Los Angeles herald., 1907-01-16

WASHINGTON, Jan. t0.-Mephisto-
pheles came also to the Thomas F..
Walsh mask bail on New Years eve.
and, as usual, uninvited except by him
self. And also as usual, he kicked up
row. Mr.. and Mrs. Walsh had
planned a very jolly but quiet little af-
fair, sending out only 2i0 cards and
taking special care i'm the list. There
have been affairs before i'm which they
acquired more or less notoriety ex-
tremely unpleasant to them. This time
they made preparations to escape any
such misfortune, but they reckoned
without Mephistopheles.
With each invitation there was in
cluded card of admission to the big
Massachusetts avenue house. without
which none of the invited guests could
gain entrance. II was the natural sup
position Of the hosts that these cards
would be properly protected, and the
only slip made by the hosts was I'm not
examining them carefully as they were
presented. After the somewhat spec
tacular exit of Mephistopheles there
was q scrutiny Of cards deposited at
the different dressing room doors, and
several were found to bear the names
of persons known not to be in Wash
ington that night. But then It was too
late.
Mr.. and Mrs. Walsh welcomed their
guests In the drawing room. Mephisto-
pheles came early. He was properly
built for his role, and as gorgeously at
tired as ever Edouard De Reszke was
on the Metropolitan stage He himself
admitted, however, that he had been
somewhat hurried in making up He
had dined rather more sparingly than
his fellow guests, and, as he greeted his
hosts he made that fact known.
Gould |, by chance" he said, pleas
antly. have such a thing as a glass of
milk"
That was not on the regular list of
beverages at the Walsh mansion on
New Years eve but Mephistopheles
was soon supplied. 1t was good milk
and the black whiskered red devil drank
it with evident enjoyment. He was
profuse in expressions of grateful
thanks. and then. emboldened by his
success in his first request, he prof
fered a new one.
Borrowed Razor
could l borrow razor?" he asked.
That rather startled Mr.. Walsh. but
it did not arouse any suspicion as to
the character of the guest. He rather
put it down to the natural playfuness
of the occasion.
II didn't have time to shave" con-
tinued the guest. Then, to help along.
he turned to Mrs. Walsh and said: II
hope you like the costume. | should
have liked it to be a little more aC-
curate. but it was obtained in great
haste. as l have just got out"
Not until considerably later in the |
evening did that remark strike the
Walshes as especially peculiar Mr.. |
Walsh saw that a razor-fortunately, |
perhaps, it was a safety-was supplied, |
and Mephistopheles soon reappeared |
from the dressing room with the evil
ienCes of extra growth removed from
behind his carefully trained black i'm
oerial.
Then the fun began in earnest Me-
was among the happiest of
he guests. He danced extremely WELL !
ne talked in an unCommonly interesting
naner, and he had proper eye for
beauty. There was an element of the
in his conversation that gave it |
piquancy and charm. He was one of
the most interesting men there.
Right at the beginning he selected a |
charming young Egyptian dancer as his !
special attraction. He devoted himself
to her with more than Mephistophelian |
courtesy and insistence. She was rath-
er petite and he tall and straight They |
made a fine looking couple, and her cos
gold embroidered scarfs, |
lnklets, bangles and a gold bandeau-
,ontrasted well with the scarlet of Me-
.p~