The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1909-12-23
CONTINUED from last weekly

"Ah!' Kitty's face became eager
with excitement. Now you have put
your finger on the mystery that Is
bothering us all. Not one Of us has
seen her or knows her name. She has
not rehearsed with us and will not till
we reach Naples, where we rest a
week. When we speak Of her the
manager smiles and says nothing, and
as none of us has seen the hacker Mr..
Worth thinks that she herself Is the
prima donna and hacker in one. We
think that she is some rich young wo-
man who wishes to exploit her voice.
There's a lot of them In the world. |
wish l knew her. Little has been said
about the venture in the papers, and
I'm glad. We may prove a perfect
fizzle, and the less said the better. AS
we can't walk back, l must learn to
swim. Lunch is ready, every one!"
The mummers and the outsiders
flocked into the small dining room.
There was plenty to eat; beer, soda,
whisky and two magnums Of cham
payne, Merrihew's contribution to the
feast. Hillard listened with increas-
ing amusement to the shop talk. 1t
was after l when they returned to the
sitting room, where the piano stood.
The wine was now opened, and toasts
were drunk. O'AIally told inimitable
stories. There was something exceed
ingly droll in that expressive Irish
face of his.
Worth did not drink, but Hillard did
not like his handsome face any the
more for this virtue. He sang re-
markably we'll, however, and with a
willingness Hillard had not believed
he possessed. He wondered vaguely
why he disliked the Otherwise
Hillard enjoyed himself vastly.
"Mr. Merrihew has been telling me
all about you," said Kitty.
You mean, Of course, my good quail.
ties" replied Hillard.
ITO hear him talk one would think
that you possessed nothing else. But
l am sure that you have glaring
faults such as a man might pass over
and a woman go round"
/ DeIlSNeu llldt NlcIIllcW udu Il St
rious fault till tonight" he said.
She looked at him quickly and col
ored.
Has the foolish boy been telling
you hat l refused to marry him?
like him very much" she added grave
ly. but | shall never marry any man
till | have ceased to love the stage. ]
am not a whit less ~eXtravagant than
he Is. How could the two of us live
on an income which he himself admits
that he cannot live within? A month
after | am gone he will forget all
about me-"
"Merrihew is the most loyal mar l
know" Hillard declared.
"Of course he Is loyal. And he Is
always in earnest-for the moment"
And then they both laughed.
it was outrageously late. nearly 4,
when the jewellers took leave. Merri-
hew was happy with that evanescent
happiness which goes hand In glove
with late suppers and magnums.
isn't she a little wonder, Jack?'
LES. III 10, IL IL lhiShl bN Il SOoN
thing for you to marry a sensible little
woman like that. But she won't have
you
"No. she won't" Merrihew reached
for his watch. "Four a. m"
"Say, what do you think Of that man
WORTH"
Every good voice, but he's too hand
some"
"Oh, 90 on. You're as fine a looking
chap as there IS In New York. But this
man Worth has the looks If 4 lady
killer. He's been ewing Kitty, hut il
doesn't go. Hang il. | can't see VIII!
she won't marry ne now
You must have patience"
'Cr more money. can't O'Mally IL!
a good story. thought"
Yes. but | should late to turn hiA
loose in ms wine cellars. / maggie
he VIII praise anything good to drin.
Int water"
Mci.i.yW reared.
wei. here's your station, Dan
Sail / see you tomorrow"
"EiGht-thirty in the park. Nothin;
Ike Il horse for Il headache"
billiard arrived home tired ant
| sleepy. but as he saw a letter OF III,
stand in the hall his drowsiness passed
quickly. There was no other blue en-
velope like it. She now had his house
address; she was interested enough L
look it up. She did not follow his LEAD
and write In Italian; she wrote in Eng
~lish-crisp English too. Again ther'
was neither beginning nor ending. Blu
this was a letter. There was something
here Of the woman, something to rea'
and read again:
I had told the maid to burn your letter