Arizona republican., 1911-10-24
Ill

| Ill
II, on the occasion of his meeting
that morning with Alice Davenant,
Fairy Fultener had been at pains to
invest his manner with a seeming
lightness which far from reflected his
real mood, there was need of no such
effort in the evening His gayety then
was no matter of adjusted cap and
! bells. He had of his own wit con-
| trived, for the first time in his life,
an experimental feat in financial jug
| glery. concerning the outcome of which
| he was ebulliently confident In the
| design he recognized a token of direct
| inheritance. And he was proud of it.
For him, therefore, there was no
less music in the pelt and splash OF
the wind-driven rain against the win
dows of the hanson cab in which
he fetched the young woman than in
the soft, siren strains of the restau-
rant orchestra which accompanied
their dinner And the girl, too, was
light-spirited. For the cable had
salved her solicitude. Her mothers
Illness had been serious, 1t was true,
but the graver period was now past;
her life was no longer menaced; and
the daughter OF her mother, because
of this, was as jubilantly in feather as
was the son of his father over his
discovered capacity for commercial in
trigue.
In the intimacy Of the table the
two young persons came, at length, to
a somewhat free exchange of conf
dences.
This is far and away the jolliest
dinner I've had in six months" said
Fultener. setting down his glass of
Apollinaris; land I've dined with
since / saw you"
HIS companions eyes were bent on
the clear transparency of his lowered
goblet.
you seem to enjoy the water wag
on" she observed, with smile that
lit up her beauty as if spotlight had
been thrown on it.
And why shouldn't II" he asked,
viewing her with contemplative appre-
citation. Il never really knew what ii
was in the old days to have a clear
head for two hours at stretch. Ev-
cry idea that | had was a twisted, dis
torted caricature Of the real thing. |
see, now, that | ran altogether to con-
traries: the only good people were bad
people; the only bad people were the
good sort that wanted to check me in
my insane career as drunkard, q
spendthrift, and general nuisance.
| resented their unSelfish interest, and
squandered a long-suffering old gen
tle,nan's money on those that selfishly
agreed with me that | was going the
right way about being good fellow
and a thorough all-round sport" He
shook some salt and pepper into a
tablespoon and reached for the oil
cruet. When / could snatch cloth
from a table in a private room at
Rector's and break couple of hun
dred dollars worth of china and glass
ware, and ruin few costly frocks, for
which | afterwards always paid dou-
BILE, foolishly fancied | was draining
the cup of life in trimming measure.
And when ] took a policeman's locust
away from him, and cracked first his
Sims and then his skull with it, |
madly regarded myself as a bigger
hero than Saint George, the dragon
SLAYER. And sometimes it cost my
father thousand, and sometimes
more, to square it,"
I've heard something of those
things" said the girl. There have
been nights when there was nothing
much talked about in the dressing
room but you"
How il must have sickened you,"
he exclaimed. God knows IL does me,
now, to think of it. I've only been
talking as a sort of penance, and |
hope you'll forgive me for recalling
such an unpleasant subject"
Il don't mind" she returned. taking
a leaf Of lettuce, daintily. between her
thumb and forefinger. 81 am only too !
glad to find you different. | knew 1t
this morning, on the Strand, as soon |
as you began talking to me. had
never, really, seen you just like that
before"
And that was the only reason you |
consented to dine with me; wasn't it?"
She nodded a smiling assent, and |
the young man across the table con-
tinued: