davidaulloa/AmericanStories huggingface dataset:
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-24

both herself and him. she had
suddenly decided. while he was
effecting an entrance to her house.
to invite him into the library
and take advantage Of this break
in the monotonous life she had
decreed should be her portion
while she remained in New York.
A Gentleman.
She had found him more per-
scnalIy attractive than she had
expected. Judge Trent, whom
she had deity drawn out, had
told her that he was a young
nan of whom. according to Din
widdie, great things were expected
in the literary world; his news
paper career, brilliant as it was,
being regarded merely as a phase
in his progress: he had not yet
.'found himself After that she
read his column attentively.
But she had not been pre-
pared for powerful and sympa-
thetic personality. that curious
mixture Of naivete and hard
sophistication, and she had
ascribed her interest in him to
curiosity in exploring what to
her was a completely foreign
type. In her own naivete it
had never occurred to-her that
men outside her class were gentle
men as she understood the
term. and she still supposed Cla-
vering to be exceptional owing
to his birth and breeding. 1t
had given her a distinct satfsfac-
ton. the night of the dinner,
to observe that he lost nothing
by contact with men who were
individually of her own world.
There was no snobbery in her
attitude. She had always been
too secure IN her own exalted
state for snobbery, too protected
from climbers to conceive the
II will maintain impulse, and
she had escaped at birth that
overpowering sense Of superiority
that carks the souls of high and
low alike. But 1t was the first
time she had ever had the oppor-
tunity to Judge by any standards
but those in which she had been
born and passed her life. AS for
Clavering, he was q gentleman,
and that was the end of that
phase of the matter as FAR as she
was concerned.
1t was only tonight that she had
been conscious Of q certain youth
full eagerness as she paced up and
down the hall waiting to hear him
run up the steps. She had paused
once and laughed at herself as she
realized that she was acting like
girl expecting her lover, when
she was merely a cold1y-no long
er even bitterly -disil1usioned wo-
man, bored with this enforced in
action in New York, welcoming a
little adventure to distract her
mind from its brooding on the mis-
cry she had left behind her in
Europe, and on the future to
which she had committed herself.
And a midnight adventure! She
had shrugged her shoulders and
laughed again as she had admit
ted him.
But she felt no disposition to
laugh as she sat alone in the chill
ing room. She was both angry
and appalled, to remember that
she had felt quivering, almost
a distension of her nerves as she
had sat there with him in the ST.
lence and solitude of the night.
That she had felt a warm pleas
ure in the interest that betrayed
him into positive impertinence,
and that sick terror had shaken
her when she saw that he was
making up his mind not to see
her again. She had not betraye
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-24

an atmosphere is more battling
than subtlety and guile--that is
the reason your American girl il
never understood by foreign men
where naturalness is despised as
gauche and art commands homage
where, in short, the game is every.
thing--the game of chess, with
men and women as kings, queens
pawns There you have the whole
explanation of my apparent riddle.
You have never met anyone like
me before"
There are a good many women
of your class here now
"Yes, with avowed objects. is it
not? And they do not happen o
possess the combination of qualities
that commands your interest"
''That is true enough. Perhaps
your explanation is the real ono.
There is certainly something in If.
Well, I'll go now. have kept YOU
eup long enough"
He was about to raise her hand
to his lips when she surprised him
by shaking his warmly.
IT must gettover that habit. +.
is rather absurd in this country.
where you have not the custom.
But you will come again?''
ooh, yes, I'll come again.
Madame zattiany adjusted the
chain on the front door and re.
turned very slowly to the library.
That broad, placid brow, not the
least of her physical charms, was
drawn in a puzzled frown. Instead
of turning out the lights she sat
down and stared into the dying
fire. Suddenly she began to laugh,
laugh of intense and ironic
amusement, but it stopped in mid
course and her eyes expanded with
an expression of CONSERVATION. al.
most of panic.
She was not alarmed for the
peace of mind of the man who was
more in love with her than he had
SO far admitted to himself She
had been loved by too many men
and had regarded their heart.
aches and baked desires with too
profound an indifference to worry
over the possible harm she might
be inflicting upon the brilliant and
ambitious young man who had pre-
cipitated himself into her life.
That might come later, but not at
this moment when she was shaken
and appalled,,
She had dismissed from her miad
long ago the hope or the desire
that she could ever again feel any
thing but a keen mental response
to the most provocative of men.
No woman had ever lived who was
more completely disillusioned, more
satiated, more scornful of the age
old dream of human happiness,
which, stripped to it's bones, was
merely the blind instinct of the
race to survive. Civilization had
heaped it's nctions over the bare
fact Of natures original purpose,
imagination lashing generic sexual
impulse to impossible demands for
the consummate union of mind and
soul and body Mutuality! When
man was essentially polygamous
and woman essentially the vehicle
of the race. When the individual
soul had been decreed by the en-
Uttered gods eternally to dwell
alone and never yet had been trick
ed beyond the moment of nervous
exaltation into the belief that it
had fused into it's mate. Life
itself was futile enough, but
that dream of the--perfect love
between two beings immemorially
paired was the most futile and
ravaging of all the dreams civil
lfzation had imposed upon man.
kind. The curse of imagination.
Only the savages and the ig-
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-24

