Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1902-04-11

toFS nepneWs answered., ceTe-
moniously.
And what sort of an encounter is
II you've been having with him7 Not
an actual battle, suppose? Or you
would look even worse than you do"
Now, was very much nettled by
this speech, betraying as It did the
ridiculous admiration women have
for mere inches in man. dare say
my vexation was easy to be seen.
II am quite aware" said 1, "that
I'm not six feet high, and I'm quite
ready to believe that's great dis.
advantage on my part. But, at any
rate. haven't got the face of
criminal, and don't look and behave
as II I had a crime on my mind"
There was no doubt that Miss At
kinson was q little disturbed by my
remarks. A troubled look came into
| her own face, and it was few mo-
ments before she answered. Then
she said:
II don't know why it's always
thought the proper thing to associ-
ate criminal instincts with thick,
black eyebrows. If Mr.. Mullion had
light hair and no eyebrows to speak
of, I suppose you would forgive him
his height"
Now, my hair is light, and I am
not particularly strong in eyebrows;
therefore this remark irritated me
again.
Nobody would have troubled his
head about young Mullion's appear
ance," said I, ''if his behavior did not
correspond SO we'll with it. He sneaks
and skulks about, and seems to be
always on the watch; of course, it may
be only a charming idiosyncracy, but
it is one that nobody admires but you,
Miss Atkinson. dare say the fellow
has talked you round"
did not mean to be rude, but I dare
say my irritation made my manner a
little more contemptuous than it ought
to have been. Pretty Miss Atkinson
answered, very dryly:
talked me over, has he? He's man
aged it with very few words, then; the
great difficulty find in him is to make
him open his mouth at ALL"
Nobody but you wants him to-" I
retorted, savagely.
OF course, felt at once that I had
gone much further than had any right
to do. was sorry, and ashamed Of
myself, but did not know quite how
to draw back or to make amends; and
while was debating the matter she
spoke again. And it made me mad to
notice a tone of gentleness and sympa-
thy in her voice which would have
given anything to have called forth my
self
81 don't know that feel any pas
sionate desire to hear young Mr. Null
lion make long speeches." she said. at
last, looking steadily out at the sea,
"but / confess it seems to me there is
something more interesting about him
than there is about the generality of
men of his age; if he doesn't talk much.
he looks as if he thought great>dea.
and he looks unhappy and harassed.
Besides that, he is certainly a man of
deep and strong feelings, as you would
see if you happened to talk to him
about his uncle"
"Well.it wouldn't be natural for him
not to like the Doctor" retorted,
grudgingly, "when the old mans been
more than father to him."
( "Still, you don't meet with such graf
itude as his every day." replied the
girl. quietly.
"And I very much doubt the value Of
the quality if it's there" replied I, hot
". "And my advice to the doctor
would be to get rid both Of the graft
tude and affection of. his nephew as
quickly as possible
Now I'm sure don't know why I
let my tongue run on like this. But
this pretty girls praises Of man
whose behavior certainly laid him open
to unpleasant suspicious irritated me
out OF all prudence and almost out Of
all courtesy. I was turning to leave
her abruptly when Dr. Mullion's hands
were laid on my shoulders and his
CHEEKY voice asked, pleasantly:
Anything wrong? You seem ex-
cited, my lad. You mustn't get ex-
cited. You're not strong enough to al
low yourself such relaxations."
AAoSSo . Woss as 90 w III SldSb a
little later, quite haggard from the
strength OF my feelings
':Where's my boy?" he asked, min
ute after. looking round him as he
spoke.
II left him in the smoking-room a
minute ago." said I, dryly. "gIaring at
me like tiger because interrupted
him over the reading Of book"
Book! I'm glad to hearit," said the
doctor, heartily. "If he would take
course of solid and improving liter
allure II would do him all the good in
the world. That's the fault of you
young men nowadays, thai you have no
heart for study, no mind for anything
but the newspaper, and often the
sporting newspaper at that"
I did not tell the old gentlemen my
suspicious as to the quality Of the lit
erature his nephew was studying; in
deed, I hardly know what my suspi-
cions were myself. But became seized
with the notion that must at all haz-
ards find out what book it was that
had held my bettle-browed friend 30
spellbound.
So own that 1 did something wholly
unjustifable. went back to the smok-
ing-room, where found Dick Mullion
no longer reading, but talking to q
couple OF other men; or, rather, they