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Show -- Magazine Section t When Commander Muon gave me a "But I am sorry I spoke. It isn t kind dissect her a letter to hie wife at j to "She" would "HKeTou; Mra Maxon." ask ng her7to be niceto me I little the student said "Did you notice how e eome-thinshe locked at you" dreamed. that I would etumble upon "I - Maxon answered "Nonsense, as atrang e and terrible and fasci- am far too frivolous in?'Mrsher nating as any fiction 1 have read. And On a blue and goid afternoon five davs yet at the end it did not lease the ex- later Mra Maxon ajth her canvas and of materia s before her-- sat painthad taste in the mouth. It was surply pected a quaint Carmel flower garden with more like a tiny glass of etrong Swedish ing beds of marigold and great clusters of aqua vitae white, burning, bitter, which Ptyple blossoms Suddenly s shadow fell as she leaves the mouth and throat tingling with upon her and across the canvas fol daubed some deep green Into the age subus stinging sensations but clean She turned, and, the Ibsen ladys pale This was the second time that Mra face was c'ose to here She started back I beg vour pardon Maxon had asked me to dine at her new and the ladv said I cam too closeI have been watch, ng atudlo with the vivid green vou for some time Tbe reproduction Is roof, where she lived eights months of charming a had was and voice low Her very canvas the year and worked with her and subt.e illusive sort of inflection not exolla act v foreign more English and rather Just at 8 I stepped up to the ham- wistful ' I am glad vou like th picture " said mered brass gong that hung outside the cordially "I am Mra Maxon studio door and gave It a resounding tap the I artist, have wanted to meet you I have with the leather stick. Mrs Maxon her- not ced vou at the Inn You are so self let me in. She was dressed in a dull bright, and when th people are with ou they aJwavs look happy. You may orange colored smock, and wore about her neck a long, heavy, finely woven gold chain with two enormous topaies on separate strings of gold cord drawn through an sven larger third topas and dropping pendant-lik- e to the waist. It was an unusual and beautiful bauble. Carmel-by-th-Se- love-color- n sw smoke-colore- te It Isnt a Real Boy, Said the Ibsen Lady Shaking Her Head; Its Only His Ghost Who Sits for Me In the center of the floor there stood two easels.eide.by. aide, Oa raa vasee ware the painting of two blond vouths el ghtl under twent At first nit thev locked like twine but one portra't had been don a year ago, the other had not been varnished Here he was eighteen. Va.erle Grsy the older canvas exp'ained. touching And todav he is nineteen See, the fresh look of Innocence is still unsullied She sighed But I am half afraid to do him next year L'glv shadows wnl perhaps creep into h s face and the corners ofvthe mouth will begin to curve down cruelly. and his evelidamav take on that puffy droop of sesuautv Mrs Maxon did not ask any questions She war examining the picture close y Is a beautiful face she said 'It' There is one phv steal defect You mean th height of the arch of Mrs Maxon anthe right evebrow swered prompuv That makes him more She made no further comnteresting ment I am reallv hopeless with oils " said Mr Gray getting a new light on the But I can t be expected later painting to do good work, for I palrt onlv one She moved over to a portrait a year. But It muet have been a sob e stood- Mrsr Gray before t he- - pie ture her face streaming with tears the dagger blade half through the canvas and cutting downward an viglv gash from the bov s forehead to his breast. Tha agony of the womans countenance somehow brought to Mrs Maxon a mind tha grief of Abraham. It was as though she was slaughtering her own flesh and blood Mra Maxon watched her, ill and fascinated She could not move The book of poems slipped to the floor. The woman smiled at her m.rthlessly. You see what it costs me, she said And t think I am each vear it is the same exceedingly foolish to punieh mvself like I am not so sure this- - But sometimes that I was Justified In what I did Ibis an unbearab'e thought. And I get a queer kind of relief bv creating th purgatory for myself I suppose I am made to do It Then Valerie Gray slashed the picture Into stripe The stripe she tore from the frame and began burning them piece by piece over the copper brazier. Aa Mrs Maxon started for the door she felt she must sav something and she You shoudn t asked her first question have destroyed It. Wouldn't your model oome In ,th. - -- j v Wit ( V - t ? with-three x 1 ' A v ' V A Vw v . A 1 v. A V. X. v i .r S, f- . ' jT VI x, ' .d- jr iff tl J i 5 lf f tn a a castie m By HUDSON STRODE She eat down In a wicker chair which faced a desk .at th 'other- - aide, of the room, where a man was writing. She