Lewiston evening teller. [volume] (Lewiston, Idaho) 1903-1911, 1908-02-24


arrow, his opponents gathering about
him In full cry amid laughter and ex
cited applause from the gallery, where
Grace Ferrall and Captain Voucher
were wildly offering odds on the blue
and Alderdene and Major Belwether
were thriftily booking them.
| Mortimer climbed the slippery mar
+, BILE stairway as fast as his lack of
| breath permitted, anxious for his
share of the harvest If the odds were
right He managed to make several
| apparently desirable wagers with
| Kathryn Tassel and one with Beverly
Plank, who was also obstinately back
ing the blues, the losing side. Sylvia
| played forward for the blues.
| Suddenly through the confused blur
of foam and spray the big, glistening
ball shot aloft and. remained.
| "Blue! Bluer" exclaimed Grace Fer
rail-, clapping her hands, and a little
whirlwind of cries and hand clapping
echoed from the gallery as the breath
less swimmers came climbing out of
| the pool with scarcely wind enough
! left for a word or strength for GEES
ture toward the laughing crowd above.
Mortimer, disgusted, turned away,
already casting about him for some
body to play cards with, 1t being his
| temperament and his temper to throw
good money after bad. But Quarter
and Miss Caithness had already re-
turned to the squash courts, the ma
jority of the swimmers to their sever
al dressing rooms and Grace Ferralfs
party, equipped for motoring, to the
lawn, where they lost little time In
which a sudden shift of wind had
spun out of the cloudless afternoons
sunshine.
However he got Marion and also, as
usual, the two men who had made
practice of taking away his money,
Major Belwether and Lord Alderdene.
He hadn't particularly wanted them.
He wanted somebody he could play
with, like Slward, for example, or
even the two ten dollar Pages. Not
that their combined twenty would do
him much good. but 1t would at least
permit him the pleasures of the card
table without personal loss.
But the Pages had retired to dress,
and Voucher was for motoring, and he
had no use for his wife, and he was
afraid of Plank's game, and Sfward,
seated on the edge of the pool and
sharing a pint of ginger ale with Syl-
via lands, shook his head at the sug-
gestion and resumed his division of
the ginger ale.
Plank and Leila Mortimer came
down to congratulate them. Sylvia,
always instinctively and particularly
nice to people of HANKS sort whom
she occasionally encountered. was so
faultlessly amiable, that Plank, who
had never before permitted himself
the privilege Of monopoiizing her,
found himself doing it so easily that
1t Kept him in a state of persistent
mental intoxication.
Siward, inclined to be amused by
1 the duration of the trance into which
Plank had fallen, watched the prog
ress of that bulky young mans infatu-
alton as he sat there on the pools
marble edge, exchanging trivial views
on trivial subjects with Mrs. Leroy
Mortimer
Once in their history, during her
early married life, Sfwara had been
very sentimental about her, but neL
Their he nor she had approached the
danger line closer than to make OAR.
ing eyes at one another across the
frontiers of good taste. And Their
/ youthful enchantment had faded sc
, naturally. so pleasantly. that always
! there had remained To them both ar
agreeable after taste-0 sort of gay
, | understanding which almost inRaria
bly, led TO mutual banter when theJ
: encountered But now something ap
: peared to be lacking in their rather
q listless badlnage- OF chs
, usual flavor which once had saiteC
? even laughing silence with signifi
! canoe. Siward. too had ceased to b.
: amused at the spectacle OF Plank's
a calflike infatuation. and Leila MORT
s meTs bored smile had lasted so Ions
9 that her ollve-pink cheeks were still;
r and she relaxed her fixed feature.
( with little shrug that was also some
@ thing of shiver Then, looking pru
:. IDENTITY around, she encountered 81
a wards eyes, and during moment'
hesitation they considered one anothe
f with an increasing curiosity tina
r slowly became tentative intelligence
J., And her eyes said very plainly ant
!, wickedly to Siward's: "Oho, my friend
Q So it bores you to see Mr.. Plank mo
d nopoliZing an engaged girl who be
I longs to Howard Quarter"
a Then without appearing TO she tool
g Plank away from temptation so skill
) fully that nobody except Siward VI
}. derstood that the young man had bee
b incontinently removed He. Plant
never doubling that he was perfect
j. ly free agent. decided that the tim
II had arrived for triumphant retirement
n Sylvia turned to Siward. glanced u
r. at him, hesitated and began to laug