The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1915-04-22

rse Barr M~Gutcheon.
 untary digital examination of the afore-3 said button. She looked ID with a nervous little laugh.
 fI shall have to sew one on right there for poor MT. Poopendyke,f sha said, poking her finger into the empty buttonhole. You dear bachelorsg'
 Then she turned swiftly away from me and glided over to the big arm chair, from the depths of which sha f1shed a small velvet bag. Looking over her shoulder, she smiled at me.
 Please look the other way" shai said Without waiting for me to dd so she took out little gold box, a pow der puff and stick of lip rouge Cross ing to the small Florentine mirror f that hung near my desk, she proceeded before my startled eyes to repair the I shght-and to me Ennoticeable-da age that had been done to her com piexion before the sun came up.
 Woman works in a mysterious way. my friend, her wonders to perform. ?. she paraphrased calmly.
 No matter how transcendently beau tiful woman may be, she always doea that sort of thing to herself, I take tt- @ said [
 .'she does.'' said the countess with conviction. She surveyed hersef crit 1cally. There! AndSnow I am reRdyi to accept an invitation to breakfast. J am disgustingly hungry
 And so am IF I cried with enthusi. asm. '-Hurrayl You shall eat Poo pendyke's breakfast just to pana1iza him for failing in his duties as hest during my unayeidabley-
 Quite impossible. she said. s'HEi has already eaten it.
 ''He has ?''
 'SAt half past 6, I believe He am nounced at that ungodly hour that q he couldn't have his coffee the dE1i thing in the morning he would be iu for a headache all days He suggested that Itake little nap and have break. fast with you-if you succeed in sur viving the night
 ssOh, I see" said slowly. sfHe know all the time that you were mapping ims that chair, eh ?''
 You shall not scold hi11n4''
 '.I shall. do even worse than thnt ] shall pension him for life"
 She appeared thoughtful A HttlG frown of annoyance clouded Der brow
 He promised faithfully to aFousa me the instant you were sighted on the opposite side Of the river I mads him stand in the window with field glass. No, on second thought, I shall scold him. If he had come to the doorq and shouted you wouldn't have caught me in this odious dressing gown. He lene"- &
 ssIt is most fascinating.'' I cried- s'Adorablei I love dinsy, pink things They're so intimate. And PoopendykG knows it, bless his ingenious old soul.''
 I surprised a. queer little gleam Of inquiry in her eyes. It .1iickered for a second and died out.
 ttDo you really consider him an in genuous old soul? p she asked. And [ thought there was something ratheE5 metallic in her voice. might have re- piled with intelligence if she had given me chance, but for some reason shes chose to drop the subject. aYou mustg be famished, and am dying to hearS about your experiences. You must not omit single detail. I''-
 There came gentle discreet knoek- ing on the half open door. I started.
 GCome!'' I said.
 Blatchford grayely swung the door8 wide open.
 Breakfast is served, sir-yout lady ship. I beg pardon"
 faultlessly rigid. As we. passed him on the way out a mean desire came over me to tread on his toes just as an eE- pertinent. Somehow I felt that he would say, Thank you, sir and there would be no satisfaction in knowing that he had had all his pains for noth- ing.
 I shall never forget that enchanteds breakfast Not that I can re- call even vaguely what we had to eat, or who served it, or how much Of the naked truth related to her iR de scribing the events of the night I can only declare that it was 8 singularly light hearted affair.
 At half past 1 o'clock was received by Mrs. Titus in my own study. Tho countess came down from her eerie abode to of1iciate at the ceremonious function-if it may be so styled-and ! was agreeably surprised to find my new guest in a most amiaibIe frame 0e mind. True, she looked me over with what seemed to me an unnecessarily and perfectly frank stare of curiosity but, on sober reflection. I did not hold it against her. I was still dEaped in Poopendyke's garments.
 At first sight I suppose she couldn't quite help putting me down as one oE those literary freaks who typify intsls lect without intelligence.
 JContinued.G