was wonder.ng If Dr. Condon would be et all like hie photograph in the tortoise-studd- e frame. Suddenly she realized that she was staring It the man sitting there he waa looking at her. For the moment she became embarrassed, and was t0 turn away she realized that this men was like when the photograph-gro- wn Older. It waa a matter of inatur n n gray hair and Increased weight. She got up and took a toward bins and stared more intentlystep, to make sure. The man rose and looked at her expectant? waiting for her tn speak. "Dr. Condon, she breathed. "Dr. Condon. she said in a stronger voice. "Thank I heaven, have found you " The doctor came forward and took he hands You have news of Valeri ." hs said "Tell me. They eat down Mra Maxcrn told him everything .',Your psychologic guest was right," he arrinned, when she we through. "The mother killed the child only in her Imagination example of Freud theory of the 'inu,uJ dream being a wish fulfillment? ventured Mra. Mexon. "Exactly;" answered th doctor. Rad hoped that the child would be "8h born dead, and when ehe knew it would live she wanted it to die. And because of the nervous shock sh had just been through and the emotional stnt the wa m. and the drowning of her husband, n ana the dagger, she came to believe sh had done It. Doubtless she experienced a lapse of consciousness at the time, just you described the one last night. , u, Sh left a note of explanation," he went on, "saying that she wa glad for what she hod done." He paused, and then eaid "The terrible part of the tragedy wa that w couldnt find to tell her. Sometime I feel eur she got letters, but I dont believe she ever opened them. Her suffering has 11 been so unnecessary The doctor walked over to th looked out, and then came back window, to Mra. Maxon. "But the child? Mra questioned Maxon, almost fearfully. "Did It live An Incredible look came over the docf tors face. "Why. dldn t I tell you? he room exclaimed. The boy is with me every "At dawn my child was born. , , day "Two hours later Armand was brought 'Hes with you every day?" echoed home dead A fisherman fad found the Mra. Maxon. body not amorr the swans and water Why, yea, of course. Tv reared him lilies In the garden pool, but snake bita my very own." ten and steeped In muck snd green slims all "It's wonderful, murmured tn s bend of the river were the water Mra alaxon. very "You say you have reared was piti- the boy was It and stagnant sluggish W x able, for Armand had so wanted hla death "Yes; he think son. There to be beautiful. were many reason for my not telling him My baby lived the truth. He ha named himself after At this point In the story th yellow ma For tlx veers he really had no flame of the brazier gasped and strug- name. I called nlm "Boy Then one dav oil gled for life and then went out the he said h waa tired of Boy and wanted was spent another nama He eaid he Hal The two women sat motionless for toms would be nice It wa a eort thought of nickname moments. Then Valerie Gray pressed the for Harry. .That So nama he my tips of her fingers to her eyes and been called Hal ever since. leaned her head back against the divan. "Hal repeated Mra. Maxon. Mra Maxon quietly got up and snuffed Then eheCondon," "Tell me more you know the wick. The moon was very bright, the mothersaid, would rather have been guiltv and the silver window that it had spread of hi death to have him live with on the floor had gradually crept up the that trace of than knowing the life easel there until It framed and Illuminated that lay beforeancestry him. the portrait of the young roan. he didn't inherit the taste for "But Valerie. In a low, intense voice, went blnthe. Dr. Condon emphasized. "I on with her story, her features twisted hve tried him out thoroughly. He hate J knew that the boy every kind of th stuff. with emotion. h And doesn mustn't live. In my frightfully nervous know people would expect him to drink t state that was the one Idea that I seemed because he doesn't know hi ancestry. to get straight. All day long when people Besides, heredity . doesn't always work were with me their voclea teemed to out. livsl In shriek chorus, The boy musn't The boy Is altv' She said It almost At night out of th shadows cams th Inaudibly end fervently, like a prayer of whispers whispers saying th same thing thanksgiving. to me. And the dagger of Armand Then she asked danced before me I refused to eee the told of bis mother.what the boy bad been T knew If I looked Into his tiny child, for I am afraid I have han JleJ that clumv race It would he Impossible. One night sily," admitted Dr. Condon. "You see. v my semiconscious dreams became unen- one eouldnt ten the truth. I eaid eh durable and I thought I was going mad. was sn Invalid with some vagus hut .e I didnt mind insanity for myself it in disease, but there was no