San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-11-29

zen lamps. WiRdOlcS and d00rirdyS
are concealed by tapestries. 4 sense
of to0-clOSe tcdHs and sHfOcating
richness.
Perrin is about 81. Lean, dark,
tense. Apparently at sharp odds
cith his nerUes. His cite, Nora, Is
a dainty blonde.
Both icedr tropical apparel. They
are engrOSsed in eTamining their
surroundings.
DERIN (Dith deep dpology)-It
lis a barbarous thing to bring
you here-and on our honey
moon! But want you to know
the dark places of my life as well
as the brighter kind. (Wuh a
grOdn.) What blind daring 1t was
on your part to marry me-a
ship-bOard acquaintance - know
ing nothing of my character or
of my past
NORA fWifh smile)-Not blind
daring. Blind LOVE.
PERM fenderIy)-The only kind
worth having. But | want to
show you the skeleton in my
closet-in case certain ugly ru-
mOrs ever happen to crop up.
morals the association of this
place so very serious!
(Perin PAGES the floor and stops
SuddeaIy.)
PERIN-Nora. my girl Four
years ago I married a woman of
considerable wealth - Countess
Ladizyl. She died suddenly. That
much | have already told you.
The fragment of information that
carefully withheld from you
was this-her death was caused
by mysterious poison. 1t was
case of suicide-Or murder. bit
terly) For a time it looked as
though charge would be brought
against me. Servants had over
heard our frequent quarrels-
NORA fUith horror and pity)-
Hugh,
PERIN-The mystery has never
been cleared up. The law dropped
investigation eventually. But /
have been forced to keep to the
outposts. (With a gesture of SUI
feringJ have been unable to
bring the murderer to justice-if
murderer there was, And at in
tervals the intOlerable thought
that Felika committed suicide
and /, by my indifference to her
love. had been the cause of it!
That self-accusation is torturing
my brain!
NORA fdistreSSed) - But there
MIST be way to prove your in
nocence, You can't live under a
shadow. There MUST be a solu-
ton! A clue.
Perrin ficretchedly)-I have never
found it. 1t was i'm this
room sie died. found her here
one morning-in that armchair
beside the table. Her Jewels were
spread on a velvet pad Her eyes
were open. Her heart had stopped
beating. The theory of
death due to heart failure WAS not
accepted by the authorities be-
cause the pupils of her eyes were
greatly dilated. And there were
other indications of-poison. For
instance. the swelling of the
tongue. But how this poison was
administered and its precise ma.
ture, is not known.
NORA And - there was nothing
more!
PERIN-NOt mark upon her flesh.
Apparently she had been quietly
examining her jewels. They were
in neat order-not one missing.
, She priced them extraordinarily
because they were heirloonls. Her
ancestors had buried them be-
meath the roots of trees and saved
them during the invasion of the
Turks. My first errand in Europe
was to restore these jewels to the
Ladizyl family in Hungary.
NORA iedrnestly)-But you owe
her more than that, You must
find out how she died. What were
her ways? What was she like?
PERlN-A dark, fragile. little
thing-with the ways of a Wild
tot. always SuSpcCttu StTdlH
of gypsy. But to offset this gypsy
blood was a constructive brain.
She took hold of this land when
it was an uncharted swamp, and.
in the face of all my scoffing, set
gang of half-breed Seminoles to
work on it. 1t wasn't long be-
fore the mangrove jungle was
cleared off and dredging ma
chine was pumping clean sand
from the bottom of the bay. An
admirable thing for woman to
do. But-what man loves
woman because of her achieve
ments?
you loved her-not at
all?
PERM HciH a shrug)-As fas-
cinating friend. But that racial
strain demanded more. An Amer.
lean who marries one of foreign
blood, marries stranger.
never got to know her well. Her
feverish intensities. flaming de-
sires, mysterious repressions
] have seen her dance half-nude
upon moOnlit lawn-a pagan
worshipping her gods. She was
part animal and part mystic. And
that is not what the average man
looks for in wife. have no