The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-10-10

@ o HEL@E HrGNtFEESs
"Yeu little wrsechl How dare you
cay sueh silly things 10 msr'
The rebuff dscfstve! Ana Ae had
only meant - b comforting. mot to
Say self 'sacf1ncins. He'd be hanged
II he could understand women now.
adays. not these women at least. In
high dudgeon. he stalked from the
room. In the door be met Brock.
"For two cents" he declared sav-
agely, as II Brock were to blame. "I'd
take the next train for Paris"
Brock watched him down the hall
he drew a handful of small coins from
his pocket, fuefully looking them over
1.-TWO cents" he said. "Hang 1t all,
~ nothing there but pfennigs and
hellers and centimes."
In the course Of his wanderings the
disc0nsolate Freddie came upon Mrs.
Odell- Carney and pudgy Mr.. Rodney.
They were sitting In a quiet corner of
the reading room. Mr.. Rodney had
had a hard day. He had climbed a
m~ountain-or, more accurately speak
ing, he had climbed halfway up and
then the same half down. He was
very tired. Freddie observed from his
lonely station that Mr.. Rodney was
fast dropping to sleep, Notwithstanding
his companions rapid flow Of small
talk. It did not take Freddie long to
decide. He was an outcast and a par
iah and he was very lonely. He must
have some n to talk to. Without
more ado he bore down upon the cou.
pie and a moment later was tact
fully advising the sleepy Mr.. Rodney
to take himself OF to bed-advice
which that gentleman gladly accepted
And SO it came about that Freddie sat
face to face with the last resort. at the
foot of the chaise-longue, gazing with
serene adulation into the eyes Of a
woman who might have had a son as
old as he-if she had had one at all.
She had been a coquette in her salad
d~ays-there was no doubt Uf it. She
had encountered fervid gallants In all
parts Of the world and in all stations
OF life. But it remained for the gal
liant Freddie Ulstervelt to bowl her
over with surprise for the first time
in her long and varied career. At the
end of half an hour she pulled herself
together and tapped him on the shoul-
der with her fan, a quizzical smile on
her lips.
my dear MIR. Ulstervelt, are you
trying to make love to met You nice
Americans! How gallant you can be!
1 am quite old enough to be your
mother. Believe me. I thank you for
the compliment. l can't tell you how
I appreciate this delicate flattery. You
are very delicious. But" as she arose
s~raciously, I'D follow MI. Rodney's
example II l were you. I'd go to bed"
Then, with a rare smile, which could
not have been more chilling. she left
him standing there.
by lover he muttered, passing his
hand ACROSS his eyes az II bewildered.
what was l saying to her? Good
Lord, has It got to be q habit with met
Was I making love to-herf" He de-,
parted for the American bar.
Mrs. Rodney had but little sleep that
night. She went to bed In q state Of
worry and uncertainty, oppressed by
the shadows which threatened eternal
darkness to the fair name Of the fam
lily, however distantly removed. Kath-
crimes secret had In reality been news
to her; she had not paid enough atten-
ton to the Medcrofts to notice any
thing that they did, 90 long as they
ASA mt 10 ~ Ia ~1rfsV~Ok(Nr Uvekh khA
Odell-C arneys. The Odell- Carneys were
her horizon-morning, moor and night.
And nov there was likelihood Of that
glorious horizon being obscured by q
sickening scandal In the vulgar fore
ground. Inspired by Katherine's dread
full conclusions, the excellent lady set
about to observe for herself. During
the entire evening she fitted about the
hotel and grounds with all the snoop.
ing instincts Of a Sherlock Holmes.
She lurked. II that is not putting 1t too
Electrically. From unexpected hooks
she emerged to view the landscape
DER: by devious paths she led her
doubts to the gates Of absolute certain
ty and then sat down to shudder to
her hearts content It al all true!
For four hours she had been trying to
get to the spot where she could zee
with her wi eyes and at last she had
come to It. OF course she had to ad-
NIT to herself that she did not actually
hear Mr.. Medcroft tell Constance that
he loved her. but 1t was enough for
her that he sat with her In the semi
darkness for two unbroken hours,
speaking in tones so low that they
might Just as well have been whisper
ing 50 far 40 her taut ears were con-
cerned.
Moreover, other persons than her
self had smilingly nudged each other
and referred to the couple 40 lovers;
no one seemed to doubt It, nor 10 NJ
sent Il, which IL proof that the world
loves q lover when 1t recognises him
as one.
Mns. Rodney also discovered that
Mrs. Medcroft went to her room at Q,
O'Clock. 1t least three hours before the
subdued tete-a-tete came TO m end.
The poor thing doubtless was crying
her eyeo out. decided Mra.< Rodney.