The Olneyville times. (Olneyville [Providence, R.I.]) 1887-1917, 1911-07-07

planation occurred 20 me. Suppose II
had been Bella all the time. and the
ryai shock had been 10 find that she
had been married,
The fault of the sitvation was real.
ly mine" l said magnanimously; Il
quite blame myself. Only you must
believe one thing You never fur.
nished us any amusement" | looked
AZ him sidewise The discovery that
Bella and Jim were once married
must have been a great shock.
1t war a surprise he replied even
ly. His voice and his eyes were In
scrutable. He returned my glance
steadily. II was infuriating 10 have
gone halfway TO meet him, as | had
and then 10 find him intrenched in his
self-suficiency again. got up.
1t is unfortunate that our acQuain-
tance has begun so unfavorably." | re-
marked. preparing to pass him. I'm
der other circumstances we might
have been friends"
There is only one solace," he said.
When We do not have friends, we
can not lose them
He opened the door 20 let me pass
out, and as our eyes met, all the cold
ness died out OF his He held out his
hand, but | was hurt refused TO
see IT,
Kit" he said unsteadily. Tin
an obstinate, pig-hearted brute. ! am
sorry Can't We be friends, after
all?"
When we do not have friends we
can not lose them" replied with
cool malice And the next instant the
door closed behind me.
II was that night that the really
serious event OF the quarantine oc'
Cured
We were gathered in the library.
and everybody was deadly dull Aunt
Selma said she had been reared 20
strict observance of the Sabbath, and
she refused 10 go 10 bed early. The
cards and card-tables were put away
and every one sat around and quar-
relied and was generally nasty, except
Bella and Jim, who had gone into the
den just after dinner and firmly closed
the door.
think II was just after Max pro-
posed 20 me Yes. he proposed 10 me
again that night He said that Jim's
illness had decided him: that any OF
us might take sick and die. shut In
that contaminated atmosphere, and
that If he did he wanted IL all settled.
And whether | took him or not he
wanted me 20 remember him kindly II
anything happened. ! really hated 10
refuse him-he was I'm such deadly
earnest But II was quite unnecessary
for him 10 have blamed his refusal.
as he did, on Mr. HARRISON | am
sure had refused him plenty OF times
before l had ever heard OF the man.
Yes, 1t was just after he proposed TO
me that Flanagan came TO the door
and called Mr.. HARRISON out into the
hall.
Mr.. HARRISON went out, muttering
something about n storm coming up,
and seeing that the tent was secure.
/ Betty Mercer went with him She had
been at his heels all evening. and
called him Tom" on every possible
occasion. Indeed. she made no secret
OF II: she said that she was mad about
him and that she would love TO live
in South America.
So Betty went with him. She wore
pale yellow dinner gown. with Just
sophisticated touch OF black hero
and there. and cut modestly square
in the neck Her shoulders are
scrawny. And after they were gone
not her shoulders; Mr. HARRISON and
she-Aunt Selma announced that the
next day was Monday, that she had
only weeks supply OF clothing
with her, and that no policeman who
ever swung a mace should wash her
undergarments for her.
She paused a moment. but nobody
offered 10 do II. Anne was reading
De Maupassant under cover OF
table, and the rest pretended not 70
hear After a pause, Aunt Selma got
up heavily and went upstairs. coming
down soon after with bundle Gov.
cred with a green shawl. and with a
white balbriggan stocking trailing
from an opening in IT, She paused al
the library door, surveyed the I'm.
mates, caught my unlucky eye and
beckoned 70 me with relentless fore.
finger.
we can put them 10 soak tonight
she conhded 20 me, and tomorrow
they will be quite simple 20 do There
is no lace 10 speak of'-Dal raised his
eyebrows" very little founcing
Aunt Selma and went 20 the laun.
dry.
IL is strange what big things de-
velop from little ones. IL this case 10
was a bar Of soap And II Flanagan
had used as much soap as he should
have instead Of washing up the ki'ch-
en- floor with cold dish water, Il
would have developed sooner The
two most unexpected events Of the
whole quarantine occurred that night