The Holly chieftain., 1914-09-18
CHAPTER II,
The Girl and the Walter.

he Glri anc the Walter.
tt seven o'clock, in immaculate eve
ming attire, Holton set out from his
club and sailed forth to the Willard
After studying the menu lovingly, and
having devised a dinner suitable to
the palate of one who had followed the
lure Of Epicurus In Vienna, Paris and
London. he turned from the card and
lighting cigarette and slipping cock
tail. he gazed about the room.
At one table he saw the French am
bassador and company of his Galiic
friends Near by young Pembroke. OF
the British embassy was dining a girl
Holton had met. To his left sat a
fark-skinned, sleek-appearing man
with close-cropped Vandyke beard He
had been pointed out to Holton In
Paris as man who had plans of Ger
man forts at Kiel for sale. The young
officer wondered what he was doing
here
Altogether the atmosphere, Holton
decided, was just as 1t should be, just
Us the capital of a country should act
when the government stands on the
brink of international war.
Holton had just dispatched his first
oyster when his attention was attract
ed by musical little laugh to a table
about twenty feet away from him. A
girl, slightly above the medium height.
with slender resilient figure, was stand
ing with her back to him, talking to
her escort. well-built man of fifty
odd, with iron-gray hair and beard,
and the dark features Of the Latin.
She WAS beauty. Holton, connois-
rof femininity though he was, at
mitted that without hesitation Her
hair was not the coalblack hair of her
race. but a shining. golden deep
brown. which lay upon her head in
thick, waving convolutions. Her eyes
we're blue-gray. set off by long, dark
lashes. and fine brows. which ran with
delicate arches to the straight. finely
modelled nose. Her lips were colored
by nature. pure coral, and her teeth
flashed as she spoke.
IT'S absurd. father for you to mind.
! can wait here as well as anywhere
e'se-although l shant promise not
to occupy myself by dining"
tne 1aIner shrugged. 80
"Well.' he said at length. 1T ts
quite necessary. Rance. and l shan't
be gone long. but If you mind I'll take
you back to the hotel"
Not at all. not ALL" she protested
ITS so bright and interesting here.
and you'll return soon. anyway No.
go on, father. and I'll eat"-she smiled
,tN
turn
Her cheeks had flushed with ami
nation and the purity of her coloring,
as well as the whiteness of her skin,
convinced Holton that If her father
were Spanish. or Cuban, or something
Latin, the girl unquestionably was the
daughter of an Anglo-S Saxon mother.
With a gesture that amounted al
most to carelessness. she had tossed
gold mesh handbag on the table,
and now as she glanced over the card
II was quite concealed from her view.
Holton returned to his oysters, not,
however, neglecting occasional glances
at The radiant creature who had been
left, as he inwardly phrased 1t, high
and dry by her father
- should think" ne murmured, 'that
he'd be afraid someone would steal
her. II. by George! I'd like to, you
know"
Which thought thrilled him out of
al proportion to the amount of good
sense it contained. 1t was at about
this point that Holtons gaze fell upon
the waiter attending the young woman.
lie was one of those interesting per-
sons to be seen occasionally in great
restaurants who seem to be above
their calling. There was hidden
something. passing phases Of facial ex-
preston, certain movement of the
shoulders, and above all. firm-footed
but light tread, all of which seemed to
Rolton to indicate man misplaced.
He felt certain of this a moment
later. when the girl again lifted the
menu and the waiter stepped to the
corner of the table. upon which the
,Sold bag lay. With quick snakellke
>"oYement his hand shot out and seized
the bag. Then. hardly lifting his fin
gers from the table. ho snapped his