The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1908-12-17
sChapter S..

lir vas sulienlY nMari
thm In town wber,
the divorced must eve
be rcvkoned with wbri
dance and dinner lists are made ou
there Is always some thougbfless host
ess aud sometimes mischieyous one
aud the chances were thai be and Mrs
Jack Ruthven would collide eithel
through the forgetfulness or malice OF
some large affair where destiny and
fate work busiiy together In criminal
eopartnership,
Their encounter was all a mistake
born OF the haste Of needless and eld-
erly matron celebrated for managing
20 do the wrong thing but who had
been excessively nice to him that win
ter and whose position 10 Manhattas
was not TO be assailed
Dear Captain Selwyn." she Wheel
ei over The telephone, I'm short one
man. aud we dine at and it's that
now Could you help me2 It's the
rich and yellow this time. but you
won't mind. will your"
He explained TO Mrs. T. West Min
ster his absurd delight at being asked
Then he sent for cab and sauntered
into the dining room. where he was re-
ceiyed with undisguised hostility
shes been civil TO me-" he said:
"jeunesse oblige, you know, and that's
why ~
'There'll be lot OF debutantes there.
What do you want to go for, you cradle
robber2' protested Austin. "a lot Of
water blbbing. olive eating. talcum
powdered debutantes'-
Eileen Strengthened up stifiiy, and
/ Selwyn's teasing smile and his offered
hand In adleu completed her indigna.
/ ton.
"Oh. goodbyl No. | won't shake
hands. There's your cab now wish
\ you'd take Austin too. Nina and |
are tired Of dining with the premature
ly aged"
Indeed we are" said Mrs Gerard.
go TO your club. Austin, and give me
chance to telephone to somebody un-
der the anaesthetic age"
Selwyn departed, laughing. but he
yawned In bis cab all the way to Fiji
ty-third street, where he entered In
the wnke OF the usual laggards and,
surrendering hat and coat In the cloak
room. picked up the small. slim enyel-
ope bearing his name.
The card within disclosed the infor-
nation that he was to take In Mrs.
Somebody -or-other He made his way
through great many people. found
his hostess. backed Off, stood on one
leg for moment like reflective wa.
terfow then found Mrs. Somebody.
or-other and was absently good to her
through great deal of noise and some
Spanish music, which seemed to squirt
through thicket OF palms and bespat.
ter everybody.
Wonderful music" observed his
dinner partner with singular original
ity; 80 like Carmen"
is ity' he replied and took her
away at nod from his hostess, whose
daughter Dorothy leaned forward from
her partners arm at the same mo-
ment aud whispered: II must speak TO
you, mamma. You can't put Captain
Selwyn there because
But her mother was deaf and smil- 1
ingy sensitive about II. so she merely 1
guessed what reply her child expected:
ITS all settled. dear Captain Selwyn I
arrived moment ago" And she clos I
ed the file.
II was already too late anyhow, and
presently turning TO see who was seat I
ed on his left. Sewyn found himself /
gazing into the calm. flushed face Of
Alike Ruthven. 1t was their third en-.
counter
They exchanged dazed nod OF rec
ognltion, a meaningless murmur, and
turned again, apparently undlsturbed.
10 their respective dinner parties.
A great many curious eyes lingering
on them shifted elsewhere In reluctant
disappointment
As for the hostess. she had for one
instant come as near to passing heav-
onward as she could without doing II
when she discovered the situation
Then she accepted 1t with true humor
She could afford TO. But her dangh.
tiers. Shella and Dorothy. suffered
acntely, being OF this years output
and martyrs TO responsibility.
Meanwhile Selwyn, grimly aware OF
an accident somewhere and perfectly
conscious OF the feelings which must
by this time dominate bis hostess, was
wondering how best to avoid anything
that might resemble n situation.
Instead Of two or three dozen small
tables scattered among the palms OF
the winter garden their hostess had
preferred TO construct great oval
board around the aquarium The ar