The Huttig news., 1915-02-06

hung. and the skies very clear, Sam son sat across the table from Adrienne Lescott at road house on the Sound. The sun had set through great cloud battalions massed against the vest and the horizon was fading into dark ness through haze like ash of roses. She had picked him up on the Ave nue, and taken him into her car for short spin, but the afternoon had beguiled them, turing them on little farther, and still little farther When they were score of miles from Man. hattan, the car had suddenly broken down. It would, the chauffeur told them, be the matter of an hour to effect repalrs, so the girl, explaining affair the aspect of adventure. turned and led the way, on foot, to the near est road house.
 We will telephone that we shall b. late, and then have dinner" she laughed And for me to have dinner with you alone. unchaperoned at a country inn, is by New York standards delightfully."- unconventional It borders on wiekedness." Then, since their at titude toward each other was so friendly and innocent, they both laughed. They had dined under the trees of an old manor house, built century ago, and now converted into an inn, and they had enjoyed them selves because it seemed to them pleasingly paradoxical that they should find in a place seemingly so shabby genteel a cuisine and service of such excellence. Neither of them had ever been there before, and neither of them knew that the reputation of this estab- tishment was in it's own way wide and unsavory.
 The repairs did not go as smoothly az tha chauffeur had expected, and. when he had finished, he was hungry. So, eleven o'clock found them still chatting at their table on the lighted lawn. After awhile. they fell silent, and Adrienne noticed that her com- panion's face had become deeply, al- most painfully set, and that his gaze was tensely focused on herself.
 What is it, Mr South?n she de- manded.
 The young man began to speak, in a steady, self-accusng voice.
 T was sitting here, looking at you,'' he said, bluntly. "I was thinking how fine you are in every way; how there is as much difference in the tex ture of men and women as there is in the texture of clothes. From that automobile cap you wear to your slip pers and stockings. you are clad in silk From your brain to the tone of your voice, you are woven of human silk. I've learned lately that silk isn't weak, but strong. They make the best balloons of it." He paused and sober. T was thinking, too, of your mother. She must be sixty, but she's young woman Her face is smooth and unwrinkled, and her heart is still in bloom. At the same age, George won't be much older than he Is now.
 The compliment was so obviously not intended as compliment at all that the girl flushed with pleasure
 Then" went on Samson, his face slowly drawing with pain, T was. thinking of my own people. My mother was about forty when she died She was an old woman. My father was forty three He was an old man. was thinking how they with cred under their drudgery-and oi the monstrous injustice of all
 Adrienne Lescott nodded. Her eyes were sweetly sympathetic.
 It's the hardship of the conditions" she said. softly. Those conditions will change"
 A man had come out onto the veg anda from the Inside, and was ap- preaching the table He eas immac-, ulately groomed. and came forward with the deference of approaching :. throne. yet as one accustomed to ap- of pleased surprise.
 The mountaineer recognized Far bish, and, with 2 quick hardening of the face, he recalled their last meeting. If Farbish should presume, to renew the acquaintanceship under these circumstances, Samson meant to rise from his chair and strike him in the face. George Lescott's sister could not be subjected to such meet ings. Yet. it was tribute to his ad- vancement in good manners that he dreaded making scene in her pres ence, and, as warning, he met Far bish's pleasant smile with a look ot. blank and studied lack of recognition. The circumstances out of which Far bish might weave unpleasant gossip did not occur to Samson That they were together late In the evening, un- chaperoned. at road house whose reputation was socially dubious. was a thing he did not realize But Far. bish was keenly alive to the pessibil. ities of the situation He chose to construe the Kentuckian's blank ex. pression as annoyance at being dis. covered, sentiment he could readily understand Adrienne Lescott, follow. ing her companions eyes. looked up.