Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-04-20

"Ill look him over again. said Poopen-
dyke.
do. And be careful not to let the
Count catch glimpse of him. That would
be fatal
"No danger of that He went at once to
old Conrad's ROOM
Good! | had note from him this
morning. MIR. Smart. He is Mr.. Bangs of
London"
THE Count was waiting for me in the
loggia. 1t was quite warm, and he
famed himself lazily with his broad straw
hat AS approached, he tossed his ciga-
rette over the wall and fastened to meet
me. There was quaint, diffident smile on
his lips
at is good to see you again, old fellow"
he said, with an amiability that surprised
me. u was afraid you might hold griev-
ance against me. You Americans are queer
chaps, you know. Our little tilt of the other
evening, you understand. Stupid way for
two grownup men to behave, wasn't it? OF
course the explanation is simple. We had
been drinking. Men do silly things in their
cups"
Consurnmate assurance! | had not
touched drop of anything that night
~ assure you, Count Tarnowsy, the little
tilt, as you are pleased to call it, was of no
consequence. | have quite forgotten that
it occurred. Sorry you reminded me of it.
The irony was wasted. He beamed. "My
dear fellow, shall we not shake hands,
A certain wariness took possession of me.
could well afford to temporize. We shoot;
hands with what seemed to be genuine
fervor.
81 suppose you are wondering what brings
me here" he said as we started toward
the entrance to the loggia, his arm through
mine. 81 do not forget a promise, Mr..
Smart. You may remember that agreed
to fetch a man from Munchen to look over
your fine old frescos and give you an est
mate. Well, he is here, the very best man
in Europe
a am sure l am greatly indebted to
you, Count | said; "but after thinking
it over I've"
Don't say that you have already en-
gagged someone to do the work, he cried,
in horror "My dear fellow. don't tell ire
that! You are certain to make a dreadful
mistake if you listen to anyone but Schwartz
muller. He is the last word in restorationS.
Anyone else will make a botch of the work.
You will curse the day you-"
| checked him. 81 have virtually de-
cided to let the whole matter go over until
next spring. However, shall be happy to
have Schwartzmullers opinion. We may
be able to plan ahead
A look of disappointment fitted acrf7.s
his face delays are dangerous, he sa. /.
"My judgment is that those gorgeous paint
ings will disintegrate more during the COM
ing winter than in all the years gone by.
They are at the critical stage. If not pre-
served now-well | cannot bear to think
of the consequences. All, here he isl
lust inside the door we came upon a
pompous yet servile German who could not
by any means have been mistaken for any
thing but the last word in restoration. I
have never seen anyone in my life whose
appearance suggested more complete state
of rehabilitation. His frock coat was new:
his shoes were painfully new; his gloves
were new; his silk hat was resplendently
new; his fat jowl was shaved to luminous
gorgeous mustache was twisted up at the ends
egree that when he smiled the points wavered
his eyes, causing him to blink with astonish-
was undeniably dressed up for the occasion.
/ eye, however, discovered pair of we'll
I'd trousers, badly stained, slightly frayed at
n, and inclined to bag outward at the knee.
the great Herr Schwartzmuller of the Inn
eries in Munchen,' said the Count, intro