The Washington times., 1926-07-19

The thrill was gone, and with
at went the desire to be daring;
all In that one minute. And in
their Mace came q longing she
stroYe to crush, longing bigger
than herself. When she looked
up again to find this stranger 8
eyes still fastened upon her, she
blushed and dropped her eyes
In shame.
Why the Change?
What brought about the change
mile did not know. She was self
conscious for the first time in
al her life. Until now it had
been Just q game, this wearing
skirts too short, gowns cut too
low-blIt now she felt naked.
She wanted to stretch her clothes
and to apologize. Some strange
thing had come over her that
shed new light upon 1t all.
She was afraid this man could
read her love in her eyes-her
brain seemed to fairly shout what
ner lips dared not say. She
UREted him as she had never
wanted anything in her life; as
she had never wanted anyone
else. She wanted to be with him
as boys had wanted to be with
her. She wanted him to love her
rs she loved him, completely
and overwhelmingly. Who and
what he was did not matter.
The party didn't matteri The
world didn't matter! And this
glorious thing had all happened
in one short, burning minute, a
minute when her soul was con-
sumsd in d pure, white flame.
She was his for the asking
and must not let him know! Love
the thing she had laughed
away and sneered at-had over
whelmed her. She knew she was
pale, but the cocktail shaker was
working steadily along and she
gulped down glass of liquid
flame that some one showed at
her. Another moment, under its
stimulus she was herself again
yet not herself; for all through
the evening she kept wondering
at the surge Of passion that
bound her to this quiet stranger
who drank with the rest but
who carried his liquor like a
gentleman.
The party had been great sue.
cess. The young people had been
6nIiistnrbed at the lodge for 1t was
very early in the spr4ng and the
other places along the shore were
unoccupied. The boys had kept
great fires roaring in the open
sifepiaces. Their voices, echoing
hack across the lake, were the only
1ounds that broke the stiffness.
The girls were in the mood
60 give. the boys a thrill, and
skirts didn't bother much, COM
ing Just to their kneecaps. Betty
was the last and her dance was as
wild a combination Of steps as
she could conceive. She even
threw in a few high kicks for
good measure.
Her eyes lost no detail of the
party. She knew that everyone
was having a good time. She
saw Bill West kiss Dolly Moore
in front of everyone and knew
that at least one long, drawn out
match had reached a successful
n IHOhlCAlL ID oilC ga w
George Fraser drawing a lopsided
butterfly on Mary Turner's face,
ard knew they had had enough
to drink. Then, as she stood
poised on one foot in the midst
OF a side step. she looked into
the fascinating black eyes Of
Georges cousin, and everything
else faded out Of the picture. 1t
was as though, she had caught
sight Of two stars at twilight
and darkness had fallen like a
curtain blotting out everything
elsse.
The Stranger
The man was a stranger whom
her cousin George had rung in
at the last moment because they
were short one man. Betty had
paid no particular attention TO
him. except as another guest. but
now Georges words came tum-
bling back and ringing through
her head. Nightly decent.
queer, been all over the world,
wanderer, university degrees, pays
no attention to women Those
were among the things he had
told her while she ratified on
about the supplies Of food and
drink. Then came that burn
ing minute when she knew that