The Union times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1894-1918, 1905-09-08

conservatively. He did the conven.
tional thing, but he did 1t we'll He add.
ed n touch or two OF luxury, the faint
est aroma Of splendor. Pettingill had
/ designed the curiously wayward ta-
bic. with it's comfortable atmosphere
OF companionship, and arranged its
decoration Of great lavender orchids
and lacy butterfly fcstoons Of white
ones touched with yellow. He had
wanted to use dahlias in their many
rich shades, from pale yellow to
orange and deep red, but Monty held
out for orchids. 1t was the artist, too,
who had found In rare and happy
moment the massive gold candelabra-
ancient things Of n more luxurious
ngc-and their opalcscent shades.
Against his advice the service, too, was
OF gold-"rank vulgarlty." he called it,
with Its rich meaningless ornamental
tlon. But here Monty was obdurate.
lie insisted that he liked the color and
that porcelain had 10 character. Mrs.
Dan only prevented a quarrel by sug-
costing that several courses should be
served upon Sevres.
Pettingilrs 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 n
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, and at night
the glare OF electricity was immensely
softened and made harmonious by
passing through 1t. 1t gave a note of
quiet to the picture which caused
even these men and women, who had
been here and there and seen many
things, to draw in their breath sharply.
Altogether the effect manifestIy made
al impression.
Such an environment had its influ
ence upon the company. 1t went fur
toward making the dinner success.
From FAR In the distance came the
softened strains Of Hungarian music,
and never had the little band played
the "Valse Amoureuse" and the "yalse
Bleue' with the spirit it put into them
that night. Yet the soft clamor In the
dining room insistently ignored the
emotion Of the music. Monty, bored
rs lie was between the two most i'm.
ed dImly what invisible part 1t played
In making things 90. He had n vagrant
fancy that without 1t there would have
been no xest for talk, no noisy competi-
tion to overcome. no hurdles to leap.
AS 1t was. the talk certainly went we'll.
and Mrs. Dan inspected the result Of
her work from time to time with smil-
ing satisfaction. From across the ta-
BILE she heard Colonel Drew's voice:
brewster evidently objects to long
siege. He is planning to carry us by
assault"
Mrs. Dan turned to Subway Smith,
who was ut her rlght-the latest ad-
dition to her menagerie. "What Is
this friend Of yoursf" she asked. II
have never seen such complex SIM
plicity. This new plaything has no real
charm for him. He is breaking it to
find out what it is made Of, and some
thing will happen when he discovers
the sawdust."
ooh, don't worry about him." said
Subway easily. 'Monty's at least n
good sportsman. He won't complain,
whatever happens. He'll accept the
reckoning anu pay the piper"
1t was only toward the end Of the
evening that Monty found his reward
In a moment with Barbara Drew. He
stood before her. squaring his shoul-
ders belligerently to keep away In
truders, and she smiled up at him in
that bewildering fashion Of hers. But
1t was only for an instant, and then
came a terrifying din from the dining
room, followed by the clamor Of crash
ing glass. The guests tried for mo-
ment to be courteously oblivious, 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 ana sputter-
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.
ton Of regret was followed by dia-
bolical sense Of Joy.
THANK the Lordw he said softly in
the hush.
The look Of surprise he encountered
in the faces of his guests brought him
up With 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.
n n r. BREwSTER'S butler was
nu surprised and annoyed. FOL
the FIRST time in his official
y career he had unbent 30 far