Show 94 A STORY OF AN 44 EVERYDAY LIFE by elizabeth M markus a r k u s 11 continued the waiters started to set the long table the relishes bedded on little chips ot of ice were brought in on exquisite cut glass dishes and the champagne glass next to each plate spoke ot or great expectations the ladies greeted each dish as it if it were an unheard of wonder and after tasting they complimented the men who had bad done the ordering I 1 soon the champagne bubbled in the glasses the ladies relished it like something they had been very thirsty lor for mrs hatchs hatcha spirits rose in her with the sparkle of the beverage she enjoyed so much she seemed to have forgotten au all about the existence ot of tho the others and was wholly absorbed in dr battin whose love making became bolder clegg turned to dora you did bot ot answer my question Is it mrs snyder 3 at that moment dora almost hated haac d her ber name snyder how in this world could she have married a man with auch a name Is it clegg insisted the difference she laughed she felt so agreeably warm to the tips of her toes none whatsoever it was just curiosity you look so girlish dora observed with pleasure tho the hidden flattery in his words she was going to say something awfully nice in response when mrs hatch called to her from across the table did you say you knew curtis taylor or r 1 I seen the man as yet there he is said the doctor pointing with his head toward the stage 1 I cant see behind this pillar declared dora glad to escape the opportunity of 0 facing this man why dont you come over here mrs snyder suggested one of the party moving his chair to make room A tor for her dont you do it interfered clegg holding bolding her by the arm and looking I 1 into her oyes eyes rather bold only envious everybody smiled and some of them a very peculiar smile it struck dorn dora one ot of the nien men laughingly shook his finger at clegg winking at him ind and the same man said to dora look out hes dangerous hm hat dangerous As it if anything like this could be dangerous after being charmed by a man like her singer dont you believe them whispered clegg to dora taking her hand and squeezing it dora blushed and withdrew her hand the winking of the eyes and jokes of the others had bad aroused her very sensitiveness what did this man take her for it if emil were here he would show him whether anybody i could squeeze her hands but clegg was in the humor of 0 having a genuine good time he kept whispering into her ear all sorts of silly things she felt as it if her head was afire she was angry at him yet she did not know how to shake him off for she did not want to be a piker they all were here for fun and she wanted to belong to them although she felt more mom and more that she did not they had bad pushed clegg alegs who seemed to swallow more champagne than any of the men on her to get rid of tho the care of entertaining her this was almost an insult she was embarrassed by his persistency in trying to squeeze her hand and urging more champagne on her she did not no t want vant any more her head ached she glanced aro around arotine tind suddenly she felt rather ashamed of his company they ate as much as the people in stand ardville and they drank more than they would ever daro dare to do in stand ardville ardy ille the women giggled and the men told spicy little stories 1 I think ill go over to tho the other side where I 1 can see the director said dora rising to get away from her obtrusive neighbor lot let me go with you offered clegg and followed her without awaiting her consent for the longest while they stood against the ballus trado decorated with garlands of artificial leaves and flowers with keenest interest dora was watching the scene passing over the stage while clegg smoking a cigarette looked on with a frivolous smile on his lips five congo maidens under the predence pretence pro pre tence of dances of their native land demonstrated to a sensuous audience how airy music champagne and rich dishes might be interpreted and what tho the man with the red handkerchief is in a bullfight seemed to bo be curtis taylors occupation amongst these dark beauties playing exotic melodies on his fiddle he was as alternately in their midst ahead or in the back of thorn them spurring them on to the highest pitch his music was wonderful of 0 its kind but oh dora stood blood and gabed for the longest while the others saw in her the little girl from the little town who was hypnotized by a scone scene which she scarcely saw though she was like in a trance visualizing the idealistic boy who had worked hard bard and deprived himself of the joys of 0 youth to study music who had dreamed of fame and wealth and whom she now saw before her as one who has tailed failed in life Is this your mr taylor asked clegg no said dora firmly 1 I scarcely thought he would be replied clegg he must have been before your time he has been mixed up in many scandals Is IB he married asked dora clegg laug laughed hed Th This isis ls he second time tonight we strike this subject ho he is a divorced man I 1 think his wife sued him tor for divorce on most sensational grounds none affection can you imagine it in a man who can play music like this music hot like cayenne pepper perhaps there was no love said dora pathetically serious she