Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1911-10-26
THE STOLEN
HOUR
By ETHEL HARRINGTON
(cODsriEht. 1870. by Associated Literary Press,)

only the TASK OF nanQlnB Lne mlbSlV6
to the servant, who would deliver It
to Lord Windmere. From that mo-
ment she would become the afianced
wife of the English nobleman. Hear
ing steps, Millicent, without turning
held out the letter.
"See that 1t goes at once!"
rs it so very Important"
At the voice, so entirely different
from the one she expected, the girl
sprang up. ooh, Adam, Pm glad
but first 1 must dispatch my note"
About to restore the letter so oddly
thrust upon him, Howe's eye fell upon
the address. Let us talk first" he
suggested, coolly; there's plenty Of
time"
Barely sufficient: it's already
five. His lordship remains at his club
. till six, when, should there be no mes
sage. he starts on his deferred trip
to California Why doesn't James
Gomez"
ALLOW me-" Rowe leisurely crossed
to the mantelpiece. his gaze lingering
on the girl, tidying papers in her
desk. Suddenly bending above the
clock, his broad shoulders masking 1t
from view, he remarked, Five, you
said? Your clock says four"
Il can't be mistaken" In the
act of consulting her watch she was
arrested by an exclamation from her
guest, whose sleeve had brushed
roughly againsts a statuette, prompt
ness alone on his part saving 1t from
destruction Milncent shuddered in
mock relief
To-day Is my lucky day." he as
sured her. Il feel capable of miracles
even of convincing you to my way
of thinking. Come" Half jocularly
he pushed a chair before the hearth,
then set another for himself Hands
thrust deep in his pockets, he nodded
toward the clock. For one hour we
will talk"
And the subject?"
Everything that concerns you
or me-"
She studied him from the corner of
her eyes, contrasting the fine pro-
portions Of his musuclar frame with
that of Lord Windmere, to the lat
ter's disadvantage. Il am a head
taller she thought, experiencing a
quick sense of repulsion.
Rowe smiled quizzically. You
approve of me physically? .Good!"
Il was not thinking of you"
SO? l was-about you. Who
would have dreamed that such a
scrawny kid could develop into the
beauty you are now. No offense-
looks being your second biggest as.
set in the game you're playing"
You are coarse; won't be talked
t. SOL"
After today, maybe, shan't care
tt talk to you at all
The girls face sottened. "Oh, yes,
you will The spice of things has
been in our discussion of them after
ward. Your point of view is direct
It's the reward of keeping at suffi
cient distance to permit of a perspec'
tive. With me, relative values often
grow confused"
You remember the creek where we
fished as youngsters" the man de-
manded, irrelevantly. "And the day
you insisted on crossing the slippery
! log alone, and tumbled in?"
Millicent laughed softly. Il can
see you now with your torn cap,
your knickers rolled up and your
homemade rod. thought you aw-
fully brave when you pulled me out
two feet of water, wasn't it?"
But think of the reward you
promised.
Children make pie-crust prom
ises!"
Just so you remember, that's all"
Adam stretched his long legs to the
blaze and his companion, conscious
of his slightest movement, felt half
frightened resentment at the power
of her old playmate to crowd out all
other personalities from her thoughts.
Pm thinking of the night you
told me of your fathers first big sue
cessful speculation. 1t was raining;
we were in the best room, abomina-
BILE stuffy because rarely opened
Your life was changed by that deal
Just as the mountain stream is
changed when it falls into the river
1t became merely a question of time
before you would reach the city to
be engulfed."
You thought it would make a diff
ference in our friendship, but'-al
nose wistfully she touched the arm
of Rowe's CHART HASN'T"
1T has" The mans tone STRUCK
back harshly. Had we stayed Out
there in the foothills you would never
have known about society, or the
magic of a title dangling like scalI
at the belt of your wealth. Life
might have meant work, but it would
have meant freedom. Think of gal
Looping over the rolling plains, the
soft grass flying from the horses
! heels. the wind in our nostrils-tht
j width of the sky above-just we
two"
: "C+ont Sometimes the lonoint