Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-26
IAN HAY,
AUTHOR OF 1.-THE RIGHT STUFF"

ton was offered when Leroy passed the
claret to Hughie.
"Wine.' remarked buckles, severely, lis
a mocker.'
"Stwong dwink." corroborated Stodger.
turning up the whites of her eyes, lis
raging
The two ladies then groaned heavily in
concert, and, having thus contributed
their mite to the redemption of a sinner,
resumed their repast.
At the end of the meal the numbers of
the company were augment1S by the ar
rival Of John Marrable Lev aged two
years-an infant whose apUp!ectic coun
tenance sadly belied the small piece OF
blue ribbon inserted in his bib. Having
taken his seat in his mothers lap, he
proceeded, after the manner of babies to
give his celebrated entertainment For
the benefit of the company he Obligingly
identified various articles upon the table.
and then proceeded to give an exposition
assisted by manual contortions) of the
exact whereabouts of the church, the
steeple, the door and the people. After
this. without warning or apology. he de-
posted nude foot in his mothers plate,
having i'm some mysterious manner got
rid of his shoe and sock under the table;
and was proceeding to enumerate the re-
Spective marketing experiences OF a. fam.
iy of little pigs, when his mother, decid-
ing that it was high time this seance
came to an end, called upon him to say
grace on behalf of the company.
John Marrable Leroy reluctantly ceased
lingering his toes and twisted himself
into a state of devotional rightly. He
then closed his eyes, folded his hands and
devoutly bowed heads for his benedic
ton.
1T ank God" began Master Leroy at
length.
There was another tense pause.
Tank Cod repeated the infant, de-
spondently.
Another hiatus.
'For-dearest,'' prompted his mother.
A smile of intense relief Illuminated the
suppliant's troubled countenance.
Five. six, seven, eight, nine, ,ten!
he gabbled, cheerfully, and the meeting
broke up in unSeemly confusion.
1t was a hot afternoon, and Hughie.
who as yet was far from getting tired OF
in basket chair under a great copper
beech and watch the others play croquet.
Presently Joan, swinging mallet came
and sat on the grass beside him.
"Well. Hughie?" she began. regarding
her comptroller rather quiZZically.
well, Joey?"
Then they both laughed, or rather
chucked. The curious part about it was
that while Hughe laughed 'Ha, ha."
deep down, joey did. the same. Tee-hee
ing and high pitched feminine shrieking
were beyond her compass. She was the
Joey of old, with the same gruff voice,
though she had got over her difficulty
with the rs and is.
1T seems rummy.' observed Miss Gay
mer. refiectively, my being put in your
charge like the guard of a train. Do you
expect me to obey your
Yes said Hughie. He felt he was
missing an opportunity Of saving some
thing bright and striking, but Yes was
No"
oh" replied Miss Gaymer. enig-
matically.
Don't you intend to-" inquired Hughie
well. it depends on what you tell me
to do. If 1t was anything that didn
matter much ] might do it, sometimes.
just to save your face. But as a rule
shouldn't
OH said Hughie. in his turn
Il may as we'll tell you at once" con-
tinued the lady, the things that it's no
use scolding me about. First Of all, 1 al
ways choose my own friends, and never
take recommendations or warnings from
anybody. Then you mustn't interfere
with my dancing or sailing or riding. be-
cause l love them better than anything
in the world. Then, you mustn't try to
prevent my reading books and seeing
plays that you think are bad for me, be-
cause that sort of thing is simply not
done nowadays. And. of course, you
mustn't call me eXtravagant if l dress
nicely. Also, you mustn't expect me to
go in for good works, because 1 hate
CuidteS. ANU uoh give Hie dosiSo' oe
cause 1 loathe it. On the other hand. it
may comfort you to know-it does most
men, for some reason-that l don't want
vote and I don't smoke cigarettes. Oh,
the poor little mite!''
She was her feet and across the
lawn in FASH to where the obese Stod-
ger. PROSTATE upon half-buried tree
root. was proclaiming to the heavens the
sorrow of sudden transition from the
perpendicular to the horizontal. She COM
forted the child with whole-hearted ten
derness, and, after taking her turn in the
game of croquet. returned to Hughie and
sat down beside him again.
'Well-what do you think of me-" she
inquired. suddenly.
(To be continued tomorrow