suffering, would give ms relief but there was my and that she was being cured snd well dutv to the child." teken care of on an Island In the Valerie spoke eo softly now that Mra and some day she'd be coming Maxon had to lean quite close to get the home. That's been the hard part the " Her words "In the eemldarknesa And now I don't know what Her mother. voice trailed off Into nothingness. Mra Maxon looked at him, read hie hand reached out and took up the dag- thoughts, and said softly, "I have seen ger from the table. "In the semidark her kiss your photograph tha ness, she whispered, closing her eyes un"And I have loved her ell til only the smallest silt of light wa vis- the man answered, ible, "I made mv way to the child e Then he stood up. "Come with ma She made a gesture wltt room, and Her eyes shut tight; th heeefA the dagger They passed through the crowds In the dagger dropped from her hand, her body lobby and out along the gravel walk. Not became limp, aha fell forward aero Mrs. a word was spoken, but the woman's inMaxons lap. tuition made her sense was to hapAnd then Mrs. Maxon saw th whole pen. When the rows ofwhat blus hydrangeas thing clearly. Valeris Gray had a lapse ended they reached the entrance of the of memory end she had not eaid sh pool. They stepped out on the killed the child. She had merely mad a swimming sage of some sort Think he tiled mosaic Some quite twenty close only five miles away. If I dont gesture the actual deed had been com- swimmers werepromenada playing about in the Wawrite he will come for me AncfT could mitted only In her subconscious mind'hal-It ter where the sun splashed through the real and horrible very not bear to eee him Her voice became was all a very shadows of th tree and made gold hard and pitiable a,most in the same lucination that she had been living under splotch on th surface. Dr. these nineteen .years Mrs Maxon shud Condons eyes took dancing All day I have tried to sumbreath a swift survey of th of the tragedy. mon enough courage to kill mvself scene But dered at the uselessness Then be Mrs. Mixon s grasped I am a coward. Valerie began to pull at the gold and arm and said. "See at the other end-j- ust I am afraid of death-anI want to die topaz chain about her neck. Her eves about to dive. , Mr opened and she skid slowly. 11 thought Mra Maxon looked where he directed. Maxonj caught her arm "Hush . vou would understand she cautoneif "Don t say such thipgs There, poised ready to make a run on th Mrs Maxon could not speak one little springboard, We might be overheard stood a go to your Lets lt blond room word fehe waa suffering now more than youth in a black suit. Hs ran. The yellow flame of the pierced copper the strange woman at her side who was sprang high Into bathing a and made the air. brazier east a weak ickly glow In Mra., reiirigd at. y faa-- siift though!, the had clean drop Into the water. "So that i room and the moon made a fanconfessed Graythe boy!" exclaimed Mra. Maxon. "He s "I left a letter, Mra Gray explained, beautiful tastic silver window, on the floor silhoufor Dr Condon, telling that I had don etted with pine boughs shaken tremenThen his face emerged and ho caught year of Dr. Condon, and his eyes lighted dously by the night breeze They did not It Then I ran awav For nineteen turn on the electric light On the low I have been a fug.tlve Thev have been sight and his red broke Into a smile, up divan they at and the Ibsen lady told on my trail vver since But they have and with a few lips strong overhand strokes her secret While she talked she kept never really reached me I have always he reached them Climbing over th I would be.; her eve on the portra't 1ft oils of the managed to escape I thought stood there before them s tired of South tiled curb, he and I The pal sh g ow of the safe In America vouth In radlent apirita a and dripping 'wethandsome braziers flame llghtng ud the picture Africa and the ArgentinenowandI Japan specimen of mashave come marvelously made the face look strangely alive, but the cither places And culine and strong, with an lithe youth, to11 the end I am too exhausted to flee aeem dimlv as through a fog , engaging, radisnt smi'a But I can't bear to face him "You have probably wondered about the again Hal was presented to Mra Maxon. Rla model who sat for that portrait, she to- have him accuse me of the thing manner were easy and graceful and hi A said was full of music Mrs. Maxon was voles you know-- , he la the earn did She got up end staggered over to the thinking of the miniatures they were I told youth that inspired the miniatures burled her and down It bed and a was model dropped But you much like him. The expression of th phantom only I did not tell vou the model once lived face in the pillow It was more the act blue eyea was remarkably the and for her mind was. as he talked the arch of