
come in such curiosity" His smile
was not quite pleasant.
'You cannot blame them for feel
ing real--int,.rest," said Arlee hesi-
family.
Their interest-pah!" he flung
back excitably and made violent
gesture with his cigaret. They peer
at the bride with their haggnrd eyes,
/ and they say, What! You have not
seen your husband TIL to-day. How
strange-how strange. Has he : not
written to you? Suppose you do not
hike him., and they laugh and add
/ Fancy girl among us being mar
i ried like that! The imbeciles--
whose own marriages are abomina-
tions!"
/ For moment Arlee was silent, in
stinct and impulse warning within
her. The man was maniac upon
those subjects, ard Il was madness
I to exchange o. word with him-but
Iher young anger darted thru her dis
erection.
i They are not nominations" she
4 gave back proudly.
"But L know-I lsnow--haye l not
been at marriages in England ?" he
/ declared. with startling fierceness
l"Men and women crowd about the
bride; they press III line and kiss
her: bearded mouths and shaven lips,
young and old, they brush off that
exquisite bloom Of innocense which q
husband delights to discover. Her
lips are soiled, fance ~. And then
] the man and woman go away togeth-
| an II, 4
| the people laugh and shout after
them. and huii shoes and rice, with
a great dim of noise. have heard!
He stopped, locked moment at the
| flushed curve of Arlee's averted face,
j the droop of her shadowy lashes
! which yelled the confusion and anger
OF her spirit, and then, leaning for
! ward, his eyes still upon her, he
spoke in a lower, softer tone, caress-
ing in it's infections.
with tbs 1t is not so.'' he said. ''We
have dignity in our rejoicing, and
delicacy in orr love. The bride is
brought in state to the home of her
husband, no eyes in the street rest
ing upon her. and there, in his home,
her husband welcomes her and re-
tires with his friends, while she holds
a reception with hers. Later the
husband will come and greet her,
and he wooes her to him as tender
| ly as he would gather flower that
he would wear. He is no rude mas
ter, no tryant, as you have been
and mind to nim; it is the conquest
| of the spirit !. tell you that our
| men alone understand the secret OF
women! Is not the life he gives her
better than what you call the world?
! The woman blooms like flower for
| her husband alone; his eyes only
may dwell upon the beauty Of her
| face; for him alone, her lips--her
| lips
The young mans voice, grown
| husky, died away. A dreadful still
ness followed, a stiffness vibrating
with unspoken thought. Her eyes
lifted toward him, then fled away, so
full of strange, dark, DESTROYS things
was the look she encountered.
Abruptly he rose-he was coming to-
| ward her, and she struggled sudden
ly to her feet, battling against the
| cold terror which held her dumb and
unready. She flung one arm out be-
| fore her and found it grasped by
hands that were hot and burning.
The touch shot her with fierce rage
| that cleared her brain and unlocked
! her lips.
rs that-the conquest of the spir-
| it?" she gasped and for an instant
the white-hot scorn in her eyes,
| flashing into his, hid any hint of the
| fear in her.
Involuntary his grasp relaxed,
and violently she wrenched her arm
away and stood facing him, a little
| Whitehead image of war, her eyes
| blazing. her breast heaving, de-
| fiant child in her intrepidity who
| gave him back look for look.
| In his eyes, there glowed and bat
tied conflict of desires. For one
| moment they seemed flaming at her
from the dark, like some wild crea-
| ture ready to spring; the next mo-
ment they We're human, recognizable
She read there grudging admiration,
arrested ardor, irresolution, dubiety,
| and secret calculation.
Then he put both hands behind
him and bowed with ceremony.
THE spirit" he remarked dryly,
is worth the conquest"
She said proudly, You would not
| like your English friends to know
how you treat a guest!'
At that she saw his lip curl in
irony-at the mention of the English
perhaps, or in disdain at the appear
| ance of fearing &. threat, however
powerful that threat might be He
answered with calnncSS "I. 10 pot