■■■ — 1 —- . '--1
The TWICE AMERICAN
| By ELEANOR M. INGRAM
CHAPTER XVI.
Rosalind.
f&ome one was singing-some one
who was a long distance from him.
The melody was coaxing, plain
tively minor, and sweet; a melody
that twined into and about the
senses as the tendrils of a vine
will creep and cling about a lat
tice.
That was an absurd fancy!
Music—lattices! What was wrong
with his brain to find any connec
tion between such alien matters?
Perhaps he was bewildered by
the thick darkness. Never before
had lie experienced such long con
tinued darkness. And theie-was
nothing to do except listen to the
song.
After a time words commenced
to break through the music, like
flowers opening upon the vine. He
listened attentively until he
caught whole phrases and sen
tences. The song was a love song.
It was about a lover and a prin
cess. She was to bind her hair and
come to him.
“Wait not to find your slippers,
but, come in your naked feet!”
Surely he, David Noel, should
know that song! Why did the
princess have naked feet? Why,
of course, because she had given
away her little white shoes to a
beggar!
His first coherent words, after
a month of illness, were a whis
pered plea for some one to buy
slioes for the princess.
“There is money,” he weakly
insisted. "Plenty of money! 1
brin.gio it.''
A v<- like a breeze stirring the
inusii v ne soothed him with a
promise 10 do as he wished.
“White shoes!” he stipulated.
“And pink ones, and blue ones,
with little tassels,” generously
promised the caressing voice. 8at
islied, he fell asleep.
When he again awoke his mind
was (dearer, but he was still in the
darkness. Why did he always
awiik'• at night, Noel wondered?
And why were there no lumps?
The horror of a new thought
gripped him suddenly, wrenching
a cry from him in his helplessness.
Some one came to his side.
“Mr. Noel?” questioned the
professional tones of a nurse.
‘‘You are in pain?”
“Am I—blind?”
“Ob, no — merely badly
bruised. ”
“1 do not believe you!” he
panted. “I’ve seen your breed
with wounded men—you’re all
liars! Where is the other?”
“The other?” stiffly.
“'nit girl. I heard her the last
time—Miss Arloff. Get her!”
A step both light and rapid,
fingers that brushed liis hand like
the brush of a bird’s wing.
“I am here,” said the delicious,
irregular voice of the dancing
girl. “What ean I do?”
“Give me your hand. T§11 me
the truth! I am neither a child
nor & coward. Am I blind?”
The hand did not tremble in his
grasp.
“No. You are not even badly
hurt. Soon you will be quite, quite
well. Tomorrow the doctor will
take off the bandage now over
yeur eyes.”
“Tt>.e it off now!”
She hesitated.
“Tomorrow-”
“Now!”
“It would have to go on again
until the doctor comes.”
“All right!”
The bandage fell away like a
black curtain. Dazzled, Noel saw
through a mist of pain the face
of Rosalind Arloff, luminous with
beautiful compassion.
Not even the face of the little
Constance, as she held out to him
her gift, was more lovely with
pity. Never the hand of a com
rade had lain so close and strong
with comfort in his clasp as this
frail hand of hers. After his long
night, she came like sunrise on
his heart.
Sunrise, indeed 1
For the first time in his life the
man met love and looked it in the
face, and distinguished it from
the boy’s dream. Love common
as humanty, and as rich wifcfri life;
love, not as a star, but as the fire
on the hearth—this was the reve
lation that shone upon him like
the unbandaging of his eyes.
A princess for his palace—was
that the prize of life? No, but
this girl’s palm warm upon his—
this girl beside him for his wife!
When she would have drawn
•way, he moved his head in pro
test. He did not speak. Once be
fore he had spoken too soon. The
nurse was present, too, and he
was physically weak. He could
I I'l
i wait.
Rosalind could also wait, it
seemed; for she yielded with
adorable patience to bis mute pro
test, leaving her hand in bis. ' But
now she did not look at him. No
matter! lie could look at her;
and the next time he awoke—
He did not awake perfectly re
covered, as lie had anticipated.
He gradually emerged from that
hazy realm of dreams into which
lie bad drifted while looking at
Rosalind Arloff, to find the band
age again covering bis eyes. By
lhut fact, he k.'iiv 1 hat the prom
ised tomorrow of its removal had
not yet arrived.
Once more lie bad awakened to
darkness ho! through with the
brightness of music: this time the
music of a violoncello. The play
er was at some distance, he
judged. The music was like none
he ever before had heard; strong,
like a strong heart in tumult, full
of discord that fed the eager car
as mere sweetness could not; bar
baric, beautiful.
Presently some one near his
bed sighed and stirred. Instinc
tively he knew it was someone
who listened to that poignant
music, also; instinctively he knew
who it was. His heart beat in
eager recognition of the oppor
tunity. Only, were they alone?
“Miss Arloff?” lie ventured.
This time he was determined not
to go too fast.
“Yes,” came the prompt an
swer, in the voice he already
knew so well.
“It is night?”
“Yes, and no! It is morning,
lull it is still night. It is half past
three."
“And 1 keep you watching so
long? My nurse-?”
“1 sent her to lie down, t—1
was not tired. I did not want to
sleep tonight.”
“Thank you.”
He gathered hope from her
presence. Not tired? Not wish
to sleep? She was healthy, young,
she worked hard, no doubt—
surely, it was not insomnia which
detained her by bis bedside. But
he must not let her see that he
suspected her awakening to love
had been twin with his own. Not
yet! He must go warily for a
while; he had wounded her be
fore; all but lost her by his haste.
“Miss Arloff, may I come here
again after I am well?” he pres
ently asKed, quite humbly for
David Noel. “The other night—
I made a great many mistakes; I
want to repair some of them. I
would like to know your father
better, and your-”
“Abel,” she supplied the name
quite seriously, unaware that he
had forgotten the old man’s
existence. “Abel makes the most
beautiful music in the world, I
think. You Hear him now, do you
not? He is what they call am im
provisatore. He plays as the
melodies come to him; and when
he ceases, he hardly knows what
he has played. Often, he could
not play it again. He cannot
write music. But once, they say,
iay father used to write it down
as Abel played. He can no longer
do that, although he loves to hear
Abel improvise. So it is born and
lost, all that loveliness. I cannot
write it either, you see. To read
music or play it, yes; to write it
down by ear, no. That I was
never taught, and I have not the
gift.”
She had ignored his attempted
apology. Noel was not certain
what that portended, but he ac
cepted the diversion she offered.
He had not intended to speak of
Abel, but Abel would do.
“I should like to hear you
play.”
“It would be better to hear
hear Abel,” she returned.
Noel smiled involuntarily, re
calling the grim hostility of Rosa
lind’s guardian, the night she had
gone out with the stranger.
“Do you think lie would play
for me?” he asked.
He fancied she smiled. A little
laughter crept into her voice.
“Oh, perhaps? Since you
brought me safely home with the
doll.”
Still he insisted.
“I should rather hear you.”
She said a curious thing; not
at all what he would havve ex
pected to hear in reply to such a
speech from any of the princess
es he had met.
“Have you always been senti
mental, Mr. Noel?”
He was unreasonably startled.
He whose life had been hardest
struggle and warfare, strong am
bition and fighting, actual and
mental, to attain his ends; to be
asked that question! He could
imagine what any of his associ
Tates in the far south would have]
replied loi that question: their
derision and amusement at this!
absurdity. Renito loved his mas (
ter with a slavish devotion, but
Xoel knew bow the Indian would
have answered it. He knew how,
fJXHo' Valdez would havve laughed
or Gil Granados. Yet—there was
* the House of the Little Shoes! ’
Why was he here, now in this posi
tion except, because this dancing1
girl vaguely resembled the child j
who had walked across his heart?
If memory was sentimentality,'
perhaps
| "Only once,” he said dryly, j
quite careless of her understand-!
ing him.
j “That is enough,’’ she returned j
her voice coming odly across the j
distant music. "Yes, 1 will play
for you; some time.”
