Wausau pilot. [volume] (Wausau, Wis.) 1896-1940, 1910-08-02
CHAPTER XXI.

HS"S which + req loSt no time IN com
municating to him. My dear fellow"
said he. you are going to do such d
thoroughly sensible, desirable, and al
together satisfactory thing that the
chances were fuIly hundred TO one
against yoEr ever doiSg it,"
! Il certainly didn't look at 1t In that
way" answered Fred; but I suppose l
shall never be able to persuade you or
anybody else that didn't"
Mr.. Breffit laughed. IF you have
! been able to persuade her." said he.
/ you needn't much mind about me or
anybody else AS a matter of fact. l
don't find the least difficulty in believ-
Ing that you have fallen in love with
Mrs. Fenton. She is a woman quite
out of he ordinary run" added this
| connoi~' IT impressiveIy.
/ If a tendency to do rather extraordi-
| nary things proved a woman to be out
of the ordinary run of her sex. Mrs.
! Fenton undoubtedly merited the law
yer's encomium; and so Fred thought
when, on reaching home, he found n
| letter from her, dated Grand Hotel,
Paris"
! Il wonder" she wrote, whether yo1l
will be very much astonished to hear
|
likely you will be, because you are a
man, and you are very sensible, and
you understand how any place could
! become unbearable and uninhabitable
simply because a single individual had
le-s it. Well l was ashamed TO follow
you to London; and besides, what
could we have done in London at this
time OF year? So, as l had never seen
| orig 7
might amuse you a little to show all
! the sights to such an unsophisticated
savage, l came straight here without
drawing breath. And l won't go any
where or see anything until you come.
Because you will come, won't you,
! Fred? After all, Paris isn't much far
| Their away from you than Devonshire.
l will try not to be dreadfully disap-
! pointed if you say you can't manage
! it.; but l confess that l shall be rather
unhappy and a little frightened until |
! get your answer.
Ever your loving Laura.
Fred could do no less than dispatch
a reassuring telegram to her. and fol-
! low it in person as speedily as might
! be.
He found his cousin luxuriously IN
! stalled in a gilded and mirrored sa-
| loon at the Grand Hotel, and the de-
! light with which she welcomed him
could not have been greater If they hal
| been parted for months.
Now l have got you'll" she exclaim-
ed and am going to keep you. That
| is, unless you get tired of me. VIII
! you soon get tired of me, do you think?
! Not quite so soon here, perhaps, as
! you would have done at Dawlish? You
| shall not be tied to my apron string.
| you know You shall play about and
amuse yourself as much as you like .
He made the only answer that could
| be made; and indeed she had no reason
! during the fortnight that followed to
| complain of any lack of attention or
| devotion on his part. They visited
| some of the sights of Paris (but only
| few of them, because, Notwithstanding
his protestations. she knew that he
could not really be so abnormal as to
enjoy sight-seeing); they made excur-
sions to Versailles and Saint-Germaia,
| and even as far as to Fontainebleau;
| they patroniZed nearly all of the thea
| ters in turn, and, as she declared fifty
times a day, she was perfectly happy.
| Fred said he was perfectly happy,
| too; and perhaps he was. At any rate.
| he was loyal enough to turn his back
! instantly upon any passing doubts that
| may have suggested themselves to him.
| What was quite undeniable was that
| Laura was charming company. POSI-
| bly, she may have exerted herself to be
| charming; but If so, the exertion was
| not apparent. Her gayety seemed 10
| be quite spontaneous; her remarks
witty. she noticed everything and ev.
| erybody; and her talent for mimicry
was a never failing source of merri-
| ment to her companion. Nothing de-
lighted her more than to make him
| laugh.
Her own spirits were. as they al
wavs had been, liable to sudden fluc-
tuations. Sometimes, too-though this
| did not often occur-she could not help
Giving utterance to them. as when. one
| dav. She said to him abruptly: This is
f,r TOO good to last-it can't last, You
are perfect now; but you won't always
he nerfect; you wouldn't be human if
YOU were.
Il am quite sure shall always think
Won So" he answered, smiling
"kh. but Pm not-Tm horribly i'm
,arfact I've lived through a whole
| i,fatime. and I've done all sorts Of
! things that can't be undone Fred
sunnose YOU were to find out some day
mat habitat had-wen, that had
| airted a good deal in years gone by.
for instance?"
"Oh," he replied. at once. that is no
more than we have all done. l think
much the best plan is to let bygones be
| bvgones. Shall we agree to let the
| dead past bury its dead?"
She Jumped eagerly at This sugges-
| ton; although no one knew better than
| she did what it implied True lovers
| are seldom so sensible or so magnani-
! nous; and when she said. with perfect
| trlth. AT any rate, l never loved any
! one in my life but you, Fred" she was
| painfully aware that II was not in Ais
! power to make a corresponding declar-
alton.
She stopped at a jewelers. window
and was gazing in rapt ecstasy at a
! diamond necklace, just as an elderly
! Englishman who happened TO be pasJ-
! i~y by caught sight of the couple
I stared at them for a moment. and then
| accosted them with much cordiality
| General Moore said he was delighted TO
see them both, and they tried. not very
successfully. 10 look as II they were
! delighted 10 see him
I'VE are on our way home" the Cen
eral exclaimed. My wife and daugh-
ter insisted upon stopping a few days
/ here to buy frocks. Where are YOU
| staying? We are at the Hotel Bris-
toll Couldn't YOU come and dine with
/ US tonight"
| To decline a verbal invitation al
| ways requires presence OF mind; and
/ Fred, whose mental balance had been
good deal disturbed by the unexpect-
/ ed appearance of the General STAN
! mered out reluctant acceptance be-