Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-02-09


In the effort to curb his extravagance.
Hell be giving automobiles and
ropes Of pearls for favors If we don't
stop him." said Subway Smith after
Monty had ordered vintage cham
pagne to be served during the entire
evening. "Give them two glasses first,
IL you like, and then they won't mind
IL they have cider the rest Of the
night"
Monty is plain dotty," chimed In
Bragdon, "and the pace is beginning to
tell on him."
AS a matter Of fact the pace was be-
ginning to tell on Brewster. Work and
worry were plainly having an effect on
his health His color was bad, his
eyes were losing their luster, and there
was a listlessness in his actions that
even determined effort could not con-
ceal from his friends. Little fits Of
fever annoyed him occasionally, and
he admitted that he did not feel quite
right.
Something is wrong somewhere" he
said ruefully, land my whole system
seems ready to stop work through SYM
patty"
Suddenly there was a mighty check
to the preparations. Two days before
the date set for the ball everything
came to a standstill and the managers
sank back in perplexity and conster-
nation. Monty Brewster was critical
ly i'll.
Appendicitis, the doctors called it,
and an operation was imperative.
Thank heaven it's fashionable" !"
laughed Monty, who showed no fear
of the prospect. "How ridiculous If 1t
had been the mumps or If the newspa-
pers had said, On account Of the
whooping cough Mr.. Brewster did not
attend his ball!'"
You don't mean to say-the ball Is
off, Of course" And Harrison was real
ly alarmed.
mot bit Of it, Nopper," said Monty.
Its what I've been wanting all along.
You chaps do the handshaking and 1
stay at home"
There was an immediate council Of
war when this piece Of news was an
nounced, and the Little Sons were
unanimous in favor of recalling the in
vitations and declaring the party on.
At first Monty was obdurate, but when
some one suggested that he could give
the ball later on, after he was well, he
relented. The opportunity to double the
cost by giving two parties was not to
be ignored.
Call it off. then, but say that 1t is
only postponed"
A great rushing to and FRO resulted
in the canceling of contracts, the re-
calling Of invitations, the settlement OF
accounts, with the most loyal effort to
save as much as possible from the
wreckage. Harrison and his associ-
ates, almost frantic with fear for Brew
ster's life, managed to perform Won
ders in the few hours Of grace. Gard
ner, with rare foresight, saw that the
Viennese orchestra would prove dead
loss. He suggested the possibility Of
concert tour through the country
covering several weeks, and Monty, too
i'll to care one way or the other, au-
thorized him to carry out the plan If 1t
seemed feasible.
To Monty, fearless and less disturb
ed than any other member OF his cir
Gle, appendicitis seemed as inevitable
as vaccination.
"The appendix is becoming an i'm
portant feature in the book Of life," he
once told Peggy Gray.
He refused to go to hospital, but
pathetically begged to be taken to his
old rooms at Mrs. Gray's.
With all the unhappy loneliness of a
sick boy he craved the care and COM
panionship Of those who seemed part
Of his own. DR.. Lotless had them
transform a small bedchamber into a
model operating room, and Monty took
no small satisfaction in the thought
that If he was to be denied the priv
ilege of spending money for several
weeks he would at least make his Ill
ness as expensive as possible. A con-
sultation of eminent surgeons was call
ed; but true to his colors, Brewster
installed DR.. Lotless, a Little Son, as
his house surgeon. Monty grimly bore
the pain and suffering and submitted
to the operation which alone could
save his life. Then came the struggle,
then the promise Of victory and then
the quiet days Of convalescence. In
the little room where he had dreamed
his boyish dreams and suffered his boy
ish sorrows he struggled against death
and gradually emerged from the mists
of lassitude. He found it harder than
he had thought to come back to life.
| The burden of 1t all seemed heavy
The trained nurses found that some
more powerful stimulant than the med
icine was needed to awaken his ambi-
ton, and they discovered 1t at last in
Peggy.
Child" he said to her the first time
she was permitted to see him, and his
eyes had lights in them, do you know
this isn't such a bad world after all
Sometimes as I've lain here it has
looked twisted and queer, but there are
things that straighten 1t out. Today
feel as though had a place in it-as
though 1 could fight things and win
out. What do you think, Peggy? DC
you suppose there is something that
could do? You know what I mean
something that some one else would
not do a thousand times better"
But Peggy, to whom this chastened
mood in Monty was infinitely pathetic
would not let him talk. She soothec
him and cheered him and touched his
hair with her cool hands. and then she
left him to think and brood and dream
1t was many days before his turbu-
lent mind drifted to the subject Of
money, but suddenly he found himself
hoping that the surgeons would be gen.
erous with their charges. He almost
suffered a relapse when Lotless, WIS.,
IDLY distressed, informed him that the
| total amount would reach $4,000.