The Florence daily tribune. (Florence, Colo.) 1898-1903, 1898-05-14

uoyer saw anything like it before, and
I've been aboard scores of yachts in my
time"
There is but one Beautiful White
Devil. said with serio comic earnest
ness
"Curios, china, skins, divans, musical
instruments, grand plane evea, and,
by Jovo, inlaid with tortoise shell and
lapis lnsuli It's wonderful. it's superb
And now want to sec tho woman who
owns il all.
Steady" whispered. IF 1 mis-
take not, here she comes"
As / spoke the curtains at the other
end of tho cabin were parted by tiny
hand, and Alio, dressed entirely in
black, stood before us, Tho color of her
costume showed Off tao superb beauty
of her complexion and hair, while its
making exhibited her matchloss figure
to perfection. She stood for q moment
In the doorway and thon advanced to.
ward us with that wonderful floating
grace which always characterized hor,
giving me her little hand first and then
turning toward her other guests
To the lieutenant she bowed and snid,
! with smile;
Sir, you must forgive my not hav.
Ing personally welcomed you to my
boat but for reasons which would not
interest You am not always able to do
as much rs l could wish. However, l
hope my officers have taken every caro-
of You.
She shook bands with the handsome
little midshipman as she spoke, and
while she was doing so l had time TO
steal look at tho first lieutonant's face
The astonishment saw depicted there
almost caused me to laugh. He had been
amazed ut the beauty of the cabin, hut
that was nothing compared with the
admiration he betrayed for tho Beauti-
full White Devil herself. He murmurcd
confused but not altogether inappro-
pirate reply to her last speech, and then
wo sat down to dinner Her companion,
learned on inquiry, was suffering from
severe headache and had elected to
dine in her own cabin.
The dinner was in the chefs best
style, and its cooking, serving and va.
riety, combined with the beauty and
value of the table decorations, evidont-
ly completed the effect upon the officer
that the cabin had begun. Allie herself
was in excellent spirits and talked with
the wit and cleverness of woman who
has perfected an originally liberal edu-
cation by continual and varied study Of
the world and its Inhabitants BY tho
time the meal was ended and we had
hidden her good night the lieutenant
was in maze Of enchantment
We went on deck together, and once
there, out of earshot of the cabin, his
enthusiasm broke loose. / will spare
you, however, recital Of all the ex-
travagunt things he said. Let it suffice
that ! gathered enough to feel sure that
when he got back to Hongkong he would
add to rather than detract from the
number of stories already in circulation
about the too famous Beautiful White
Devil. One promise, however, l took
care to extract from both officers, and
that was not to mention my name in
connection with the yacht ON their re-
turn to civilization. I made the excuse
that If such thing got known it might
do me serious harm in the practice OF
my profession, and both men readily gave
me their words that they would not
breathe a syllable on the subject
Their stay with us. however was not
to be of as long duration as we had ex-
pected, for early next morning we sight
ed a small brigantine, who, on being
hafied, stated that she was bound for
Hongkong. Passages for the officers and
their men were soon arranged, and,
within an hour of picking her up she
had sent boat, we had hidden our naval
visitors goodby and were standing on
our fictitious course again. AS soon,
however. Us they were out of sight the
helm was put up and we were making
bee line back to tho settlement.
That evening us 1 was pacing the
deck, smoking my cigar and wondering
when the time would come for me to
say farewell, heard light footstep be-
hind me and next moment Allie came to
my side. We paced the deck for a little
while, talking commonplaces about the
beauty of the night, the speed of her
vessel, and the visit of the man of wars
men; then she drew me to the stern and
said;
''Do you remember your first night
on board this boat. when we discussed
the sea and the poets who have written
of herr"