The Guthrie daily leader. [volume] (Guthrie, Okla.) 1893-1996, 1905-11-09

tributed whatever success the dinner
achieved. and it was no small measure.
Yet thcre was nothing startling about
The affair Monty had decided to begin
conservatiyely He did the conven-
tional thing, but he did II well. He add
ed touch or two Of luxury. the faint
est aroma of splendor Pettinglll had
designed the curlously wayward Ia
Bile, with its comfortable atmosphere
of companionship. and arranged its
decoration OF great lavender orchids
and lacy butterfly festoons Of white
ones touched with yellow. He had
wanted to use dahlias in their many
,ich shades, from pale yellow to
orange and deep red, but Monty held
out for orchids. II was the artist, too
who had found in a rare and happy
moment the massive gold candelabra-
ancient things of a more luxurious
age-and their opalescent shades
Against his advice the service. too, was
of gold-"rank vulgarlty," he called it.
with its rich meaningless oruamenta-
ton But here Monty was obdurate.
He insisted that be liked the color and
that porcelain had no character. Mrs.
Dan only prevented a quarrel by sug-
gesting that several courses should be
served upon Sevres.
Pettlngirs scheme for lighting the
room was particularly happy. For the
benefit OF his walls and the four love.
ly Monets which Monty had purchased
at his instigation he had designed a
ceiling screen of heavy rich glass in
tones Of white that grew into yellow
and dull green. 1t served to conceal
the lights in the daytime, aud at night
the glare of electricity was immensely
softened and made harmonious by
passing through it, 1t gave a note OF
quiet to the picture which caused
even these men and women, who had
Deen here and there and seen many
things. to draw IN their breath sharply.
Altogether the effect manifestly made
an impression.
Such an environment had its inhu-
enoe upon the company 1t went far
toward making the dinner a success
From far IA the distance came the
softened strains OF Hungarian music,
and never had the little band played
the "Valse Amoureuse" and the "Nalse
Bleue" with the spirit It Tut into them
that night Yet the soft clamor In the
dining room insistently ignored the
emotion of the music. Monty, bored
as he was between the two most i'm
portant dowagers at the feast, woiider-
ed diinly what invisible part it played
In making things go He - vagrant
fapcy that without 1t there would have
been no zest for talk, no noisy competi-
| tion to overcome no hurdles to leap
AS It was, the talk certainly went well
and Mrs Dan Inspected the result Of
her work from dime TO time with smil
ing satisfaction From across the ta-
/ bic she heard Colonel Drew's voice;
Brewster evidently objects to a long
siege lie is planning to carry us by
assault"
Mrs. Dan turned to subway Smith,
who was at her rlght-the latest adj.
dition to her menagerie. what is
this friend of yours" she asked. Il
have never seen such complex sim
pliclty. This new plaything has no real
charm for him. lie is breaking it 70
find out what it is made Of, and some
thing will happen when he discovers
the sawdust"
"Oh, don't worry about him" said
Subway easily. "Monty's at least a
good sportsman. He won't complain,
whatever happens. Hell accept the
reckoning and pay the piper"
! 1t was ouly toward the end Of the
evening that Monty found his reward
in moment with Barbara Drew. lie
stood before her, squaring his shoul
ders belligerently to keep away in
truders. and she smiled up at him in
that bewiderlng fashion of hers. But
it was only for an instant, and then
cans terrifying din from the dining
room, followed by the clamor of crash
ing glass. The guests tried for a mo
ment 10 be courteously oblvious but
the noise was so startling that such
politeness became farcical The host
with little laugh went down the
hall 1t was the beautiful screen near
the ceiling that had fallen A thou
sand pieces OF shattered glass covered
the place The table was a sickening
heap Of crushed orchids and sputier-
ing candles Frightened servants rush
ed into the room from one side just as
Brewster entered from the other. Stu
pefaction halted them After the first.
pulseless moment of horror exclama-
tions OF dismay went up on all sides.
For Monty Brewster the first sensa-
tlon OF regret Sas followed by a dia-
bolical sense Of Joy.
Thank the Lord" he said softly in
the hush.
The look of surprise he encountered
in the faces OF his guests brought him
up with n jerk
THAT 1t didn't happen while we were
dining" he added, with serene thank
fulness. And his nonchalance scored
for him IN the idle game he was playing
CHAPTER VII.
m r. BREWsTERS butler was
M surprised and annoyed For
Xl the arst time in his omcial
4 ~