The Idaho Springs siftings-news., 1908-11-21
CHAPTER |.

D F-.lZdDttH Ilu not IhIGlBt III Idf
fever every year and consequently
have to be very careful about breath
ing where there is vegetation 1t would
never have happened: or. rather. we
would not have been mixed up with it.,
don't know after ali whether ii was
not Gabrielle's gold beads that were
to blame just as much as Elizabeth's 5
hay fever, for If the string had not
broken everything would have been
all right
Gabrielle and Elizabeth are friends
They know each others inmost
thoughts, and their past lives contain
10 reservations whatever from one
another which seems Il little hard
on the men whose pictures they have
framed and preserved as relics.
| am their friend also. but ! still
have a few undivulged thoughts. as
well as a modest number of reserva-
tions. My name is Eliza. but | prefer
to spell 1t Elise. and perhaps | am a
little envious of the other two, having
lost my own alter ego by her mar
riage and never replaced her, How
ever, that doesn't belong to the story.
that carried us to Canada.
Elizabeth had heard OF an island vii
lage up there where hay fever was un-
known. and she read us so many ex-
tracts concerning it from a booklet
she kept in her work basket that about
the first of June we cut adrift from
our respective families and started
off to spend the summer there. We
could do this with propriety. for we
had all passed the pin-feather age. al
though ! wish it distinctly understood
we were still a long way from being
strngy about the threat.
We were sitting on the deck of the
steamer watching the moonlight on
the water and enjoying ourselves very
much indeed when man came around
the corner of the cabin and sat down
near us, as, of course. he had a per
feet right TO do. Suddenly Gabrielle.
who was next him. jumped up and
clutehed my arm.
Come away" she whispered, Come
away"
And. of course. we came forthwith.
She was quite pale and trembling
when va reached the cabin. and for
few minutes was unable to satisfy our
curiosity; but at last she spoke.
He threw chair into the water,
she saiI, in an awed voice.
oh" said Elizabeth. with evident
disgust. is that all? l thought it was
something interesting"
1T was quite enough" insisted
Gabrielle Il was afraid he might
throw me next. You should have seen
his face and heard him muttering,"
What did he mutter?" Elizabeth
liked the whole of a story or none
at all
81 couldn't hear But | think'-Ga-
brielle glanced around apprehensively
Il think he's crazy, and | don't like
being on a boat with an unguarded in
sane man. You never know what they
are going to do Besides. he looked
at me-"
did not blame him there. for Cab
rielle is we'll worth looking at. espe
cially when she is gazing at the moon
with the uplifted expression she re-
serves for that purpose | sometimes
wonder why she doesn't think some
man on earth worth it, but she says
distance lends enehantment in such
matters. and | suppose she knows her
own affairs best.
Perhaps his keeper is somewhere
around" speculated Elizabeth. Lets
go back and see If he is still there"
So we reconnoitered stealthily, and
saw him sitting quietly smoking and
not looking at all dangerous-a rather
tall. spare man in blue serge clothes.
with a cap pulled down over his eyes.
and the air of one who is quite sat
isfied with his surroundings. 1t was a
cool night and the deck was almost
deserted so he had our secluded cor
ner behind the cabin all to himself,
and we could stand just outside the
door and examine him at our leisure.
He looks just like anybody else"
said Elizabeth plainly disappointed.
Il didn't say he had a hump on his
back" returned Gabrielle, Indignantly.
Il said he threw chair overheard
and so he did
1T is a new way of beginning
Irritation" l. murmured, but customs
differ in various places. Perhaps you
should have sent your chair after it,
BY way of acknowledging the atten-
tion. OH"
For at that moment he leaned for
ward, looked with interest at the chair
beside him. felt its back and legs,
poised it lightly in the air, and shot
1t over the railing into the water be-
low, where we saw 1t bobbing in the
foam in our wake.
"There," triumphed Gabrielle. Now
what do you say?'