the same, eyeof physical exhaustion not for long he was dead before he right a month old The miniature are merely in a large measure, relieved. At least, brow would shoot up the reproductions of the boy in sucre-- , th tens on wai gone. "I nave discovered that an old friend fehe made a most incongruous figure of mine slve vears as 1 saw him in mv mind s t Carmel, Hal, explained eves Mrs Grav paused, and then, "I Ivtng there In her magnificent black vel Dr. Condon, "whom I am very anxioue to vet court dree alth the' moonlight play eee So I am going to take a machine think you can guee ms identltv He Is your son. said Mrz Maxon In Ing aelrdly in her loose tangled hair. over now. I wont be back for luncheon, . a lew voice The tears came tumbling down Mrs but I'll meet you at dinner "Yes he is my son answered the Maxon s cheeks now. but quietly, as ehe Mrs. Maxon and Hal said good-b- y to other womarf For a moment there waa sit on the edge of the bed and soothed each other. a hushed silence Then she leaned for- the woman .You have more than paid, now as must Carmel 'to get They d ward and said. I have seen grow Into hla she comforted, smoothing out Mrs Gray as possible, A sudden am going to put you quicklv countenance of ha father, streaming hair. I Mrs Maxon. Sh wondered if Valerio somelhlrg to sleep peace Gray could stand the shock. you are going something of me aftd too something bet- to bed' and ter something that ne ther of ut could fullv of an hour ehe wa knockIn a " Yaler'e was so wearv that she could ing on quarter Mrs. Gray's door, while Dr. Congive him It Is most Interesting " Mrs Maxon not choose but obev Mrs Maxon helped don waited near by In the halt said And a strange but beautiful phan-tas- v her to her feet and unfastened the neck Ther mas no answer to her knock. It slipped to the Her heart turned sick, and she nf her velvet dress put her "Sometimes murmured the mother of floor Underneath It she had on nothing hand to the knob and opened it. The I think It Is a terrible but her night gown, .When she was in bed wes empty. the ghost model Idea to keep alive a dead th ng Then bed Mrs Maxon leaned over to sav good And then out of the dreeaing-rooher evelids closed narrow'v a she gazed night and whispered, "Go to sleep and cam Valerie Gray in th mauve pelgnor, "You do not un- dream of a .miracle and in the morning Intently at Mrs. Maxon looking immensely refreshed. She said eh derstand vet" She leaned toward Mr. who knows had veil and had a beautiful In less than a quarter of an hour Va dream.slept Maxon and put her mouth close to the other 1 ear She whianered. Can you lerle Gray asleep. Mrs Maxon noise did not ask what the Mrs Maxon beir to luten to something hideous lessly closed the door behind her. dream waa, but aha told her she had She would find Dr. Condon in tbe beautiful new for her. Mrs Maxon struggled to her feet But He was the one person who in an Instant she sat down again, for morning "The miracle has happened. ah aald. she was psychologist enough to realize could save the Ibsen lady. "And I've met Dr. Condon Mrs Maxon Aid not gq to .sleep until that confession might bring the relief Valerie Gray clutched the hack of a Valerie Gray most needed and she lis- after 4 Although feeling a sense of re- chair and her frightened eve grew wide. tened to the etorv through It waa really lief fqnm the knowledge that the od In "He bees you to forgive him.' went the history of a life but told dlsjointed'.y the brasier was burned out. she was on Mra Maxon quickly. "He is sfrald with gap and in broken phrases worried because she had been careless vou are engry with him because he ha It was all because of absinthe." be- enough not t hide the dagger. love he Ho you," sh you. When she awoke ther sun was piercing neglected gan the woman slowly. In a repression of added Then: of voice that labored to draw out buried through a gossamer of snver fog that had more news have "And I secret from the curious storehouse of crept in from the ocean.- It was after What whispered ths other 9, and the had less than twenty min the conscious and subconscious past. woman. Mv father was an English baronet, utds to catch the motor stage for Del "Your son and It was at the court of St. Peters- Monte "Yea yes? Whew Mra Maxon arrived St th Del burg. when I was nineteen, that I met "Your son is allva I have teen him. Armand Courtols, a young attache of the Monte hotel, with a trembling in her He is splendid." French legation Armand was handsome, hert, ehe asked at the office if Dr Con "A faint erv akin to a child' moan brilliant, romantic and I fell madly In don was registered thera The clerk con cam from th Ibsen ladv Her eve love with him Ther were all sorts of suited his list whJe ehe waited anx closed she swaved untead'ly ard fe'l rumors about him that for all his beauty ton sly. for