The Irish standard., 1912-12-28

| taAcs q manlcure-6et, q pair OF soft
WOODEN slippers. and She
glanced up quickly. The faintest rose
stole under her cheeks. 1t was droll;
It was pathetically funny. She would
have given worlds to have seen him
making the purchases.
You are not offended" he STAN
mered.
"Why should I be? am human; I
have slept and lived for days In a
dress. and worn my hair down my
back for lack Of hairpins and combs.
I am sure that 1t is a very nice night
gown"
Laughter overcame her. He
laughed, too; not because the situa-
ton appealed to him as laughable,
but because there was something, an
lndef1nable something. in that laugh.
ter Of hers that made him wonderfully
happy.
"Mr. Jones
George" he interrupted deter
minedly.
Brother George, It was very kind
and thoughtful Of you Not one man
In thousand would have thought Of
of hair.pins!" More laugh
ter
II didn't think Of them; 1t was the
clerk"
"She."
well, then, she will achieve great
things" lightly, though her heart was
full.
Tactfully he reached over and swept
up the money.
shall ever be able to repay you ?"
she said.
eyes, by letting me be your broth.
er; by not deciding the future till we
land In Naples: by letting me keep in
touch with you, whatever your ulti-
mate decision may be. That isn't
much. Will you promise that?"
eyes"
They spoke no more Of Ryanne. 1t
was as though he had dropped out
Of their lives completely. To a GER
tain extent he had. They were to meet
him again. however, in the last act Of
this whimsical drama, which had
drawn them both out of the common
place and dropped them for full spin
upon the whirlig4g Of life.
In due time they arrived at Alexan-
dria. There they found the great
transatlantic liner. homeward bound.
Ryanne would beat them into New
York by ten days. He had picked up
a boat Of the P. & o. line at Port Said.
sailing without stop to Marseilles.
From there to Cherbourg was a tri-
fling Journey.
George knew the captain, and the
captain not only knew George, but
had known Georges father before
him. The young man went to the
heart Of the matter at once; and when
he had finished his remarkable tale,
the captain lowered his cigar. It had
gone out.
! "And all this happened in the year
1So9-1910! II any one but you, Mr..
Jones. had told me this. I'd have sent
him ashore as q lunatic. You have
reported it?'
What good would It do? We are
out of 1t, and that's enough. More,
we do not want any one to know what
we've been through. If the news
papers got hold Of it, there would be
no living"
"You leave It to me-" said the big.
hearted German. From here to Ma
pies she shall be as mine own daugh-
ter. You have not told me all?"
"No; only what had of necessity to
tell"
well, you know best ] shall do
my share to make her feel at homo.
She is as pretty as flower"
To this George agreed, but not YER
bally.
The steamer weighed anchor at six
o'clock that evening, with only a
handful Of passengers for the trip to
Naples. George had wired from Da-
mascus to Cairo to have his luggage
sent on, and he saw it put aboard him.
self. Without letting Fortune know,
he had also telegraphed the hotel to
forward whatever she had left; but
the return wire Informed him that
Mrs. Chedsoye had taken everything.
They were leaning against the star
board rail, watching the slowly con.
vcrging lights Of the harbor. Fortune
had borrowed cloak from her stew.
ardess and George wore the mutt OF
the flrst-ofiicer. The captain had Of.
Tered his. but George had declined.
He would have been lost in its ample
folds.
81 can not understand why they
made no effort to find you," he unused.
ut doesn't seem quite human"
Don't you understand? It IL sim
pie. My mother believes that Horace
and I ran away together. II not that
/ ran away myself. as that day
threatened to do. In either case, she
saw nothing could be done in trying to
find out where had gone. Perhaps
she knows exactly what did happen.
Doubtless she has sent on my things
to Mentone, which, Of course, I shall
| Sa,,or ~no o-oS~ hy@ 49,