Absaloms Hair | Page 3

upon a plan, Kristen Ravn never relinquished it,
and when she bad suggested it some four or five times, he promised
that it should be done. But on the heels of this scheme came another.
"Below the first balcony there must be another wider one," said she in
her soft voice, "and it must have steps at each end down to the
lawn--the lawn is so lovely just here."
The unheard-of presumption of her demand inoculated him with the
idea, and at length he consented to this as well.
"The rooms must be refurnished," she gravely commanded. "The one
next to the balcony which is to be built under here shall be in yellow
pine, and the floor must be polished." She pointed with her long
delicate hand. "ALL the floors must be polished. I will give you the
design for the room above, I have thought it carefully out." And in
imagination she papered the walls, arranged the furniture, and hung up
curtains of wondrous patterns.
"I know, too, how the other rooms are to be done," she added. And she
went from one to the other, remaining a little while in each. He
followed, like an old horse led by the bridle.
Before their visit was half over he most coolly neglected three out of

his four guests.
His deep-set eyes twinkled with the liveliest admiration whenever she
approached. He sought in the faces of the others the admiration which
he himself felt: he would amble round her like an old photographic
camera which had the power of setting itself up.
But from the day when she took down from his bookshelf a French
work on mechanics, a subject with which she was evidently acquainted
and for which she declared that she had a natural aptitude, it was all
over with him. From that day forward, if she were present, he effaced
himself both in word and action.
In the mornings when he met her in one of her characteristic costumes
he laughed softly, or gazed and gazed at her, and then glanced towards
the others. She did not talk much, but every word that she uttered
aroused his admiration. But he was most of all captivated when she sat
quietly apart, heedless of every one: at such times he resembled an old
parrot expectant of sugar.
His linen had always been snowy white, but beyond this he had taken
no special pains with his toilet; but now he strutted about in a Tussore
silk coat, which he had bought in Algiers, but had at once put aside
because it was too tight--he looked like a clipt box hedge in it.
Now, who was this lion-tamer of twenty-one, who, without in the least
wishing to do so, unconsciously even (she was the quietest of the party),
had made the monarch of the forest crouch at her feet and gaze at her in
abject humility?
Look at her, as she sits there, with her loose shining hair of the prettiest
shade of dark red; look at her broad forehead and prominent nose, but
more than all at those large wondering eyes; look at her throat and neck,
her tall slight figure; notice especially the Renaissance dress which she
wears, its style and colour, and your curiosity will still remain
unsatisfied, for she has an individuality all her own.
Kristen Ravn had lost her mother at her birth and her father when she

was five years old. The latter left her a handsome fortune, with the
express condition that the investments should not be changed, and that
the income should be for her own use whether she married or not. He
hoped by this means to form her character. She was brought up by three
different members of her wide-branching family, a family which might
more properly be termed a clan, although they had no common
characteristics beyond a desire to go their own way.
When two Ravns meet they, as a rule, differ on every subject; but as a
race they hold religiously together--indeed, in their eyes there is no
other family which is "amusing," the favourite adjective of the Ravns.
Kristen had a receptive nature; she read everything, and remembered
what she read; that is say, she had a logical mind, for a retentive
memory implies an orderly brain. She was consequently NUMBER
ONE in everything which she took up. This, coupled with the fact that
she lived among those who regarded her somewhat as a speculation,
and consequently flattered her, had early made an impression on her
nature, quite as great, indeed, as the possession of money.
She was by no means proud, it was not in the Ravn nature to be so; but
at ten years old she had left off playing; she preferred to wander in the