Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1910-05-13
a Cherub
DeVine
~ M@A BY
e - SEWELL FORD
r 1921 4 Mitchell kennerey -
CHAPTER V.

oi.ly small flet in ;he house. sir, and
70, 4 dugk-not 4 single duck"
"IIaye SQUAD tLrn.'
net. sir. We havcn't"-
oh don't 90 ~ telling me what you
haven't got. Hash up anything. Make
f"aIc sandwi hes if you cant do bet
tor. only don't come to me with your
troubles. IA 10 chef. But I'm going
To have some FRIEND; here tonight, and
shall expect you to feed them. That's
what you're here for, isn't it,"
"Ye-e-e-es. sir. At what hour, sir?"
"Eight-thirty, sharp"
rand how-how many plates, sir:"
Il don't know. Ten or fifteen or
twenty. Better make it twenty, and
then You can discard"
III do my best. sir"
That's the way to talk, Eppings."
Having made these offhand prepare
tons, Mr.. Devine sat himself down on
the yeranda. He heard a step and
looked up to see before him the aris-
tocratic figure Of the Countess Vecchi's
father. Mr. Hewington seemed some.
what agitatcd.
You must pardon me, sir, for a
seeming impertinence," he began, but
l have just learned by accident that
you contemplate giving party here
tonight. Is it fact?"
Mr.. Devine nodded. lust a few
friends, dozen or So"
"Ah. Friends of yours!" Mr.. Hew-
ingtOn gave the words q significant
emphasis. ''Then would it not beer
-prudent-perhaps discreet is the bet
ter wOrd-fOr my daughter to so else
where for the night-to the hotel in
the village perhapsT'
There was twinkle in the Cherub's
blue eyes as he responded, Afraid of
a rough house, are you"
MY daughter, sir, is not exactly &C.
custOmed to-er-the kind Of persons
who might
"Oh. l see. Well, suit yourself about
it-suit yourself. But it isn't ut all
necessary. shall try to keep them
quiet. There are to be only q few
neighbors-the Walloways and
''The .Wallowaysw
Eyes, and the Wilburs and the Mil
1er-Tremways and old Bishop Horton
and stray baron or twe"
Bishop Horton! Is Bishop Horton
coming? Coming here"
"Why. yes. The bishops friend Of
mine. Know him, do your
I'VE were college classmates, Mr..
Devine," said Mr. Hewington.
THAT so! I never went to college
with the bishop. but I've crossed the
ocean with him twice, and once held
his hat while he made a speech"
Extraordinary" said Mr.. Hewing.
ton.
Think so? 1t may seem a little
queer to you. but the bishop doesn't
appear to look at it that way. Come
down and meet him and the rest Of
the folks. won't you? We're to have
little supper about half past 6. And.
say, bring the countess-that is, unless
you're afraid Of the crowd"
This last was q violation Of q para.
graph In the Cherub's own code of
ethics, paragraph which read, when
the other fellows down and out don't
rub 1t in" But the words had escaped
before he knew 1t. Fortunately Mr..
HewingtOn did not seem to notice the
allusion, for he retired. repeating In an
undertone: 1.-THE Walloways! Bishop
Horton! The Miller Tremwaysv'
And sure enough, early in the even
ing the big rooms Of the great house
began to echo with the lively chatter
Of many guests. There was the portly
Mrs. Walloway, whose dinner dances
are always such brilliant affairs: there
were the naughty Wilburs, the hyphen.
ated Tremways and half dozen 9th
ers without whose names and pic
lures the Sunday supplements would
be incomplete.
They were somewhat disposed to
look curiously upon Mr.. Cherub De.
vine ut first, but when the bishop had
patted him affectlonately on the shoul.
der and the baron had effusively EN-.
braced him the atmosphere thawed
perceptibly.
The one person who was least ut his
ease was young Mr. Walloway. For
awhile he was sitter than ever, and he
had the air of one who expects some.
thing very embarrassing to happen.
But the Cherub was undisturbed.
Thus far he had gained his point
Whether Nick Walloway had been in
iluenced by that suggestion Of future
business or whether he had acted pure
~ from motives of good fellowship he
cared not. The thing had been done.
The program which the Cherub had
so hastily outlined that morning was
being carried out. Moreover, his guests
appeared to be enjoying the novelty.
In the course Of half an hour even
Nick Walloway seemed to have be
come treasured that nothing untoward
was about to happen. AS o matter of
fact, Mr.. Devine was acQuitting him.
self creditably.
Isn't he unique? So charmingly
naivew whispered Mrs. Miller-Trem-
way.
Perfectly delightful~ assented Mrs.
Wilbur. HE says such odd things"
$50 glad you're to be a neighbor of
ours" the latter assured Mr.. Devine.
And how do you like Hewington
Acres"
ooh, it's good deal like living In
Central park" observed the Cherub;
grass looks as if it had had q shave,
n hair cut and shampoo, you know!
All the place lacks are some benches
and nurses and baby carriages. l may
have to bring those up here until i get
used to It."
us it true. Mr. Devine," demanded
Mrs. WallOway, that you started on
your financial career with only q few
thousand dollarsT'
Few thousandw echoed the Cherub.
"Why, I've seen the time when 1t
would have made ME dizzy just to
think Of having a whole thousandw
do tell us about 1t, Mr.. Devine,"
urged Mrs. Wilbur. adjusting her lor-
gnette.