The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1891-03-28

seated; and she raised her glasses and stared
through them at her vis-a-vis. II declar,
she would be pretty if her nose were moi
so short"
He seized the excuse to put up his glass
too, and take look. at is rather short,
he admitted, gazing with whimsical sense
of propriety at the deficient organ. ''But
some people like short noses, you know
Mrs. Galantine.
"Ah And theatres in August!' II she
replied incredulously. "And drawing room
games And conundrums! But, serious
ly, she would be pretty if it were not for
that"
"Would she ?" he questioned gravely
"Well, | think she would, do you
know ?"
And certainly Joanna was pretty, though
her forehead was too large, and her nose
too small, and her lips too full. For her
eyes We're bright and her complexion per
feet, and her face told of wit, and good
temper, and freshness. She had beautiful
arms, too, for chit of 10. Mrs. Galan-
tine saidnothing about the arms-not out
Of modesty, but because her own did not
form one of her strong points. Wibber-
ley, however, was thinking of them, and
whether certain bracelet he had by him
would fit them. He saw Joanna wore Il
bracelet sketchy gold thing. He Won
dered whether he should beg it for a pat
tern or whether it might not be more pleas
ant to measure the wrist for himself
But Mrs. Galantino returned to the
charge. "She is cousin, is she not p she
said, speaking so loudly that Joanna looked
across and smiled "I have never met
her. Tell me all about her"
Tell her all about her Wibberley
gasped. He saw difficulty in telling her
FALL about her" the more as the general
conversation at the moment was not brisk
and Joanna could hear every word. For
an instant indeed his presence of mind
failed him, and he cast an appalled, glance
round the table But then he bent to his
task. "Mrs. Galantine," he murmured
sweetly, con6dentially, ''pray-pray beware
of becoming a potato y
The lady dropped her knife and fork
with clatter. "How horrid A potato,
Mr.. Wibberly? What do you mean ?"
"What l say" he answered simply.
''You see my plate? 1t is picture Mrs.
Galantine. You have there the manly
beef and the feminine peas, so young, so
tender! And the potato The potato is
the confdant. 1t is insipid. DO you not
agree with me ?''
"Bravo, Mr. Wibberley! But am to
apply your parable?" she asked sharply,
glancing across the table with her fork up
lifted and pea upon it. Gam to be
the potato ?"
'sThe choice is with you," he replied
gallantly. "Shall it be the potato or the
peas ?"
"Mrs. Burton Smith, seeing him so alb
sorbed in his companion, grew puzzled.
Look as often as she might at Joanna, she
saw no sign of jealousy or elf-consciousness
in the girls face. Joanna seemed to be
getting on perfectly with her partner; to be
enjoying herself to the full, and to be as
much interested as any one at table, Mrs.
Burton Smith sighed, if the truth be known.
She had the instinct of match making.
And she saw clearly now that there was
nothing between the two; that if there had
been any philandering at Temple Rothley
neither of the young people had put out a
hand-or a heart-beyond recovery.
But this success of Wibberley's with
Mrs. Galantine had its consequences. After
the ladies had withdrawn he grew Just a
trife presumptuous. By ill luck, too, the
Hon. Vereker May had reached that period
of the evening when India-ass seen through
the glasses of his memory-was accustomed
to put on the rosiest tints, and the two,
facing one another, fell to debating on a
subject of which the returned civilian had
seen much and thought little, and the pri-
vate secretary had read more and thought
not at all. They were, therefore, about on
par as to information, and what the
Younger man lacked of obstinacy he made
up by readiness. 1t was in vain that nabob
clustered, asserted, contradicted = finally
grew sulky, silent, stertorious. Wibberley
pushed his little triumph, and soon, as we
shall see, paid dearly for it.
1t happened that he was the last to enter
the drawing room. The evening was chilly.
The ladies had grouped themselves about
the fire, protected from assault, so to speak,
by couple of gypsy tables bearing shaded
lamps. The incomers, one by one, passed
through these outworks but Wibberly.
He cast a glance of comic despair at Jo-
anna, who was by the fireplace in the heart
of the citadel; and then, resigning himself
to separation, he took low chair by one
of the tables, and began indolently to turn
over the books which lay on the latter.
There were but half dozen. He scanned
them all, and then his eyes fell on a bracelet
lying by them on the olive green plush-a
sketchy gold bracelet with one big boss
Joannas.
He looked up at the party-himself sit
ting a little aside, as we have said-with a
stealthy glance. There were none of them
facing his way. They were discussing a
photograph on the over mantel, photo
graph of children by Mendelssohn. He
stretched his hand out softly and covered
the bracelet He would take it for pat
tern and tomorrow Joanna should ransom
it, He tried, as his fingers closed ON It, tC
4 catch her eye. He would have liked to see
her face change and her color rise. i
would have added to the faint charm ht
felt in the boyish, foolish act he was com
mitting if she had been privy to it, yet un
able to prevent it.
But she would not look, and he wa.
obliged to be content with his plumber
He slid the gold trife deftly under tn,
table and clasped it round his arm-not ;
very lusty one-thrusting it as high as i
would go, that no movement of his shir
cuff might disclose it. He had keel
sense of the ridiculous, and would not 70
all the world that anyone besides Joann
should know of the act-that dodderin:
old fossil May, for instance, who, however
was safe enough, standing on the rug witt
his back turned, and his slow mind formin;
an opinion on the photograph.
Then-or within few minutes at an.
:. Wihherlev heoan IN find the mart,