norant masses understood Glove
for the. transitory functional
thing it was and were undis-
turbed by spiritual unrest !. by
dreams mad lodgings.
No one had ever surrendered
to the illusion more completely
than she. No one had ever hunt.
ed with a more passionate de-
termination for that correlative
soul that would submerge, exalt,
and complete her own aspiring
soul. And what had she found?
Men. Merely men. Safety or
disaster. WEAKNESS and disgust.
She had not an illusion left. She
had put all that behind her long
since.
Immune.
1t seemed to her as she sat
there staring into the last flicker
ings of the charred log that It
had, been countless years since
any man had had the power to
send a thrill along her nerves, to
stir even the ghost of those old
fierce desires. No woman had
: ever had more cause to feel
immune. Too contemptuous OF
life and the spurious illusions man
had created for himself, while
destroying the even balance be-
tween matter and mind, even to
be rebellious, she had felt pro-
found gratitude for her complete
freedom from the thrall of sex
when she had realized that with
her gifts Of mind and fortune
she. still had a work to- do in
the world that would resign her
to the supreme boredom of liv.
ing. During the war man had
been but a broken thing to be
mended or eased out of life; and
she knew that there was no bet
ter nurse in. Europe; it had al
ways been her pride to do nothing
by halves; and before that she
had come to look upon men with
certain passive liberation when
their minds were responsive to
her own. Whatever sex charm
they possessed might better have
been wasted on the Venus in the
Louvre.
And tonight she had realized
that this young man. so unlike
any she had ever known in her
European experience. had been
more or less in her thoughts
since the night he had followed
Z her out of the theater and stood
covertly observing her as she
waited for her car. She had
been conscious during subsequent
nights at the play of his power
full gaze as he sat watching for
turn of the head that would
give him a glimpse of something
more than the back of her neck;
or as she had passed him on her
way to her seat. She had been
even more acutely conscious of
him as he left his own seat
while the lights were still down
and followed her up the aisle.
But she had felt merely amuse-
ment at the time. possibly thrill
of gratified vanity, accustomed as
she was to admiration and hon.
age.
But on the night when he had
fastened up to her in the deserted
straSt and offered his assistance,
standing with his hat in his hand
and looking at her with a boyish
and diffident gallantry in amusing
contrast with his stern and cynf-
cal countenance, and she had
realized that he had impulsively
followed her, something had
STIRRED within her that she had
attributed to a superficial recru-
descence OF her old love of ad-
venture, of. her keen desire for
novelty at any cost. Amused at
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-24

