Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1930-09-20
A LOVE
TRAGEDY
Continued from Page One

sliken lined cloud made a rift in it
and dropped through, striking the
ground with a. terrific crash.
Opal pounced upon her sister and
there began, between those two man
hating women fight for love.
A fight to the finish. -.
Henry, being a fighter, stood of
and looked on, encouraging the bat
ting amazons, who were also lovers
of clean sports, in their efforts.
The sisters were almost of the
same size and build, and the advant-
age for while, did not seem to be
on either side.
The sheer silken garments which
chung to the exotic beautiful young
bodies, were torn to shreds. Even
the shimmering white negligee was
ruined; and they soon stood un-
yelled, like sculptured figures locked
in a death embrace. There was no
mercy, no evidence of weakening, and
the fight went on and on, to end
soon in a whirlwind finish.
There was one feature about this
physical combat for love, which was,
to say the least, extraordinary. Even
though thoroughly incensed, the
girls made no effort to take adj
vantage of the innumerable oppor-
tunities which presented themselves
to cause serious injury.
But sometimes those things are
done unintentionally. The fighting
amazons eventually cascaded with the
wall, went spinning down this, and
fell, kicking and squirming, knocking
over an antique cabinet; and there
on the deep rug, they finished the
battle for love. ..
Florence won. She succeeded in
choking Opal helpless, but not until
they had permanently Scared each
others faces.
For three weeks swathed in ban
dages, their faces for the most part
hidden, the "man-hating" sisters -
having patched up their differences
sat side by side in wheel chairs
on the front porch of their parents
home.
The vermilion sun swept the skies,
making famboyant the skyline. Pur-
pie shadows of evening fell, gradually
turning to saffron; and the road, like
yellow ribbon, faded like a pastoral
drawing erased. Night birds began
to call and mate. Darkness descend
ed &. And then-the doctor removed
the bandages. :.
For three weeks Henry Northcamp
had been dividing his attention be-
tween the sisters, knowing they both
loved him. However, he promised to
marry neither, nor did he encourage
them. He wanted to see them with
the bandages off.
And he was present that night, of
course, as eager as the girls were.
Then, what happened when the
bandages were removed?
Henry turned round and strobe a
way, seeking to hide his expression
which he was aware denoted his pro-
found disappointment. The uncom-
mon attractiveness of the Ranshaw
sisters had been utterly demolished. E.
Jagged scars bit into the softness
of the velvet skin, scars never to be
obliterated, scars to follow them to
their graves, scars to cause men to
shrug and turn away as Henry North
camp shrugged and turned away now.
Fate had, indeed, been extremely
cruel to these women who had avoid
ed men until Henry came along.
The air was like the perfumed
breath Of an Egyptian princess. Roses,
twining round the pillars of the rus
tic porch seemed to bow their beauti-
full heads in pity. The chirping of
birds, and their carols, rendered an
orchestral accompaniment to the
tragical occurrence being histrioni-
cally presented. ..
Henry, heavy in spirit, walked down
the gravel path lined on either side
with flowers that were bathing in the
orange moonlight. Unbroken still
ness struggled in the wake of Henry's
departure. He had left those girls,
never to go back and they, knowing it,
Continued on Page Seven