St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-03-28

III not sure yet.
She had been f1lmbling in her muff.
She brought out a note, a crumpled
creamy sheet.
He watched her curiously at first,
then with a start.
by every sign and token of long.
distance signaling = that's Bettina
Thorpe's handwriting" he commented
| casually.
She stared.
"Oh, I've got my credentials with
me, too. There's no reason why this
peace conference shouldn't get busy"
He drew an unopened letter from his
| pocket and thrust it under her be-
wildered eyes.
by Jove! I guess I'd better read
that" he exclaimed.
How perfectly ridiculous!" Her
breath came in gasps. why, l can't
believe tits too silly!"
"Bettina ought to serve can-opener
with her stationery" he complained,
tearing at the flap, cor little dyna-
mite. Ali" He ran hungrily through
the note and then burst into roar.
Il know who you are" he informed
his companion, his face Frightening
with mischief. You're Patricia Otis.
Listen to this:
Dear Duke: I've been 'phontng you
| you like all possessed ever since I heard
| or your arrival, yesterday morning. But
nobody knew where you were. Come
| to S79 SiXty-third street to dinner to-
night with Bob and me. if it's possible
thing, to meet Patsy Otis, who's being
maid-of-honor next week, at the chief
| social event of the season. I've always
! told you you'd go crazy over her, and
here's your chance. Hurriedly,
BETTY"
He damned the letter back into the
envelope. you see, I've simply got
to go to dinner with you"
"Are you Duke Grayson?"
81 am"
Betty never told me you were
! coming tonight. But then, of course,
she knew 1 wouldn't be there. have
| always refused to meet you"
Same here!" he agreed brazenly.
shes determined to marry US, you
know. That's why you looked so
| familiar. It's the pictures she showed
me. would never have suspected
that you were good-looking from those
things
Thank you. I'm not. It's these
| clothes I'm wearing. When you come
to that-Betty had any number of pic
| lures of you in her room at Bertram
hall. See here--I don't want to meet
you Oh, Betty's a schemer. You
wait until get alone with her! If /
| DON'T simply decline to meet you
She'll throw me at you in the most dis
| gushing ~ay-leaving us to tete-a-
tetes, and everything like that She
hates my settlement work, you know
Her. heart is set on marrying me off.
She says that If married a man like
yon I'd be a different woman. Isn't it
disgusting?"
"Nauseating," he agreed.
I why, I wouldn't marry the kind of
man you are for anything in the world
you're too frivolous. l have an OBJ
| ject in life"
He applauded her. That's right.
You stick to that-no matter how
many times ask you
She turned back and her little teeth
gnawed at her underlip. ooh, sugar!"
she burst out vexedly. She made an
indeterminate movement forward and
stopped. Il won't go to their dinner"
she said with decision.
He had the look of one inspired.
''I'll tell you what we'll do. You see
how it is: here are two people conspir-
ing against us-against your happi-
ness and my liberty. Let's evade them
by going off to dinner together I'll
| call a hanson and we'll go down to
the Waldorf. You can telephone
Betty, so that she won't worry.
Therell be nobody there to foist I'M
welcome gratuitous tete-a-tetes on us.
That's the only way We can beat their
game"
81 don't know what grandma would
say" she said defantly, but, anyway,
I'm going to do it. I'll tell Bettina
that I've met you by accident, that
we understand each other and her,
and that we see right through all her
plans. And if she has any idea of
poking us into corners to fall in
love with each other, she can just
give it up, because we absolutely re-
fuse to do it,"
That's the stuff" He raised an
alert finger to the hanson that had
assiduously trailed them up the
avenue.
But six months later, when Bettina
Bosworth received a certain inevi.
table announcement, she only smiled
placidly.
I'D give a good deal to know
whether she dropped that handker
chief on purpose" she said to Bob.
The Voice,