The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1909-02-12

even tHe two EHa dol Hr I'agt~ Nuf
thar teir Combined twenty would a..
him 81 sl buJ q Wouil al Ten
permit aiu he plea Fires " the ear
table wilho personal loss.
Brt the gas had retired 10 dress
and Voucher was for motoring, and BE-
had no NE Tor his wife. and be 81,
afraid of Iianks game. and Siwar
seated on the edge OF the pool am
sharing a pint Of ginger ale with s.
VIA lands. shook his head at the sug
gestion and resumed his division
the ginger ale.
Plank and Leila Mortimer cam"
down To congratulate them. SyIvi
always instmctively and particular
nice to people Of Plank's sort whoE
she occasionally encountered, was s."
faultlessly amiable. that Plank. VIII"
had never before permitted hlmse
the privilege Of monopoliZing he,
found himself doing It so easily thu
1t kept him IN a state of persisten,
mental intoXication
Siward, inclined to be amused by
the duration of the trance into which
/ Plank had fallen, watched the prog
| ress of that bulky young mans infatu
alton as he sat there on the pools
marble edge. exchanging trivial view
! on trivial subjects with Mrs Lero.
Mortimer
/ Once in their history, during her
| early married life. Siward had been
very sentimental about her, but nei,
Their he nor she had approached the
danger line closer than to make dar
! Ing eyes at one another across the
frontiers of good taste And their
youthful enchantment had faded so
naturally, so pleasantly, that always
there had remained to them both an
agreeable after taste-a sort of gay
understanding which almost invaria-
bly, led to mutual banter when they
encountered. But now something APP
peared to be lacking In their rather
listless Misunderstanding of the
usual flavor which once had sailed
even a laughing silence with signifi-
canoe. Siward, too, had ceased to be
amused at the spectacle Of Plank's
mers bored smile had lasted so long
that her Olive-pink cheeks were ST
and she relaxed her fixed features
with little shrug that was also some
thing of a SILVER. Then, looking pru
| IDENTITY around, she encountered 81
wards eyes, and during moments
| hesitation they considered one another
with an increasing curiosity tina
slowly became tentative intelligence.
| And her eyes said very plainly and
wickedly to Siward's: "Oho, my friend
So it bores you to see Mr. Plank mo
nopolizing an engaged girl who be
| longs to Howard Quarter"
Then without appearing to she took
Plank away from temptation SO skill
fully that nobody except Siward I'M
derstood that the young man had been
incontinently removed He, Plank,
never doubting that he was perfect
ly free agent, decided that the time
had arrived for triumphant retirement
Sylvia turned to Siward glanced up
at him, hesitated and began to laugh
consciously
What do YOU think of my latest SEN
timental acc lisition?"
| He'd be an ornament to stock
farm" replied Siward, out Of humor.
How brutal you can be-! she unused.
smiling.
Nonsense! He's a plain bounder,
isn't he?"
81 don't KNOWS he? He struck me
trife appealingy, even pathetically
They usually do, that sort. AS though
the trouble they took could ever be
worth the time they lose"
She sat, smiling maliciously down at
the water, smoothing out the soaked
skirt of her swimming suit and swing
ing her legs refectively.
/ Are you reconciled?" she asked
presently
"To what?"
ITO leaving Shotover Today is our
! last day you know, You may be hero
again, but II shall not be | If / ever
come to Shotover again"
Her stock lged heels beat the devils
tattoo against the marble sides of the
pool. She reached up above her head.
drawing down a Towering branch o.
Japanese orange, and caressed her deli
cate nose with the white blossoms
1 dreamily, then mischievously. I'm ac-
customing myself to this most sig
nificant perfume" she said, look g at
him askance. And she deliberately
hummed the wedding march, watching
the color rise in his sullen face.
IF you had the courage ~ stHr-
row you'd make life worth something
for us BOTH" he said
She cross d her knees one slender
ankle imprisoned in her hand, leaning
forward thcughtfully above the '"ptor
"Our last day she mused ''for we
shall never be just you and ! again
never again, my friend. after we leave
this rocky coast Of E'on. ! am to he
married a year from Nov. l."
He looked up at her In dark s'irprise
for he had heard that their wedding