Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1913-10-09

wnlrn otherwise might nave puzzled
him considerably, 1t could 10 be said,
however. that Mr.. Odell-Carney was
ponderous. He was merely the effec-
tual result Of delay. Perhaps it is safe
to agree with those who knew him
best; they maintained that Odell-Car-
ney' was a pose. nothing more.
His wife was quite the opposite in
nearly every particular except height
and angularity. She was bony and
red faced and opinionated. A few
sallow years. with Il rapid. profigate
nobleman had brought her. in widow
hood. to a fine sense Of appreciation Of
the slow going though tiresomely I'M
practical men of the Odell- Carney
type. 1t mattered little that he made
poo" Investment of the money she had
sequestered from his l%ordship. He had
kept her in the foreground by associat-
ing himself with every big venture that
interested the financial smart set. Not
withstanding the fact that he never
was known to have any money, he was
looked upon as a financier of the high
est order, which is saying a great deal
in these u%nfeeling days Of pounds and
shillings.
OF cours Mrs. Odell-Carney was
dressed as all rangy. long limbed Eng
lishwomen are prone to dress-after a
model peculiarly not her own. She
looked ridiculously ungraceful along
side the smart. chic American women.
and yet not one of them but would
have given her boots to be able to array
herself as One Of these. There was no
denying the fact that Mrs. Odell-Car-
ney was a regular tiptopper," as Mr.
Rodney was only too eager to say.
She had the air of a born leader-that
is to say, she could be gracious when
occasion demanded. without being pat
roniZing.
In due course Of time the Medcrofts
and Miss Fowler were presented to the
distinguished couple. This function
was necessarily delayed until Odell-
Carney had time to go into the details
Of a particularly annoying episode of
the afternoon. He was telling the sto-
ry to his friend Rodney. and Of course
everything was at Il StAndstill until he
got through.
1t seems that Mr.. Odell-C Carney felt
the need of a nap at 3 o'clock. He
gave strict injunctions that there was
to be no noise in the halls while he
slept and then went into his room and
stretched out. Any one who has stop
ped at the Hotel -Four Seasons will
have no difficulty in recalling the cleo
trio hall bells which serve to attract
the chambermaids to given spots. If
one needs the chambermaid he press
es the button in his room and a lit
tie bell in the hall tinkles furiously
until she responds and shuts it of.
In that way one is sure that she has
heard and is coming. a most admirable
bit Of German ingenuity. If she hap
pens to be taking her lunch at the
time, the bell goes on ringing until she
returns. 1t is a faithful bell. Coming
back to Odell-Carney. the maid on his
floor was making up a room in close
proximity when a most annoying thing
happened to her. A porter who had
reason to dislike her came along and
turned her key from the outside, lock-
ing her in the room. She couldn't get
out, and she had been warned against
making a sound that might disturb
the English guest. With rare inteIIi-
gence. she did not scream or make an
cutlery, but wisely proceeded to press
the button for a chambermaid. Then
she evidently sat down to wait. To
make the story short, she rang her
W call bell for two hours, no other
maid understanding to notice the call,
which speaks volumes for the almost
martial system of the hotel. The bell
was opposite the narrator's door. Is
it, therefore. surprising that he re-
quired a great deal of time to tell all
that he felt? 1t was not so much Of
what he did that he spoke at such
great length, but of what he felt.
"'Pon me SOUL" he exploded in the
end. twisting his mustache with ncr-
vous energy, 1T was the demdest nap
1 ever had. I didn't close my Y e
c'nfend me if I did"