In that Oblique way be re
ceived at once his pardon and his
j permission to come at some fu
ll uro day lo the home of Vasili
j Arloff. Fbr the moment, it was
* much.
j “Thank you,” he accepted
' both.
lie lay still for a time, listening
to the sounds that indicated she
| was engaged in some bit of *>cw
' ing. How much might he say
now, he debated? How long must
he wait ? There was his own work
to he done, Already he had lin
gered too long in this country; he
j must return. He would delight
in returning ,onlv. he must take
his wife with him. Yes, he would
j take this girl home to his villa;
i take her and hers.
lie fell to thinking of Vasili
' Arloff, of all the dazzling career
sunk to an invalid’s chair and
dependency upon a young girl’s
labor and the support of an old
man. This was the Vasili whose
I furred coat the little David had
j envied. And yet, how much still
j remained with him. evevu with
his shattered intellect,; as the
ruins of a palace are more impos
ing in their majesty than the
whole completeness of an ordi
nary building. To follow Vasili’s
discourse was indeed like wan
dering through the broken ar
cades, the lofty, frescoed halls
whose brilliancy lingered amid
destruction, as a once royal house
of thought. It was us if he and
David Noel had passed on the
stairs of life, one going down as
the other toiled up, but where
between those two travellers did
Rosalind Arloff stand? Surely
on some steady point to which,
giving a hand to each, she might
draw the two men to stand with
her. Noel, in his darkness, and
stlil confused by his illness, fan
cied he saw her as he had seen her
so many mornings, not posed
aloft on the shining peak like
Constance, but dancing along the
common road; a way made beau
tiful by her passing. And he had
affronted, insulted her!
“Street boy,” he murmured
bitterly.
“You spoke, Mr. Noel?” she
asked.
“No. I—listened to the mus
ic,” he seized the nearest pretext.
“And I! What does he play of,
for you ? What does he make you
see?”
“ I am afraid I am stupid,” he
deprecated. “I am not used to.
that game. What does he make
you saa, may I ask?”
The laughter crept into her
voice again.
“I forget,” she apologized.
“You see, we have always played
like that, my father and Abel and
I, played together a little game.
What does he make me see, you
ask? A Dutch garden, I think.
Rows of tulips like painted silk,
or china cups holding perfume in
stead of tea, and a breeze that
bends them this way or that. And
then, a girl creature who runs
drinking from each cup as a hum
ming bird sips and flies; a girl
in painted silks as bright as the
tulips in the sun. And there in the
sun among the tulips, she dances
and dances—until Abel ceases
playing.”
“You saw all that?” amazed.
“Perhaps, or dreamed I saw
. it!”
“You saw yourself,” he said
slowly. “Yes, that is how you
would look dancing in the sun.
But not in a Holland garden.
Rather in one richer, where there
are fountains with lilies-”
i His voice dropped into sience.
Had he alarmed her? If she took
flight, he was so helple.ss to pre
vent or pursue her! But she
, neither spoke nor moved, and
presently he gained courage.
“I am not gifted with fancy
like you,” he said, “but if I may,
can tell you of another picture
that Abel’s music brings before
me.”
“Please do,” she permitted.
“It is a painting,” he began,
summoning the visionjbefore him
against the darkness of his ban
! daged eyes. “A painting exceed
[ ingy smooth in finish, of that
■ school which forbade a lady’s
r<jheek to resemble the tetxure of
a gravel walk. Perhaps this ob
| vious beauty made it easier in
| appreciation for an amateur in
art as I am. It. is a picture of a
' garden where a young man and
! woman are standing beside a
! white sun dial. They stand a
little apart; no one could fail to
'see that they are of recent ac
|quaintance, perhaps are now to
gether that morning for the first
(time. The girl's face is quiet and
smiling as she looks at the marble
•dial, her linger pointing to the
hour crossed by the shadow. Her
companion leans slightly forward
to read where she indicates. So
far, it is nothing! But beyond and
slightly above the pair, appear
ing formed of the sunlight that
shimmers about them .are two re
plicas of thetftgelves, faint yet
vague, nebulous, yet real; two
phantom figures ardently alive,
who stretch out eager arms to one
another in recognition. Their at
titude is speaking as a cry, hot as
the sunlight and as joyous;
strange indeed in contrast with
the indifference of the human
pair, who are themselves, yet are
not, whose material senses are so
slow, so cognizant of what has
been and was to be. Such is the
mastery of the. artist, that when
one has gaixed long enough to
understand him, the solid and
actual man and woman seem less
alive than their mist spun coun
terparts.”
