Greene County herald. (Leakesville, Miss.) 1898-current, 1907-03-15

grew suddenly 1nJOleraDle, anu ne udu
left for England within a fortnight of
her departure.
And now he knew the truth. Idly
and without conjunction the woman
had played with his heart So be 1T.
If it were broken she should never
know the result of the game.
Colbridge watched the dancers drift
into the brilliantly lighted room with
almost pitiful anxiety. His dread of an
encounter was blended with a sharp,
reckless longing. In any case, he would
be almost certain to see her, but he
feared an actual meeting before his
nerves We're steady enough to bear the
strain of light talk and laughter.
Fate ordained that he should be call
ed away when at last she arrived, and
it was nearly an hour later before
they came face to face in set of the
lancers.
Miss North was obviously astonish-
ed. Colbridge thanked Heaven for the
music and the quick movement that
had helped him to recover his shaken
self-control. Each revelation of her
delicate beauty seemed to smite him
like a physical blow. Her bright little
ned of recognition carried him straight
back to those days in Belgium when
he had drifted so near to the rapids
OF utter self-abandonment,. to
To making fool of himself for
her amusement" added Reason.
The dance ended in the usual laugh
ter and furry. He piloted his partner
"a voluble lady of forty-back to her
seat, and stood talking aimlessly until
Jimmy who had been lurking in the
distance, swooped down as the music
struck up a waltz and freed him.
Look here, old man, you said You
knew the Norths of Walsall Well, why
on earth don't you come and speak to
the girl over there-the one in the
white dress, | mean, sitting in pensive
melancholy? Probably her partners
forgotten herl If-as l fancy-he is
young Dowson ploughing his way along
with that Freeman girl, she's had
lucky escape"
He caught Dick by the. sleeve, and
the latter, raising his eyes, could see
the girl was watching them with
amusement. Since there was no es-
cape he crossed to where she was seat
ed alone among half a dozen empty
chairs.
Behold distressed damsel," she
said, gayly, as Dick dropped into the
seat beside her. deserted by both
chaperone and partner. Put not your
trust in gentlemen who won't write
plainly on their programs
"A young man Of the name of Dow
son is the criminal, isn't he?" said Col
bridge. In which case his present
partner is paying pretty heavily for an
honor unto which she was not born.
How long have you been staying in
London, Miss North?"
only week or so, with friends. II
is odd we should meet again SO soon.
You have just arrived from the Con-
tinent, have you not?"
Crossed yesterday by the night boat.
Jimmy Sullivan is hospitality incar-
nate, Or | should still be Ianguishing
in hotel And it's something to share
the blessings of the table d'hote in it's
literal sense again.
Miss North laughed
That is so. l remember my first
English dinner after returning from
Ostend. My aunt, to honor the occa-
sion, made feature of veal. / SUM-
pose she thought it appropriate. And
we had had it for three days running
at the hotel?"
You are exceedingly greedy people"
said voice from behind them. you
think of nothing but eating and drink
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, "Pm 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 bor-
row him to help me at the refreshment
buffet? One CT the walters appears to
be in-Jim says the verdict would be
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 y a
He surrendered it meekly
''No-not nearly. Yourduty lies be-
fore you And mine is among the eat
ables, so goodby.'
With a wave of her hand, she rose
and departed. Dick dropped into his
seat again and for, some smoments sat
watching the dancers with absent,
moody intentness. He formulated and
abandoned half 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 conversa-
ton in safe and easy channels.
kad 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