tv ard. Dr. Condon caught her before Yea he Arrived last nteht. and would ehe reached the fmor and poetic charm, there was bad blood In him that he came from a degenerate she be 0 good aa to wait tn the Chmtx The fonowlrg morn ng th bov and th while thev sent for him. room I believe not would gossip-ethe nd mother met for tb f ret t me family o I Utile cared at the time. Mv faMrs Maxon knew her way to the Chintz in twe Tnen there vis a ther tried to take tne away f Armand room, with summery upholstery snd spple ett CsBUnwd live Fir ion me ran to We w.th and she walken geea woodwork, pleaded merryhtrn, end stray locks hung down grotesquely. Around- - her neck wan the- - gold chain topases I have waited hours for you, the said In a hoarse whisper Mrs Maxon drew sway In fear A beseeching look esme Into the womO. don t don t be afraid of an s face. me " she pleaded I coiiJaiiT'Bear 'Tt: You than l desert ma She put her arms about Mrs Mexon and drew her to a stone seat beside a flowering acacia Sit with me here I have much bush to tell you I feel that the crisis Is near And I must te I some is already begun one for no one in the whole word knows why I did It thev wouldnt have underI think I think you stood, you see. might understand Mra Maxon sat quite still and said For an instant Valer e pressed nothing her hands to her brow end drew the palm down her face to her throat, where her long sensitive f.ngers caught at the gold chain and worried It with s nervous I have had another letter. twisting she said in a hushed, terrif.ed tona I destroyed it without opening It but on the back of the envelope was written Arrive Del Monte tomorrow night. That is tonight now be is expecting a mes- - T OVN off to tn the counffy that he frts - Rueeian- - grand-mothand were married. On th wed-- d ng night he drank absinthe to celebrate He became frightfully Intoxicated, and led me over to a easement window, and, polnt.ng down below to th garden pool, where the water was deep, he told mirrhit after a few hionths of exqulsit bliss we would go there some night and hide ourseives under the water and when the eun came out In the morning our bodies, beautiful In death, would be found floating111among the white swans and the es weter ' The next morning for a wedding gift he presented me with a dagger of red leather bound with fine silver wire. He said there waa a family tradition connected with It. "In the weeks that followed, little by little I learned more ebout the pull of absinthe and more of the horrible about Armand my husband and h.s family was the last of his ancestry A'l th male member of the Courtole family for more than two centuries bad died under thirty each had been family crazeo With Armano through drink or drugs and hla father, and his father before him. it had been absinthe ther had been crimes of various aorta My Infatuation turned to loathing but I stayed with him. I pitied him so He wig so boyish and beautiful and heiptesa. Once when a terrible spell come upon him he would not be quieted until he forced me to drink, too tv both became very 111 It waa this Illness that brought Dr Condon, an American physician. Into He saved me from utter despair, my Ilf But It waa only temporary, because I learned I was to have a baby. I knew that I had no right to bring a child of Armand Courtoiss Into the world. All my finer sensibilities revolted at the Idea. Only Dr Condon e tender solicitude kept me from doing away with myself. I pra.ved that the baby would be born dead "And then the very day before th child s birth Armand took to absinthe and came and stood before my hed and gave me a living picture of the sort of Ufa to which the child hed to look forAh. well,' he said, at least 1 ward than t live to hear Its cursea Then he picked up the dagger he had riven me and made a significant gesture and laughed grotesquely. He leaned over and kissed me. and then rushed out of the hed inherited-fro- er Cour-tola- i hr 1 h' 1 Ic Y 'P . - , , - V.V ' Th? : sx, V , ' - I jr 'wssy 4 r ) 1V'77T-,- T " o ( iVAaf rjk r h ,-- A, ' I wonder if vou call me Mrs Gray I am would talk to rre sorret mes rather lonely I think vou ir.aht cheer ne For over a week have sioken to no one but mv maid and I grow rathe-tire- d of Russian Would wou ta k to A 1 me Whv. I should be delighted answered Mrsv Maxem-.