Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1881-07-16

better Of my prudence. Iwent up to her, pre-
through my glasses.
81 hope you find your seat comfortable7n ]
said.
ayes, thank you. Please let me return it te
you"
refused, of course and then took the oppor.
tunity Of observing her more closely. She was
strangely beautiful. but not of a common order
OF beauty. was certain that the other Cooks
thought great deal more Of stout. high-col-
ored, large-eyed girl who was one of their party
and appeared to be very talkative. But this shy
Janet vas evidently far too much above them to
be popular. What could be the circumstances
that had made her what she was7
II suppose your father often takes you
abroad, said
Mr.. Smith has been here before, but 1 have
not" was the reply.
Janet Smith! l was struck dumb. "Snith'
seemed such an inappropriate name for this
beautiful girl After time I started another
subject.
II am SO sorry tore your dreO yesterday;
you must think men very stupid"
ut did not matter" she returned. 81
mended it early this morning, before l went to
the cathedral"
Ibid you go with all thu Coo all your
party, | added hastily. Janet blused again,
and | could have knocked out my brains at my
stupidity. And yet after all Janet was Cook. u
likes to see by Oness self; cathedral, for in
stance, or beautiful view"
Certainly, unless accompanied by very
suitable companion"
Janet was not to be drawn on by light con-
versatiOn. She did not answer this remark but
looked straight before her. OF whom was she
thinking? tried again.
See, that is the famous Lorelei; in a book I
was reading the other day it gave one all the Gu
riOus legends Of these shores" Janet smiled.
and by degrees found out she knew good
deal more about the curious legends than
did, SO we talked on this safe subject till Mr..
Smith reappeared, sending his voice before him.
"Well, janet my dear, 1 see you have some
Janet's face lost all it's animation; she was I'm
minute the quiet, beautiful girl had seen the
evening before.
drew away, almost annoyed at having 80
much enjoyed our talk. annoyed at the unusual
interest felt in this stranger. L, who had fire.
quented the best society, and had seen dozens of
pretty girls who had not made half the impress
sson on me that Janet Smith was now making.
determined to have nothing more to do with
her; so carefully avoided her, and seating my
self at some distance, said / should now thor
oughly enjoy the view.
At Bingen l heard rush, and before I was
aware of the cause saw that the conductor had
marshalled out his party with the speed and
precision General might have envied. had
only just time to catch glimpse of graceful
figure and bright hair before we left Cooks"
party behind on terra firma, and were proceed
ing on to Mayence in blessed silence yet Oh nv
part with slight feeling of disappointment.
When reached Mayence it was late. The red
glow left by the sun was intensely beautiful, for
against the crimson and orange back ground the
black hunks and masts of the Rhine boats were
drawn out sharp and clear. But what are
beauties that one cannot share with another hu-
man being! hurried on to a hotel and asked for
a bed.
For single gentleman, sir?" asked the
master, looking at my small portmanteau.
"Of course. And have you any dinner for
me?'
g 1t is going on now" was the reply, elf you
will be good enough to follow the waiter"
This was only too happy to do, feeling thank
full that mine host spoke capital English, and
that | could make him understand my wishes
The waiter threw open the door. caught sight
OF a long table, lit with grand chandeliers, of a
multitude of faces heard great catter of
knives and forks and human tongues; I saw an
empty seat and was hurried into it; and then
turning round found that my neighbor was
Mr.. Smith! / was in for the Cooks" again!
Good gracious!" exclaimed. ''You here
again!"
"Why, yes; we did little land travelling.
Our conductor knows that enough is as good as
feast, and we had good spell of that boat.
There is a good deal of sameness on a river. 1t
was uncommonly nice to stretch our legs,
wasn't it, Janet?"
bent forward and bowed to Janet How re-
freshing it was to see her face in that unsym-
pathetic crowd. but noticed that her manner
toward me was changed. Did she resent NV
having shown my dislike of her surroundings?
Surely there was some strange fate in this
Why, quite by chance, had hit upon this same
hotelf And above ALL why was SO glad to see
was glad: The party appeared to be more
noisy, more uninteresting than before, and she
more beautiful, more queenly, more refined by
contrast
Instead of retiring to my own room followed
the Cooks" into the salon. The balcony, which
ran along outside the house, was soon crowded
with them, and this made me suggest to Mr.
Smith moonlight walk.
a capital idea, sir! / have no doubt the
whole party would like it immensely"
plague take the party!'' 1 muttered, but
alas! too audibly, for found Janet at my elbow
and with look on her face | had not seen
there before. She fastened to turn toward Mr.
Smith and said in a cold voice.
Il am tired now, and shall go to bed" and
she moved away from me. At that minute
would have gone out en- troupe with the
Cooks" if Janet would have looked pleased.
managed to intercept her, however, before she
reached the salon door.
Are you going out Tomorrow Miss Smith:
/ mean there cannot be much to see at Nav
enee." Janet turned toward me with little
look OF surprise on her face. Then, with EVIL
dent effort, she said in chilling tone:
II do not know what our party are going ia
do tomorrow. Goodnight" And with mo.
ton which Queen might have made when dis
pleased by some petty subject, Janet swept past
me, leaving me piqued and indignant with her
and angry with myself.
One thing determined that night: would
stay here at Mayence till the Cooks were well
out of the way. Those sort of people ALWAYS
raced over the Continent. Afterward l could
easily inquire what route they took, and then
could avoid it. So l might regain the quiet and
contented frame of mind 1 had before met the
party. Good heavens, was I, Reginald Hunter,
in love with Janet Smith, one of Cooks Per.
sonally Conducted Tourists7 The idea was pre-
pOsterOus. l laughed aloud, ancying what nv
mother would say if wrote her this piece OF
news.
And yet-eonfound tt dreamt of Janet that
night. Getting up early the next morning after
disturbed slamber, started out for long ex-
cursiOn, and telling small French garcon / met
on the doorstep that should not be home till
evening, fastened away for my walk
When came back late at night the French
man was still on the doorstep. He bowed and
seized my stick and coat, giving ME this sratui
tous piece Of information:
La maison est tres tranquille ce soir, mon
sieur; les Coques son parts"