haven't an idea why / suspect
you, and it is possible that you
are what you say you are. Ger
tainly you are far too clever not
to have an alibi it would be diff
ficuIt to puncture. But sensed
something that first night
something beyond the fact that
Won were a European and did a
curious thing-which, however,
understood Immediately 1t
was something more l don't
think can put it into words
you were there, and yet you
were not there sonebooy
else seemed to be looking out of
your eyes :. +. even when Dln-
widdie thought he had explained
the matter
"You mean when he assumed
that was the illegitimate daugh-
ter of Mary Zattiany. Poor Mary!
She always wanted daughter
that is, when her own youth
was over. That is the reason
she was so fond of me. Do you
think 1 am Mary's bastard?'
st did don't now -.
don't know what to think
1 have never lost that first i'm
pression-wholly."
She stirred slightly. Was it a
movement of uneasiness? He was
horribly embarrassed. but de.
termined to hold his ground, and
he kept his eyes on her face,
which retained its expression of
hooking amusement.
"But you think I am an ad-
ventures of some sort"
1.-THE word does not apply 70
you. There is no question that
you are great lady"
.Of course I might be an act
ress,'' she sad cody. II may
have been on the stage in Vienna
when the war broke out, become
accidentally associated with
Countess Zattiany. won her cotl-
fidence, owing to the extraordin-
airy resemblance-our blood may
have met and rningled in Gro
Magnon days-stolen her papers,
led her TO talk of her youth-of
course every one knew Countess
Zattiany's record in European
society-forged her power Of at
torney with the aid of an infat-
uated clerk. poisoned her-and
here / ann
He laughed. Bully plot for
the movies. That is a new angle
as, they say. hadn't thought of
it. And a good actress can put
over anything. I once heard q
movie queen, who was the best
young aristocrat. in looks and
manner, | ever saw on the
screen. say to her directorTre-
peating a telephone conversation
- says and he says and then ]
seen he hadn't heard me-
Romantic Youth.
For the first time since he had
know her she threw back her
head and laughed heartily. Even
her eyes looked young and her
laugh was musical and thrilling.
Then she demanded: And do
you think 1 am an acrress-who
got an education somehow"
81 think you are AN actress,
but not that sort. Your imagi-
native flight leaves me- cold"
Perhaps you think / had
Mays personality transferred and
that it exists side by side with
my own here in this accidental
shell. There are great scientists
in Vienna"
"Ah," He looked at her sharp
~. Button, button-I feel a
sensation of warmth somewhere"
She laughed again, but her
eyes contracted and almost closed.
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-24

herself for . moment. she was too
old hand in the game Of men
and women for that. and she had
let him go without a sign, secure
in the confidence that he was at
her beck; but she knew now, and
her hands cIenched and her face
distorted as she admitted it, that
If he had suddenly snatched her
in his arms she would have famed
into passion and felt herself the
incarnation of youth and love.
Incredible. UnthinkabIe. She!
What should she do? Flee? She
had come to New York for one
purpose only, to settle her finan.
cial affairs in the briefest pos
sible time and return to the coun-
try where her work lay. But she
had been detained beyond expectar
ton, for the slow reorganization
Of one of the companies in which
a large portion OF her fortune was
invested would not be complete
without her final signature. There
were other important transfers to
be made, and moreover Judge
Trent had insisted that she be-
come thoroughly acquainted with
her business affairs and able to
maintain an intelligent correspond
ence with her trustees when he
himself had retired. She had
shown remarkable aptitude for
finance and he was merciless in
his insistence. demanding an hour
OF her time every day.
A HATED WORD.
Business. She hated the word.
What did it matter. But she
knew that it did matter, and su-
premely. She might have the beau
ty, the brains. and the sex DONNA.
ton to win men to her way of
thinking when she launched her.
self into the maelstrom of politics,
but she was well aware that her
large fortune would be half the
battle. It furnished the halo and
the sinews, and it gave her the
power to buy men who could not
be persuaded. She had vowed that
Austria should be saved at any
cost.
No, she could not go now. she
must remain for another month
two months, possibly. She was
no longer in that undiscipIined
stage of youth when flight from
danger seems the only solution. To
wreck the lives Of others in or
der to secure her own peace OF
mind would make her both ridicu-
luos and contemplate in her own
eyes, and she had yet to despise
herself. She would stick it out,
see it through to quote the
vernacular of these curious Amer
lean novels she had been reading;
trusting that she had, merely been
suffering from a furry Of the
senses not so remarkable
But her mind drifted back to
the past month. Senses? And IL
it were not that alone, but merely
the inevitable accompaniment Of
far stranger processes If It
were that she had once so long
sought and with such disastrous
results She had believed for
SO many years that it existed
somewhere, in some man !. that
it was every woman's right
even if it could not last for ever.
But while it lasted! After
all, imagination had its uses. 1t
helped to prolong as well as create.
She sank back and closed
her eyes, succumbing to an in
effable 1anguor.
1t lasted but a moment. She
started up with an exclamation Of
impotence and disgust; and she
shivered from head to foot. The
room was bitterly cold. There were
only ashes on the hearth.
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-24