-ga- t hertng UTr her HrtTTgS I think I can promise not to bore vou I have said the ladv traveled I Then she hesipaint a little tated before she added 'You will be inI am vou never ask because sure teresting questions and that ta a rare oualltv ' a b't Mrs Maxon unde-stoo- d. She did. not need to replv Delighted yith the ra e beauty of a heavy gold chain with three bright-lookin- lorg low shelt under the window "Whed I was a mere girl I won medals for mv I studied at Vienna under miniatures the most famous man tn Europe On the shelf spread out on a strip of dark purple vevet were nineteen miniatures in gold frames Arranged In order thev represented nineteen vears Jn a chubbv babv boy's Pfe from The ear-dld to the hanieeme jouth the ame age as h s other Image In the oil painting 1 have seen few better miniatures in These are said Mra Maxon Paris wonderful What an art si vou are How you have made tbe hojltvel How I have Mra Grav smiled grimlv Then she made him live' she repeated a faint laugh, and a look gave strange of despair momentarily crossed her face She walked over to a table at the other side of the room and. taking up a pierced copper brazier of Algerian workmanship, she Med it wih a fragrant oil from a Mrs Maxon watched her crvstal bottle cur ouslv Then her glance fell upon a a s.lver frame studded with in photograph It was the liketurquoises on the table. clean-cman of of ness a 3h The man was quite different from what Mrs Maxon would have imagined husband to be like Mrs Valerie Grav Grav read her thoughts ' No that is not ' It is Dr Conshe said mv husband don ati American phjslclan who a. who He was a warm friend of ours In Russ was so patie it with me eo svmpathtic 1 was fond of him She handed Mrs Maxon the photograph He has a frank generous face with fine eyes and a strong chin, said Mrs il blue-eve- -- ut good-lookin- Maxon Ah The Ibsen he ts xerv noble lady touched her lips to the g'asa over the man s photograph Then she struck a match to the copper brazier and a vellow flame spurted up ' Mv oil paintings ere so bad " she explained "that I cannot let the old one Anv live after the birth of the new be 18 how when one la 19 he can t l can he And the miniatures are miniaface is real to tures, but this me" As she spoke she unsheathed a dagger with a red leather handle bound with fine silver wire. She stood before the earlier painting with the dagger In her hand and gazed Mrs Into the bue eyes of the youth Maxon reached out to stop the woman But the stunge ladv turned and looked at her ratner pathet'callv and said After all. It is onlv painted canvas Once once She shuddered and added, and paused helplessly this knife Something In the underlying tragedy of the woman s attitude made Mrs. Maxon She feared a confession of turn pale She thought of the volume enme sort of Hindu poems that the woman had left "I took your book up on the davenport to my room last night, Mrs Grav," she In a moment said "I'll get It for vou she was out in the hall. room she dabbed to her she When got some cold water on her eves She wglked to the window and then to the chiffonier. For a moment she sat at the desk She picked up the book of verse and idly on fl'pped the pages. There was writing letthe fly leaf. In la we, Cour-toters waa the Inscription- To Mra.-Mrs, Maxon from Harrv C& n slammed The book shut. She felt as If a she bad peeped through keyhole It was fully half an hour before Mrs ladx a Maxon knocked oh the Ibsen door. She thought she heard a signal to -- st-l- 'ife-siz- well-form- is .X the real bov of the miniatures and th ke to have It pioturel The IBsen ladv- - shook her head and answered There Is no real boy It is only his ghost who sits for me The atmosphere was sickening with the and odor of sweetish oil. burnt paint charred canvas Mrs Maxon Llosed the door softly and left the miserable woman aione with the ashes of her phantom model It waa the next afternoon that a special delivery letter was handed to the voung clerk at the Inn desk just as Mrs Maxon returned from a dav s sketching, The clerk held Mopped- - to get her key Do up the envelope for her to read vou suppose that s for the foreigner upIt waa addressed to he sad stairs It was In a man s Mrs Valerie Courtols handwriting and bore a California postmark Only for a flash did Mrs Maxon I think it is for her maid hesitate I was Just going up I U be she said gtad to take It The Ibsen ladv dressed In a looee mquve pelgnor, lav upon the bed resting on her elbows Spread out before her the nineteen against the p Hows were was aa If she It miniatures of the bov were plavlng with dolls When Mrs Miron asked If the letter was for her her impulse was to denv it, but such a fea took possession of her as she recognized the handwriting that she could onlv chatter Inarticulately something about 'How could he knowun- I was here" all the while forcing ajt concerned smne which was mere'y werd In Its effect Then abe shot one searching look of suaplcion at Mrs Maxon, and. satisfied she burned the unopened letter at the flame of the Alger, an brazier she Said I am eo wearv nf fleeing liki a little child tired out and In disI had not heard for almost three tress I thought he had given up' years Mrs Maxon turned to go Please please don t leave me vet" "It e so comforting Mrs Gray urged all mv experito have you near me In ence vou are the first- person