After a moment he added: ‘"It
is called ‘The Recognition.’ ”
She was so still that he won
dered if she had left him. He
raised his hand, half minded to
end uncertainty and tear off the
bandage. If she had gone, his dis
obedience would not matter. If
she were there, he would at least
glimpse her face and gather what
knowledge lie could from its ex
pression. But. even as he raised
his hand, she spoke, just audibly.
” It is a real painting?"
‘‘Yes. By a great French
artis.”
•• Where” — 11 little hesitation
colored the question—-‘’where is
it?”
”Iu — the House ow the Little
Shoes,” he answered. Ho did not
choose to add that it hung in Lis
own apartments.
She was silent so long that
again his hand crept up to the
linen whicli blindfolded him. Did
sh.o understand what he was try
ing to tell her? Was she angry
or indifferent? Did she consider
Ids suit, or merely listen to the
music of Abel’s 'cello? Noel had
a sudden vision of the fine,
mournful fugure of the old Jew
bowed over his instrument, lost in
the ecstasy of creating. Why did
Iho musician play so late, he won
dered. Was Arloff perhaps awake,
or did Abe pour out an unrest of
his own in those strange tones?
The girl had stood up. Noel
heard the rustle of her soft frock
and the click of a little thimble
that fell and rolled away across
the floor, unheeded. Somehow,
he divined that she was standing
by the door, and that her face
again wore the whiteness of the
lily glimpsed foating in the dark
ness.
“You have told me of a beauti
ful thing,” her voice came to him
across the room. He could fancy
the defiance he once before had
seen blazing in those large brown
eyes of hers. “There is no beauty
like the beauty of faithfulness.
Since you care for nothing that is
real, no doubt you will be happy
with—a picture. For that is all
you will have.”
The door closed. Noel started
up on his pillow, confounded and
dismayed. .
“Miss Aroff!” he cried. Rosa
indl” , ,
As lie jeked off the bandage,
the door reopened. His angry
eyes encountered the stout figure
of the nurse advancing, her face
frigid with disapproval.
“Miss Aroff has gone to take
some rest,” she coldy informed
him. “I am sorry to see your ex
citement. You must have a seda
tive.” L
His second opportunity was
gone. RosaindAroff did not re
turn that night._.
(To bo continued next week.)
Japan Reassures Senators.
From the New York Post.
"Japan has taken two important steps
to put her relations with the United States
on the friendliest possible footing.” One
of them is to prohibit the Immigration
into this country—mean particularly Cali
fornia—of "picture brides,” women who
are known to their prospective husbands
only by their pictures and whose children,
being born here, are American citizens.
California has strongly protested against
this practice, and now Japan agrees to
stop it Senator Phelan was so pleased by
the news that he gave it out. thereby com
mitting the deplorable error of taking
Japan at her word. The other step Is the
giving of assurances that Japan Is engaged
In not attempt to obtain special privi
leges in Mexico. This is for the particular
benefit of Senator Fall. The Japanese
ambassador attributes the rumors to that
effect to German agencies In furtherance
of a purpose to prevent the capture ot
German trade with Mexico by American
firms.
The American army lias obtained 15M43
recruits during the last eight month* _
I ^VILL BE FRANCE’S
"FIRST LADY” IF
TIGER’S FT.ECTED
Vine. Clemenceau Jacqucniaire, pho
graphed since her arrival in the
According to recent dispatches
^rem France Tiger Clemenceau, now
premier, may be chosen next presi
dent of France. As the Tiger is a
widower his daughter, Mme. Clemen
ceau Jacquemaire. will become “first
lady” of France if he is named and
will direct the social activities dur
ing his term in office.
GOOD LIVE STOCK
IS REGISTERED
Birth registration ought to make a good
subject for the day in which a new yea:
is “getting horned.‘* We do not know
how much effect the war had on birth
registration and cannot learn for another
two years more, since the reports of the
bureau of vital statistics are about two !
years late. The report for 1917 is print
ed, but had not been generally distributed
tvhen this was written.
The lack of registration made so much
trouble for everybody durftig 1917 and
191S that it is difficult to see how any
parents can fail to register children. Cer
tainly such children are suffering a great
injustice^ The experiences with draft
and passport boards ought to prove it.
The native born American who goes
abroad without taking a birth certificate ;
with him is running an unnecessary risk.
