San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-12-06

engeS.
A sudden sprinkle of chill.
water wetted her forehead, sending
a shudder through her. No, thi!
was not heaven. She sat w
as quickly as she could, discovering
an arras-hung chamber, four
post bed (Which held her), and two
girls looking at her rs if they were
afraid that she might bite them
They were Anne and Margaret.
"Who put that water on me?'
asked Sidonia rather rharply. 1t il
not pleasant to be reused from 9
dream of heaven by a cold shock.
Eve had to bring you out of
Your faint" explained Anne, STAN
mering.
Sidonia looked at her without
comprt hension.
"Will you please get up now and
dress? The Countess is waiting
for you" Margaret was even more
nervous than Anne. When the
girl, sitting up in the bed-which
was her bed and Anne's-turned
her shadowy eyes upon her, she ey-
perienced queer, panicky feeling.
They were unlike any eyes her own
had previously encountered. Their
big-pupilled gloom was luminous ;
they had a fearless animal poig-
nancy they seemed to look
straight through her. Margaret's
courage f.uttered in her throat; if
she had come face to face with
Beelzebub she would probably have
dropped him a curtsey first and
screamed afterward.
"The Countess? What are
you talking about? Where am II"
said Sidonia.
Anne and Margaret looked at
her, both at loss.
"You-you tainted at the Coun-
tess feet just as she was coming
out of church," said Anne diff
IDENTIFY. "And she she had you
brought here. She wal is to talk
with you"
1t is scarcely possible to tell a
witch-girl that she has been adopt
ed for the purpose of conversion.
To say the least, it is impolite, and
might even be dangerous.
Sidonia wrinkled her brows. She
remembered now. Why should
the Countess-the wife of the Holy
Count-have interested herself in
her? The answer came like
a flash of incandescence-it was
perdition's work that had taken her
under its dark wings of power.
Some obscure and unthwartable
plan was being carried out, and she
was at the heart of it-moved here
or there, like a white chess piece
over sable board. Pride rushed
back into her, and elation. All
was well. She felt confident,
and the strange glow in her was
next door to actual happiness.
81 will get dressed" she said,
and she did not show any surprise
now.
They laid out for her a shift of
fine linen, a dark-blIe gown with
hanging sleeves, silk hose with
pretty buckled garters, and mar
row, pointed blue and silver shoes
of strong, soft stuff.
Sidonia concealed her excite
ment, but with difficulty. This
was heaven, indeed, She had never
in her life worn hose or possessed
garters, and the dress fitted her
like clinging sheath. Enscab-
barded in this demure yet reveal
ing fashion, her body seemed sup
pie as a serpent.
Nothing further was uttered in
the bed-chamber of Anne and Mar
garet. The silence was peculiar
even unearthly. Sidonia was alb
sorbed-held in a sort of rapture
by the caress of the clean linen,
the fit and cling of the dress, the
pressure of the carriers, and her
certainty of Satanic favor and
guidance.
The other two girls were en-
barrassed-in a sense, overawed.
Lame Lisa's daughter had brought
with her 4 breath of wildness, of
nameless alien things. The I'M
known clave to her, close. as her
own olive skin. Still, with
out anything said on either side, a
door was opened for her, and she
went through it into the chamber
of the Countess Sabine.
Light entered through two lancet
windows. The floor was rush
strewn, but a strip of carpet was
laid down before the carved chair
on which the Countess sat. The
canopied bed bulked large and
shrine-like; one felt that it should
be an altar for reverent and elabo-
rate rites.
A book of devotion lay in Sa-
bine's lap. She was looking plac-
idly straight before her, her face
a. smooth as a damsel's of four
teen, her small, pulpy mouth rather
prim in its set, and delicately col
Ored like a fruit.
SidOnia came a little way for
ward and paused. The room was
beyond her dreams.
Here, also, the kennel-like at
held a certain greatful
degree of warmth.
''Sit down by me, child" said 7
the Countess Sabine, pleasantly.
without speaking. Sidonia trod
tho miraculoux carnpt that fol. /