who That is with me stormed questions You cant realize whv I avoid people what being alone ' a'l these nineteen year has been to me For a day and a night the Ibsen ladv did not appear. Even Mrs Maxon did not see her. and: was not adjmted, although she called twiceMrs Maxon wept On Sunday evening It was about midto a beach supper home night when the company started Some friends, brought her In their car to the corner of the Seas.de Inn. where and hurried on she bade them the boarded walk along the hedge of rose In this hedge there wae a cleft large go through, and enough for a person to narrow on either aide of this gateway such in bloomed rosea profusion that the thd load wag too much for the stems and tns whits blossoms drooped with their own weight, much like aif overladen Maxon started Aa Mrs pear tree. through the hedge a shadowy figure obstructed her way. She stopped, startled at the apparition, and then realized that she was staring Into the distracted eves of the Ibsem lady Her frst thought waa that the woman In high contrast to had gen insane t court gown Valerie Gray the her b.oodless face waz was wearing, blanched and the sockets of her eyes were mere black splotches 'with a fire burning In the center. Her hair wae dleheveled has-no- good-nig- black-welve- f- ter-rib- Pa-clf- lo Sha ttopped, ttartlad at tha apparition, and than raaliAd that aha waa atmring into diatraetad eyas of tha Ibaan Lady. topazes that Mrs Gray was wearing she said. What a lovelv chain ' I seldom wear It answered its owner "It was given me by a woman whose life I saved Indirectly But It s a common-pac- e Shall we walk story of no interest toward the sea That night a she made ready to retire Mrs Maxon began to think things over This Valerie Grav wae unquestionably a She had gentlewoman of high culture appa'entlv lived at the end of the world South Africa, New Zealand the Argentine She spoke of certain childhood impressions of the elephant and the temple bells and the varicolored turbans of India. A few sentences dropped here and there suggested a deep and a ncere lo'e of the really great In poetrv and drama But theie was sue tnoldent of Jhe afternoon a stroll on the beach that filled Mrs Maxons mind with Imaginings Two little bova In dripping bathing suits, sons of a friend of hers, had rushed up out of the sea to the two women on the beach with some Itffconsequential childl ke greetings Mrs Gray acted most oddlv She shuddered. closed her eves and moved off Send them away" she begged quickly. When Mrs Maxon Send them awav joined her she was on the verge qf tears and trembling violently It certainly signified more than that the Ibsen ladv was afraid that the water from the bovs bathing sulta might spot her ' saffron colored frock The next afternoon Mrs Maxon thought of the episode again when she saw arrive at the inn with h parents a handsome, g blond boy of six- a friendly to making new little lad, accustomed chumz After dinner that night Mr. Gray had down to show Mrs. Maxon a broughtleather-bound blue volume of Hindu poems. She said It had been given her the anniversary a friend dear very by of whose birthday had occasioned her In emerald velvet a week before. dressing It was Just a fanev of hers, she eaid The two women sat down on a davenport In the parlor facing the west window As thev turned the leaves In the book of verze suddenly the blond head of the little boy of six was thrust over the back of the davenport between the faces of the two women, and the child said cheerily, "Hello! Mrs. Gray caught her breath. Then aa she looked at the blond hair and smiling eyea of tne boy her pupils dilated and she screamed in his face. Without a word, she rushed upstairs. Mrs Maxon did not attempt to follow her. She found a bright vellow rubber bairand gave it o the child to plav with Bea' Some time during the next morning Yea, The Lady from the Sei There la eves. . Mrs. Gray asked Mrs. Maxon to come a strange longing in her to her apartment and look at an oil por"And fear, put ill another. 'Yea fear, Mra. Maxon admitted. trait that she had just mlnished. under-gradua- Sunday, September 3,. 