Books › The Red Book 1908-02: Vol 10 Iss 4, 1908 › scan 40
Scan 40
The Red Book 1908-02: Vol 10 Iss 4, 1908
28 lines. Read by computer on 17 September 2026. Printed page 473. See the scan on archive.org.
1THEODORA'S FATHER
3madness. She shivered from head to foot, and then some will stronger than her own seemed to take possession of her, for her right hand rising slowly toward her bosom, her left hand caught the wrist and seemed to strive to keep it back. Still steadily, tensely, rigidly, that right hand came up and sought its way into her bosom. It came forth as tensely, with the left hand still striving to impede its motion, and in its clasp it held a pointed, shining dagger!
5The little clock upon the wall began to whir. The last moments of March the twenty-fifth were passing and with them all danger, but the last strokes of the chime echoed upon an absolutely empty room, for no soul now reposed within it. There were only two useless tenements there upon the couch, paling lips upon paling lips, to prove that no man may hide from Fate, and to form the last mysterious chapter in the centuries-long secret of the Alexanders.
7Theodora's Father
9BY EDWARD BOLTWOOD
11ILLUSTRATED BY DAVID ROBINSON
13AFTER the last inspiring note of the concerto, the lithe, slender figure of the girl stood poised, her bow pointing upwards, her face raised from the violin, as if her eyes were searching for the star to which the music had been an appeal. Herr Prochonowick remained motionless, his fingers resting on the piano-keys. Hamlin's spacious studio was hushed, and his four-score guests sat in quiet wonder, smiling happily at the girl, for Theodora Galbraith never played without making a dominant impression of some sort upon everybody, if not by her notable technique, then by her sympathetic personality, and, if by neither, then by her dark and graceful beauty.
15Women said she studied costume; men said she had no need to do so. To-night the feminine opinion seemed to be justified. Hamlin was an animal-painter and a hunter in many lands. Heads of enormous beasts grinned ferociously in his studio. The walls were hung with garish, barbarian tapestry, Indian blankets, and gleaming trophies of savage knife and spear. In a recess next the piano a stuffed grizzly was reared against a tree-trunk. Miss Galbraith's dull red gown, the yellow rose in her loose, black hair, her odd girdle of dusky gold, could not have been more appropriate. Two famous actresses nudged one another simultaneously.
17"I ought to get that girl to stage my new piece," Carlton heard one of them whisper.
19Carlton understood the implication, but he did not resent it, although he was very much in love with Miss Galbraith. He happened to know that the theatrical harmony of her costume with its background was not designed, and that Theodora had never been in Hamlin's studio before. She had made an artistic effect simply because she could not help it. Her instinct never allowed her to do otherwise.
21While she was playing, Carlton, who was no musician, had been reflecting upon this subtle ability of Theodora's to make her environment serve her art. For that matter, everything about Theodora was always in keeping with her lover's estimate of her—everything she did, or said, or wore, or possessed—everything except one.
23The significant silence of admiration at the finish of the concerto was rudely broken.
25"Bray-vo, girlie!" bawled a man.
27A tiny ripple of merriment ran over the well-bred audience. Some women
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