Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1912-05-02

wasn't he? He knew he was that.
After while Matt was persuaded
to get up and have his rumpled hair
smoothed and his tie Strengthened,
and was made to sit on a chair quite
far away, less Watkins should pop in
and be shocked. All Of which Matt did
bewilderingly, but with his eyes shin
ing and strange, yelling feeling at
his heart and something SO lumpy In
his throat that he had to hold himself
very still, and dared hardly utter a
word.
Then Watkins did come-not pop
pingly and shocked, but rung for, and
composed, with large tray and all
the materials for spreading a small
table with luncheon. AS this pro-
ceeded noiselessly and deity, Chris
carried on a desultory conversation
with her visitor that must have
shocked even Watkins, at the latter's
dullness. Matt contributed hardly
more than yes or no to that bubbling
monologue which screened his agita-
ton; and was more than thankful
when the deft and noiseless Watkins
finally withdrew. H. ~.
It seemed that it wasn't to be real
lunch at all, but what Chris called a
dolly lunch; and dolly lunch meant
that Matt was to squeeze down on a
stool beside the sofa, with tiny table
in front of him not much higher than
the stool itself and with most Of the
dishes on the floor. A gay, unusual,
little lunch, such as Chris used to
have with her favorite doll, only now
she was grown up and preferred a
beautiful, big, handsome lover-boy;
and the beautiful, big, handsome lover
boy sat there in sort Of maze, and
wondered how he could ever have
been miserable or sad or anything, till
he scarcely knew the difference be-
tween lamb chops and lobster salad,
or whether it was Rhine wine or fairly
sunshine that sparkled in his glass.
Sat there in an ecstasy that brimmed
again and again to his eyes, humbling
him and ennobling him both at once,
and giving a new meaning to word
stood before.
Then the great secret trembled on
his tongue and it seemed impossible
to withhold it any longer, for 1t had
become essential for her to know It,
That it was safe in her keeping was
sacrilege to question; she was as true
as himself and had right to his con-
fidence; it could be no reproach to
him, no real breach of his word that
she should now learn the truth.
Accordingly he began to tell or
Lotoalofa; Of John Mort and Mirovna,
and Of his long, lonely voyages at the
behest of this strange pair. who IN
that waste of sea and reefs had found
ed a mimic kingdom and hidden them
selves beyond the ken of men. He told
with pride Of their reliance on him, of
their steadfast trust and friendship;
of the silence he had been pledged to,
and which he had hitherto kept so
Loyalty.
How wildly it all returned to him
as he went on---those far-off scenes,
those faces endeared to him by thou
sand recollections - that mystery
which he had touched and shared and
yet had never penetrated! He recalled
the money of which there was no end
nor stint; the anxious secrecy en-
Joined upon him; the stealth with
which the time-expired natives were
returned to their homes, often In boats
that were prodigally given them, and
lowered over the ships side far out at
sea. Never did they take more from
the same place or see the same island
twice: the new men came from new
islands, and often from groups as re-
mote as the Tubuais or the Louisades.
Once he had had weary beat OF a
thousand miles to get rid of a boy
whose only fault was knowledge OF
English, which John Mort deemed he
spoke too we'll. "Savages, Captain" he
would say. Bring me savages with
filed teeth and heather souls: we
haven't any room on Lotoalofa for
bible Christians"
Then Matt came to the capsizing Of
the North Star. and the horrible.
drowning scramble to extricate him
self, and perch, with the crew, on her
Shiny copper. Spoke of it calmly, for
all it's nightmarish details, and with
a mingled earnestness and laughter
and a kind of frightened Zest that
made it so piercingly real to the young
lady on the sofa. that she trembled
with suspense, and could have
swooned as the Hall broke out the
stars and stripes and 1t TOOK
q cup Of black coffee to restore her,
which she held in one hand, while she
chung tightly to the poor castaway
with the other, lest somehow he
should slip down and be engulfed in
that awful-carpet The poor cast
away, too, was revived with black
coffee, and none Of the passengers OF
the Mariposa could have been kinder
to him than this young lady, or more
sympathetically solicitous.
In this comforting manner she &C.
companied him TO San Francisco and
into the store of those rascally Snood
and Hargreaves. an unseen witness OF
their duplicity From thence there was
a three-kiss jump to Manaswan, where
she was made acquainted with Hunter
Hoyt and Moaning Mary and Daggan-
court and Buggins quite dispropor-
tionate amount Of Buggins), and
finally with Mr. Kay and his aston
fishing thousand-dollar notes and still
more astonishing insistence to get rid
Of them. -...
That's the whole story" said Matt
in conclusion. IF you can make head
or tail Of it-go ahead"