The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-09-08
THE POWERS AND MAXINE
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 chiffon. and evidently they had jus, come Into the hotel from some place of
 amusement. The beautiful face, which
 had been pale. grew rosy at sight of me. though whether with amazement or anger. or both. I couldn't tell. Lisa
 smiled, looking more inpisf even than
 usual; but 1t was plain that the oth-
 CTS, Lord Mountstuart among them, 1 were surprised to see me here. l Goodness, Is 1t you or your ghost q
 exclaimed Lady Mountstuart. in the
 soft accents of California, which have
 never changed in spite of the long l years of her married life in England. If 1t had been my ghost, 1t would
 have vanished immediately. to save Di from embarrassment. and also to pre- vent any delay in getting to Maxine's l But, unfortunately. a flesh and blood young man must stop for conventional l politeness before he can disappear, no
 matter what presses.
 I said How do you do9' to every
 one. adding that I was as surprised 10 see them as they could be to see me. I even grinned civilly at Lord | Robert West. though finding him here with Di, looking particularly pleased with himself, made me want to knock him down.
 "oh, it was a plan. as far as Mounty and Lord Robert and are concerned" explained Lady Mountstuart "Of course. Lord Robert ought to have been at the Duchess bazaar this af- | ternoon. but then he won't show up at such things, even to please his sis 1 ter and Di and Lisa were to have rep resented me there. Today and tomor- row are the only days all three of us could possibly steal to get away and look at most wonderful motor car, made for Rajah who couldn't take it after all. Lord Robert certainly knows
 more about automobiles than any other human being does, and he thought this was just what I would want Di had the most horrid headache this morn ing, poor child, and wasn't fit for the fatigue of big crush, so, as she's a splendid sailor, I persuaded her to come with us-and Lisa. too, of course. We caught the afternoon train to Bou- logne and had such a glorious cross ing that we actually all had the cour- age to dress and dine at Madrid, wasn't it plucky of us? But we're col lapsing now, and have come back early, as we must inspect the car the first thing tomorrow morning and do heap of shopping afterwards"
 If you're collapsing, I mustn't keep you standing here a moment" I said anxious for more than one reason to get away. Di wasn't looking at me. Half turned from me, purposeIy I didn't doubt she had begun conversation with Bob West, who beamed with joy over her kindness to him and her ap- parent indifference to me.
 Collapsing, is an exaggeration per- haps." laughed Lady Mountstuart. But instead of keeping us standing here, come up to our sitting room and have a little falkland whisky and soda"
 ''Yes. do come. Dundas." her husband added.
 Thank you both." stammered. try- ing not to look embarrassed. "But--I know you're all tired, and"
 And perhaps you have some nice en- gagement," piped Lisa.
 Its too late for respectable British young men to have engagements in naughty Paris" said Lady Mountstu- art, laughing again (she looks very handsome when she laughs, and knows ft.) Isn't that true, MT. Dundas?
 Tt depends upon the engagement" managed to smile calmly. But then, as Di suddenly turned and looked straightI at me with marked coldness, the blood sprang up to my face. I began to stammer again like a young ass of \ fact is I am engaged. A matter of business. I wish could get out of 1t, but I can't and--er--I shall have to run off, or I will be late. Good bye,- good bye" Then mumbled sOme- thing about hoping to see them again before they left Paris, and escaped, knowing that had made a horrid mess of my excuses. Di was laughing at something West-said, as turned away, nA fS her laugh had nothing to do with me, my ears burned, and there was & cold lump of iron or something that felt like 1t where my heart ought to have been.
 Now was Lord Roberts time to pro- pose-now, when she believed me faithless and unworthy-if he but knew it And I was afraid that he would know 1t.
 I got ou tinto the open air, feeling half-dazed as one of the under porters called me a cab. I gave the name of 0 street in the direction, but at some dist ance from Maxine's. lest ears should hear which ought not to hear: and it was only when we were well away instructions. Even then, I mentioned the street leading into the one where was due. not the street itself.
 "Depechezvous," l added, for I had delayed eight or ten minutes longer than I ought. and this had upset the exactness of my calculations. The man obeyed: nevertheless, instead of reach ing the top of Maxine's street at two or three minutes before twelve, as had intended, 1t was nearly ten minutes past when I got out of my cab at the corner; and when came to the gate of the house a clock somewhere was striking the quarter hour after mid night.