The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1914-12-24

III my SOUL. lewis EOulQ not UfdS II OUT
of me. Rest easy
1t occurred to me afterwards that she
laughed rather ierkily. you might say UNI
easily. At any rate. she turned away and
began speaking to Max.
Have YOU had your breakfast? % I asked
stupidly.
No"
Neither have l. VIII you join me?"
Isn't it getting to be a habit?"
Breakfast or-you?"
Breakfast and me-"
Il confess. my dear Countess, that I like
you for breakfast" | said calamity.
That is a real tribute" she said demure-
~, and to,k her place beside me. Together
We crossed the COURTYARD.
On the steps Colingraft Titus was stand
ing, uttered an audible groan and WINGED
as If in dire pain.
What is t." she cried quickly.
"Rheumatisfn." | announced, carefully
raising my, right arm and affecting an ex.
preston Of torture. am not a physical
MT. Titus carried in mis- hands a set of
formidable looking boxing-gloves did not
brighten me. Heaven knows. If 1t would
give him any pleasure to slam me about
with a pair of gloves, ! am not without
manliness and pluck enough to endure ply
steal main and mental humiliation. 1t was
diplomacy, cunning. astuteness, - whatever
you NAV choose 10 call it,-that stood be-
tween me and q friendly encounter with
him. Two minutes time would serve to
convince him that he was my master, and
then where would l be? Where would be
the prestige l had gained? Where my
record as a conaueror? u must have caught
making worse faces than before as 1 moved
the afflicted parts experimentally.
"There!" she exclaimed ruefully. Il knew
YOU would catch cold. Men always do. I'm
SO sorry
ITS nothing" l made haste to explain
that Is, nothing serious IN get rid Of 1t
Good morning. Colingraft."
Morning. Hello. sis. Welr' He dangled
the gloves before my eyes.
NY disappointment was quite pathetic.
Tell him" | said to the Countess.
colly." she said. Put those ugly things
away. We're going in TO breakfast"
He tossed the gloves into a corner Of the
vestibule. l felt a little ashamed of my
subterfuge in the face of his earnest ex-
TEL YOU what I'll do" he said warmly.
Il know how to rub a fellows muscles
oh. l have a treasure in Britton," said
], hastily. Thanks. old man. He will work
1t out of me. Sorry We can't have a go this
morning."
The worst of It all was that he insisted,
as a matter of personal education, on
coming to my room after breakfast to watch
the expert maneuvers of Britton in kneading
the stiffness out OF my muscles. He was
consulted Britton and then resignediy con-
scented to the demonstration
To my surprise, Britton was something of
an expert. | confess that he almost killed
me with those strong. iron like hands Of
his: Ii | was not sore when he began with
me, l certainly was when he finished.
Colingraft was most enthusiastic. He SAID
he'd never seen any one manipulate the
muscles so scientifically as Britton, and
ventured the opinion that he would not
have to repeat the operation often, To nv
self | said that he wouldn't have to repeat
it at all.
We began LAYING our plans for the four
teehth. Communications arrived from Italy.
addressed to me but intended for either the
Countess or the rather remote Mr.. Bangs,
who seemed better qualified to efface him
self than any human being I've ever seen.
These letters informed us that a yacht
one OF three now cruising in the Mediter-
ranean-would call at an appointed port on
such and such a day to take her out to sea.
everything was being arranged on the out
side for her escape from the continent. and
precision seemed to be the watchword.
OF course ] couldn't do a stroke of work
on nv novel, How could I he expected 10
devote myself TO fiction when fact was
staring me in the face so engagingly? We
led an idle. dolce far niente life in these
days, with an underlying touch of anxiety
and excitement that increased as the day
for her departure drew near. ! confess to
a sickening sense. of depression that could
not he shaken off.
Half of my time was spent in playing with
semar She became dearer' 10 me with
each succeeding day. l knew | should miss
her tremendously. ! should even miss yinko
who didn't like me, but who no longer
erowled at me. The castle would be a very
gloomy. drear place after they were out Of
u" 4 lounu hNseiI wondering now long L
would be able to endure the loneliness, Sc
cretlv cherished the idea of selling the
place If l could find a lunatic in the mar
ket
An unexpected diversion came one day
when, without warning and figuratively out
of a clear sky, the Hazards and the Billy
Smiths swOoped Town upon me. They had
come up the river III the power boat for. a
final September run, and planned to stop
over night with me!
They were the last people in the world
Wnnn Rnh11 turn nnot FRnt. $3.50 IN-.
There might have been a chance to put
them up for the night and still avoid dis
closures. had not circumstances ordered that
the Countess and should be working in
the garden at the very moment that
brought them pounding at the postern gates.
Old Conrad opened the gate in complete
ignorance ,of our presence in the garden.
1--WE happened to be in a somewhat obscure
nook and seated upon a stone bench -
so he must be held blameless.) The
quartet brushed past the old man and l.,
hearing their chatter, foolishly exposed my.
self.
l shall not ATTEMPT to describe the scene
that followed their discovery of the Countess
Tarnowsv. BE II said. however, to the credit
of Elsie and Betty Billy. the startled refugee
was fairly smothered in kisses and tears and
almost deatened by the shrill. delighted ex-
CARNATIONS that fell from their eager lips.
] doubt If there ever was such q sensation
before!
They brought rather interesting news con-
corning the Count. Ii appears that ne and
the Baron had quarreled and at the time OF
my friends departure from Vienna II was
pretty generally understood that there would
be a duel.
II never liked the Baron" | said. with a
grim smile that could not have been misin-
terpreted, "but l hope to heavens he isn't
killed."
Mrs Titus sighed, '"Tarnowsy is regarded