The Craze of Christina — page 26: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

22 The Craze of Christina. terested motives, that’s certain! I am on a mis- sion of pure philanthropy !”’ She alighted under the white stone pillared porch, and as she jumped lightly and gracefully from her cycle, she did so with the pleased con- sciousness that a pale-complexioned young man with dark eyes was observing her from behind the dusty panes of an adjacent window. ‘‘That’s him,’’ said Mrs. Bruhen to herself, with ungrammatic terseness, pretending not to look that way. She shook out the folds of her neat tailor-made dress, touched with light fin- gers first the fringe in front and then the shin- ing knob of pale brown hair at the back of her head, then pulled the bell-handle with a firm and decided jerk. She was conscious of look- ing quite her best in her cycling get-up, and she experienced a glow of inward satisfaction that her swift and graceful approach had been observe, by the master of the house. *‘Women who have tall, slight figures always make a good effect on a bike,’’ she said to her- self, as she followed the footman across the wide stone-flagged floor ofthe hall. ‘‘Five min- utes to the good, I should say,’’ she added, with © a triumphant glance back towards the open hall door, whence her two rivals could be seen still struggling in the middle distance. Comichooks. co