like an American for one who
left here at the age of two"
Remember that my family was
with me. Moreover, Mary and
1 always talked English together
American if you like. She was
intensely proud of being an
American. We read all the Amer
lean novels, as l cold you. They
are an education in the idiom,
permanent and passing. More
over, was always meeting Amer
leans"
Were you? Well, the greater
number of them must be in New
York at the present moment. No
doubt they would be glad to re,
lieve your loneliness"
Il am not in the least lonely
and / have not the least desire
to see any of them. Only one
thing would induce me - il I
thought it would be possible 10
raise a large amount Of money
for the women and children Of
Austria
'.'Ah! You would take the risk.
then?"
Risk? They were the most
casual acquaintance They prob
ably have forgotten me long since.
I had not left Hungary for :;
Year before the war, and one
rarely meets an American in
Pesth society-two CIR three other
American women had married
Hungarians, but they preferred
Vienna. Moreover, there ore
many zattianys. 1t is an i'm
mense connection
You mean you believe you
would be safe, he caught her
up.
On the Stand.
Mon dieul You make me feel
as if / were on the stand. But
yes, quite safe.
And you really believe that
any one could ever forget your.
I am not as vain as YOU seem
to think.
You have every right to be-.
Suppose suppose that something
should occur to arouse the sus-
picions of the Countess Zattiany's
old friends and they should start
Investigations in Viennna?"
They would rot see her-nor
their eln1ssaries. DIR. Steinach's
sanitarium is inviolate.''
"Steinach - Steinach - where
have heard that pane lately?"
Her eyes flew open, but she
lowered the lids Immediately.
Her voice shook slightly as she
replied: He is a very great
doctor He will keep. poor Mary,s
secret as long as she lives
and nobody in Vienne would doubt
his word. Investigations would be
useless"
"She is there, then? I suppose
you mean that she is dying of an
incurabIa disease or has lost her
mind. But do not imagine that /
care tn pry further into that. I
never had the least idea that you
had-oh, / don't know what to
believe, Won't you ever tell me?"
IT wonder! No, / think not!
No. MOI
There is something, then?"
DO you know why you still
harp on that absurd idea that am
what I am and still am not? Do
you not know what it is-the sim
pie explanation?'
No: I do not
1T is merely that European
women, the women who have been
raised in the intrigues of courts
and the artificialities Of what we
call the world who learn the
technique Of gallantry as soon as
they are lancee. where men make
a definite cult of women and Won-
en- Of men, where sincerity in such
The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1923-11-24

ST fear you are very romantic
young man as well as a very
curious one
81 deserve that. Well, am
curious. But not so curious as
interested.
at hope you are not falling IN
love with me- Her deep voice
had risen to higher register
and was light and gay.
ST am half in love with you.
1 don't know what is going to
happen"
''And you want to protect your
self by disenchantment?"
Perhaps"
land you think it is my duty?"
Possibly I'd fall in love with
you anyway, but I'd like to know
where stand. have a con-
stitutional hatred of mystery out
side of fiction and the drama"
''Ah." She gazed into the fire.
Mr.. Dinwiddie, no doubt, is max
ing Investigations. If he verifies
my story. would you still dis
believer"
81 should know there was some.
thing back of it all.
You must have been a good
reporter"
Zone of the best"
~ suppose it is that"
Partly. l don't think that
If you were not Just what you
are I'd care a hang. Other PEG
pies affairs don't excite me. I've
outgrown mere inquisitiveness.
THAT is rather beside the point,
isn't it? It all comes back to
this-that you are afraid of fall
ing in love with me-
You don't look as if it would
do me any good if / did"
why not let it go at that?''
II think the best thing can
do is to get out altogether
She rose swiftly and came close
to him. oh. no! / am not
going to let you go. You are the
only person on this continent who
interests me. I shall have your
friendship. And you must admit
that / have done nothing
ooh. no. you have done moth.
ing You've only to be-" He won
dered that he felt no desire to
touch her. She looked lovely and
appealing and very young. But
she radiated power, and that chin
could not melt.
He asked abruptly: How many
men have you had in love with
you?"
"Ohr' She spread out her
hands vaguely. How can one
remember And that look re
most disliked. that look of ancienf
wisdom, disillus:oned and con-
temptuous. came into her eyes.
"You are too young to have
had so very many, And the war
took a good slice out of your
life. don't suppose you were
infatuating smashedsup men or
even doctors and surgeons
Certainly not. But, when one
marries young-and one begins %
live early in Europe"
How often have you loved,
yourself?"
THAT question / could answer
specifically, but I shall not"
He calculated rapidly. -Four
years of war. Assuming that you
are thirty-two, although some.
times you look older and some
times younger, ami that you mar
ried at seventeen. that would
leave you--well, eleven years be-
fore the war began. / suppose
you didn't fall in love once a
year,"
"Oh, no, I am a faithful soul.
Say three years and a third to
each attack"
You talk at times singularly
The Washington times., 1923-06-25
GlJNSF|RED
ASLN|l|0R !.
VESSEL
FLEES
Crew OF U. s. S. Seminole
Seizes Whiskey Valued
at $751; 600.
a Yuternationnai NeWS goies.


