The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-24

them she studied the two pictures scN- eral seconds before answering.
 No; I do not think they would in- duige in any sensation so pleoian as jealousy. Honestly. could you picture Miss Lombard as being vulgariy jeai- ous?"
 Dagwell did not answer but leaned back in his chair and puffed great blue spirals of fragrant smoke out towards the dancing waters of the Bay.
 And so 1t went the next day and the next-long sunlit hours, with the little party coming and going at It's leisure. the moonlit nights melting FOR PUB FEB 2! seemed more lovely than their bright CT precursors.
 One morning Mrs. Romain swept into the room. calendar in hand.
 Nancy, this is the 2oth. We must leave for Rome tomorrow"
 "oh. dear. do not think shall like Rome at all" sighed Nancy. "They say 1t is so modern. with flats and apartments--"
 You must have forgotten that we are to have the Countess Maresis villa. am anxious to be settled. I never did like to fly In warm weather"
 Nancy did not answer. She was watching the smoke float upward from vesuvius. They must have one more day at Pompeii--
 She turned to find herself alone. Mrs. Romain had vanished. time cards in hand. The door of the little parlor opened abruptly and Dagwell came hur- rylng in, telegram twisted in his fin- gers.
 "The Lombards reach Paris today :. Ethel had wired to me to meet them there-Let us have one more run out to Pompeii."
 Nancv shook her had
 No time-we are leaving for Rome this afternoon. We had-er-forgotten that the Countess Maresi is waiting for us to take the burden of her pocket handkerchief villa off her shoulders also her retinue of servants. Aunty has just gone to make arrangements You have barely time to pack as 1t is"
 Dagwell stood before her, perplexed and hurt Why should she be so sum- mary in dismissing the pleasant ex- perience? He had felt a peculiar sent iment about that last run out to Pom peli. Oh, very we1l-his fingers closed over the telegram-and the feel of 1t steadied him.
 Nancy, pacing the narrow terrace in front of the Villa Maresi, felt the cool night air envelope her like a mist, and shivered. She was very lonely. Only today the doctor had decided that Mrs. Remains illness was not the dreaded fever. but nervous exhaustion due to jealous sight seeing. During the days of uncertainty, no one from the American colony had dared to do more than leave cards and messages of sym pathy for the anxious Nancy, who could not find relief in sick room du- ties because from the first the doctor had installed a trained nurse with the invalid. Now, the girl leaned wearily against an urn from which one handle was artistically missing, and stared down moodily upon the quaint garden, where Madonnas, Venuses and ramp ant lions mingled incongruously, and heavily violets studded the lawn.
 servant ripped noiselessly down the moss grown steps.
 "A gentleman called on the telephone. He said not to trouble Miss Romafn to come to the booth. He was coming right up-the name-Mr. Dagwell.
 Nancy leaned heavily against the urn Every nerve was tingling. Then came a sudden calm and she turned, walking swiftly to the house, through the deserted hall to her own apartment. There, kneeling before her dressing ta- ble. she tossed from side to side in- numerable little trinkets until she found what she wanted, the photograph of a clean-cut man. With trembling hands she tried to fit Into frame of Roman vellum.
 There Is nothing like keeping in the atmosphere. Tommy" she said with a shaky laugh When in Rome use Roman frame" The photograph caught at the frames edge and she shook 1t vigorously. Be a good boy. Tommy, for if ever needed your nor al support, 1t Is now-this very minute"
 But the photograph was a quarter of an inch to wide for the frame and she reached for pair of scissors. Sud denly she dropped picture and scis- sors.
 "Tommy orcutt. I wonder if ever you could learn to hate me, as I hate you this minute" Her eyes burned like twin stars. No; I won't do it! won't do it again" And with impulsive step. she crossed the room. laid the photo- graph on the red embers.
 And so it Is all over' Dagwell was saying as he paced the terrace. | "Our understanding was perfect. She realized-has realized from the first | that we had nothing in common save respect for parental wishes With the right sort of husband. she can attain her social ambitions. I never was keen for society,"
 He paused, foundered hopelessly and the girl filled in the gap, trying hard to Tighten the situation.
 "But you would make a fine courier Homer. l. for one, would give you a recommendation. Aside from Aunt Eleanor's illness. Rome has been desert waste am starved for odd corners and the real Rome"
 She had turned and was leading the way into the drawing room. The night air, the voices of the birds coo ing to each other in shrubbery anc treetop. the heavy scent of the violet' all these were intoxicating-wors' than Neapolitan moonlight.
 She turned on an electric light. Some how, in the shadows which its sili shade cast. Nancy looked older. tri' fie wan and tired. Dagwell gr1pped hi' hands behind his back.
 Don't think me a rotter and all thal Nancy, but I had to come back ane l tell you"
 "Of course, am interested-in ev, ervthing connected with you.' she satC in a tone which she tried nara to m1a K' sisterly.
 .I don't mean-just the news that oui engagement Is off-but something | else" |,
 The girl seemed to shrink back II the shadows of the old-fashioned room
 "You said that day-the day we haC the quarrel in New York-how silly was and unreasonable She nodde' her head silently.
 "Well. that afternoon, you said l . ,,,, iust to voti and some day It