Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-17
From Jack Winston to Lord Lane.
TOULOUSE December rs.

Dear Monte:
l can't let you alone, you see. I must I'M
| burden myself. or something will happen
| something apoplectic. If l have sinned, L
am punished and far l see the
worst still stretches before me in long
vista. 1t was good of you to scrawl off
| that second letter, at midnight an after
thought. 1t was forwarded, and has just
reached me here, by grand good luck.
You say l would do better to make a
| clean breast of 1t; but that's easier sad
| than done. You're not here and you can t
see the lie of the land l can. I'll eX-
| plain the position TO you, from my point of
view, for 1 think you don't quite under
| stand it.
| Not to mince matters. l am fraud. and
Miss Randolph is the sort of girl to resent
being imposed upon. If this Payne, who
| rejoices in the name of Jimmy, should find
out the truth about me and tell her tomor-
row, she would be exceedingly angry, as she
would have a right to be, and would.
| think find it hard to forgive me. 1t Is be-
cause 1 have felt this instinctively that
1 have let things slide. 1 have
drifted down tine t stream of eh hG'r
like Goethe's hero Stay, thou art
fair" though too often the thought would
present itself that this could not go on
forever. Besides. there were drawbacks,
big or little according to my mood. 1 have
always kept it before myself, more or less,
that some day Miss Randolph would dis
pensc with me and my car in the natural
course of affairs, even If the event were
not hastened by some contretemps or other;
and that il might then be as difficult to ad-
Just matters as it is now. But in truth
l hope it won't be SO. What aim to do
| is to make myself so indispensable to her
| as Brown that she can't bring herself to
get on without me as Jack Winston ]
| haven't done that yet, though it isn't for
| lack of trying: therefore, I'm not ready for
the crisis and therefore, I'm afraid of
! Payne. Yes, afraid" that's the word.
And my one consolation is that he's equally
afraid of me.
Your ordinary habitual liar can bear up If
he's found out and laugh 1t off somehow,
but your snob and boaster can't. This man
could hardly survive being stripped OF his
dukes and earls, with which he's covered
his untitled nakednesS with a mantle, Tor
the eyes of Miss Randolph In this natura.
phenomenon lies my chance OF gaming tine'
and other things that want .
You would have had some pure enjoyment
out of today If you had been the NTH per-
son on my Napier. If you could have heard
Aunt Mary (who, in common with a Ger.
tain type of American, worships ute ana
rolls it on her tongue as If II were a plov.
er's egg out of season., asking Jimmy
questions about his grand Enghsh 1llehds.
knowing that my cold and venomous eye
was upon him, and writhing under 1t, he
had to answer her questions. What sort
of looking man is the Duke or burIofd,
Jimmy? Did you ever stay at any OF ms
country places? Is 1t true that ne o1teh en-
ed to house party to meet the KING anu
queen?" ho,r+
to pity him: but my interests Sor az s'I the
serene pleasure from the situation that
YOU might have enjoyed as an lnltiateo
outsider. But with my attempted sxpii, ia,
lions and my chortlings I've depressed TOO
much. and I'll get back to "Hecuba.
We started from the 'Gassion. MISS
Randolph announced that she would orlVe
at first. This was l judged, ;,x sop t ~. seat
of honor beside her, and was reiegateo
to the tonneau with Aunt Mary and the
other impedimenta. Ny day was over:
Miss Kedison considers 1t mira Dig. TO
converse with a servant. though she has
haep content often enough to use me as
euide hook. She doesn't like sitting In
front, so she was obliged to put up WIN
NV nhysical nearness, but she took pans 10
emphasize her souls remoteness thlnk
her opinion of me has been for some tune
that 1 am "too big for my boots ana l.
was not surprised to learn ,hat !. w ;n,,,teS
10 ioin the party. No doubt she thought
n would put me in my proper piace.
and SO 1t has. Besides, we hau not
been long en- route "ne aau IN them
selves that Jimmy" is a great 1aVorlte
With her. so great that she would not on
iect to becoming his aunt py mar Us.
They are warm friends. ana IL ne L." 81,
a
judicial to me, thefe' io"i' NV
we had not been gone long from Eau De-
fore Miss Randolph glanced round a. iile.
q rsky thing to do when you re uiiNi,te'
- Tho road was straight and clear as 1ar
as the eve could see. was hail III noPe'
she would request me to drive; put ~. no' SO SO
.pv the-way. Brown" said she' TOT
GOT TO ask didn't l see you at 'he soii
club the other day. .o,,a,,t
From the form of the question couluii I
al, u,hether Payne had played the sneak
YEN ~ nov could / guess from her face, as
VI VI, Ia tnrned to business again. AS TOT
i,;r, he had ignored me haughtily since the
start. ,ho, T nronntly
rrotested regardless of grammar ana nov
- T wasn't in for an explosion Wmcn
would blow poor poor, br he admitted S there"
81 sunpose not" she answered over her
shoulder But there was man very IKE
Won when my friends took me-ahd VAIN
ing with Mr. Payne. too ~. .,
.Now for it," thought l. But me. .nen
Jimmy's first words reassureo me .,, 10
T don't know all the STRANGERS one taiks 10
Of a club" he replied in haste anu .nen'
nv nav of changing the subject the oonna
=. osIed Miss Randolph II sne wouloii :
Let him drive Its over huh9reo nls1
to toulouse and you'll want nrM m na inot
for the days are snort NC ''"N
~ lost my head, and made Dig
,,istake I felt couldn't stand sittIne sun
while he tried experiments win my - Ga,,
wa olnost before knew what was oolng
hirrtad out BEG pardon, miss out are
piu. ,ra this gentleman understands driv-
;;na Napier? Ny master expected mat L
,rs s RI drive his car when he let 1t out,
Such look of reproach as the Goddess
.lav oya6 hat xx-l,{l e