Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1911-01-25

sitting grump1ly on the roof, with his
feet folded under him, playing Garfield
III the shadow of the parapet, buying
the deck out Of one pocket and putting
his winnings in the other He was
watching Bella, too, and she knew 1t,
and she strained point to captivate
Mr.. HARRISON. Any one could see that
And that was the picture that came
out in the next mornings papers, tea
cups, cards and all. For when some
one looked up, there were four news
paper photographers on the roof of the
next house, and they had the imperti-
nence to thank us!
Flanagan had seen Bella by that
time, but as he still didn't understand
80 situation, things were Just the
same. But his manner to me puzzled
me; whenever he came near me he
winked prodigiously. and during all
the search he kept one eye on me,
and seemed to be amused about some
thing.
When the rest had gone down to
dress for dinner, which was being sent
In, thank goodness, still sat on the
parapet and watched the darken1ng
river. felt terribly lonely, all at
once, and sad. There wasn't any one
any nearer than father, In the West
or mother in Bermuda, who really
cared rap whether 1 sat on that par
apet all night or not, or who would
be sorry if 1 leaped to the dirty bricks
Of the next door-yard-not that I
meant to, Of course.
The lights came out across the
river, and made purple and yellow
streaks on the water, and one Of the
motor-boats came painting back to the
yacht club, coughing and gasping as if
it had Overdone. Down on the street
automobiles were starting and stop
ping, cabs rolling, doors slamming, all
the maddening, delightful hustle Of
people who are foot-free to dine out,
to dance, to go to the theater, to do
any of the thousand possibilities of a
long February evening. And above
them l sat on the roof and cried. Yes,
cried.
l was reused by some one coughing
just behind me, and tried to straight
en- my face before / turned. It was
Flanagan, his double row of brass
buttons cleaning in the twilight
Excuse me, MISS he said affably,
''but the boy from the hotel has left
the dinner on the doorstep and run,
the cowardly little divil What'll do
with it? 1 went to Mrs. Wilson, but
she says it's no concern of hers" Fqan-
nigan was evidently bewildeTed.
You'd better keep it warm, Elan
nigan," replied. you needn't wait;
I'm coming But he did not go.
Tiff you'll excuse me, MISS" he
said, don't you think ye'd better tell
them?"
Tell them what?"
''The whole thing-the joke" he
said confidentially, coming closer.
cts been great sport, now, hasn't It?
But I'm afraid they will get on to it
soon, and-some of them might not be
agreeable. A pearl necklace is a pearl
necklace, miss, and the lady's wild"
what do you mean?" l gasped.
'You don't think-why, Flanagan"
He merely grinned at me and thrust
his hand down in his pocket. When
he brought it up he had Bella's brace
let on his palm, glittering in the faint
light
Where did you get it?" Between
relief and the absurdity of the thing, l
was almost hysterical. But Flanni-
gan did not give me the bracelet; in
stead, it struck me his tone was sud
denly severe.
Nov look here, MISS he said;
you've played your trick, and you've
had your fun. The Lord knows it's
only folks like you would play April
fool jokes with fortune! If you're
the sinsible little woman you look to
be, you'll put that pearl collar on the
coal in the basement tonight, and let
me find it."
II haven't got the pearl collar" 1
protested. 81 think you are crazy.
Where did you get that bracelet?"
He edged away from me, as if he
expected me to snatch it from him and
run, but he was still trying in an ele-
phantine way to treat the matter as
a joke.
i found 1t In a drawer In the pan
try" he said, among the dirty linen.
And if you're as smart as l think you
are, I'll find the pearl collar there in
the morning-and nothing said, miss"
So there I was, suspected Of being
responsible for Anne's pearl collar, as
if l had not enough to worry me be-
fore. Of course I could have called
them all together and told them, and
made them explain to Flanagan what
I had really meant by my delirious
speech in the kitchen. But that would
have meant telling the whole ridicu-
lous story to Mr.. HARRISON, and hav-
ing him think us all mad, and me a
fool.
In all that overcrowded house there
was only one place where l could be
miserable with comfort. So I stayed
on the roof and cried a. little and then