NEW YORK, June 25.-LaYing
three shots from her three-pound
guns across the bow Of the Mary
E. Gully, 110-foot former sub
marine chaser, the United States
Coast Guard Seminole early today
captured the rum runner after a
ten-mile chase off the New Jer-
sey shore.
Big Whiskey Seizure.
The Seminole, 1t was reported at
the United States customs office.
was bringing her prize to port. The
Mary E. Gully has 1,500 cases OF
Scotch whiskey, valued at $155.00O,
aboard, it was stated by revenue
agents.
The former submarine chaser,
manned by a crew OF six men, nad
visited the rum fleet Of thirty ships
lying off the Jersey coast for the
last two weeks.
During the night the boat took
aboard it's cargo, Seminole officers
reported to the barge Office. The
Seminole, drifting in the darkness
watched the operation. -
AS the Mary E. Gully set out for
shore the Seminole took out after
her.
A Thrilling Chase.
The chase was thrilling one.
The rum runner, observing she was
being pursued, put full speed ahead
So did the Seminole. For ten miles
along the Jersey coast the two
ships raced. The Seminole's search.
lights finally found the rum runner:
A blank shot doomed out. The
liquor ship paid no heed.
Fire" came the command OF the
Seminole's captain.
The gunner crew, their three.
FOUNDER loaded, fired. The first
shot cut straight across the rum
runners bow. the projectfles splash
ing in the water a few feet away.
There was no halt. Against the
coast guard fired-the shot came
lower. A third followed.
Then the rum runner captain
ordered his engines reversed and
surrendered.
The capture, revenue officers
said, was one of the heaviest since
the advent of the rum fleet off the
Atlantic highlands.
The ownership Of the speed boat
had not been determined this morn
ing. The boat will be confiscated,
it was announced.
The Washington times., 1923-06-25
Text of Harding
Prollibiiorl
Speech.

My Countryner--Tt has been
said that "Of the making OF books
there is no end" Quite as truth
fully it. might be paraphrased,
"Of the making of laws there Is
no end" We americans undoubt-
eddy hold all records for the max
ing of multiplicity Of laws, State
and national. II we were as assid-
uous about obeying and enforc.
ing obedience to them as we are
in demanding and enacting them,
there would be no particular occa.
sion for me to address you today
on the general subject of law en-
forcement. We all recognize that
to secure effective administration
of the laws, to establish in the
public mind an attitude Of willing
is the most impressive mark of a
civilized community.
Laws, Of course, represent re-
strictiens upon indifidual liberty
and in these very restrictions make
liberty more secure. The individ-
ual surrenders something of his
privilege to do as he pleases for
the common good, and so organ
lied society is possible. 1t is sue
cessful just about in proportion as
laws are wise, as they represent
deliberate and intelligent public
opinion, and rs they are obeyed.
Civilization had to travel a long
way before it came to be COM
monty accepted that even an un-
wise law ought to be enforced in
orderly fashion. because such. en-
forcement would insure it's repeal
or modificatio /, also iIp orderly
fashion, if that were found desir-
able.
Critics Denounced.
At this point it is worth while
to raise a voice in protest against
the vast volume of half-baked criti-
cism that is constantly aimed
against Americans on the ground
Continued on Page 9, Column -