The daily morning oasis., 1920-11-10
The
Dark
Mirror
by
Louis Joseph Vance
Aafhor of"The False Faces
"The Lone Wolf" Etc.
IIlmsfrdtrd BY
IRWIN MYERS
~. AEEINITY.
IIIasfratcd BY
RWIN MYERS
Observation-Disclosures
(Copyright, 1920, oy the Author-i

". AFFINITY.
The girl suffered an iously at first
But nobody knew; or Philip Fosdick
alone suspected something of what she
was going through. He could not
know all. for even TO him she said lit
tie or nothing. and went sweetlP
through her days with a high head
and eyes of lying calm. But he was
sick with sympathy for her and so
In some measure quick with intuition.
He helped her more than she knew,
indeed, for he contrived TO devote to
her more time than a physician had
any right to- with so many patients
leaning heavily on him for comfort.
And though he refused to expert
ment with obvious forms Of hypnotism
such as ,mesmeric gestures and the in
duced trance he worked insidiously
upon her by suggestion. not so much
At the expense of her spiritual inde-
tendence as TO its re-establishment
and invigoration. 1t was never. "YOu
must. for it is my will;" but always
"YOu can if you will''-though far
more subtly.
Thus gradually self-cOnfidence was
built up in her anew, she began TO
perceive the truth. like light dim at
the far end of tunnel that nothing
Mundane transcends the power of the
Informed. self-regulated and applied
Will, that not even the moral ache
of longing can withstand it, SO vague
ly she began to apprehend coming
fine when, instead of flying from her
sorrow, if might be to state more
unhappy yet she would be able TO face
IT, even to OUTAGE it unafraid, IT'S
master ard her own.
However, that was only toward the
end =
Meanwhile she was faithful to her
word, faithfully regulated her life in
accordance with the scheme suggested
!by Fosdck She started a portrait Of
YAda Meyer and worked at it steadily
every morning. and in amazingly few
sittings managed TO make the painted
canvas body forth the impish charm
of that lady her Irresistible gay im-
pudence. This in spite of the fact
that Ada posed poorly and pervaded
the studio with an atmosphere of in
fectious responsibility that was most
IdemoraliZing to seriOuS-minded
artist-and did Priscilla no end of
good. }'-
\ lii the afternoon she labored more
soberly but no less successfully upon
q composition employing two profess
Sional models. a mother and daughter
painting famously we'll with de-
cision new In her work with dash
Ing technique whose secrets she had
hewly surprised and whose manipula-
tion proved an abiding joy.
In between there We're luncheons at
Ayignon, Del's, the !litz. with the
women of her world i'Id others with
professional workers like herself in
dingy, amusing little les of restau
rants with which f. art of Green
wich Village imme ..y adjacent to
her studio was rig Apd after the
light failed there oi'e ifas. motoring
and bridge parl les, dinner, the theater'
dances -
Alike "a work and to play she gave
herself without reserve entering with
unwoi ed animation (though nobody
thought, ii feverishl into whatever d.
version The hour offered. And if at
times there was an undernote of sad
ness in her laughter. shadowed visit
fulness in her eyes. WEAKNESS in her
GESTURE she was the first to notice
and swift to dissembIe. SO that none
remarked any change in her. more
than an access of loveliness and
charm at once elusive and insistent.
and she was more than ever sought
after. impOrtuned, courted, wooed A
dozen conquests were added to her
score in that too brief lull. But she
seemed altogether unaware of them,
save as friends. and moved sedately
among them. adorably pretty. tantaliz-
ingly desirable, exasperatingly de-
tached In those days she liked all
men and loved none none but
Not Philip Fosdick.
With herself she was honest and
unpretending If Mario was never for
her she was for no one else.
She was patient in confidence of uIti-
mate emancipation. Already she had
gained much. The question of her
sanity no longer harassed her More:
she had ceased TO dream of LeonOra.
Or rather. she no longer remembered
merning from u night whose dream
content was blank--if she had dream
ed at ALL She was far from satisfied,
however that She had ceased TO dream.
1t seemed TO her that she had ceased