felt tears dimming her eyes and she had a hard time to control her emotions perhaps she had been drinking too much no no no she felt that she once upon a time too had taken not serious a man who had bad poured forth to her his overflowing heart the same as she now often did to her husband in those days she had not understood the drift of 0 the hidden young genius in curtis she had bad simply enjoyed his hia adoration but she had paid no attention to the dreams and plans which ho he had tried to unfold to her she had termed them as bugs in an artists head the scene was over the audience applauded wildly curtis and the first danseuse bowed with hands linked together but tho the applause did not die again and again the duo came out and bowed Is this the woman for whom ho he got divorced asked dora how did you guess it A woman has a certain intuition for those things said dora and kept on but oil oh how could he fall in love with a 1 its not the person perso n its the temperament pe remarked clegg and ho he again started to clap his hands dora moved to leave wait wait exclaimed clegg clapping still fiercer hell kiss her now why the people want him to come out again there was curtis taylor again he bowed and started to play this time only the first danseuse danse uMi came out to danco dance it was more of 0 a whirl than a dance and suddenly the girl whirled to the floor and remained there like dead now curtis the musician became the actor he came close to the girl playing his violin soft and warm like a summers breeze it almost sounded as it if it called the girls name but in vain then impulsively he dropped to his knees and kissed the girl who opened slowly her eyes by the touch of his lips and rose and danced while the musician again played A kiss will do what music nor anything else can do said clegg following dora and coming very close to tier her bare neck as it if he wished to imitate the scene on the stage the party parts at the table greeted dora with the question was it your curtis taylor no theres not the slightest resemblance he the limit said one of the ladies what we enjoy answered another women go wild about him he gets stacks of 0 letters from women every avery day and I 1 was told he never opens them but throws them in the are re dora was in a trancelike trance like condition she could not rouse herself to be one af those around her as much as she sh 0 tried something within her kept whispering what is the purpose of life Is this it and am I 1 the only one seeking for a foolish thing like a purpose when she turned from froin the hundreds and hundreds of restless flickering lights in the hall to the people I 1 around and arouther about her she noticed the same restlessness flicker from all of their eyes suddenly it seemed clear to her everybody here was searching for a purpose in their life no longer these people deemed her wicked and shallow she knew they did all these foolish things in their strife to find the thing worth while oh this was vas a chilly place after all so much discontentment was housed up in it that she felt it depressing her dora wanted to go home to emil she did not even think of her singer vili VIII it was in tho the wee wee vee hours of the morning when dora finally arrived at home fatigued beyond en durance emil was sitting in one ot of the big leather chairs the room was chilly as the steam had gone down on the table was laying a halt half smoked cigar emils emila face nas ghastly white dora had slipped in noiselessly and to avoid a scene bhe wanted to slip by him at the same moment he wa was on his teet feet and holding her tightly by the arm lie looked at her with eyes in which there was a peculiar mixture of 0 pain and contempt let go said dora trying to shake off his grip not until I 1 haic hae told sou that you will never try this a second time 1 I will not put up with it what will you not put up tip with 11 she asked somewhat sti cery com coming ng quite close to him the smell ot ol smoke and liquor in her clothes and from her breath struck hini him like something poisonous lie ile pushed her irom from him like a venomous that she almost stumbled and hissed go away youve been drinking you are forgetting your womanhood dori dora winced but she made no reply it if ho he chose to think so lowly ol of his wife let him go to it she started slowly to take off her clothes laying them away carefully piece by piece As lie he watched her he gre grew W sorry tor for his hard words ile iio saw no effect of drink in her movements his clothes smell alter tobacco and liquor whenever hed spent it a night in the commercial club in Stand standardville ardville lie ile surely had said too much and ana hod hed have to make good dora could not do anything wrong ho he knew it as ho he looked at her standing before her dressing table in her bor dainty lingery lin gory that proud neck could not stoop to anything low those womanly arms could not entangle themselves around another mans neck dora to him looked bewitching never not even in the night ot of their wedding had she aroused his love and passion like now he was ashamed of his hig hard words and when she stooped to got get her little satin and rosebud trimmed slippers from under the dressing table he quickly picked them up tor for her 1 I am not intoxicated I 1 can