The river press. [volume] (Fort Benton, Mont.) 1880-current, 1910-02-02

slowly along the street. watched from
the opposite sidewalk by tie baleful
eyes of a policeman.
THAT fellows just ashing for US to
so u little above regulation speed"
Clarkson observed. but we can't af-
ford tue time to be hauled in just now.
He's sore over Edith's passage through
town. l wish l could warn her to
make a wide detour Of the place when
she returns. To be arrested by a po-
iceman would seem an overwhelming
disgrace to her."
Cone promptly reversed his machine
in the opposite direction.
well go and warn her, then,'' he
said calmly. II was a brute not to
think Of it at first. But. you see, l
have grown to look upon arrests as
merely incidental but necessary annoy
ances of a days run. l was held up
three times last week. Now" as the
policeman on the sidewalk was being
dropped behind. well try a little
scorch to make up for lost time"
"But how about the golf," asked
Clarkson disgustedly, land the lunch?
I'm getting hungry already"
1T will be good for your welfare to
fast a little. them" was the unfeeling
answer. "You are becoming altogeth-
er too g%luttonous, Clarkson. Az for
the golf, l had already given that up
for the day. You may ~recollect that
you promised to take me out to see
Miss Tyson"
"But not this afternoon" in dismay.
"This afternoon is the accepted time.
It might rain tomorrow, the next day
or any Of the days after. Never put
of till tomorrow. Clarkson. That's pro-
cr%astinating."
Clarkson grunted, then laughed.
Sunny" he said; ut seems to be a
mutual case Of the god and the god
dess. Only yesterday I heard Edith
speaking about you"
His companion turned quickly. about
me?" he asked eagerly. WHAT
"Oh. it was only in the abstract" in
differently. "She doesn't know you ex-
cept as something she met informally
at Catsons. But. like everybody else.
she has heard rumors of your fool
hardy recklessness. She rather ad-
mired the way you rescued the child
in front Of your automobile, and l have
heard her allude to that act on the
river and to several other of your
slight attacks of bravado. But. of
course, a more personal knowledge of
you will dispel the illusion. There.
that's right" az Cone suddenly speed
ed his machine to a third greater We
locity. Now it's something like. We
can probably keep this up to the next
town if some fool cow doesn't get In
the way"
They were beyond the town limits.
with an almost straight road ahead.
Little by little Cone increased their
speed until they were going fully a
mile a minute. From time to time
Clarkson nodded his head a%pprovingly.
Twenty minutes of this. then he sud-
denly leaned forward. shading his eyes
from the rush of air which their speed
created. A peculiar dark spot had ap-
peared in the road ahead, rapidly re-
solving itself into something tangible.
Ten seconds later he touched Cones
arm.
"Slow down." he admonished. ITS
an automobile. and the chauffeur ap-
pears to be a woman. OF course it's
Edith. l think the machine is stand
ing STILL"
Thirty seconds later their automobile
came to a stop beside the other, a
closer view of which brought Il low
whistle from Clarkson. And, as he
had surmised, the chauffeur was
Edith.
AS she saw and recognized them the
corners Of the %chautfeur's mouth,
which had been dropping. ose in per-
ceptible relief.
81 was never so glad to see any one
in all my life," she called ~fervently.
Here I've been sitting five whole min
utes. wondering what in the world
should do next"
"And I've been wondering for a
whole half hour what in the world
started you out as a %scorcher," re-
torted Clarkson dryly, land, If my eyes
are not at fault. l think l recognize
the machine"
Eyes, it's yours" meekly; "but please
don't scold. I've had an awful time.
l went across to your house and was
looking the automobile owe when it
started. You had left it out in the
road, you know. l suppose l turned
a lever or screw or pulled out a plug
or something. Anyway. it went of
like a race horse, and l didn't know
how to stop it. I've often watched
you steer. so l managed to keep it in
the road. But l thought the journey
never would end" plaintively. II sup
pose the monster is run down. IL
hope it isn't broken"
"Of course it isn't" treasured Gone
warmly, automobiles often act that
way. Clarkson and I a fix it all
right in a few minutes. But you must
feel awfully used up, Miss Tyson
Don't Won think I'd better take YOU