Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1909-02-16

cession despite the gallant efforts OF
the grand marshal.
From the balcony Of the hotel Monty
and his party pelted those below with
flowers and confetti More illusions to
Franklin and Lafayette were made
when the cure and the mayor halted
the procession and presented Monty
with an address richly engrossed on
imitation parchment. Then the school
children sang and the crowd dispersed
to meet again in the evening.
| At s o'clock Brewster presided over
a large banquet and numbered among
his guests every one Of distinction In
the town. The wives were also invited,
and Franklin and Lafayette were again
alluded to. Each of the men made at
least one speech, but Subway Smiths
third address was the hit Of the even
ing. Knowing nothing but English, he
had previously clung consistently to-
that language, but the third and final
address seemed to demand something
more friendly and genial, With a
sweeping bow and with all the dignity
of statesman he began:
"Mesdames ct messieurs, jai, tn as,
II a, nous avons"-with a magnificent
gesture-"vous avez" The French
members of the company were not
equal to his pronunciation and were
under the impression that he was still
talking English. They were profound
| ly impressed with his Difference and
grace and accorded his preamble a
round Of applause. The Americans
did their utmost to persuade him to be
seated, but their uproar was mistaken
by the others for enthusiasm, and the
applause grew louder than ever. Sub
way held up his hand for silence, and
his manner suggested that he was
about to utter some peculiarly impor-
tant thought. He waited until a pin
fall could have been heard before he
went on.
"Maitre Corbeau sur un arbre
perche"- He finished the speech as he
was being carried bodily from the room
by DeMille and Bragdon. The French
men then imagined that Smiths re-
marks had been insulting, and his
friends had silenced him on that ac-
count. A riot seemed imminent when
Monty succeeded in restoring silence
and with few tactful remarks about
Franklin and Lafayette quieted the
excited guests.
The evening ended with fireworks
and a dance in the open air-a dance
that grew gay under the masks. The
wheels had been well oiled, and there
was no visible failure Of the carnival
spirit. To Brewster it seemed a mad
game, and he found 1t less easy to play
part behind the foolish mask than he |
expected. His own friends seemed to
elude him.. and the coquetries Of the
village damsels had merely a f1eeting
charm. He was standing apart tol
watch the glimmering crowd when he
was startled by a smothering cry.
Turning to investigate, he discovered a
little red domino, Enthusiastically fright
ened and trying to release herself from
too ardent Punchinello. Monty's ar
rival prevented him from tearing of
the girls mask and gave him an en-
tirely new conception Of the strenuous
life. He arose fuming and sputtering
but he was taken in hand by the crowd
and whirled from one to another in
whimsical mockery. Meanwhile Mon
ty. unconscious that his mask had
dropped during the encounter, was as
tonished to feel the little hand Of the
red domino on his arm and to hear a
voice not all unfamiliar in his ear.
Monty, you are a dear. I love you
for that You looked like a Greek ath-
lete. Do you know-it was foolish
but l really was frightened"
Child, how could it have happen
ed?" he whispered, leading her away.
Fancy my little Peggy with no one
too look after her. What a beast /
was to trust you to Pettingill. I might
have known the chump would have
been knocked out by all this color
He stopped to look down at her, and |
light came into his eyes. Little Peg
gy in the great world" he smiled; you
are not fit. You need-well, you need
just me-"
But Mrs. Valentine had seen him as
he stood revealed and came up in |
search of Peggy. 1t was almost morn
ing, she told her, and quite time to go
back to the hotel and sleep. So in
Bragdon's charge they wandered off, a
bit reluctantly, bit lingeringly.
1t was not until Monty was sum-
moned to rescue Reggie Vanderpool
from the stern arm Of the law that he
discovered the identity of Punchinello.
Manifestly he had not been in a con-
dition to recognize his assailant, and a
subsequent disagreement had driven
the first out of his head The poor boy
was sadly bruised about the face, and
his arrest had probably saved him
from worse punishment.
Il told you / couldn't wear a mask,
he explained ruefully as Monty led him
home. But how could know that he
could hear me all the time?"
The day after the carnival Brewster
drove his guests over to Monte Carlo.
He meant to stay only long enough to
try his luck at the tables and lose
enough to make up for the days at sea
when his purse was necessarily idle.
Swearengen Jones was forgotten, and
soon after his arrival he began to
plunge. At first he lost heavily, and it
was with difficulty that he concealed
his joy. Peggy Gray was watching
him and in whispers implored him to
stop, but Mrs. Dan eXcitedly urged
him to continue until his luck changed.
To the girls chagrin it was the more
reckless advice that he followed. In
so desperate a situation he felt that he
could not stop. But his luck turned too
soon.