Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1905-05-26


Next day when the secretary came
Mrs. Van Stylert was more difficult IL
please than ever.
Pardon me, Amy" she said at one
moment, when she had severely con.
demncd the present mode of calig
raphy. which, as she insisted, was toe
bold and energetic for any lady TO EN-
ploy. Ill is all Tom HaToway's fault
Charlotte Templeton is the most beau
tiful girl In town. and no end of a
catch, and yet he Is letting Count De
STANG have the innings. | am doing
what can. though. am Interested in
Tom; he is my heir-his father was
one of my earliest beaus. Think what
a match II will be. Charlotte Temple
ton has million in her own right
and Tom Will not have more than
/ two thousand year till die"
The secretary arranged her papers.
.Here are three invitations to dinners. F"
she said.
Accept them ALL" gloomily replied
her employer. II might as well kill
myself that way as any other"
The secretary accepted for Mrs. Van
/ Stylert the three efforts toward self
/ lmmolation.
Here" then she said, "is a letter
/ from the Society For Assisting Indi-
/ gent Widows and Single Women"
Not a dollar" responded Mrs. Van
\ Stylert. Il will assist no INDECENT sin
gle woman. And | am a widow my.
self"
Just then Harroway came in.
won't you spare me cup Of tea"
he asked.
"By the way" said Mrs. Van Stylert,
isn't this the day of the Templeton
reception? l don't go to afternoon re-
ceptions. They are so unearthly. But
you do"
after my tea" he replied.
Il don't begrudge you the tea" re-
turned his hostess, but should think
you would want to be with Charlotte
as much as possible now that the
count is so terribly in evidence"
He caressed the flower in his button
hole.
Charlotte and understand each
other" be informed her. Whereupon
she managed TO overturn a teacup.
"Then | am to congratulate your
she cried.
mo. no." he FASTENED to say, Il meant
nothing like that"
"In my young days" she said, "when
a young man confessed that there was
an understanding between him and a
young lady, the inference was that
there was-somethlng between them"
80 there is" he rejoined. I'VE are
good friends, comrades, chums."
Impossible" and she shook her
head. mo cumming among young
people Of opposite sexes AS for you,
you don't know what you are missing.
Charlotte is just the wife for you, and
Really, Amy, you are in a great hurry;
II is ten minutes of B." The secretary
had risen.
Il will make up the ten minutes to-
morrow" the young lady said, and
left the room.
Harroway looked after her.
mo wonder you are critical" said
Mrs. Van Stylert "She dresses so
stifly. And she went away because
she thought she had no right to hear
our private talk"
ct seems to me-" he returned, OBJ
livious to the latter part Of her words,
"that her costume is very well chosen
for her work. What a fine face she
has,"
"She looks like her mother" was the
reply. 81 went to school with her
mother. There, now, run to the Tenn
pletons'-and Charlotte"
Thus dismissed, Harroway left the
house. Outside, he saw the secretary
going down the street.
Now, the secretary was annoyed.
Mrs Van Stylert's manner was becom-
ing atrocious. Before these last two
weeks the lady had been kind and
friendly. But for Mrs. Van Stylert's
kindness and friendly interest she
would not have got along SO well.
But all that was changed now. And
what had she done to merit the sights
TO which she had recently been sub
jected?
True Tom Harroway had been fire.
quently at the house of late, developing
a craving for afternoon tea that verged
closely on dissipation, and all the time
be was there his hostess was full Of
encomiums for Charlotte Templeton
and as full OF miserable fault finding
for the girl who acted In the capacity
OF secretary.
Harroway saw her going along in
front of him. He made up his mind
that he must join her. She may have
seen him, but she suddenly shot round
a corner, and when he reached the cor
ner she had disappeared from view.
"How unkind women can be to wo-
men," he mused Mrs. Van is letting
herself out. Maybe, though she has
been all along like this in private. and
now | 60 there so frequently she is
getting not to mind me. And | am
10 blamew And he went on to the
Templeton reception.
In her rosy room Mrs. Van Stylert
felt more comfortable than had been
the case for days.
After all" she said vaguely "scien-