Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-10-10
CHAPTER III.
Handsome Dam"


His hands we're thrust stifly at full
arms length into his trousers pockets;
q rumpled silk hat was set awry On
the back Of his head; his shirt bosom
was sadly crumpled; above the knees,
to q casual glance, he presented the
appearance of a mar carefully attired
In evening dress: below, his legs were
sodden and muddied, his shoes of
patent leather, twin wrecks. Alas for
jauntiness and elegance, alack for ase
and aplomb!
"Tricked," observed Maitland, cas-
ually, and protruded his lower lip,
thus adding to the length of a counter
nee naturally long. "Outwitted by a
chit of a girl! Dammit"
But this was crude melodrama. Real
izing which, he strove to smile; q sor-
~ failure.
Handsome Dam" quoted he; and
cooking his head to one side eyed
the road inquiringly. Where in thun-
der d'you suppose she got hold Of that
name?"
Bestowed upon him in callow col
lege days, 1t had stuck burr-like for
many q weary year. OF late, however,
its use had lapsed among his acquain.
~tances; he had begun to congratulate
himself upon having lived it down.
And now 1t was resurrected, flung at
him in %sincerest mockery by a woman
whom, to his knowledge. he had
before laid eyes upon. Odious appella-'
ton, hateful invention of an ingenious
enemy!
Handsome DAM She must have
known me all the time-all the time I
was making an exhibition OF myself.
Wentworth / know no one OF
that anne. Who the dickens can
she be-"
II 1t had not been contrary to his
code Of ethics, he would gladly have
raved, CRASHED his teeth, footed the
dance Of rage with his shadow. In
deed, his restraint a admirable, the
circumstances considered. He did
nothing whatever but stand still for a
matter of i've minutes. vainly racking
his memory for a clue to the identity
OF Miss Wentworth"
At length he gave it up in despair
and ~abstractedly felt for his watch fob.
Which wasn't there. Neither, investi-
cation developed, was the watch. At
which GROWING stroke of misfortune
the timepiece must have slipped
from his pocket into the water while
he was. %tinkering with that Infamous
MISUNDERSTANDING turned eloquent.
" red in the face.
"The price," he meu1tated aloud,
with an effort to resume his pose, 'is
. high M to pay for a wave If a gray
glove and the echo Of a pretty laugh"
With which final fling at Fortune he
set on again for Maitland Manor,
trudging heavily but at a round pace
through the dust that soon settled
upon the damp cloth Of his trousers
legs and completed their ruination.
But Maitland was beyond being dis
turbed by such trifles. A wounded
vanity engaged his solicitude to the
exclusion Of all other interests.
At the end of As minutes he had
covered the remaining distance be-
tween Greenfield station and Maitland
Manor. For five minutes more he
strobe YEARLY over the side path by
the box hedge which set aside his ances.
trail acres from the public highway. At
length, with an exclamation, he paused
at the first opening in the living bar
rier; q wide entrance from which q
blue-stone carriage drive wound away
to the house, invisible in the waning
light, situate in the shelter of the
grove of trees that studded the lawn.
Gasoline! Brrr!!" said Maitland,
%shuddering and shivering with the
combination of a nauseous odor and
the nights coolness-the latter by now
making itself as u~npleasantly promi-
nent as the former.
Though he hated the smell with all
his heart, manfully inconsistent he
raised his head, shifting the air for
further evidence; and got his reward
in q sickening gust.
Tank leaked" he commented with
brevity. Quart of the stuff must have
trickled out right here. Ugh! If it
goes on at this rate, therell be another
breakdown before she i gets home"
And, Serve her right, tool" he
growled, vindictive.
But for ell his indignation he ac-
krowledged a sneaking wish thar he
might be at hand again, in such event,
a second time to give gratuitous serv-
ice to his gray lady.
Analysing this frame of mind (not
without surprise and some disdain Of
him who weakly entertained it, he
crossed the drive and struck in over
the lawn, shaping his course direct for
the front entrance of the house.
By dead reckoning the hour was
two, or something later; and a chill
was stealing in upon the land, waited
gently southwark from Long Island
sound. All the world beside himself
seemed to slumber, GREATNESS, in
sensate. Wraith-like, gray shreds OF
mist drifted between the serried boles
of trees, or, rising, yelled the moons
wan and pallid face, that now was low
upon the horizon. In silent rivalry
long and velyet-black shadows skulked
across the ample breadths of dew
drenched grass. Somewhere a bird
stirred on its unseen perch, chirping
sleepily; and In the rapt silence the
inconsiderable interruption broke with
startling stress.
In time-pot IonH-the hol1sa Hfted