Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1900-11-22
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WIN q purse wei nllcu ana ncdIl
well tried.
o, each worthy lover!
Il. b. Browning.
The warm, fragrant summer night
had closed down with a long line Of
silver ripping across the lake and
glitter of stars in the purple sky. But
the gay crowd in the great dance pavil-
ion of the most fashionable summer re.
sort on the Michigan coast apparently
cared little for the external loneliness
encompassing them.
The music rose and fell, quite drown
ing the gentle FLASHING of the waters
on the beach. The place was ablaze
with electricity. Young women in the
airiest of summer gowns, men in the
rigid monotony of masculine attire,
whirled and circled and revolved in the
Kaleidoscope convolutions of two
step" and waltz.
Perhaps of them all not one expert
enced the same fresh and enthusiastic
enjoyment that flushed rose-pink the
soft cheeks of lisa Nerden. She was
only Is. She had just graduated. She
had not yet been introduced in the
world OF leisure and of pleasure. But
already she was sought, flattered, ad-
mired.
Jack Lindsay, leaning against a pill
| lar and following with gloomy eyes Of
| jealous concentration the bewitching
| young figure in the girlish, beribboned
! gown, felt his heart grow hot with
wrath toward the man with whom she
was dancing.
Halo, Hamlet" cried hearty
voice A hand came down on his
shoulder with a friendly slap. Been
seeing your fathers spirit this even
ing? You look as though you had"
Lindsay Strengthened up, turned,
! looked into the ugly, cheerful face of
| lisa Verden's brother
See here, Sam-this things a
deuced shame!"
"Comrade of my boyhood days
what thing"
lisa is dancing with that-that cad
/ Second time tonight"
mo? Is she?" The twinkle went
out of Sans merry little eyes. and he
/ looked anXiously around the room
Sure enough"
! For just then lisa floated by them a
bewildering vision of youth and beau
| ty. Her dress of silver gauze was cut
to show the full throat-the slender,
! half-bared arms. There was a love-
knot of baby-blue ribbon at her bosom
and a cluster of field daisies in her
/ brown hair She nodded to her broth
er and Jack Lindsay-her red lips
smiling, her eyes like blue stars. Then
she was swept away in the firm guild
ing grasp of the best dancer and most
disliked man at the hotel
IF she only knew the kind of a chap
he is" groaned Lindsay. Hes moth
ing but an adventurer-a card sharper
He has boosted that he would marry
the daughter of a millionaire. | know
two rich girls who have thrown him
over"
Hes widower, isn't he?"
Yes. Gambled his wife's money and
broke her heart in the bargain. Tell
you what, we've got to think up some
scheme to stop this intimacy"
Bet your life said Sam. He
Strengthened his big, awkward body
and looked determined. He was fond
of his innocent little sister-proud Of
her. too.
Once ont of the heated, glaring hail.
they walked towards the lake, went
down the flight of steps leading to the
beach. paced there side by side in the
pleasant silence possible only between
close and tried friends.
! Guess who's here-came to-day"
said Jack Lindsay at last. Carmen"
| Carmen? Who's Garment"
Don't you remember that handsome
cashier in the Clark street restaurant
when you and | We're cubs clerking in
the Neutrality-suspicious. your father
made his pile in wheat?"
"Of course | do. The Castilian beau
| ty. The one for sake of whose smile
We ate steaks like shoe leather and
underdone pie, Six or seven years ago
isn't it? And she's here. Did you
speak to the old girl? Has any one
| left her a fortune?'
Il spoke to her-yes. She's mighty
| handsome yet. Rouges, though. She
used not need to do that. She's at the
same old place-same old work. She
was rather embarrassed at meeting me.
Asked me not to say anything about
the cashier business. Said she had
always wanted to get in with a swell
crowd and fly as high as the best Of
them. Think of 1t! She's been saving
for four years-saving on her beggarly
salary-to buy clothes and make a
splurge, She says she has three
trunks! Poor soul" Lindsay's aristo-
cratic face was gentle with compassion
! in the moonlight. The shabby little
ambition was pathetic as she told it,"
"She needn't fear We'll blab. I'll see
she has a rafting good time. Sam
| Verden had a heart OF gold. Let's
give the impression that she's a for
eigner of position. Let's pretend-O,
] say, Jack, I've got 1t! By lingo, I've
got 1t now"
lie stopped short, chuckling with de-
! light. He cut a pigeon wing with ele-
phantine grace. II his proportions
were less ponderous he might have at
tempted to stand on his head.
"Jack-listen" He ratified OFF his
plan, doubling up in ecstatic convul-
sions, shaking with laughter She's
game, She's just the girl for it! She
will have all the attention she Graves,
and II the festive scamp who is max
ing love to lisa doesn't walk into the