Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1913-10-02

WHICH ne may De parQ0ned II one stops
to think how r%esourceful a oma Of
tact may be if she is very. very pretty.
And. by way of further analogy,
Brock was a thoroughly likable chap.
besides being handsome anda thorough
bred to the core. It's not %betraying a
secret to affirm, coldbloodedly. that
Miss Fowler had not allied herself with
the enterprise until after she had pin
ned Roxbury down to facts concerning
Brooks antecedents. She was prop
erly relieved to find that he came Of
a fine old family and that he had led
more than one cotillion in New York.
He experienced a remarkable change
Of front in respect to RoXbury Med
croft before the breakfast was over.
1t may have been due to the spell Of
her eyes or to the call of her voice,
but it remains an unchallenged fact
that he no longer thought Of Medcroft
come to regard him as a good and ir-
~reproachable Samaritan. All of which
goes to prove that a divinity shapes
our ends. rough hew them how we
may.
I'm sure we shall get OF ~famously,"
he said, as she signifed her desire to
return to the compartment. I've al
ways longed for a nice. agreeable sis
ter-in-law."
"Her mission in life. up to a GER
tain stage. is to make the man appre-
ciate the fact that he has, after all.
been snapped up by a small but de-
serving family" she said blithely. 1T
is also her duty to pour oil on troubled
waters and strew flowers along the
connubial highway, so long as her kind
Offices are not resented. By the way,
Roxbury. 1 am now about to preserve
you from bitter reproaches. You have
forgotten to order coffee and rolls for
your wife,"
"Great Scott! So l have! It's 6
O'clock" He ordered the coffee and
rolls to be sent in at once. II hope
she hasn't starved to DEATH"
MY dear Roxbury," she said stern
", Il must take you under my wing
You have much to accomplish in the
next t%wenty-four hours, not the least
of your duties being the s%ubjugation
of Tootles and Raggles. Tootles is fiji
teen months old. 1t may interest you
to know. We can't afford to have Too.
ties scream with terror every time
she sees you. and it would be most I'm.
fortunate if Raggles should growl and
snap at you as he does at all suspicious
strangers. Once in awhile he bites
too. Do you like babies?"
Eyes, III think | do" he said doubt.
ingly. II daresay | could cultivate a
taste for 'em; but, | say" with eager
enthusiasm. II love dogs!"
1T may be distinctly in your favor
that Raggles Ioathes the real Roxbury
He growls every time that Roxy kisses
Edith"
Has he eve bitten Roxy for it?'
NO." obviously, but Roxy has had
to kick him on several occasions"
"How very tiresome-to kick and
kiss at the same time!"
10 SCly JCdiDuS, yOu uuu0i
stand"
That's more than l can say for dear
old Roxy. But III try to anticipate
Raggles by compelling Edith to KEEP
her distance" he said, scowling dark
ly. HAS it not occurred to you that
Tootles will be pretty-er-much Of a
nuisance when it comes to mountain
climbing?" He felt his way carefully
in saying this.
"Oh, dear me, Roxbury! Would you
have left the poor little darling at
home-in all that dreadful heat?"
"I'm SURE I couldn't have been blam.
ed for leaving her at home," he pro.
tested. "She didn't exist until half an
hour ago. Heavens. how they dc
spring up"
The remainder of Brooks day was
spent in getting acquainted with bis
family, or, rather. his menage. There
were habits and foibles, demands and
restrictions that he had to adapt him,
self to with uhvarying benignity. he
made a friend of Raggles without half
trying. Dogs always took to him. he
admitted modestly. Tootles was less
vulnerable. She howled consistently
at each Of his first half dozen adj
vances. His courage began to van
with shocking rapidity. His next half
hearted advances were In reality in,
glorious retreats. Spurred on by the
sustaining Constance. he stood by his
guns and ut last was gratifed to see
faint signs of surrender. BY midday
he had conquered. Tootles permitted
him to carry her up and down the sta
ton platform (she was too young to
realize the risk she RAM. Edith and
Constance. with the beaming nurse
and O'Brien. a%pplauded warmly when
he returned from his first promenade.
bearing Tootles and proudly heeled by
RaggIes. Fond mothers In the crowd