The Washington herald., 1907-03-13

the onyx paper weight aside. slammed
books and papers into drawers regardless,
and closed his desk with such a brisk
snap that the man IN the next Office
looked up in surprise. Surely something
was in the wind" Haldane had never
before been so buOyant, so triumphant
Just ten minutes earlier the Office boy
had laid a fragrant cream-coIored en-
velope at his elbow. containing a few
hasty lines. which read as follows:
Dear Dick. Cannot you run down this
afternoon and help us out with some
tableaux? There's TO be a mock wedding.
too o-Chinese-and we have picked you out
for the bridegroom.
IF you can come. come. if not. phone.
Hastily yours, THEODORE"
Haldene jerked out his watch impa-
tiently. fumed at the whole hour that
must eIapse before he could get a Sunny
Villa car, and set to work 5ammiug things
into q hand satchel; his kodak, the latest
magazine. an extra pair of gloves and a
box of boubons-for Theodore. Then he
! teIeph0ned TO his imam" about his suit
case, and as leisureIy as his eXuber-
ance would allow him, closed and locked
/ his office door and saUntered across the
han TO a felIow-colleague's Office.
The door stood ajar and the room was
quite deserted; but Haldane, with the
ease of long intimacy. sat down ia
I Trescott's revolving chair and began 70
finger the latter's pencils.
After time he glanced up with a
smile-directly into the shadowed brown
/ eyes of a girl whose face was startHnsiy
familiar-his girl, He looked from the
| picture 10 the door, then back again 70
the picture. His cheeks whitened, his
/ face indexed a variety of painful emo
tions Even a casual observer might
have detected that he had been struck
hard. He reached up a trembling hand
and drew the photograph toward him.
Scrawled across the hs-ck of it. i'm Theo-
dora's Unmstakable backward characters,
were the words:
ITO my beloved Bert, from his own
/ r II. l."
Theodore Hartwen Lancaster, There
was no way out of it, These We're the
initials he had had engraved in their be-
trothal ring What a fool he had been, and
/ Trescott-the perfidious wretch. OF tho
girl. he dare not think-not now.
/ After a miserable minute that seemed
more Ike an hour. he laid the picture
down on the desk and with dumb despair
( I'm his heart sat regarding the cardboard
/ stupidity.
/ Suddenly Trescott interrupted his daze
! swinging breezily into the room and toss
i ing his hat on a table in the corner
/ "HelloT' be cried. Whats the trOuble-
/ You look green
/ Haldane stared gloomiIy at the opposite
( wall and did his level best to speak. But
/ his lips remained mute; the color seemed
! squeezed out of them. Trescott came az
TO him and laid an affectionate hand OF
/ his shoulder.
/ Anything gone wrong, old maH?" b,
/ asked, concerned genuinely at the other
silence.
/ Haldaue squirmed away from his touch
/ his eyes flashing Lord" he thought
IF 1 can just get out Of this without
/ smashing his face,
He lifted his eyes savagely.
/ I've had some unexpected trouble, ans
! I'd prefer not TO discuss it at present
/ His words were stiff, colorless.
/ Trescott contemplated him a moment in
/ bewildermeut- Then he smiled, shrugged
! and turned away He recognized tn,
J
/ Just how TO deal with the patient
/ There was a constrained stress ot
/ silence. Prescott had gone to an oper
window. but he came back and stood
/ looking down at Haldane's sphynx-Hk.
/ form with sympathetic mien. He glanced
/ down at the desk where the other haC
1 laid the girls photograph. After pause
/ he bent and took 1t up, restoring il 70 It's
/ conspicuous stronghold on the top Of hi.
desk Haldaue watched him in ominou.
silence. his fingers tingling pugnaciously
/ as TreScOtt paused TO cast a fatuOu,
| smile into the grl's-his girl's-picumej
! face.
Pretty girl that, don't you think?' he
asked carelessly.
quite pretty" acquiesced Haldane
gl0wering through the window, Good
friend of ycWs?" He held back the
sneer by an effort.
"Oh, the very hest. Theo's the dearest
/ little girl ever. We simply adore each
other"
/ HaIdane shot up electrically, and started
| toward the door. pulling out his watcf
/ with a proGigiOus assumption Of alarm.
by George" he exclaimed. 'I've all
most missed an important appointment Cd
His quick steps sounded down the
/ polished corridor, and Tresc0tt sat down
I in the vacated chair before his desk
shaking his head and smiling indulgently
at the recollection Of the others explo-
| siveness. He gave him, mentally, about
/ ten days to recuperate.
1t was more than a month before Hal
/ dane encountered Bert Tresc0tt again
The latter came into his office late in the
afternoon with the luminous announce.
ment of his approaching happiness.
Il am TO be married on the sd OF
June" he said. Congratulate me-"
And despite the fact that Haldane had
/ fancied himself done with the whole
/ blamed business" he was acutely con
scious of his vanishing color as he an
/ swered
OF course I congratulate you You are
just the sort Of fellow girls 60 crazy
over, and as for Theodora-"
Theodore. Don't talk drivel. man
What on earth are you driving at?"
why, about the girl. of course. The
| girl YOU are going to marry"
Trcscott frowned
You are way Off" he said MY cir
/ is Miss Elsie Hartman. Why. I've
never even had Up a Irritation with any
I one by the name OF The
/ Notwithstanding that, . month age