Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1910-03-25
Cherub
Deviine
BY SEWELL FORD
Copyright. 1908. by Mitchell Kennerley
Continued from page 8

"Oh. you needn't ~ thatI' protest.
ed Mr.. Devine.
But it is my fathers desire" add
ed the countess. And we shall a K
all our meals there"
"Looks as if | didn't stand very well
with your father" commented Mr.. De-
vine. SIS there anything specialY"
HE thinks that you are rather-that
Is, that you-you'- A sudden rush of
color came into the olive shaded cheeks
of the countess, and her brown eyes
began to study the rug pattern. Mr..
Devine suddenly decided that some
times countesses were nice to look at.
Eyes" he said encouragingly, rather
what?"
"Well. rather wild and wicked and
reckless, you know. He was afraid
that you might Observation-Disclosures
ed."
A cherubic expression spread over
the pink and white face of Mr.. Devine.
Thinks I'm a sort of a cross between
a cowboy and a pirate, eh? Seems to
know all about me tool"
HE has read about you in the news
papers," ventured the countess, with
a shy, half curious glance which for
an instant met the calm. level gaze of
Mr.. Devine's blue eyes. :
"Oh!" The Cherub spoke as one
who has seen a light. something
about how l spent half a million in
Paris one week, or was it a million?"
"Half a million, the paper said. But
you won it all back at Monte Carlo
the next week, didn't you? We read
about the big poker game, too-the
one that started In Liverpool and end
ed off Sandy Hook"
"That was a corker!"
And the champagne supper you
gave to forty chorus girls"
eyes, / believe there were forty.
You have certainly kept well posted"
I'll suppose that | should explain"
she began. Papa. you see, is inter-
ested in sociology. the study of social
conditions and all that. He reads
books about it and gathers statistics.
He is writing a pamphlet on the sub
ject."
Mr.. Devine nodded Incompetence
ingly.
HE has been particularly interested
in-in your career. In fact, he has
made quite a study of it. He gets
everything that is printed about you
from n5a ne a An nsw yas pssrs se' Bas1sG b nq L By
scrapbook."
Must make lively reading"
"Oh, it does. Papa says that you
are a typical product of the present
commercial age"
"Well. that's nice of him. I've been
called worse Names"
"Of course'-here the countess nerv-
ed herself to look sternly at the smil-
ing Mr.. Devine-"he disapproves very
strongly of you. He says it isn't SIM
ply hat you spend SO much money
foolishly, but that you set such a bad
example to other young men who can
not afford perhaps to follow it. OF
course I know that the newspapers Of
ten exaggerate," admitted the count
ess. "Perhaps they have about you"
'Think so? Why?
The Countess Vecchi gazed at the
clear skinned. chubby face of Mr.. De-
vine.
"Well, you don't look at all as I had
expected"
"Horns and hoofs not in ~evidence?"
chuckled the Cherub.
you know what l mean," protested
the countess. "One can usually recog-
nize the marks of-of dissipation"
"Oh, you can't always tell by the
looksr'
mo, you cannot she said decidedly,
land papa is quite certain that you are
an improper person."
TOO wicked for you to eat dinner
with, am II"
Papa thinks So"
"And he has read the newspapers,
Ell? All right. But it's dull business
eating alone"
81 couldn't make up for the absence