The Washington herald., 1914-01-04
toopyisht. isl4.)

Copyright. lslx)
- WAS spending my summer holiday
at Dieppe. One evening ! was sit
ting, all alone by myseR. on thu
terrace outside the Casino. wa,
taking my ease In long chair close te
the sea-wall In front of me. in the glow
OF the electric light. people were seated
ut little tables having refreshments. Al
one of these was gentleman whose name
] knew. talking to one who was to me
complete stranger.
The first gentleman's name was Arm
itase-Cecil Armitage. He was an amaz-
ingiy handsome young man, perhaps In
the late twenties. He was staying In my
hotel. and was the cause OF no little
amusement to some Of the other visitors
He, a young man Of seven or eight and
twenty, evidently Of birth and breeding,
was paying the most marked attention to
a woman who was one Of the greatest
Jokes in Dieppe-Miss Drawbridge.
Miss Drawbridge, commonly known as
Gertrude" to people who had never
spoken to her in their lives. was sort
of standing dish at Dieppe. She was sup
posed to have been there longer than the
Oldest inhabitant; she had certainly been
a frequenter for quite number of years.
Imagine the sensation which stirred the
air when it became known that this per-
feet Adonis was engaged to Gertrude"
Had not Miss Drawbridge announced the
fact herself, 1 fancy few people would
have believed it
There was on the terrace, in my long
chair, and there was Mr.. Armitage,
drinking what looked to me very like
absinthe-fancy drinking absinthe at that
time of night, or. SO far as that goes, at
any time,-and talking to perfect
stranger. OF course, the man was quite
entitled to be a stranger; but have sell
dom seen a man whose looks liked less.
He was a sallow. hatchet-faced man. with
an upturned mustache-which I hate!-
and something the matter with one Of his
eyes which made him seem to be looking
in two directions at once. Nor did like
his manner toward Mr.. Armitage; he
seemed to me to be positively bullying
him. That was one reason why watched
what they said. and some very surprising
obseryations-I cannot say heard-I saw.
And, as always is the case on such occa-
sions, 1. lip reader that I am, could not
have gained a more intimate acquaintance
with them had they bawled them in my
ear.
The first thing saw was the stranger s
thin lips comforting themselves as, in
what 1 imagined to be an angry under
tone, they formed these words, which
have no doubt, judging from the express
sion Of his face, he snapped out at Mr..
Armitage as IL he were an angry terrier:
Don't you make any mistake about it.
my boy. I've not come over to Dieppe to
be fooled with. I'm going to have you
or the money in four-and-twenty hours
II 1 have to have you, it will be penal ser
vitude, and then the smile will come on
that pretty face of yours"
Mr.. Armitage was not smiling at that
particular moment, as any on could see;
on the contrary, he looked very much dis
turbed. The way in which he leaned
across the table helped me to realize the
earnestness which / felt sure WAS in his
voice as he replied to the others threat,
i'm words, which as I saw each fresh one
shaped on his lips, surprised me more
and more.
Don't be absurd. Clarke. l can't per-
form the impossible. l can't get 1t in
four-and-twenty hours; but you shall
have your money, with humping inter-
est, IL you will only give me reasonable
time"
And pray. what do you call reason
able time, my beautifuI-forger?"
1T won't take very much to make me
break this glass against your face,
Clarke You may have the whip-hand
of me, but I'll break your neck before
you get a chance of laying the lash
across my back"
There was a pause. Mr.. Armitage
leaned so far forward that 1 quite ex-
pected that he would take the other by
the throat and strike him with his glass.
l was Just on the point of jumping up and
doing something which would divert his
attention, when he seemed all at once to
change his purpose, and, leaning right
back. positively laughed.
What nonsense it Is, Clarke, our talk
ing like this. l tell you again, you shall
have your money. with humping inter-
est, IL youIl watt
II know a good dea, about you, my lad
about all there is to lesrn-but don't
know where you're going to get anything
like that amount Of money from, unless
you've found some one else to rob-"
I thought Mr.. Armitage would resent
this remark as he had done the others,
and / believe that for a moment it was
changed his purpose, and I saw these
words come from his lips in
stead:
II have-Tve found a woman"
1t was not strange that Mr.. Clarke
looked at him as If he wondered IL he
was in earnest: then he asked. with a
smile which made him an even more un-
person than before:
.who is the woman you purpose to rob.
at the eleventh hour?"
Its the woman / intend to make my
Wife"
''Oh, so there is a woman you're going
to make your wife-at last. What
about"
stop that, Clarke; don't you mention