Argosy, Vol. 117, No. 3 — page 91: what you’re looking at

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

CHINOOK WINDS. took a little step toward him, almost there seemed appeal in the tiny, outstretched hands—fear in the eyes that sought his. For she recognized him, Alec was convinced. So slight had been the deviation from her usual manner, however, that the others did not notice. . “Chinook Winds,” sighed a young be- whiskered Russian whose name Alec had forgotten. ‘ You will fall in love with her, monsicur, but you will sigh out your love to the four winds. She is rarely seen outside this restaurant and then only in a closely guarded sedan chair. You see the Chinese keep their women very secluded. Old Wun Sing sacrifices his principles for money by permitting his daughter to dance in public and expose her charms of person in an extremely uncelestial way—-there- fore he is sterner with her than is usual even among that race.” 3 They all chattered on in their fluent French, the cymbals clashed and the drums beat, and the wind instruments piped. But while Atec kept up a conversation with the Russians, he had only the vaguest notions of what he or they were talking about. His brain was in a seething maelstrom of con- jecture. Why was «there appeal in the little hands? Why the fear in the beautiful eyes of the lovely Chinook Winds? Il, It was difficult for Alec to attend to business, with romance calling to him from the restaurant next door. He formed the habit of going there each night for din- ner—sitting unobtrusively in a corner—not so unobtrusively, however, but that the eyes of old Wun Sing were fixed upon him occasionally with a basilisk stare. . He was usually alone. Arthur, bewil- dered, perhaps a trifle hurt, that Masters had refused all his invitations, left him to himself. Occasionally Alec joined a group of American officers—the Russians whom he had come to like—but usually he was by himself, and always, on these occasions, there passed between him and the dancer swift glances of recognition—almost, it seemed to Alec, that they had run the gamut of all the tender emotions. That 6 Arcosy 401 was why he wished to be alone. He was caught fast in the lure of the intriguing East, the charm of a pair of beaux yeux and an exquisitely modeled figure. A fortnight winged by. His inner life was a colorful thing—lighted by the divine fire, that in this case was: destined to be come only a consuming holocaust—consum- ing himself. He was quite mad about a girl who was not of his race, to whom he had never uttered a word ‘save by the unix versal language that speaks when eyes meet eyes! And he could not bring himself to remain away from the restaurant even for a single night! He sat in his usual place this evening smoking innumerable cigarettes, hardly touching the excellent dinner he had or« dered. The Chinese are good cooks, but Alec was not hungry. - Nervously he watched for the advent of the girl. She always entered, presumably by @ door, though it was hidden by two stunted, twisted, hideous bamboo trees. The girl was sinisterly guarded, thought Masters, as he glanced toward the screen and encoun- tered the wicked eyes of old Wun Sing, who always sat there. Soon the girl floated in. As she passed the table where Masters was sitting, from one little bejeweled hand slipped a tiny handkerchief. Her eyes traveled from his face to the bit of lace and linen. Masters understood that he was to secure it. : That had better be done after she had finished her dance and he was ready to leave, he concluded, after a moment of sub- tle thinking. He dropped his cigarette case and in stooping over to recover it he secured the handkerchief and crushed it in his hand. A faint maddening perfume was wafted * up to his nostrils as he placed it with his case in his pocket. That this dropping of the handkerchief meant something he had not the slightest doubt. He wondered if possibly there was some oriental significance attached to -- the rite which he was supposed to discover | and to which he was to respond? He was restless to be gone from the place; it held no further interest for him E© IOOKS AMG (C@