Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1896-11-26

ton, the teal roasted to a turn. family
under its crisp brown skin and served
with no other sauce than lemon and
Nepaul pepper; chocolate pudding,
followed by oranges, bananas and
mangoes.
Charming little dinner. Old gen.
tleman must shell out literally for
housekeeping" the young Ssotch war
Office clerk thought, for he knew not
how very little dishes such as he had
dined on cost. He thought the little
household charming, too, and laid him
self out to please the old master and
rover
He had gained slight insight into
the character of the latter while she
was entertaining him In the drawing
room previous to Capt. Kelly's appear
anee.
Il have heard that papa has told
you about the meteor-which turns
out to have been fireworks at the pal
ace?" she began, as soon as she had
sha, IN hands with him.
Capt. Kelly spoke to me this morn
ing about the strange appearance he
Witnessed in the sky last night" Ora
ham replied, guardedly and gravely.
And you knew about the fireworks
when he spoke to you of the meteor"
Graham smiled aequiescence.
sWhy didn't you tell him at once
what it was that caused the me-the
appearance in the sky? You ought TO
have told him as you knew, and you
did know, and he's far, far too good to
be fooled by any one, she said, re-
proachfully
Miss Laugherne! How can you inn
agine"
Hush! He's coming You must out
with it at once about the fireworks!
He shall not go on thinking the mete-
or was real, and you silent"
So Sholto Graham, though he thought
it extremely unimportant, freed his
hosts mind in minute or two from
the mists Of misapprehension through
which the latter was cropping after the
meteor.
Have | been good and obedient?"
Shoto Graham whispered to his hostess
as he took her into the dining-room.
you ave been moderately good now,
the goodness is nothing in comparison
with the badness which made you
promise to use his notes as basis for
your scientific paper
you know how to be very severe.
Do relent. If hadn't taken that met
cor under my protection this morning
| should not be here now"
Are you glad that you're here
now?"
Can you ask? am more than
glad
"Why?'
Because you are here!" he whis-
pered, as he bent down sideways to
pat a blond bland dachshund, who
seemed to be travelling on his knees,
so beneficently had breeding bent his
legs.
Bite him, Fritz. he doesn't mean it
ANY more than he did about the notes
about the meteor" Patrice laughed
out lightly as She too, bent down to
give a welcoming pat to Fritz. That
Mn Graham's hand touched hers for
q moment must have been an accident,
she was sure. She forgaye him the in
advertent contact, because he had been
so promptly obedient in promising to
disabuse Capt. Kelly's mind about the
cherished meteor. After all the deceit
in the matter had been harmless and
pardonable His motive for making
believe to be interestd in the notes con-
corning meteor, which he knew all
the time was not meteor but only
fireworks, was mixture of kindly toll
erance for Capt. Kelly's fad and de-
vice to see more of herself.
She took this view of the matter and
forgave him very fully.
If there was one thing more than
another on which Capt. Kelly prided
himself it was upon the way in which
lie had kept himself, his heart, mind
and sympathies, with all the advances
the world was making hour by hour,
green. He had taken TO Shclto Graham,
the promising, wide-awaks young mag
azinist, at first because Graham looked
every inch soldier, and afterward be-
cause Graham affably kept him up to
date with the news of the world in a
nutshell every evening. when they
travelled underground from Charing
Cross down to Baywater. In an airy
sketchy way Sholto Graham had given
the eXcitable, easily impressed old
naval man to understand that he (Gra
haml was not only ION the press" but
that he was a power thereon. In the
equally airy and sketchy way Capt.
Kelly had Haunted this impression be-
fore the mental eyes Of his pretty step
daughter.
Mark my words, Patrice, Graham
holds pen that may strengthen a
dynasty or shatter a ministry" Capt.
Kelly observed TO Patrice more than
once. And Patrice, who cared little for
dynasties. less for ministries, but
already for Sholto Graham,
replied:
If thought as much of him as you