Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1895-08-29

rSet1Es.s rs-sS = 80, ~ hind you; it's Reg
w FL gle Give, I'm posi-
My curiosity outran my manners.i I
turned.
''Miss Endcotl !" exclaimed. .It's
not three hours since arrived in Nice,
and my circle of acquaintances being
very small, to meet friend is pleas
ant surprise.
Miss Endcot blushed, prettlly, if
forcedly.
'Now, Mr.. Give, your chatting me.
Why, mother and 1 have not been
here week, yet we have made most
charming friends upon the strength of
your mutual acquaintance.
'Indeed !" | replied. ''Are they
still at Nice?"
"Oh, yes, but not at this hotel"
"Their names?"
''The Comtesse d'Angierc and her
friend Madame Fleuvre"
"The Comtesse d'Angiere!" I re-
peated. "Of course l met her once OF
twice in London soon after her mar
riage to the Comte. A slim woman,
with fair HAIR, aquiline nose and
laughing blue eyes. Oh, yes, remem-
Der her we'll.
Miss Endcot laughed merrily.
Fashions change, Mr.. Give" she
said, holding up one finger playfully,
"and the color of women's hair and
even the shape of women's noses are
apt to change with them, aren't they,
mother? But let me warn you, Mr..
Give, MOTTO inquire after the Comte
d'Angiere. He is dead. The Comtesse
makes most charming widow, don't
she, mother?"
Something in the last sentence exas-
perated me. The Briton in me resent
ed the allusion to the charms of the
widow so directly upon the announce
ment of the poor Comte's deasn, and,
moreover, it contained an insinuation
that within themeshes of those charms
might easily become entangled.
Now. it was less than year since Miss
Iris Maypel and her pseudo auntie
had 80 nearly ensnared me iuto their
marriage trap, and women of uuce1-
tain social status no longer attracted
me. felt that Mrs. and Miss End
cot, with all the formers American
isms and all the latter's smartness and
banter were more agreeable and emil
nently safer companions than Iris
Maypel & Co. SO impressed was
with that truth that gallantly stuck
to the Endcots all that evening for
fear of meeting the Comtesse and
being carried off by her.
The next morning found me in the
game mood, though how much the
long tetea-tete l had enjoyed with
Bertha Endcot overnight contributed
to it l know not. Anyway, L proposed
O ramble, and was not dissatisfied to
hear that Mrs. Endcot contemplated
sitting in the veranda with d novel.
Bertha and l thereupon started for a
scramble to the heights at the back
of the town.
AS we left the hotel a telegram was
put into my hand.
Now, kilograms at homo are too
common even to destroy your lethar-
gy, but kilograms received in Cont.
mental town within twenty-four hours
OF your arrival, of which you have ap-
pIised nobody, are apt to startle you.
Bertha saw my surprise and began
to chaff me. l opened the telegram
and read:
81. and A. are at Nice. Beware =
never knew how long it took me
to recover myself and laugh at the
warning l had received, but I know
that Bertha Endcot and ! wore we'll
out from the town and at loast three
hundred feet above the sea level.
Iapologized profusely for my alb
sence of mind.
"Oh, don't apologize" replied
Bertha. eff she cannot be with you
she should at least be entitled to oc
cupy your thoughts for an hour or SO. ;
you're wrong, Miss Bertha" 1 re.
| turned. "And here's the proof"
handel her the telegram.
you're as puzzled as I was at first, ;
/ added, noting the contraction OF hel
eyebrows. "And as it is no secret
but only a story against myself, 1 will
explain it"
l thought I heard sigh of relief a'
sho returned the telegram.
"This must come from my old dfrient
Bob Pallant," l continued, "since no.
body but heat least, nobody in Lon
dcn-knows my probable whereabouts
l have been wandering now for 81,
months and all on account OF the 1.
and A. he mentions. -
Bertha nodded, but did not inter
rupt
"The /. stands for Iris-NIiss Iri
Maypel-anG A. for Auntie. 1t hap
| pened year ago. Bob Pallant and
were both in love with Iris, who wa
in London ostensibly for the benefi
| of the season and in charge of hel