Perth Amboy evening news., 1913-01-28

As though he had sprung from the
ground. and ran at n sharp dog trot
along the fence. headed. like the 9th
ers, for the road. In the third Instance
the stranger undoubtedly took pains to
hide his face. but he. too. was well
dressed and wore q topcoat aud a fe-
dora hat Of current style.
did not know why these gentlemen
were ranging the neighborhood or what
object they had In view. but their sew
eral appearances had interested me,
and | went on Into the house well sat
isied that events Of an unusual char
acter were likely to mark my visit to
the home Of Miss Octavia HOLSTER.
Cecilia sat reading alone when ! en-
tered the library shortly before the din
ner hour. She put down her book and
we fell into fitful talk.
IL took a walk after tea. I always
feel that sunsets are best een from
the fields. You can't quite do them
Justice from Windows" SHE began.
She seemed preeccupied. Virgins
was In her recollection OF the glowing
l~andscape-1 WAS confident Of this. and
poor Virgins was ever now wander
lag these hills no doubt. breeding upon
his troubles under clear October stars.
Dinner was announced tho moment
Miss HOLSTER entered. and | walked
out between them. Miss Octavia Hot
lister was q surprising person. but In
nothing was she 70 delightfully."- way
ward As III the gowns she ore. My
ignorance Of such matters Is immeas.
urabie. but I fancy that she designed
her OWE r~fment and had her ideas
were %thereupon carried out by 4 tailor
Of skill. At the AsolRndo. and when we
had met at ten In her own house, she
had worn the severest Of tailored
gowns. with short skirt and a coat
into whose pockets she was fond Of
thrusting her hands. Tonight the ma
teriai was lavender silk trimmed In
white. but the skirt had not heightened.
and over q white silk waist she wore
a kind Of cuta way cut that matched
the skirt. An aigret in her lovely
white hair contributed a piquant note
to the whole impression. AS we pass
ed down the hall she talked with great
animation of The Hague tribunal. Just
then holding a prominent place in the
newspapers for some reason that has
escaped me.
"The whole thing is absurd. perfect
ly absurd. l know OF nothing that
would contribute more to human enjoy
ment than q real war between Ger
many and England. The Hague idea
Is pure sentimentalism-if sentimental
Ism can eve be said to be pure. l will
60 further aud say that / consider it
positively immoral"
She had ordered dinner In the gun
room. but ! thought this merely a turn
of her hum0r. and | was taken nback
when she led the way into a low. heavi-
~ raftered room. where electric n
of an odd type were thrust at Irregular
intervals along the wills. which were
otherwise hung with arms Of many
sorts In orderly combinations. They
were not the litter Of antique shops. |
say ia a hasty glance. but rides and
guns Of the latest patterns. and beside
the sidebosrd stood q gun rack and q
cabinet which I assumed contained still
other and perhaps deadlier weapons.
But for the presence OF Miss Cecilia.
who was essentially typical OF u
twentieth century American woman. l
think l might readily have yielded to
the Illusion that | wal the guest Of
some eccentric chntelaine who had in
vited me to dine with her In a bastion
Of her fortress before ordering me to
some chamber Of horrors for execu-
ton.
No reference WAS made to the char
acter Of the DON felt, In fact. that
Cecilia rather pleaded with her eyes
that ! should make no reference to 1t.
And Miss HOLSTER remarked quite
casually as though in comment upon
my thoughts:
Consistency has buried Its thou
sands and habit its tens of thousands.
We should live. Mr.. Ames, for the
changes and chances Of this troubled
life. Between an opera box and a
villa at Newport many OF my best
friends have perlshed."
Then with startling abruptness she
put down her fork and. bending her
wonderfully direct gaze upon me, ask
ed a question that caused me to stran-
gle on a bit Of asparagus.
II imagine. Mr.. Ames. that you are
a member Of some of the better clubs
In town. II by any chance you belong
10 the HIRE and Tortoise-the name of
which has always pleased me-do you
by any chance happen to enjoy the ac-
a~uaintance OF Hartley WigginsT
Cecilia lifted her head. / saw that
she had been az startled AZ l. 1t
crossed my mind that a denial Of any
acquaintance with Virgins might best
serve him In the circumstances. But
I am not. l hope. without a sense Of
shame. and ! responded promptly:
Yes l know him we'll. We are old
friends. ! always see e good deal OF
him during the winter. His summers
are spent usually OF his ranch In the
west. We dined together two days
ago at the Hare and Tortoise, just be-
fore he left for the west"
"xou will pardon me If I say that 1t
10 wholly to his credit that he has for
sworn the professions and identified
himself with the honorable calling OF
the husbandman."
I'VE met Mr.. Virgins while travel
fpU NhroaA Ia at uur,ruor" tpforrnsaI