Putnam patriot., 1908-10-16
By Lady
 And Perkins.
ng C. 9. LEWI5.
c0py-IgG.sa. f1 by Associated
 s.sssf4ey FreEg.

{ s;Le ifas leegfae He1rsi2iited and hif deaf sh. was sheun.aiic and she hae
 a slight sfoop and somewhat Of an un-
 certain gait TGi for ll4e vigilance of
 her maii. Fertiar. she would have
 looked avery month of her age and passed for tse oil woman she was II waS Perkins who sklllfuiIy padded her gowns and applied fife tlaiafy pink and white coHiPIexi6B md Wbo gave Der daily lessons In the art Of remain ing young woman
 II was Perkins who had told her for the last dozen years thnt she looked under forty and who made each birth day count one less instead of one more Tn her way. and If was good way. Perkins was jewel Of the first watas sIy lady had wealth When. at the age of forty. she lad married again. only to become Il widow for the second time within three years. her cash in come had been largely added 10. At fifty fhlrd ardent snitor ap-
 peared. but my lady decided to pre-
 serve her widowhood and retain esn-
 
 herself and she had Perkins Five years previously. when the woman had
 come 10 her. she had said.
 Perkins. 1 am q frivolous thing Of thlrty-fiye."
 'Yes'fn, replied Perkins as she men
 tally added twenty years to the figures
 "i am frivolous. but not quite fooi.'
 "No'm"
 And l want you to help me from be-
 coming one"
 Certainly. nm"
 ''If you see nc flirting or acting gid
 dy, as most youBg women are apt 10
 do at times. Fut your foot down and
 stop it."
 T will. m'm.e
 "sh9pid ! fe4ily fall in love. Perkins
 should 1 he 90 gi Idly and frivolous
 and foolish is to think of marriage
 put both feet down and bring me to
 ms Henses ere Ii Is too late That's all
 this evening Perkins"
 Thus Perkins became lady's maid.
 chaperon and adviser combined. She
 was the keeper of the keys and the
 watchdog or fhe treasury. She was Il
 good judge ef human character and Il close estimator Of how far d filtration could go and still come under the head of harmless
 On several occasions, when things
 had gone their limit. she had announce ed the fact. and my lady had turned her back OH the afft,r It was one season at Nice when things went wrong Perkins was find Ing il hard work to keep the wrinkles rubbed away. My lady was beginning to notice her own stoop and limp and she was almost ready to acknowledge
 that she felt all Of forty eight and q few minutes over
 Count DuRols made his appearance
 at this opportune moment. He WIS Il
 real French count. if that was worth anything. He was also spendfhrift and gambler He had about reached the end of his tether when he got around To Niee on il tour of adventure aud ran across my lady and her friends
 His reputation soon caught up with him. but in Europe title excuses
 much There was almost at once an open filtration between ny lady and the count. and for time the Argus eyed Perkins watched it and said uoth- lug
 However. when Mrs. Grundy had be. gun to nod and wink and whisper he hlnd her fan. she took my lady in baud on All previous occasions the dear old thlng had heaved sigh or two. shrugged her shoulders and suh- mltted to the inevitable, but OH this occasion, to Perkins great surprise. she proved ohdurnte. Perkins. l mn surely in love" she replied
 But you cant be. You are too-too young
 'Rut know that l am in love, and | shah marry the count poor boy Perkins came back at her with enough statistics To swamp the char acters of three or four adventurets. hut my lady had made uP her mind and uoihin. could move her. Perkins knew when To argue and when to con ccal herself behind the portieres Before the count left the parlors next day she was Ia possession of all needed particulars There was to be yacht. Ing party ef Il dozen friends. and slnrs Ing the trip the engagement would he announced two weeks later mar riage and d honeymoon trip. The yneht weald not make the har= lat, In h.. i'm and the count would call for my lady fin carriage He further threw out q suggestion It was that Perkins he locked in her room at a certain hour to prevent her wandering about Nice dur ing the evening hours and getting lost or falling of the quay. Human jewels such as she had been known to disappear ofr the face of the earth while innocently taking the night air of that charming resort. "Rut Perkins won't be advertised for as a lost tewel." said Perkins to her self as the count left the house. and for the next few hours her face wore an expression that ought to have put my lady on her guari. but didn't She was so mild and gentle and af- fectionate and she seemed so far from suspecting any sort of plot that she could have asked for raise of salary and got II on the spot. AS she didn't ask, IL was not offered Neither did my lady think tt best l to tell her thai she would soon be out of place. That was another thing | the count had sugyested-the very last | thing as De was leaving tee house. | that as soon as the marriage teek place