The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-20
NCnntanuad.H

a splendid hiatus of five hours or more in which he had enjoyed all of the by products of equality.
 tsPoopendyke!' I exclaimed, aghast- ssI have just thought of him. The poor devil has been waiting for us three miles up the river since midnight! What do you think of that!'' E
 '.No such luck, sir,r said he grumpily
 Luck. You heartless rascal! What do you mean by thatY
 ssI beg pardon, sir. I mean to say he could sit in the boat'ou and twiddle is thumbs at the clements, sir. Trust Mr. Poopendyke to keep out of the rain.''
 s'In any event he is still waiting there for US, wet or dry, he and the two big Schnicks.' took a moment for thought. We must telephone to the castle and have Hawkes. send Con rad out with word to them. looked at my watch. It was twenty minutes past 2. CT suppose no one in the castle went to bed last night Good Lord! What scene for 8 farce!"
 We retraced our steps to the garage, where Brftton went to the telephone stood in the doorway of the, building staring gloomtly, hollow eyed at the well, at nothing, now that I stop to think of it The manager of the place, an arniable, jocund descendant of Laza- rus, approached me.
 "Quite a storm last night, MT. Schmarck,, he said, rubbing his hands on an oil rag. I grumy agreed with. him in a monos Liable. But it is love Iy today, sir. Heavenly, sir-H
 ''Heavenly P gasped.
 ttAh, but look at the glorious sunr he cried, waving the oil rag inl all di- fections at once.
 The sun! Upon my word, the sun was shining fereely- I hadn't noticed 1t before.
 well. -dashedr' said, with a silly grin.
 tsThe moon will shine tonight, MT. Schmarck''L he began insinuatingly.
 Smart, if. you please!e snapped.
 ssAh,', he sighed, rolling his eyes, '-it tsifine to be in love" ,"
 A full minute passed before grasp ed the meaning of that soft answer. and then it was too late. He had gone about his business without waiting to see Wh&Eher my wrath had been turned away. I had been joy riding!
 The excitement in Britton's usually imperturbabIe countenance as he came running up to me from the telephone closet prepared me in way for the startling news that was to come.
 Has anything serious happened?'' p cried, my heart sinking a little lower. q had MT. Poopendyke himself on the wire, sir. What do you think, sir P A premonition! '.She-s1le has ar rived?' P demanded duly.
 He nodded 'sShe 'as, sir. Mrs zfF f7ezf-s The proximity of the inquisitive man ager explains this extraordinary re- mark on the part of my valet. We both glared at the manager, and he had the delieacy to move away. She arrived by special train at 12 lawst night, sir
 was speechIess. The brilliant sun shine seemed to be turning into som Der night before my eyes. Everything was going black
 She's asleep, he says, and doesn't want to be disturbed till noon,s so he says he can't say anything more just now over the telephone because he's afraid of waking 'er., Britton drops them when excited-G
 ssHe doesn't have to shout so loud that he can be heard on the top floor, 7 said I, still a trdt1e dazed
 ssShe 'appens to be sleeping in your bed, sir, he says.''
 'sIn nay bed? Good heavens, Britton, what's to become of me?''
 Don't take it so ard, sir,'' he made haste to say. 'sBlatchford as fixed a place for you on the couch in your study, sir. It's all very snug, sir"
 s'But, Britton,'' I said In horror, tssup- pose that I should have come home last night. Don't you see?''
 'I daresay she lad the door locked, sir,'' he said.
 "By special train,' I mumbled A light broke in upon my reviving intel lect. Why, it was the train that went through at a mile a minute while we were in the coffee house. No wonder we didn't meet her!''
 q shudder to think of wot would lave 'appened if we had sir,'s said he meaning nc doubt to placate me. MT Poopendyke says the countess as been up all night worrying about you, sir. She has been distracted. She wanted i'm to go out and search for you at I o'clock this morning, but he says he assured Ter you'd turn up all right. He says Mrs.-the elderly lady, begging your pardon, sir-thought she was do ing for the best when she took a spe cial. She wanted to save us all the trouble she could. He says she was very much distressed by our f. lure