It is only within the last five years that
the Washington officials have thought
birth registration complete enough any
where to justify them in recognizing an
official birth registration area. In 1917
the area so recognized comprised the six
New England states, New' York, Penn
sylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Min
nesota and Wisconsin, Maryland, District
of Columbia, Virginia, Kentucky and
North Carolina, Kansas, Utah and Wash
ington—a total of 21 states. In this area
there live 55,000,000 people, or 53 per cent
of the population.
The district starting in New England
stretches across the upper half of the
United States to the Mississippi river, in
cluding the northern part of the south
ern states. Beyond the Mississippi it em
braces Minnesota and Kansas and then
skips to Utah, and from there to Wash
ington.
One is surprised to find ordinarily up
to date states like New Jersey, Illinois
and California absent from the list. A
good resolution for the people in these
states would be to put their communi
ties on the honor roll in 1920.
The birth rate of the registration area
fell off slightly during our first year of
participation in the great war. The rate
was 24.6 per 1,000, as compared with
24.8 in 1916 and 24.9 in 1915. At that the
population increased something more
than 1 per cent during the year as a re
alt of excess of births over deaths. The
increase from immigration was negligible.
Dr. W. H. Davis, superintendent of the
bureau, said in the 1916 report:
“There is no gainsaying the fact that
the price of good registration of births is
intense interest and eternal vigilance on
the part of registration officials and as
a rule the more registration officials
prosecute delinquent physiciaans and
mid-wives, the more complete birth reg
istration is. I do not feel like absolving
from all blame the people from the states
not on the honor roll. It is the duty of
parents as well as of physicians to reg
ister births.**
The Laeemakers.
Spring lias her lilacs and daffodils,
Summer the glorious rose,
Autumn is gay with chrysanthemums.
But when the winter wind blows.
Delicate fabrics made by the trees
Over the gardens are spread,
Woven of twigs, and held by brown arms
Close to the sky overhead.
No other laeemakers anywhere
Fashion a tissue like these
Beautiful laces hung in the air
Made by the fingers of trees.
—Mrs. 13. A. D., in the Kansas City Star.
“Drives” and the Driven.
yrom the Stars and Stripes.
Scarcely a week pass?* in any city bui
is marked by some sort of ‘'drive."
While the boys were In the trenches the
folks at home had ‘ drives” for 101 war
charities. That was all right. It was the
only way the folks who stayed at home
could do their bit.
It was an excellent way to raise money.
The only trouble was it was too good, it
got to be a habit. And so every few days
the pedestrian finds his way blocked by
a pretty girl, who smiles ingratiatingly and
sells him a tag. It doesn’t matter what
for.
It's hard for any man to refuse a pretty
girl (and they always pick pretty ones to
do the selling). Also every man has a
dread of being thought “cheap.”
And so lie buys the tag—not because lie
is interested in the purely private charity
it represents—half the time he doesn't
even know what it Is—but merely so he
can show it to the next girl.
The whole thing is not only a nuisance
but a virtual holdup. If we must have
any more drives, let it be one for a return
to conservative metho*. of appeal, where
by one may give, instead of having hia
money litterally taken away from him.
The communist party of Cleveland has
been abandoned, it is announced. The -an
nouncement comes simbttanegflely with
the arrest by the dep*rt/nent,*>f justie* v. t
three ot.lia leader*. _,
BULLY!
"
If Bilious, Constipated
AW Oaa/JaaU, » IaI/A
Feel grand : Clean up inside! Tout
system is filled with liver and bowel
poison which keeps your skin sallow,
your stomach upset, your bead foggy
and aching. Your meals are turning
into poison and you can not feel right.
Don’t stay bilious or constipated. Feel
splendidly always by taking Case a refs
occasionally. They act without grip
ing or inconvenience. They never sick
en you like Calomel. Salts, Oil or
nnsty, harsh Pills. They cost so liftla
too—Cascarets work while you sleep,
Adv.
Big Profits in Pigs.
Tonbridge Co-operative Pig-Breed
ing (Limited), an organization started
when Ihe sutniiarine menace became
acute. I as Ix-ou wound up. Hie share
holders having r-cceived-back their cap
ital, wilh -i7Vi* per cent.—London Mail.
SEE SHABBY, FADED
GARMENTS TURN NEW
"Diamond Dyes" Make Old Apparel
* Fresh and Stylish.
