The Holly chieftain., 1910-09-30
Archer's Engagement
By UARISA MAKE

Copyright. 1870. b. Ass
Bert Desmond's hand came down
on Archer's shoulder with . resound-
ing slap. Congratulate you. old
man." he exclaimed, heartily.
Thanks" said the other. with an
amused smile; "but what's all this
row about. anyway"
Your engagement. OF course!
Blake has told me. She's the"
"Blake's silly old chatterbox.
I'm not going to marry anybody-you
might congratulate me ON that fact"
interrupted Archer.
Funny, isn't It," unused Desmond.
perplexedly. -Blake told me plain
as could be that Archer was engaged
to marry"
Archer interrupted this time with
a laugh. "Oh. 1t must have beey
my cousin. Tom Archer! Go and con-
graduate him. Bert-you can't make
mistake; he's always engaged to
somebody. Going down to the club
house! No? Very well. so long"
Bob Archer went grinning on his
way down to the yacht club while
Desmond pursued !, solitary walk
along the board walk that led to the
big hotel.
A girl seated In an automobile
near by looked toward the shop
before which she was waiting with
bored air. Through the folds of
the Waite veil that swathed her face
the color In her cheeks burned like
stain. Her hands were firmly clinch
ed in her lap and her whole attitude
betrayed restrained impatience.
Helen Dale had heard every word
of the conversation between the two
men. She knew that she was the
girl who had been reported engaged
to Tom Archer. but to hear her name
linked with Bob Archer's had brought
her such q pang Of exquisite pain that
she stood self-revealed on the In
slant.
So that was the reason she could
not fall in love with the dozen men
who had succumbed to her beauty
| and charm! She had claimed for her
self coldness, aloofness, Indifference
to all men-and it was merely be-
cause she had given her heart, TN.
asked, into the keeping Of Bob Archer.
1t was well known that Bob Archer
did not care for women. Yachting.
tennis and golf and his Office satis-
fed all his cravings. He lived at a
club and his vacations were spent in
the open. wherever there was good
healthy outdoor sport. Helen's tastes
were the same. but Archer's COM
panions were mostly men and she
had met him seldom, then when he
had made one of his infrequent ap-
pearances in the ballroom.
And Helen had fallen In love with
him. unsought, undesired. A very
agony of shame came upon her. but
through 1t glowed fierce Joy that
he had declared himself confirmed
bachelor. II he did not care for her
there was nobody else.
Then It was that Helen Dale's
| Irritation with Tom Archer came to
| an abrupt end.
A few days afterward Helen was
swimming far out beyond the float
that marked the limit of safe bath
ing She was an expert swimmer
and rejoiced In the cold salt water, the
warmth OF the sun on her uplifted face
| and the soft resistance of the waves
| against her strength.
Slender. graceful and muscular, she
made pretty sight, her white arms
cleaning like marble against the blue
sea, her crown Of brohze-tinted hair
shining In the sunlight. Her eyes
| were fixed on distant buoy she had
marked for turning point.
She did not see a mans form dive
downward from a handsome yacht
nearby, nor see his long strokes to-
ward the same goal she was striving
for. Helen was almost upon him
when her attention was attracted by
low shout Of distress, his brown arm
shot upward and he sank before her
eyes.
| 1t was not until Helen had reached
the spot and grasped him firmly by
his thick hair that she recognized
| Bob Archer. In that moment OF sus.
pense she forgot her tenderness for
him. everything save the fact that he
was a human being and that his life
was in danger.
The cramp that had seized him had
left him only half conscious. His eyes
were closed and he did not struggle.
Before she could cry for assistance
she had been observed from the