Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1909-04-22

Haven't noticed. What do you
think of Kitty"
Charming"
And the photo isn't marker
Possibly not
Lord, if could only hibernate for
three months like bear! My capital
might then readiust itself if left
alone that length Of time Jack, why
the deuce haven't I relation never
heard of, who would politely die to-
morrow and leave me that beggarIy
thousand? I'm not asking for much.
The harder l chase it the faster it
runs ahead" Merrihew thwacked his
boots soundly with his crop "Some
day I'm going to enter that thousand
in the Suburban handicap. And won't
there be killing?"
1T wouldn't do you any good to Dor
row it?"
In that case / should owe two
thousand instead OF one No, thank
you Shall I see you at the club to-
night?"
Perhaps. Good by"
They nodded pleasantly and took
their separate ways. Merrihew stood
very high in billiards regard. He was
g loveable fellow, and there was some
thing kindred in his soul and Hill
! liard's, possibly the spirit of romance.
They had met years before, at COM
mencement. Merrihew in his mortar
board and gown ard billiard as an old
graduate, renewing his youth at. the
fountains. What drew them together.
perhaps more than anything else. was
their mutual love of outdoor pleasures
Their first meeting was followed by
| many hunting and fishing expeditions,
and many long rides on horseback.
Take two men and put them on good
horses, send them forth into the wilds
to face all conditions of weather and
inconvenience, and if they are not
fast friends at the end of the journey,
rest assured that they never will be.
| For all his aversion to cards. there
was bit of a gamester in billiard !;
as, once in his Office, he decided on
the fall of coin not to withdraw his
personal from the paper. He was
quite positive that he would never
! hear that Voice again, but having
thrown his dice he would let them lie
Now, at eleven o'clock that same
morning two distinguished Italians
sat down to breakfast in one of the
fashionable hotels. The one nor the
other had ever heard of Hilliard
they did not even know that such Il
person existed and yet, serenely I'M
conscious. one was casting his life
line as the palmist would say. across
billiards.. The knots and tangles were
to come later.
THE coffee in this country is abom
mabel" growled one
''Jnsufferable!' assented his com
panion.
The waiter smiled covertly behin6
his hand He had smattering of al
tongues, beina foreign born These
italians and these Germans! Why
there is only one place in the world
where both the aroma and the flavor
of the coffee are preserved; and it is
mot decidedly not, in Italy or Ger
many. And if his tip exceeded ter
cents. he would be vastly surprised
The Italian is always the same, prince
or peasant He never wastes on neces
stiles a penny which can be applied
to the gaming-tables. And these two
were talking about Monte Carlo ant
Ostend and the German Kursaalen.
The Younger of the two was yer,
handsome man. tall, slender and ner
vous, the Venetian type. His blacl
eyes were keen and energetic and row
ing. suggesting a temper less calculat
ing than hasty. The mouth. partly hid
den under q graceful military mus
; tache. was ti1in-lipped, the mouth o
a man who, however great his vices
was always master OF them. From hi
right cheek bone to the corner of hi
mouth ran scar. very we'll healed
Instead of detracting from the beaut
of his face 1t added a peculiar fascin
alton And the American imagination
always receptive of the romantic
might readily and forgivab1y have pic
tured villas maids in durance vile
and sword-thrusts under the moor
light. But the waiter who had serve,
his time, In one or the other of TIL
foreign srmies. knew that no foil 0
rapier could have made such a scar
more probably the sable. For the TIA
t ian officer on horseback is the mad
l dest of all men, and in the spirit @
!, play courts hazards that another ma
, might sensibly avoid in actual wal
. fare.
I His companion was less handsome
t but equally picturesque His whit
5 head and iron-gray beard placed hir
! outside the active army. He wore !