The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1910-01-01

NNISo w OcNOkb W tnC SoottS
fgrounds again. No amount of
,bffbing or browbeating could
move the COMPOUNDED Englishman
from his stand. He was willing
to take him anywhere else, but
never again would he risk a per-
sonally conducted tour into hot
waters royal. Mr.. King resigned
himself to purely business call
at the shop of Mr.. Spantz. He
looked long, with somewhat
shifty eye, at the cabinet of an
cient rings and necklaces, and
then departed without having seen
the interesting Miss Platanova.
If the old man observed tend
ency to roam in the young mans
eye, he did not betray the fact
at least not so that anyone could
notice. Truxton departed, but re-
turned Immediately after lunch
con, vaguely inclined to decide
between two desirable rings. Aft
err a protracted period of indeci-
sion, in which Olga remained
stubbornly out of sight, he an
nounced that he could not make
up his mind, and would return
later for another inspection.
At his room in the hotel, he
found a note addressed to him
self. 1t did not have much to
say, but it meant great deal.
There was no signature, and the
handwriting was that of woman.
please do not come again."
That was ALL
He laughed with a fine tone of
defiance and-went back to the
shop at five o'clock, just to
prove that nothing so timid as a
note could stop him. This, how
ever, was after he had taken a
long walk down Castle avenue,
with a supplementary stroll of
little incident outside the grim,
high walls that enclosed the
grounds. If anyone had told him
that he was secretly hoping to
find crevasse through which he
could invade paradise, | make no
doubt he would have resented the
imputation soundly. On the oc-
casion of this last visit to the
shop, he did not stay long, but
went away somewhat dazed to
find himself the possessor of a
ring he did not want and out of
pocket just thirty dollars, Ameri-
can. Having come to the conclu-
sion that knight-errantry of that
kind was not only profligate but
distinctly irritating to his sense of
humor, he looked up Mr.. Hobbs
and arranged for a days ride in
the mountains.
you'll oblige me, Mr.. Hobbs,
bSiTemoving that band from your
cap. / know you're an interpret
ter. It's an insult to my intelli-
g6nce to have it Haunted in my
face all day long. I'll admit you're
what you say you are, so take it
off before we start out tomor-
row."
And so, minus the beguiling in
sigma of office, Mr.. Hobbs led
his hypercritical patron into the
mountain roads early the next
mornign, both well mounted and
provided with a luncheon large
enough to restore the amiability
that was sure to flag at midday
unless sustained by unaesthetic
sandwiches and beer.
The day was bright and clear,
warm in the valley where the
city lay, cooler to cold as one
mounted the winding roads that
led past the lofty Monastery of
st. Valentine, somber sentinel
among the clouds.
A part of Edelweiss is built
along the side of the mountain,
its narrow streets winding up
ward and past countless terraces
to the very base of the rocky,
Jagged eminence at whose top, a
full mile above the last sprink-
ling of houses, stands the isolated,
bleak monastery. The view from
these upper streets, before one
enters the circuitous and hidden
monastery road that winds afar
in it's climb, is never to be forgot
ten by the spectator, no matter
how often he traverses the lofty
thoroughfares. AS far as the eye
can reach, lies the green valley,
through which winds the silvery
river with it's evergreen banks and
spotless white houses-greens and
whites that almost shame the
vaunted tints of old Ireland as
one views them from the incom-
ing steamers. Immediately below
ones feet lies the compact little
city, with its red roofs and green
chimney pots, it's narrow streets
and vivid awnings, it's wide ave-
nues and the ancient castle to the
north. To the south, the fortress
and the bridges; encircling the
city thick, high wall with here
and there enormous gates thanked
by towers so grim and old that
they seem ready to topple over
from the sheer fatigue of centur-
les. A soft. Indian summer haze
hangs over the lazy-lit valley; it
is always so in the summer time
S. Outside the city walls stretch
the wheat fields and the meadows
the vineyards and orchards, all
snug in the nest of forest-crowne6
hills, whose lower slopes arc
spotted with broken herds of cat