The Denver Jewish news., 1924-07-03
Ashes S

expression of face and wrote careless
ly: "Dear Sarah: 1t is not my nature
to disappoint people, but / found it
impossible to see you last Thursday,
and fear my interest is waning fast.
l now write more to clear my con-
science than anything else"
Here he dropped his pen and re-
mained in sort of pensive and mus
ing way for long while. Yes, he
was really losing interest, and, it
seemed to him, he could not even be
angry with her. The whole affair was
beginning to assume a comical aspect
in his eyes, and he smiled strangely
at it, enjoying the sickly satisfaction
one experiences when scratching an
itching wound. He mused, and medi-
tated, and reflected. So she really dis
appointed him cruelty! Not single
remarkable trait about her that he so
longed to see in her. His imagination
was beginning to fail him; his quixotic
temperament was no longer of any
avail to him. In the face of cold,
actual facts, the halo of romanticism
in which he had enveloped her was
now disappearing as clouds are some
times scattered before the wind.
"What a pity! What a pity!" he
uttered in scarcely audible voice.
He strained himself to visualize her
in the way he liked her so well. He
succeeded but for moment. As the
beautiful image vanished before Al
berts eyes, being displaced by an ugly
one, he stretched his arms as though
he wished to hold back something. But
what he wished to hold was hopeless
ly gone, and what he most abhored re-
mained in all its unsightliness to tor
ture him with its presence. He felt
the sweat appearing on his brow and
wiped 1t with his hand.
Albert mused some more in the same
trance-like mood. Is it possible, good
heavens! not a single admirable trait
of character that he imagined about
her could be substantiated by real
facts! She was in no way different
from the most vulgar of girls. The
same misrepresentation of her true
age; the same falling for title; the
same overdeveloped sense of vanity to
point of absurdity; the same petty
and brutishly- y-commercial spirit. In
addition to all this she possessed a
most repulsive cynicism. Her only
strength lay in the weakness of her
opponent. Yes, Opponent" is the right
word, as man is for her created mere
ly to make war upon. But how about
her adroitness in the intricate art of
lying, intrigue, and deception? Her
masterful display of her womanly
charms in order to captivate, and her
going to the extreme in this respect?
Yes, all these were interesting traits
of their kind, but they lost their
charm in view of the wretched and
despicable end they were promoted
for. Albert thought he ought to feel
proud and fattered over the depth of
intrigue she had carried on in regards
to him. She had succeeded fairly well
in making him fall for her, but how
did she take advantage of it? Indeed,
in a most unbecoming way. Woman
has always been the inspiration of
man, and has always been able to
make him attempt the most impos-
sible things. He felt that if Sarah
Cher name) had told him to attempt
getting the moon, he would not have
hesitated for moment in spite of his
of the impossibility of
the feat. But no, she bartered the
noble feeling of true love for the vul-
gar pleasure of braggadocio. How
painful!
He recollected their first meeting.
She was then bed-ridden, afflicted with
although her outward
did not betray any such
They met on a purely bus
ness matter. She made no impression
IN him at all. She, too, showed no
special interest until she learned from
l casual remark of his that he was
attending university. The informa-
ion acted like magic upon her. |
When they met again, she was attired
so as to look her best. He especially
her blue band on the fore
read. She was sitting up. There was
30 much eagerness in her eyes to
please, so m sh NANTES tation of a
genuine desire to be liked that almost
inconsciously he smiled on her pleas |
lntly, She opened a learned conver-
,ation, touching on Nietzsche's phi
osophy of which she knew nothing.
She thought learned conversation
vas suitable to the occasion. Her sit
ing posture, her special attire, and
he lengthy discussions proved little
90 much for her i'll health, much more