Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1914-08-11

upon the mother
The girl laughed. ITS a poor RUE
that doesn't work both ways said she
nlppantly, dropping the subject.
Presently they came to the parting
Of their ways, his leading straight in
land to the stables and garage, hers
following the coast bit farther
thence through rhododendron thlcke,
across the lawn to the house, The
, girl paused. 1t was plain that she
was still thinking OF his mother.
Does she went you to be minis
| teri" she asked with vague ideas as to
the sociology.
! II think not" said Algernon. "She
said she wanted ME to do mans
work in the world"
! She laughed with vexation, then
! frowned. a glance at the roof of the
great house seen above the tree-tops
recalling to her realization of their
positions as he conceived Of them, and
the informality of the present con-
versaticn. The social barriers, for a
time forgotten in the pleasure OF the
swim. crept upon her again like the
first for-hung tendrils of the approach
ing fog
She drew her cloak closer about her,
and with nod, left him there at the
parting Of the ways.
AS soon as he had finished break
fast, Alsernon drove into the village
and bought bathing suit. He had no
money SO he charged 1t to Mrs. Todd.
81 am the new chauffeur he en-
nlaired surerfluous bit of fnforMa-
ticn. IS the fact that Mrs. Todd had a
new chauffeur had not only reached
distant Biockton itself by that time,
hut also a highly colored account CT the
new chauffeur's arrival and engage
ment. The explanation however. OF
why a chauffeur should necessarily
need a bathing suit as a part OF his
regalia to be furnished by his employ
er was lost in the dim haze Of Alger-
mons air of grave Importance.
AS Algernon was leaving the store,
Higgins called to him. %.
"Er-7-Mr. Holmes"
Algernon turned.
Here are some letters you might
as well take along with you. This
one" holding out fat blush en-
velope. portmarked London, and ad'
dressed to Miss Molly O'Toole, Castle
Grags, North Brcckton, Maine. U. S.
A., belongs up to the Crags, too, but
there amt no one up there by that
name as far as we can make out. Mrs.
Todd always keeps them, though
Algernon, glancing at the envelope.
recognized his mothers familiar hand.
writing. He smiled with pleasant en-.
joyment, took the letters and departed.
He remembered them when he was
almost at the gates Of Castle Crags
and pulle them out OF his pocket with
a chuckle. Two were from we'l-known
dressmaking establishments, the third
had the name of an exclusive firm OF
shoemakers on the upper left-hand cor
ner, while the fourth and last was the
one from his mother.
"Bills,' he thought, amused. return.
ing the first three to his pocket. The
one from his mother was thick and AL
gernon turned It over and over
thoughtfully, as If an examination OF
the envelope would reveal the con.
tents and wondered uneasily If it
would announce that his mother was
returning sooner than she was expect
ed. or if it were merely instructions
as to further Of her wishes.
The parlor maid told him in the
course of half an hours chat. that Mrs.
Todd was out in the motorboat, so he
left the letters in the hall and spent
long morning in the garage, putting
the cars in order.
The next morning he again made his
way through the woodland path to the
little beach. The new bathing suit he
realized with calm satisfaction. was
not only a good At, but enhanced
whatever slight claim to beauty he
could with due modesty acknowledge.
This was fortunate as it was the only
one Higgins had in stock. Bathing
suits in that locality were super.
fluffy rather than necessity. This
one had been left over from few
years before when some city people
had passed the summer there and
North Brockton had dreamed for one
short delirious while of becomming a
world-famous summer resort.
1t was cold gray morning. Fog
had swept in during the night and the
ground was as wet and the woods drip
ped as dismally as If 1t had rained.
The sea was gray and sullen, and the
waves rolled up on the beach with no
tumble of glistening foam as they had
done the day before. Algernon shivered
and looked for the girl. The tiny sea-
weed-strewn beach was empty: not
even the shabby slippers and old
brown cloak were to be seen.
Since the parting yesterday morning
in the woods. Algernon had been FL
led with the fear that she would not
come to bathe again, that her idea OF
the social barriers would not let her
go Of her own accord for swim with
her chauffeur. He had been quick to
read the liking for him he had seen so
often in her eyes and knew that If she
had come. now when she expected to
find him there on the beach, it would
be simply because that liking was big
enough to overcome her feminine
clinging to social form and custom.
Was her liking for him strong enough?
All the day before and that morning
as he made his way through the woods
he had been filed with the dread that
it would not be, had told himself not
"a hn a foo1 that II cartain1y cOuldN't