The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1907-05-04

JlHlHiy ouillNan Is hospitality lncar-
Aate, or l should still be languishing
in a hotel. And it's something to share
the blessings Of the table d'hote IN its
literal sense again
Miss North laughed
That is so. | remember my first
English dinner after returning from
Cstend. My aunt, to honor the occa-
sion, made feature OF veal. | sup
pose she thought it appropriate. And
we had had i for three days running
at the hotel?"
You are exceedingly greedy people,"
said voice from behind them You
think Of nothing but eating and driak-
ing"
Dick turned as Mrs. Sullivan, looking
very girlish in wonderful yellow
gown, slipped into the seat beside his
companion
And, talking OF food" she contin-
ued, I'm going to treat you abomin-
ably, my dear. It's only permissible
because you're such an old friend. Jim
IS your next partner, isn't he, and again
later on? Will you forgive me if | Dor
row him to help me at the refreshment
buffet? One CT the walters appears to
be ill-Jim says the verdict would lie
Drunk from natural causes and I'm
short handed. No, Mr.. Colbridge," as
Dick rose, I'm not going to allow You
to do buffers work. For one thing, |
don't believe your program is half full.
Let me see
He surrendered it meekly.
"No-not nearly. Your duty lies be-
fore you. And mine is among the eat
ables, so goodby."
With wave Of her hand. she rose
and departed. Dick dropped into his
seat again and for some moments sat
watching the dancers with absent,
moody intentness. He formulated and
abandoned half a dozen excuses for es-
Gaping. With Jimmy's warning ringing
in his ears he had no excuse for run
ming into danger. but there should be
no difficulty in keeping the converse
ton in safe and easy channels.
And so, indeed, he found it, as the
Old charm Of her personality asserted
Itself. Mrs. Sullivan, watching unseen
from afar, smiled the smile of the Sue
cessful conspirator at each ripple of
laughter from the distant seat. Paris
they discussed, Rome and Naples
the "reminiscences OF two months trav-
Ell along the regular tourist routes, ho-
tel life and Continent amusements.
Only he made no allusion to Bruges
and the little Belgian villages where
her holiday and his dream had ended
Once or twice she wandered on danger
Gus ground, but Dick set his teeth, and
found grim satisfaction in battling
her every reference to those last days.
He watched her with hungry, furtive
eyes, unwilling to admit the pure de-
light that her mere presence gave him.
Her program slipped to the floor, and
as he stopped to recover it he saw that
the space between Jimmy's initials
was vacant, and was ashamed, and
then angered at his own relief
A fool and his folly! How many men
had she sacrificed to her idle amuse-
ment? And even now she triumphed in
the conquest of a fresh victim.
He was swept by revulsion of feel
ing. Her voice at his side precipitat-
ed sudden resolution
Have you heard from your friend
Mr.. Myles, lately, Mr.. Colbridge-the
one who stayed at Bruges for day
Or two? We saw in the papers how
splendidly he had done at Oxford"
Dennis Myles? Yes, had letter
from him few days ago. He has left
the college. given up his career, and
gone to India"
Given it up" echoed the girl in
establishment. Il thought he was going
to do such splendid things"
$50 he might have done"-Dick's
voice was cold and even IF a woman
had not broken his heart and ruined |
his life"
She gazed at him curiously.
"How dreadful. Tell me about it."
There isn't much to tell He met |
her and fell utterly and hopelessly in
love. She, liking admiration, probably |
lured him on. And then he learned |
that she was woman who played with |
AACh . iSol 10 III dLluoGluCuL. AG SlOly |
is as old as Cleopatra's."
WAS she beautifully"
Beautiful.
At the passion in his voice the girl |
stole a quick glance at his bowed |
head
Then you met herr" she said, new |
sOftness in her voice.
Il did"
Il remember Mr.. Myles we'll. He |
was a handsome boy. Tell me. what |
she was like"
1.-THE woman who ruined him was |