Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1921-01-21
VI. TIE sTo ana

Dou} anu Sout Seelneu welded into
one taut string vibrating in agonized
response To the fury of the tempest:
she found herself standing far from
the chair in front Of the easel, in
Quivering alright gazing over-Shoul-
der ut the feaureless long rectangle
Of the portrait in thu shadows.
Rain sluiced the Skylight In wind
whipped waves. with crisp. tearing
noise. Thunder rocked the skies,
ripped and raved, rumbled away in
lesSening reyerberationS. Then with
out warning the gloom was abolished
by a CHASTITY lilac glare-and the face
on the canvas started ont Of it's dark
background with an uacanny look Of
life the gay mockery of its smile dis
torted into grinniug malice. She was
fain to switch on the lights to lay that
ghostly leer
Even then she dared not look again.
With head averted. she swung the
easel round so that the painting faced
the wall.
Still she was IN at ease in the com
pany OF the thing. She could not for
get how that cold electric blaze had
seemed to wake the painting into cob
lin life, transient but terrible. The
memory of its jeeriug smile persisted
Like a specterunseen but importunate
at her shoulder, round corner Of
her consciousness, denied but insis-
tent the notion lurked of the work
Of her own hands turned monster. pre-
ternaturaliy inspired with a spirit OF
ia ! animuS
She had a crawling shlyer of super
stitious dread 6ommonsense was
powerless 70 comfort her with its as
suranee that she had merely had one
more hypnotic haIIucination Induced
by auto-suggeStion. Instinct insisted
eommonsense for once was wrong
that there was more In this thun the
human mind, fettered to the claims of
natural laws, could comprehend or
cope with. Surely supernatural forces
were here at work
She str0ve without success to cast
ont chat thought.
Comparing her wrist watch with
memory of the hour marked by the
clock iG' Leonoras refuge. she reck.
oned her lapse from full waking con.
seriousness Tad not lasted longer than
five minutes: in that scant spell her
soul bad journeyed far. tarrled while
in communion with another, and re-
turned with freight of fears, of
doubts and cares that threatened the
stability of her reason; IN those few
moments the work Of week had been
undone- She stood now where she
had been Immediately after the last
preceding dream, poised perllously
near the verge of arrangement, haunt.
ed by shape Of fear no whit less aw-
FIJI If IT were after ali only the crea-
ture Of her imagination.
Within i've hours her other SELF
must 20 TO keep an designation with
murderer. Fancy pictured Leonora
stealing through streets OF sinister
shadow to that rendezvous with fate
inScrutable
But not for Leonora was all this tor
ture Of solicitude Through unhappy
lhao'AieiAANN HhAAAV tifti UtthA AilAIkel IOF
Reds enmity. And where Red hated.
tenure OF life was treacherous
Sow It was revealed to her that.
howeve. inexpG"able the affinity Of
their souls, however ;.isslmilar their
circumstances and irreconclIable their
ways Of thought and standards, In this
respect LeOnora and Priscilla Maine
wee one: liz love with Mario
Acknowledging this incredible fact
without protest. Priscilla told herself
she had loved Mario always, ever since
that time, long past, when he had first
figured IN her life OF dreams.
And contemplating the prospect OF
living through the night 20 come, IN
der whose impenetrable cover Mario
and Le0nora must work out their dark
entangled destinies, while she waited,
powerIesS 10 lelp or hinder, IN an H.
nOrance irremedIable and maddenng,
Priscilla felt a shadow fall athwart
her understanding, as black and cold
as Death