Don’t worry about perfect results.
Use “Diamond Dyes," guaranteed to
give a new, rich, fadeless color to any
fabric, whether it be wool, silk, linen,
co! ton or mixed goods,—dresses,
blouses, stockings, skirts, children’s
coats, feathers, draperies, coverings—
everything!
The Direction Hook with each pack
age tells how to diamond dye over any
color.
To match any material, have dealer
show you “Diamond Dye” Color Card.
—A(lv.
No Home for Leonidas.
“Dees your husband stay home
nights?”
“t'erlainly net,” said Mrs. MeewtoK.
"I ins,si en his going with me to all
the meetings I nltend.’’
Catarrh Cannot Be Cured
by LOCAL APPLICATIONS, as they
cannot reach the seat o£ the disease.
Catarrh is a local disease greatly inllu
■nreii hy constitutional conditions. HALL'S
CATARRH MEDICINE will cure catarrh.
It Is taken Internally r.nd acts through
the Blood on the Mucous Surfaces of tha
System. HALL'S CATARRH MEDICINE
is composed of some of the best tonics
known, combined with some of the best
blood purifiers. The reflect combination
of the ingredients in HALL'S CATARRH
MEDICINE i3 what produces such won
derful results in catarrhal conditions.
Druggists 76c. Testimonials free,
if. J. Cheney Co., Props., Toledo, Ohio.
Sure Sign.
Wife—I think Hint chauffeur was
under the influence of liquor.
Husband—I know that he was. He
cave me back the right change.—I lo
cal 1.
RECIPE F4DR GRAY HAIR.
To haif pint of water add 1 oz. Bay Rum,
a »iuall box of Barbo Compound, and 44
oz. of glycerine. Apply to the hair twice a
week until it becomes the desired shade.
Any druggist can put this up or you caa
«ix it at home at very little cost. It will
jradunlly darken streaked, faded gray hair,
ind will make harsh hair soft and glossy,
tt will not co'or the scalp, is not sticky or
pway, and does not rub off.—Adv.
Compa.rative Virtues.
"I will never marry a man unless he
mows how to make love romantically.”
"I prefer one who can make money
Readily.”
It’s a mighty good thing to watch
!»ow one’s neighbors do a thing and
yroflt by their mistakes.
No, Hazel, a man seldom proposes to
1 woman unless she has made up her
mind to make him do so.
For Mothers and all
~ Married Women
I Omaha, Nebr.
.“Dr. Pierce’s Favor
ite Prescription was
a splendid tonic and
relieved me of ail
nauseating condi
tions during expect
ancy. My baby was
strong and hardy in
every way. I surely
am glad to recom
mend Dr. Pierce’s
Favorite Prescrip
tion to the expectant
_ mother because I
know by actual ex
perience that it la'gOOd.'w—MRS. JOBE
COOPER, 3310 Cass St. .
For Women Who are Ner
vous, Weak, or Run-down
Omaha! Nebr.>-“As a special tonic I
have taken Dr. Plsrce's Favorite Prescrip
tion and found it to give almost immediato
relief in cases of nervousness or a weakened
or run-down condition. I have taken this
medicine since my earliest girlhood w hen
ever my system seemed to require a tonic,
and it has never failed me. I am very glad
to recommend the ‘Favorite Prescription’
to women and young girls who need such a
tonio.”—MRS. MARY LA LONDE, 5301
N 34th St. ,• ,.ar
f Every woman who has reason to believe
that backache, headache, unnatural pains,
low spirits, sleepless nights, irregularities o*
A catarrhal condition is caused by a derange
ment of the womanly functions, owes it to
herself and dear oneB to speedily overcome
the trouble before a general breakdown
causes permanent prostration.
“ Dr. Pierce’s Favorite Prescription is a
non-alcoholic remedy that any ailing wo
man can safely take because it is prepared
from roots and herbs containing tonic pro|>
erties of the most pronounced character.
It is not a secret remedy because it3 ingre
dients are printed on wrapper.
.' Get Dr. Pierco’a Fa- orite Prea-ription
to-day. cither in liquts or tablet form os
rend 11 r. pi-.ee’a Ir .■alv1. Hotel, BttdaiOi
N. Y., r. to: i—'C, U.*. f atg-va.