pick them up myself she retorted with black clouds on her face he was ws going to let this rem remark irk go over unnoticed he wanted to make good she settled on a settee to take off her shoes her hair covered her like a cloak following the impulse ho he pushed the other settee opposite her and picking up her little toot ho he started to unlace her shoes as lie ho had done on the night of their wedding and on a tow few special occasions struck by his hia touch as it stung by a tarantula dora dom withdrew her toot foot flinging at him you yon hypocrite A minute before he be had insinuated the worst she might have done and now he was at her feet her contempt for or him was too great and she added dont you touch me I 1 despise you quickly she picked up her nightgown from the bed and went into the bathroom to put it on her rage had swept over her and blown away her self control like a s trong strong wind blows oil off a mans hat and like the man after picking up his hat looks it over brushing breshin g it oft off and putting it on again dora looked I 1 over the past scene recovering her self control she could not imagine what in this world had made her act like she had she could not give account for it A storm of emotion had simply swept away her reasoning powers and now the damage was done before coming home she had really and truly wanted to be appeased with her husband she had wanted to kiss him and now what had she done they call it love they call it love she kept on murmuring yes she had been too much on tho the go lately it had unstrung her nerves she was going to start to lead a quieter life for nothing was to be gained by this rush dora listened at the door she wished for emil to be in bed before shed be out so she turned on the spigots for a babli she sighed oh life was not worth living ishad it had been nice in stand ardville anyhow no one cared for her here in this great big new york she let all of her new york acquaintances pass review while she was stretching her slender body in the bathtub no no one really did care for her she could die ll ic make any difference to anybody mrs hatch might come up and give her a last glance mrs vande walle might never hear about it and her singer would lie he come what would he think if he learned of her death perhaps lie he was married and had four or five little children yes if she had a child she might not bo be hunting to find a sefor I 1 her life ali ah marriage was a pill hard to swallow after all the sugar was vorn i orn off suddenly tears filled her eyes the vision of a little orphan girl lola dark clark tair little lola in standard ville whom she had always given nice things for christmas christinas flashed up before her mind and va vanished immediately as such visions olten do the bath had refreshed dora remarkably mar kably sho she took the bath towel and ana rubbed her body she felt good nov it if emil would be still awake she would put her arms around him arid and make up but emil was in fit bed feigning sleep sho she gave him a quick glance as she passed his side of the bed lie he did not look like a happy man ills his face showed sharp lines and a hard expression was making it almost look strange dora turned oft off the light and crept into her side 0 of thu the bed iter her heart softened she made violent reproaches pro aches to herself her Belf emil had had a perfect right to say the things lie ho had why had she stayed out so late and what in this gods horld had prompted her to tell him that she despised him could they ever ever find the way to each other again she sighed for she could not think of anything to over ever the gulch between thorn them she soon heard emil groaning and tossing in his sleep but she s h e coula not sleep her conscience was pricking her while pictures of the last hours whirled through her head in a wild chaos chao 1 she tried some of the tricks she had heard people toll of and counted to fifty to one hundred and then starting anew again when this remedy failed she tried to recite some poetry sho she had memorized in school but without result it grew worse soon not only her conscience but bur her whole boly pricked and itched ditched never again in her life would she indulge in champagne and heavy dishes at night it if this was the consequence she tried to force herself to lie quietly but it was of no avail finally she was wag driven mad by a creeping sensation she jumped out bed turned on the lights and went back to bed again she glanced over her arras arms and over her pillow there was a red blotch on the white linen slip what could this be from she held up her arms examining them it there was a blemish on them that could have caused tho the bloody bloody stain on the pillow slip but she could not detect a thing then she stretched her neck to see her face in the mirror of the dressing table but nothing could she discover on her body not a taint suddenly her blood curdled as her eyes struck emils pillow she had to look twice before she could and would believe it no no it was waa impossible and yet they wore were undeniable facts these horrible round red blotches blotcher blot ches creeping on the bed emil she called affrighted emu emil for gods sake wake up look Loo klook look what is it asked emil halt asleep and as he slowly opened his eyes and |