The evening world. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1887-1931, 1914-03-19

band OF the hat. 4 man In the early
thirties. he looked 70 Be.
Just at that moment his whole At
tituds was one Of aiertneAs: from the
angle at which be held his head to the
poiss Of his body. one foot advanced.
ready for an instant change Of base.
Silently and with much good humor
the "Cherub" regarded him for . few
ssconds Then. with an audible
chuckle, he stepped up. tapped him
on the shoulder and observed In
auiringly:
"well7 what's the gamer
The stranger should have Jumped,
thrown UP his hands. and uttered
some picturesque exclamation In .
foreign tongue. Al least he might
have exhibited q decent amount Of
surprise. But ne did not. He was an
amazingly cool sort He merely
turned quickly, measured Mr.. Dsvins
With one fash Of his keen brown
eyes. lifted his brows expressiveiy
and shrugged hts shoulders
bah! A trick!" he commented.
"Why not7 Didn't you start this
hide-and- go seek business7 Now per-
haps youil tell mo what It 10 all
about"
The strangers Response to this was
q politely impudent stare.
II do not quito understand" he said.
with Just the slightest foreign &C.
cent.
Nor drawied the "Cherub." mock
ingiy. "Then there's two Of Us In
the dark. But perhaps We can clear
matters up. found you skulking In
tho bushes. Now whyf"
A flush Of color appeared under the
dark olive Of the strangers face. He
stifYened and replaced the silk hat
with much dignity.
beg pardon. sir. but do not rec
ognixe your right to question me In
that manner"
"wbe-e-e-ew! What a naughty
little man It vi" laughed tho "Cher-
ub." "Ah. come down OF the step
ladder! A minute or two ago you
were lodging around a. guilty a. II
you'd robbed q fruit stand. Now.
what are you UP tor
There was no threatening note in
Mr.. Devine's words. but much earn
estness. The silk-hatted person eyed
him attentivcly while he was speak
Ing. but when he had finished he
turned. produced q cigarette. and pro-
ceeded to light It with calm indiffcr-
ence. Not until lac had enjoyed sew
eral soothing puffs did he make any
retort.
~ am attending to my own sna!rs.
SIR"
"Then I'll help you." said the
"Cherub." for I'm good deal inter-
ested in this place and what Is going
on here"
Indeed" Again the stranger
shrugged his shoulders. But don't
know you. SIR"
Didn't act AZ II you wanted to.
either. But here's where We get ac-
auainted. Just tho same. My names
Devine--'Cherub' Devinc."
"Eh? What" Gasped the stranger,
staring incredulousiy. "Why--er-a
thousand pardons. Mr.. Devine: allow
me-" and he hastily brought out y
card case.
Luigi Salvatore y vecchi." read ths
"Cherub,' with some hesltancy In
pronouncing names. "Vecchi. chr All
l SEQ! Some relation OF the late
Count's?"
The stranger smiled indulgently.
II am known a. Count Vecchi."
Had the "Cherub" been at all emo
tionai. he would have gasped then
As II was. he nearly did. but seemed
, to recover In time.
"Oh. then you're the now onsf"
Once more the smile Of indulgence
mo. have been Count Vecchi fol
good many years"
"But--but you're not tho Coun
Vecchi who-who married Miss IIew
ington?"
II have that honor"
1t was tho "Cherub's" turn to star
incredulously.
"See here" he said protestingiy
either you're a dead Count or a liv'
liar. and I guess tho last description
Ats best. Como. come! You've sprunI
that blum on tho wrong person.
happen to know. my friend. that thu
real Count Vecchi has been dead To-
: n couple OF years. Now what hav'
you got to say to that7"
II can only quote the words OF you
own great humorist, that tho reports
OF my death have been greatly exag
gerated.' However, ! admit that sucl
reports were circulated. But here
am. you see.''
;, IAN a mistake. was Il? And you'v'
come over TO give the Countess
pleasant little surprise. CHI"
II hardly think the Countess will
. be surprised" and tho Count lifto'
! his black eyebrows meaningly.
Instantly tho situation cleared TO
tho "Cherub." So that was what sh
had meant by her mysterious pro