The Washington herald., 1913-11-09
COPYRIGHT. 1913

later found himself beng bowed int
the presence. Brian did not commi
the solecism of shaking hands with tn
butler when the latter reached out fo
his hat-he had seen the trick laughe,
at in vaudeville show, so he was Oh
his guard.
/ Somewhere iri a lighted room beyont
he could see the pompous Ketchum ad
dressing silk-clad harem. Ketchun
seemed insultingly oblivious of Brian
arrival There was an icy sea of pol
ished floor between the ball and tn,
drawing room. 1t was APPARENTLY up Il
him to brave this slippery terror. HI
got along very wen as far as the door
of the drawing room; but, just as h
was stepping forth to Ketchum's out
stretched palm, the rug beneath his fee
tobogganed, and in the whirlwind ef
fort to right himself he plunged witt
the force of football hero against 1
Chinese servant who was entering witt
tray of cocktails.
A hawk-Iaced dowager, who proved
to be Mrs. Ketchum. scurried forward
$50 clumsy of Wong" she said
dashing over Brian a cold smile tha
seemed to hiss, die, insectr'
Brian could distinctly feel the pin:
slipping out from underneath his dres:
tie. While the confused Wong moppet
the liquor from the floor, Mrs. Ketch-
um led Brian among her guests, hand'
ling him with tongs. Miss Ketctum
a hard-eyed beauty whose interpreta.
ton of charm was to take down the
masculine conceit wherever encoun'
tered, said, How dy dor" and refused
to shake hands. There was a slender
tender young person who smiled al
nothing, and a Miss Parks (or was il
Sparks?), who, although quite plainly
plump, attempted % palliate- that un-
fashionable fault by initiating the
grand Miss Ketchum's air of willowy
hauteur. The suave Mr.. Waring oc-
cupied the center stage, displaying to
advantage a lavender silk waisteost
with wonderful green buttons. -
"Chilblainsr' said Brian to himself,
standing in the center of deserted
rug.
The patient Wong came swinging in
again, bearing trayful of cocktails in
copious glasses of rich design. Brian,
ordinarily temperate of habit, took one
because the act both killed time and
fortified him against whatever social
ordeals were to follow.
He found himself talking affably to
the tender, slender girl, who kept her
eyes on his necktie with fixed, mys-
terious Mona Lisa smile.
"You know what the fly said when
he crawled into the Swiss cheese" he
inquired, by way of conversation to
that mocking young person.
mo; what?" she smiled. y
"He said, I'm lost. Can you blame
me?'"
"Ohr' exclaimed Mona Lisa. 9
"Y' see, in the real-estate business
we get to know more about the outside
o big houses than the inside"
"Ohr'
He suddenly noticed that the guests
were passing in to dinner, and that
Mrs. Ketchum was regarding him with
a look of intense dislike.
If the invitation to dinner was in
tended by Ketchum as a poultice to
Brian's wounded feelings, it acted like
a mustard plaster. AS he had resolved
before entering the house not to let
Ketchum "get anything on him., hel
kept silent most of the meal-a state of
behavior that drove him almost insane.
He sat between the stout Miss Sparks
and the Mona Lisa person, who turned
their lovely ivory shoulders upon him.
Once the Mona Lisa turned to him
long enough to inquire: DO you play
polo?"
Come againi" said Brian. She never
did.
John w. Waring, Jr, on Mrs.
Ketchum's right, found constant ap-
probation for his monologue, and ex-
banded into boasts as the dinner pro-
crossed.
Waring kindly included Brian in the
at infrequent intervals, an
advantage which the sharp-tongued lit
le Celt could not refuse.
my father had a trained yak whose
lame was Pong began Waring, on
] new anecdote,
my father had a trained bull whose
lame was Con-" broke in Brian.
The whole table concentrated the eye
4 seorn upon the brash offender, who
ppeared absorbed in the fowl before
i'm. Deigning merely pitYng glance,
he circus magnate went on with his
ale.
dad has only one eye, you know,
ut he's not sensitive about it. He lostl
he eye in peculiar way. Dad is al
cry accomplished performer on the
aiiiope, and about ten years ago he
vas trying out new instrument. He
ad just begun playing 'Maiden's Pray II
r when spark few out of thei