Mower County transcript., 1906-04-25


and the polished brass buttons: but
the man inside was too much for him.
"'Diable! You luke right. But no..
l can not explain. Eet ees on zee
tongue, but eet rayfuse. Ha! ! hat eet!
You lack 8vot zay call zee real. You
make me t'ink uf zee sairvant on, zee
stage, something bettair off: eh?"1
This was as near as monsieur ever get
to the truth Of things. - q
During this speculative inventory,
Warburton's face was gravely set;
indeed, it pictured his exact feelings.
He was grave. He even wanted Pierre's
approval. He was about to pass
through very trying ordeal; he might
not even pass through it. There was
no deceiving his colonel's eyes, hang
him! Whatever had induced fate to
force this old Argus-eyed soldier upon
the scene? He glanced into the kitchen
mirror. He instantly saw the salient
flaw in his dress. It was the cravat.
Tie it as he would, it never approached
the likeness Of the conventional cravat
of the waiter. It still remained pol
.ished cravat, a worldly cravat, the
cravat seen in bathrooms, drawing
rooms, in the theater stalls and boxes,
anywhere but in the servants hall.
Oh, for the ready-made cravat that
:hitched to the collar-button! And then
there was that servants low turned
town collar, glossy as celluloid. He
relt as dif1ident in his bare throat as
a debutante feels in her first decollette
ba1l-gown, not very we'll covered up,
as it were And, heaven and earth,
how appallingly large his hands had
grown, how clumsy his feet! Would
the colonel expose him? Would he
keep silent? This remained to be
found out; wher lay the terror of
suspense. s-
"Remembair,' went on Monsieur
Pierre, after pause, feeling that he
had duty to fulfill and responsible
i,y to shift to other shoulders than his
own, "remembair, eef you spill zee
soup, keel you. You carry zee tureen
in,7 zen. you deesh out zee, soup, and
sairve.: Zee oystaires should be on zee
table tree minutes before zee guests
haf arrive. Now, can you make zee
American cocktail?'
Il can,'-with ghost of a smile.
make heem, with a pompous
wave of the hand toward the favorite
Ingredients
sWTho+ bind
"Vot kind! Eez zare more cocktails,
zen?" ~@
"Only two that are proper, the man
haitian and the martini"
MAKE zee martini; 1 know heem."
But cocktails ought not be mixed
before serving L.
Il say. make zee one cocktail, -
colby and skeptically. II test heem:"
Warburton made one. Monsieur
sipred it slowly, making a wry face,
for. true Gaul that he was, only tive
kinds Of stimulants appealed to his
palate, liqueurS and wines. He found
it as good as any he had ever tasted.
"Ver' good -softening. "zare ees
zen, one ting zat all zee Americans can
make, zee cocktail? I am educate; /;
i learn. Now leaf me till eight. Keep
zee collect head, and Monsieur Pierre
turned his attention to his partridges.
& James went out of doors to get a
breath of fresh aid and to collect his
thoughts, which were wool-gathering,
whatever that, may mean. - They
needed collecting, these thoughts of
his, and labelling, for they were at all
points OF the compass, and he was at
q loss upon which to draw for support
Here he was, in devil Of fix, and
}no POSSIBLE way of escaning except by
absolutely boiling; and he vowed that
he wouldn't bolt, not if he stood the
chance of being exposed SO times over.
He had danced; he was going to pay
the fiddler like man. He had never
ran away from anything, and he wasn't
going to begin now. ~. 81 =. =.
At the worst, they could only laugh
at him; but his secret would be his no
longer. Ass that he had been! How
to tell this girl that he loved her? How
W oPpO0A W Acl Do HIS udGuFdl sell
What q chance he had wilfully thrown
5away!9 He might have been guest
tonight; he might have sat next to
her, turned the pages Of her music,
and perhaps sighed love in her ear, all
of which would have been very proper
and Conventional. All, II he only knew
what was going on behind those Med
iterranean eyes of hers, those heavenly
Ssapphires. Had she any suspicion?
no. it could not be possible: She had,
Illuminated him too often, to suspect
the imposture. Alackaday!
Had any one else applied the dis.
reputable terms he,appIied to himself
there would have been q battle royal.
When he became out Of breath, he re-
entered the house to have q final look
at the table before the ordeal began.
4 Covers had been laid for II; aimmac-
ulate linen, beautiful silver, and spark
ling cut-glass. He wondered how much
the girl was worth, and thought Of his
own miserable 81, 500 the year. 81 Trus,
his canifa nO,11d at onv finoo no zo,,,sNa