Perth Amboy evening news., 1913-01-28

ground. and ran ut Il 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 u 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
isfied 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 titful tulk.
II took u walk after tea. l always
feel that sunsets are best seen from
the fields. You can't quite do them
Justice from windows." she began.
She seemed preoccupied. Virgins
was In her recollection Of the glowing
Iandscape-I was confident OF this. and
| poor Virgins WIS eve now wander
ing these hills. nc doubt. brooding upon
his troubles under clear October stars.
Dinner was announced the moment
Miss Hollister entered. and l walked
out between them. Miss Oetavia Hol-
lister was a surprising person, but in
nothing was she so delightfully."- way.
ward as III the gowns she wore. My
ignorance Of such matters is immeas,
urable. but l fancy that she designed
her own raiment and had her ideas
were thereupon carried out by n tailor
Of skill. At the Asoiando, and when we
had met at tea 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
terial was lavender silk trimmed in
white, but the skirt had not heightened.
and over u white silk waist she wore
II 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 Il 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
mept than a real war between Ger
.x,n ,aI Ent,.I Tl~ tJn-,u IT,,
Is pure sentimentalism-if sentipental-
ism can ever be said to be pure. | will
go further and say that ! consider 1t
positively immoral"
She had ordered dinner in the gun
room. but | thought this merely a turn
OF her humor. and | was taken aback
when abe led the why into n low. heavi-
~ raftered room. where electric sconces
Of an odd type were thrust MT irregular
intervals along the walls, which were
otherwise hung with arms OF many
sorts in orderly combinations. They
were not the litter Of antique shops. |
sa in a hasty glance. but rifles and
guns OF the latest patterns, and beside
the sideboard stood Ii gun rack and Ii
cabinet which | assumed contained still
other INC perhaps deadlier weapons.
But for the presence of Miss Cecilia.
who was essentially typical OF our
twentieth century American woman, !
think ! might readily have yielded to
the Illusion that | was the guest of
some eccentric chatelaiDe who had In
vtted 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 room. | felt, In fact. that
Cecilia rather pleaded with her eyes
that l 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 It's tens Of thousands.
We should live. Mr.. Atnes. for the
changes and chances of this troubled
life. Between an opera box and a
villa at Newport man OF my best
friends have persisted"
Then with startling a~bruptness. she
put down her fork and, bending her
wonderfully direct gaze upon me, ask
ed a question that caused me TO stran-
gle on n bit of asparagiis.-.
II imagine. Mr.. Ames. that you are
a member Of some of the better clubs
In town. II by my chance you belong
10 the Hare and Tortoise-the name of
which has always pleased me-do you
by any chance happen to enjoy the ac-
quaintance OF Hartley Wiggins:"
Cecilia lifted her head. / saw that
she had been as startled as /. Ii
crossed my mind that a denial of any
acquaintance with Virgins might best
serve him In the circumstances. But
am not. | hope. without a sense of
Ahame. and ! responded promptly:
Yes | know him well. We are old
friends. ! always see a good deal OF
him during the winter. His summers
are spent usually on his ranch In the
west. We diued together two days
ago at the Hare and Tortoise, just be-
fore he left for the west"
You will pardon me II | say that 1t
Is wholly to his credit hat he has for
sworn the professions and Identified
himself with the honorable calling Of
the husbandman."
We met Mr.. Virgins while travel