Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1910-04-27


now and then. The lawyers insist on
it. some OF the property having been
left to her, but 1 never try to explain
things which do not fully compre-
bend myself. The sale Of this place,
for instance. still perplexes me. 1 did
not desire it at all. 1 suppose, how
ever, that it was necessary as a mat
ter Of form. Probably you have a
clearer notion OF it than I, Mr.. De-
vine"
your idea is, bit hazy," admitted
the Cherub.
Perhaps so, but 1 presume that
your-er-possession here is only a
temporary arrangement. Matters will
soon be adjusted, 1 suppose, when my
attorneys finally get around to 1T. Ny
daughter was more or less worried un-
til I assured her that I would attend
to the affair personally"
"Then she cheered up, did sheT Mr..
Devine appeared to find the converse
ton entertaining.
"She was relieved, of course. But
have been SO engrossed in preparing
a pamphlet Orwell, on a scientific
subject which would not be of inter
COZ ~ mat L AdNS hCSACNhCo ~
take the proper steps. However, now
that you thoroughly understand the
situation, 1 trust that you will not
act hastily"
"Oh, shan't put you out or any
thing like that, Mr.. Hewington. Make
your mind easy on that score
at is very considerable Of you, sir.
OF course until the affair is settled we
shall not encroach on your technical
right Of possession more than is abso-
lutely necessary. If the present ar
rangement is satisfactory would sug-
gest that it be continued
The Cherub favored Mr.. Hewington
with a whimsical smile. "Well, Wen
let the thing drift for awhile anyway.
Only you don't have to act as though
you were prisoners. Why don't you
and the countess come down to your
meals just as though wasn't hereT
my dear sir Here Mr.. Hewing-
ton began an exhaustive review Of the
situation. When he was through Mr..
Devine chuckled gleefully. 1t was an
amazingly simple proposition. The
Hewingtons were the Hewingtons, and
newell, he was Cherub Devine. That
told the story.
1t was all done very courteously and
dehcately IN Mr.. Hewington's fine, aris-
tocraic manner, yet nothing but the
superlative buoyancy Of Mr.. Devine's
audacious soul saved him from being
utterly crushed.
81 wish 1 could have dreams like
that" soliloquized the Cherub when
he had been left alone.
The possibilities jncident upon &C
curing a quiet country house were
surprising to Mr. Cherub Devine.
Lets see" he reflected; I'm not ex.
acuy what you'd call an unwelcome
guest, am l? 1 guess 1 must be an
unwelcome host, then, and hanged If
that isn't new one on me. But there's
worse and more of It. I'm no gentle
man, for one item. Then, if I'm to be-
lieve all 1 hear about myself, I'm a
deep dyed villain and an unregenerate
sinner who has butted into his own
house. Take it all around, things are
pretty badly mixed. Wonder what
program ought to follow"
More or less thought did Mr.. Devine
bestow upon the Countess Vecchi DUR
ing the next half hour He had Il
well defined idea, had the Cherub.
that his knowledge of women was vast
and deep. oh, he had seen lots of
themI They had been of all kinds too.
1t was part of his philosophy that the
wise man kept out of their way, that
generally they meant mischief and
that when they didn't they were most
dangerous.
No, thank you" This was the
Cherub's attitude toward the sex. One
experience was quite enough for him,
for there had been considerable to his
affair with Kittie O'Neill, whom he
had mentioned to the countess. He
was hardly out of his teens then, to
be sure, and Kittie, having achieved
one and twenty and a position in the
second row of the chorus, had viewed
his awkward advances with silent
scorn until one eventful day when
she had fully revealed her attitude by
a sudden burst of derisive laughter.
Cherub Devine's faith in womankind
had been destroyed.
But In the presence of the Countess
Vecchi he forgot all his suspicious. He
was quite sure that no one just like
her bad ever existed before. There
fore it was amazingly unjust that she
should look upon him as an outcast or
as a burning brand of sin. He couldn't
tell her what good fellow he was,
and she had no chance of finding it
out for herself so long as the old gen.
tleman regarded him as socially unfit.
81 seer' exclaimed the Cherub at
last. I've got to qualify in his class
Well, here goes!'
(To be Continued.)