The Tupelo journal., 1910-04-29

might be the seat of the doubt. Pos
sibly she had never noticed that
Leven had a way of keeping his left
little finger almost constantly crooked
and turned inward as if it were lame.
But she was not sure even of that,
for she was not one of those people
who study the hands of every n they
know, and a recognize them at a
glance. She had certainly v
watched her husbands as closely as
she was watching Kralinsky's now.
Margaret was in the best of spirits,
and talked more than usual, not stop
ping to think how Van Torp's mere
presence would have chilled and 81
fenced her three or four months
earlier.
On the whole it was a gay dinner,
and Mrs. Rushmore and Kralinsky
knew that it vas a very good one. and
told each other SO afterward as they
walked slowly up and down the great
promenade deck in the starlight. For
people who are very fond of good eat
ing can chatter pleasantly about their
food for hours, recalling the recent de-
lights of a perfect ~chaud-froid or a
faultless sauce; and it was soon evt
dent that there was nothing connect
ed with such subjects which Kralin-
sky did not understand and appreci-
ate. from a Chinese bird's-nest soup to
the rules of the great Marie-Antoine
Careme and Brillat-Savarin's "Physi-
ology of Taste" Kralinsky also knew
everybody. Between %gastronomy and
society, he appeared to Mrs. Rush
more to know everything there was
to be known.
Lady Maud caught snatches of the
conversation as the two came near
her, and then turned back; and she re-
membered that Leven used to talk on
the same subjects with elderly women
on whom he wished to make a pleas
ant impression. The voice was his,
too, and yet she knew she had a doubt
somewhere, a very small doubt, which
it was a sort of slow torture to feel
was still unsatisfied.
Mr.. Van Torp sat between her and
Lady Margaret, while the two others
walked. The deep-cushioned straw
chairs stood round a low fixed table
on which there had been coffee, and at
Margaret's request the light had been
put out, though it was only a small,
opalescent one, placed under the avn
ing abaft the ~wheel-house and bridge.
we must be going very FAST" said
Lady Maud" for the sea is fiat as a
millpond, and yet there's a gale as
soon as n gets out of the lee OF
things"
She's doing %, 1 believe" replied
Van Torp, land she can do % II
pressed. She will, by and by. when
she gets warmed up"
Where are we going?" Margaret
asked. "At this rate we are sure to
get somewhere!"
Il don't know where we're going,
I'm sure The millionaire smiled in
the gloom. But as, you say, it doesn't
take more than five minutes to get
somewhere in a ship like this"
you must have told the captain
what you wanted him to do! You
must have given some ordersi"
Why, certainly. / told him to look
around and see if he could find anoths
err yacht like this anywhere in the
Mediterranean. So he's just looking
around, like that, / suppose. And ii
he finds another yacht anything like
this, we'll see which of us can go fast
est. You see / don't know anything
about ships, or where to go, SO I just
thought of that way Of passing the
time, and when you're tired of rushing
about and want to go anywhere in par
~ticnlar, why, I'll take you there. II
the weather cuts up we'll go in some
where and wait, and see things on
shore. VIII that dol"
Margaret laughed at the vagueness
of such a rowing commission, but Lady
Maud looked toward her friend in the
starlight and tried to see his express
sion, for she was sure that he had 3
settled plan In his mind, which he
would probably put into execution.