The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1913-09-18

ernoon and wen at once to the Hotel
Nier Jahretzeiten, where they were to
lind the Odell-C arneys.
Mr.. Odell-C Carney was a middle aged
Englishman Of the extremely unini
uauv type. He was tall and narrow
n distant, far beyond what is com
monty accepted as blase. Indeed, he
was especially slow Of speech. even for
an Eaglishman. quite as II 1t were an
everlasting question with him whether
II was worth while to speak at all
one had the feeling when listening to
MT odellNCarney that he was being
Favored beyond words. 1t took him SO
long to say anything that II one were
put moderately bright he could finish
the sentence mentally some little time
In advance of the speaker and thus be
prepared to properly appreciate that
which otherwise might have puzzled
him considerably. 1t could not be said
however, that MI. Odell- Carney was
ponderous. He was merely the effec.
tual result Of delay. Perhaps It Is safe
AZ thoSC WIN nhC" hiih
best; they maintained that Odell-Car-
ney was a pose. nothing more
His wife was quite the opposite In
nearly every particular except height
and angularity. She was bony and
red faced and o~pinionated. A few
sallow years, with a rapid. p~rsnigate
nob'cman had brought her, in widow
hood, TO Il fine sense Of appreciation Of
the slow going though tiresomely un,
practical men Of the Odell-Carney
type. 1t mattered little that he made
poor investment Of the money she had
sequcsteced from his lordship. He had
kept acT In the foreground by associat.
Ing Giiaself with every big venture that
Interested the financial smart set. Not
w~ithstanding the fact that he never
was known to have any money, he was
looked upon as u %financier Of the high
est order, which is saying a great deal
In thsse u~nfeeling days Of pounds and
sti!lings.
OF course Mrs. Odell-Carney was
dressed as all rangy, long limbed Eng
iishwOmen are prone to d~ress-after a
model peculiarly not her own She
looked ri~diculously u%ngraceful along
side the smart, chic American women.
and yet not one Of them but would
have given her boots to be able to array
herself as one Of these. There was no
denying the fact that Mrs. Odell-Car-
ney was a regular tiptopper," as Mr..
Rodney was only too eager to say.
She had the mir OF a born ~leader-that
Is to say, she could be gracious when
occasion demanded. without being pat
rOnizing.
In due course of time the Medcrofts
and Miss Fowler were presented to the
distinguished couple. This function
was necessarily delayed until Odell-
Carney had time to go into the details
Of a particularly annoying episode of
the afternoon. He was telling the sto-
ry to his friend Rodney, and Of course
everything was at a standstill until he
got through.
1t seems that Mr.. Odell-C Carney felt
the need of a nap at 3 o'clock. He
gave strict injunctions that there was
to be no noise I'm the halls while he
slept and then went into his room and
stretched out. Any n who has stop
ped at the Hotel Four Seasons will
have no difficulty in recalling the cleo
trio hall bells which serve to attract
the chambermaids to given spots. II
one needs the chambermaid he press
es the button In his room and a lit.
tie bell in the hall tinkles %furiously
until she responds and shuts 1t off.
In that way one is sure that she has
heard and Is coming, q most admirable
bit Of German ingenuity. II she hap
pens to be taking her lunch at the
time. the bell goes on ringing until she
returns. 1t Is n faithful bell. Coming
back to Odell-Carney, the maid on his
floor was making up a room In close
proximity when q most annoying thing
happened to her. A porter who had
reason to dislike her came along and
turned her key from the outside. lock.
lug ucT Ill tue TOoIu. SHe COuluH L Se'
out, and she had been warned against
making IA sound that might disturb
the English guest. With rare intelli
gence, she did not scream or make az
cutlery, but wisely proceeded to press
the button for a chambermaid. Then
she evidently sat down to wait. TIC
make the story short, she rang hel
own call bell for two hours, no other
maid cOndescending to notice the call
which speaks volumes for the almost
martial system Of the hotel. The bel
was opposite the narrator's door. Is
1t, therefore. surprising that he re
quired a great deal Of time to tell all
that he felt? 1t was not so much OF
what he did that he spoke at such
great length, but of what he felt
"'Pon me SOUL" he exploded In the
end, twisting his mustache with ner
vous energy. ut was the demdest mar
I ever had. didn't close my eyes
c'nfend me II ] did"
ITO BE CONTINUED