Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-08-12
Bv SARAH GUERNSEY BRADLEY

cepted her invitation With the same
provocation he would have broken fifty 4
engagements, had such wholesale n
Brisben-well, from Winthrop's point n a41ls
of view there was no one in the uni "a
quite like Mrs. Brisben, NlSR
though she had, two separate and
distinct occasions, fatty refused to lf
marry him. Marry" she had said. 80
:
Why, wouldn't marry the best man GaaE
the face of the earth!" -
That was three years ago, and far
she hadn't And she and Winthrop -
still friends, the best of friends. al III
Winthrop found these two small half fiNIM
crumbs of comfort much better than s-|LC.J ia !
comfort all and took such 31LlM Z
meager goods the gods provided III
him with an outward and more than -
visible gratitude and inward and II 81
fairly invisible fear that even these III n M
might at any moment be withdrawn. W n hi
She going away soon for an in ~
definite period, Mrs Brisben wrote mIIM
Winthrop, and before going she wanted 4LIW
his advice most important sub III -
ject; that is, important to her, as she 49,
He wondered vaguely, and with the ~ -
twinge of msgiving that he al w I'll
ways felt when the advice summons
came what the fad was now. He had
been made to give his learned counsel
always the chance What could be
natural? She young, not
pauper, and decidedly attractive.
And that fad might strike her at any
time; for Mrs Brsben subject
TO .aoS ene most ao6ridg OIL nel inenus ~; t
turn had ruled briefly, but with sway that was ODE
absolute long lasted. And not lnfrequently CIV
in the dim and misty background one could dis pos
Germ the behind the fad-not always-gve her ane
credit for that. That just it-you never could
tell about Mrs. Brisben. She was, a broker Brl
friend said of her. subject to sudden fuctu-
atoms Fascinating the stock market and ADJ
certain
But Winthrop knew how it would all end some day. ma
And then after he had kept stiff upper lip at the of
wedding, and had almost overdone things in mad ma
endeavor to do the gay and festive act he supposed ha
he would take long trip somewhere east of Suez fac
and when he back, three four later, mo
d1nrpr S1h
probably, he thought with shudder), and he "A
would be Uncle Ted their children for the rest
of his harmless friend the family life. rig
Still, the blow hadn't fallen yet, and Winthrop, wo
walking along the toward the big apart son
en house where Mrs Brisben lived and charmed, yo,
squared his shoulders, held his chin up and decided
that after all perhaps live dog was better than kin
dead lion, and that the gods might have been more
cruel than they were. to
Il was half afraid when sent my note this after
noon that you wouldn't come, was Mrs. Brsbens abe
greeting as Winthrop still bit low in his mlnd'
entered her attractive little drawing room.
Wouldn't comel" Winthrop held her out
stretched hand just trife longer than abso hal
Gomez" He planted himself on the couch beside if c
her and in helpless masculine endeavor to make WI
himself comfortable, began stufing cushion after eve
cushion behind his back. GOO
"Why-it such late invitation" Mrs. Bris- ike
ben bit her lip, and those fascinating dimples of
hers capered about dstractingly, with def
touch here and quick tug there she adjusted the
cushions that their comfort giving properties
would be appreciated. it's
oh" laughed Winthrop, you don't suppose
l mind little thing like that when you the inn
other end of it" ain
Pretty, pretty Master Ted" Mrs Brisben had wo
a marked aversion to Wnthrop's Christian he
and had rechrstened him years ago But l was
Mir have 9th