, 1905-11-22

Yiacing assertions that reports were ri
diculously exaggerated the troubled ex-
preston In the girl S eyes disappeared.
Il must seem a fool" groaned Mon
ty as he left the house after one of
these explanatory trials. .but what
will she think of me toward the end of
the year when l am really in harness?'
He found ii hard to control the desire
to be straight with Peggy and tell her
the story of his mac race In pursuit of
poverty.
Preparations for the ball went on
steadily, and in il dull winter it had
its color value for society. 1t was to
be a Spanish costume ball, and at
many tea tables the talk of it was Il
godsend. Sarcastic as it frequently
was on the question of Monty's extray-
aganee, there was a splendor about the
.Aladdin-like entertainment which had
Il charm. Beneath the outward disap-
proyal there was a secret admiration
of the superb nerve of the man. And
there was little reluctance to help HIN
in the wild career he had chosen. L
was so easy to go with him to the edge
of the preciplce and let him take the
plunge alone. Only the echo of the
criticism reached Brewster, for he had
sileneed Harrison with work and Pet
tingill with opportunities. 1t troubled
him little, as he was engaged in iotting
down items that swelled the profit side
of his ledger account enormously. The
ball was bound to give him a good lead
in the race once more despite the
heavy handicap the Stock Exchange
had imposed. The Little Sons took
off their coats and helped Pettingill in
the work Of preparation. He found
them quite superfluous, for their iGeai
never agreed. and each man had Il VIZ
Of preferring his w suggestion. =
Brew ter's ch3grin, they wore unite !
In the effort to curb his eXtrayag tnce.
Hell be giving automobiles and
ropes of pearls for favors if We don't
stop him." said Subway Smith after
Monty had ordered Il vintage cham
payne to I've eerved during the entire
evening. Give them two glasses first.
If you like, and then they won't mina
. 10y nav N+tANA NV 10 NHS
night
Monty is plain dotty," chlmed in
Bragdon. land the pace is beginning to
tell on him.
As n matter of fact the pace was be
ginning to tell on Brewster. Work and
worry were plainly having an effect on
his health. His color was bad, his
eyes were losing their luster, and there
was a listlessness in his actions that
ever determined effort could not con
zeal from his friends. Little fits of
fever annoyed him occasionally, and
he admitted hat he did not feel quite
right.
Something is wrong somewhere he
said ruefully, land my whole system
seems ready to stop work through SYM
pathy.'
Suddenly there was a mighty check
to the preparations. Two days before
the date set for the ball everything
came to a standstill and the managers
sank back III perpleXity and consterna-
ton. Monty Brewster was critically
i'll.
Appendicitis. the doctors called 1t,
and an operation was imperative.
''Thank heaven it's fashionable
laughed Monty, who showed no fear of
the prospect. How ridiculous if it
had beer the mumps or if the newspa-
pers had said, 'On account of the
whooping cough Mr.. Brewster did not
attend his ball!"
you don't mean to say-the ball is
off, of course And Harrison was real
ly alarmed.
Not a bit of it, HOPPER" said Monty.
Its what I've been wanting all along.
You chaps do the handshaking and
stay at home"
There was an immediate council of
war when this piece of news was an
nounced, and the Little Sons We're
unanimous in favor of recalling the i'll
vitations and declaring the party off.
At first Monty wa" obdurate, but when
some one suggested that he could give
the ball later on, after he was well, he
relented. The opportunity to double
the cost by giving two parties was not
to be ignored.
"Call it off, then, but say that it is
only postponed"
A great rushing to and fro resulted
in the canceling of contracts, the re-
calling of invitations, the settlement of
accounts, with the most loyal effort to
save as much as possible from the
wreckage. Harrison and his associ-
ates, almost frantic with fear for Brew
ster's life, managed to perform won
ders in the few hours of grace. Gard
ner, with rare foresight, saw that the