The Montgomery tribune., 1910-12-09

said finally. I'VE do 1t all the time.
only tonight happens to be the an
nual something or other, and" he
trailed Off into silence. trying to
buckle my belt around him. "a good
six inches" he sighed. Il never get
into hanson cab any more that I
don't expect to see the horse fly up
In the air. Well, Allie isn't going
either. She turned down Granger this
afternoon, the Annapolis fellow you
met on the stairs, pigeon-breasted
chap-and she always gets a head
ache on those occasions"
He got UP heavily and went to the
door Granger is leaving" he said,
Il may be able to get his dinner coat
for you. How we'll do you know herr"
he asked, with his hand on the knob.
'If you mean Dolly-T
Alison
Fairly WELL" l said cautiously.
| Not as well as / would like to- /
dined with her last week in Washing
ton. And-I knew her before that"
Forbes touched a bell instead of go
ing out, and told the servant who an
| swered to see If Mr.. Granger's suit
case had gone. If not, to bring it
across the hall. Then he came back
to his former position on the bed.
You see, we feel responsible for
Allie-near relation and all that" he
began pompously. "And we can't talk
to the people here at the house--all
the men are in love with her, and all
the women are jealous Then-there's
a lot of money, too, or will be-
| "Confound the money!" l NUT.
| tered. THAT is-nothing. Razor
slipped.
Il can tell you," he went on, "be.
cause you don't lose your head over
every pretty face-althougb Allie is
more than that, of course. But about
a month ago she went away-to Seal
Harbor, to visit Janet MacLure. Know
herr"
mo"
She came home to Richmond yes
| terday, and then came down here
Allie, l mean. And yesterday after.
noon Dolly had letter from Janet
something about a second man-and
saying she was disappointed not to
have had Alison there, that she had
promised them a two-weeks' visit!
What do you make of that? And that
isn't the worst. Allie herself wasn't
in the room, but there were eight
other women, and because Dolly had
put belladonna in her eyes the night
before to see how she would look, and
as a result couldn't see anything near
er than across the room, some one
read the letter aloud to her, and the
whole story Is out. One of the cats
told Granger and the boy proposed to
Allie to-day, to show her he didn't
care a tinker's dam where she had
been"
Good boy!" l said, with enthusi.
asm. I liked the Granger fellow
since he was out of the running. But
Sam was looking at me with sus
picion.
Blake" he said, 'if l didn't know
you for what you are, I'd say you were
interested there yourself"
Being so near her, under the same
roof, with even the tie of a dubious
secret between us, was making me
heady l pushed Forbes toward the
door.
81 Interested" I retorted, holding
him by the shoulders. There isn't a
word in your vocabulary to fit my
condition. l am an island in a sunlit
sea of emotion, Sam, a-an empty
place surrounded by longing-a-"
IAN empty place surrounded by
longing!" he retorted. You want
your dinner, that's what's the matter
with YOU"
shut the door on him then. He
seemed suddenly sordid Dinner,
thought! Although. as a matter OF
fact, I made very fair meal when
Granger's suitcase not having gone
in his coat and some other mans trou-
sers, l was finally fit for the amen
tiles. Alison did not come down to
dinner. so it was clear she would not
go over to the clubhouse dance.
pied my injured arm, and a fictitious
vaguely located sprain from the
wreck, as an excuse for remaining al
home. Sam regaled the table with
accounts of my distrust of women
my one love affair-with Dorothy; to
which l responded, as was expected
that only my failure there had kept
me single all these years, and that II
Sam should be mysteriously missing
during the bathing hour tomorrow
and so on.
|