San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-04-18

| where as If by magic she had drawn
a pair of. castanets, and these began
to snap And click as her hands rose
above her head.
All, she was a beautiful thing
Young. slim, small, graceful as ga
zells, her 1.-THE body bent and swayed,
whirled and dipped and circled, like
flame in the breeze.
Stamp-whirl-be wav-
ing, castanets clicking, she went down
the long room, circled its farther end
and came drifting up along the other
side. Necks were craned, feet drawn
back to give her room, for she was
dancing close. And then, suddenly it
seemed, she was opposite Velantrie
where he stood beside the door.
Out to the center she went as if
she spurned the crowd. then swift as
a winged thing she darted toward
him. threw back her little head.
smiled straight in his eyes and held
out her hands. palms up.
1t was challenge, direct, daring,
pretty.
For one second the man hesitated.
Then he tossed his broad hat to
those behind, sprang forward and
caught those outstretched hands.
Lolo's eyes were liquid light as
she drew him into the clear, snatched
her hands away, tossed them above
her head, and began to dance in earn
est. The stranger, too, began to
dance, and those who watched saw
instantly that the girl had made no
false choice of partners. He placed
hand on his belted him, raised the
other to touch her clicking fingers
now and again. and he, too, swayed
and dipped and circled, though in
lesser fashion, TO give background to
her brilliance, the subtle and perfect
accompaniment to a wonderful per-
Torrance.
Lolo was a rose in the night, wind
in the twilight, a laugh and jest
and a challenge. Velanrie, the
stranger, was young tree in
storm, a cloud hard blown by winds,
and the thunder of his booted heels
rolled under the lightning of the cas-
tanets.
Great snakes! !" said Perly, softly,
"ain't that amazin'?"
He spoke TO nobody in particular,
but the blond boy who stood beside
him cleared his throat as if with an
effort and Val Harmon on the other
side glanced up. The boys face was
pale as milk and his blue eyes were
narrowed to cold points.
Down the room and back again
went the two. Lolo was all about
Velantrie. coaxing, spurning, chal-
longing, and all the while her little
face was full of light that shone for
all to see.
As If by artless chance she drew
the figure gracefully toward the far
side of the floor, directly before the
blond boy, and she was utterly ir-
resistible. Butterflies in the breeze,
stars that glittered, fires at night
she was all of them. and mems
pulses throbbed drunkenly to behold
her.
And then, as the music rose to one
last keening. she fled straight to We
lantrie, sank backward in his reach
ing arm, and held up her flower face
toward him, unmistakable in its in
tent. its invitation.
Half under her spell the man hest
tated fraction of a second. The
perfect action Of the steps and the
music lost its forst beat in that Sec
onds wait. Lolo's face glowed deep
Grand Velantrie bent.
BY" came a choking whisper
as the blond boy. gray as ashes and
cold reached to his hip.
There was aflash of metal, step
forward-and in that second Val
Harmon beside him dropped light
ning-quick hand on his shoulder and
swung him round in action-as she
had so often swung her dad. There
was an oath. shot that went wild,
and landed in Hunnewell's tray on
the Platforms edge across the room,
and Velantrie, arrested halfway to
I4olo's siren lips, looked straight past
the boy and into the blazing black
eyes of the girl who had saved his
life.
For one sharp moment the tension
held
Then Velantrie slowly strait htened
up and Lolo slipped from his arm,
forgotten as she had forgotten. the
blond boy. He stood still, breathing
hard, his blue eyes fastened on Walls
face, frown between them.
From all sides men crowded in.
pushed between and hustled the boy