1922 $ The Painter of Ghosts We tat down In the two large wicker chairs nearest the big stone fireplace, where a eucalyptus log lay across the flat black andirons over a fire of burning pine conea An ashtray had been placJ on the wicker tabouret beside me and some cigarete. I took out my ivory cigaret holder designed w,th the imperial dragon It teemed to go with the room with the rare Chinese embroideries on apricot and cerulean satins, the wood carvings centuries old, the blue pottery vases filled with golden popples and Mariposa lilies I began to smoke and, after a few minutes talk of this and that, I expressed admiration lor the topas necklace "I seldom wear it, sa.d Mrs Maxon letting her finger tips slip along the gold cord "Tonight I more or less thought I should for a special reason It U a She paused for the barest mogift. ment. ' I wonder If you would be Interested in the story of the lady who gave me this She weighed the two topazes lightly in her palm I answered "Tremendously, Mrs Maxon walked o'er to a table covered with gold brocade and took from a black lacquer box a sheathed dagger She placed It In my hand and set down Rather grewsomelv, that belongs to the story, too she said The case and hardle of the dagger ure of dark red leather ad bound w th fine I felt the edge ard point sliver wire of the steel I said and smiled It is quite deadly at her. Her brow wrinkled slight!'Well, she perhaps not bo deadly after all said Sne paused 'Still Do go on, ' I said and 'aid the dagger beside the asntrav Mrs Maxon looked Into the glow.ng pine cones for a moment thoughtfully Then she told rhe storv It teems the woman called herself Valerie Gray. Sha had come into Carmai very quietly and had tagen rooms at the little Seaside inn. Her maid accompanied her, sn oldish woman-- a Russ.an At who spoke notaword of Fngite" this time Mrs Maxon was spending a few weeks at the Inn during the building of her studio That was how she came to know her It was not until the tn.rd even'ng after Mrs Grays arrival that she made her downstairs Shortly before appearance the d'nnr hour there wege grouped about Mrs Maxon in the hotel parlor a doxen or so of the guests, listen ng to some of her humorous adventures In bargaining with Chinese tradesmen in the San FranThere was a peal of cisco bazaars laughter as she finished a particularlv ihe laughter died Then funnv incident the , suddenly aul even me was drawn-ttop of the saircaee where the strange She was woman stood about to descend gowned In emeraid velvet with bodice cut She came down some ten steps low and hesitated, and then walked back up n Evidently she had forgotten someth beFully two cards of court train swept hind her and d sappeared in the upper corridor A thrill of surprise ran throught the group gathered about Mrs Maxon What they had Just seen was quite differenta From from what thev had expected description of the lady that had been woman and man he a given her when she first armed giuffled about d chffon there the chin in was onlv a vague impression of sad eves and 'er wh.te tkm Four others In the crowd had had shadowy glimpses of hei. A marine artist there had passed what he took for her in the woods the night before at any fate she bad the white skin and sad eyes Two others had seen her clad In a black cape on the beach late the first night. of her arrival walkwater ing on the wet sand close to the returnA young Princeton undergraduate 3 that xerv morning from a dance at ing at Del Monte had seen her at an upper window with her face pressed against the pane, and an oil light burning in the room Each one retold his experience in aubdued tonee Again the conversation died abruptly as the lady m emerald vel'et appeared at the head of the sairs This time she held a blue leather book in her slim white left hand A she cam down tne eteps the fingers of her other hand held up the front of the long skirt out of wthe th way of the pointed silver slippers The woman held her vermilion heels waa hair head high, and the dark brown and coiled low on parted In ofthe middle her neck There were trace the back of her hair, and In brown the of gray about there were lurking blue shadows aw a v. her evs that looked dark and far was skin Her a with light burning deep like lvorv wax There transparent white, her cheek, but across waa no color in stain of vivid scarwas a there the llpe let. A most distinctive feature was the right evebrow. which arched decidedly higher than the left At the foot of the stairs she glanced toward tha group, and her ev es met Mrs. Maxon a and almost seemed attracted there was It was only for a flash, but in the atsomething peculiarly fatalistic She walked to titude of that moment room the of end the far the window at and looked out over the rose bushes, the ea A heavy with white roees to Into the merbig gold sun was merging ocean colored cury asked a youngish "Ie she foreign married woman "Tea. I should sav so. marine artist. "But of Uonality The Princeton student declared a corking mystery "More a realistic tragedy. put in the man who had met her In the woods Mra Maxons eves grew very bright. 1 know, she said. "Shes like a lady from Ibsen.. the Princeton "Good." said "But which ofte" Mrs. Maxon paused. "Sort of a comanswered. I should say" the - posite. of several Rita, slowly- - "Something and cerMrs even Atvlng Nora Hedda, Rebecca West, Yet she tainly a possible individual." looks distinctly said the "You have forgotten one "The Lady from the Princeton . man. V 1 well-bui- t - vti 1 fear-seize- m s el? X - V - r |