The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1904-04-10

not having very good time up there,
are your
'"No,9 said 1syl looking at tho sap.
F1 i wns a low Dutch, trick 10 cut you
ja,,. 4i,,,a this.n he went on emphatlcally.
I. tswouldn't stand for ~
f,,tvhat can do?" she asked. II cam
tata nv dolls and 60 home. Really, its
nwftilly good Of you to come up here and
.vr,nathize. Or course, though. must
ndmit that .t's an inexcusabie impcrtl-
nnnce.5 / don. even know YOU"
@l,,rhen IL Is the proper time to get ac-
uuainted,p said the unseen.
l S-Uyyell, YOU might staya little while and
am,lse me, IL tYoti have nothing else to
do, she suggested.
8.All right he assented, "Of course, /
can't do many parlor tricks or palnstry
stunts, standing on a barrel behind the
arras, but$if there Is any witchery in the
human baritone to charm an ostracized
princess. Just let me know, and I'm your
nightingale. Shall I MARBLE few low
notes I'm just out OF conundrums"
ooh, just talk and amuse me- said
1syl. ,il.
SPELLING reminds me OFF, funny thing I
ran across once It's a true tory. Shall
I sing YOU a song of the long ago?"
"If you can tell It In the English Ian.
, Euage. do" said 1syl. and she prepared
to listen. looking penslvely over the as
sembly.
"Walt till i change my feet" was the
reply, and he proceeded with
TIL p STORY OF THE MYSTERIOUS
STRANGER, n YO-sTEPs WILLIE.
The newsiest elopment In San Fran
cisco neverlhappened. So the only reason I
never happened. So the only reason I
know anything about IT. is because l pat
ronize the tonsorial parors Of William j.
Riddle, B. 81, which initials stand for
degree OF bachelor OF shaving. as con-
ferred by the BARRIERS College on Trird
Street.
A barber has to talk; perhaps because
the comic weeklles have committed him to
the custom, and perhaps because his
trade Is as near, being a feminine accom-
plishment as a man ofsspirt will under
take. Any way, w. j. Riddle Is no. ex-
ception to the rule. and this is the cause
! OF his occasionally varying his ordinary
nickname Of Two-Step Willie with that
OF Gabby Bill. The brief but joyous his.
tory of his fatal plunge into the society
of San Francjsco's ''40y'3win explain both
aliases. w j. Is rather proud Of the
tale now, and he told It to me with al
the reish that a maiden aunt has In mar
rating the story Of her trip to Paris ant
Monte Carlo. This is the yarn Q Queen!
About ten years ago the real thing II
San Francisco's 8, swell drag was Plerpoin
Browning, and unless every festive func
ton had his name blown In the bottle |
didn't write up for more than two o.
~ liyoe To- Ia n NJ thf
Wave He was only a marine under
writer's clerk before he graduated intt
steering the haut ton and leading cotil
Ions, and all of this happened at abou
the time he was in the transition state.
t'Browny." as they used TO call hin
when they wanted his help, was all things
to all women. He was a good tame cat
when you needed a seat filled In YOU
theatre box. he could everlasting decorate
a dinner table and tell you how to drapt
fish nets, he could invent freak cotillor
stunts to beat the trolley, and he kne"
down to four places of decimals Just who
twas In a town where most illionaires
ancestors, half generation back. are
washwomen or terriers. 2 The buds sale
he was "just lovely" the married womer
said he was $50 interesting" and he wa!
solid with the dowagers. He had a free
annual pass everywhere worth going. HI
was a universal favorite" and ever "tht
| life OF the party. What was more t
the point with the swells was tina
Browny was Of a good. rich, ripe, tulc,
Southern family himself, II he was an un
derwriter's clerk, and he had grandfather
to throw at the birds.
The consequence was, he soon became
kind Of social dictator and blue book eX
pert. He could make out a list Of invi
tations for a reception that required M
I astericks or footnotes to explain why. :
! debutante didn't dare to come out til
her old man had squared "Browny' AM
| got his sanction; or If she did she sool
| found herself with the wildfowers. No
| body ever quite knew how he managed
| to wire the town so we'll, but II you Gu
"Browny" you cut live wire and wer
Hs. I .Hr j III gHg6g al u 10