The newspaper., 1909-01-22

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 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 it was resurrected. flung at
him in sincerest moclery by a woman
whom. to his knowledge, he had never
before laid eyes upon. Odious appella-
tion. hateful invention of an ingenious
enemy,
Handsome Dam She must have
known me all the time-all the time
was making an exhibition of myself
. Wentworth? know no one of
that name. Who the dickens can
she be-"
If it had not been contrary TO his
code of ethics. he would gladly have
raved, snashed his teeth. footed the
dance of rage with his shadow In
deed. his restraint was admirable, the
circumstances considered. He did
nothing whatever but stand still for a
matter of five 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. inyesti-
CATION developed. was the watch. At
which crowning stroke of misfortune
the timepiece must have slipped
from his pocket into the water while
he was tinkering with that Infamous
carbureter- Maitland turned eloquent
ly red in the face.
The price, he meditated aloud
with an effort to resume his pose. lis
high one to pay for a wave OF a gray
glove and the echo of pretty laugh" &"
With which final fling at Fortune he
set off 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 trifes wounded
vanity engaged his solicitude to the
exclusion Of all other interests.
At the end OF i5 minutes he had
covered the remaining distance be-
tween Greenfield statibn and Maitland
Manor For five minutes more he
strode wearily over the side path by
the box hedge which set aside his ances-
tral acres from the public highway. At
length. with an exclamation he PAUSED
al the first opening in the living bar
-ier. = 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.
shudoering and shiyering with the
combination of a nauseous odor and
the nights coolness-the latter by now
making itself as unpleasantly promi-
nent as the former.
Though he hated the smell with all
his heart. manfully inconsistent he
raised his head. smiling the air for
further evidence: and got his reward
In a sickening gust
Tank leaked" he commented with
brevity. Quart of the stun must have
trickled out right here. Ugh, II II
goes on at this rate. there1l be another
breakdown before she gets home"
And. Serve her right. tool" he
growIed. yindiciiye.
But for all his indignation he ac-
knowledged "A sneaking wish that he
might be at hand again. in such event.
a second time TO give gratuitous sery-
ice to his gray lady
Analyzing 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
tine 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. breathless. 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 yelvet-black shadows skulked
across the ample breadths OF dew
drenched grass. Somewhere bird
stirred on its unseen perch. chirping
sleepily; and in the rapt silence the
inconsiderable interruption broke with
startling stress.
In time-not long-the house lifted