The Glasgow courier., 1916-07-28


cant marry without his consent"
The deuce you say!"
You shall not marry into the Blith-
ers family. my lad. if we can help it."
said the count, pulling at his mus
taches.
Il should say not!" said Dank, feel
ing for his
i should as soon marry a daughter
OF Hobbs," said r. Schmidt, getting
up from his chair with restored
sprightliness. III he had one.
mean"
The bonds of matrimony and the
ponds of government are by no
means synonymous" said Dank, and
felt rather proud of himself when his
companions favored him with a stare
or amazement The excellent lieuten.
ant was not given to persiflage.
Shall we send a wireless to Blith.
ers congratulating him on his coup?"
inquired the prince gayly.
No" said the count. Congratulate
ing ourselves on his coup is better"
Good! And you might add that we
also are trusting to luck. 1t may give
him something to think about. And
low where is Hobbs?" said royalty.
"Here. SIR" said Hobbs. appearing
TN the bedroom door.
Thank you. Hobbs. You may or
der luncheon for us in the Ritz res
taurant. The head waiter has been
instructed to reserve the corner table
for the whole voyage"
In two minutes Hobbs was back with
the information that two ladies had
taken the table and refused to be
dislodged. although the head waiter
had vainly tried to convince them
that it was reserved for :he passage
by R. Schmidt and party.
| 81 am quite sure, sir, he put it to
them very hagreeably and politely,
but the young lady gave i'm the
'aughtiest look I've ever seen on NOR
tai fee, sir. and he came back to me
so 'umble that could 'ardly believe
he was the 'ead waiter"
~ hope he was not unnecessarily
persistent" said the prince. annoyed.
ut really is of no consequence where
we SIT"
"Ladies first. world without end,''
said Dank. "Especially at sea-"
| Twenty minutes later r. Schmidt
seated in the Ritz restaurant, hap
pened to look fairly into the eyes OF
the loveliest girl he had ever seen
and on the instant forgave the ex-
traordinary delinquency of the hith.
srto infallible Hobbs.
Later on r. Schmidt sat alone in q
sheltered corner of the promenade
deck, where chairs had been secured
by the forehanded Hobbs. The thir
drizzle now aspired to something more
definite in the shape of a steady down
pour. and the decks were almost de
serted save for the few who huddlel
In the unexposed hooks where the
sweep and swish Of the rain failed t.
penetrate. There was a faraway lool
in the young mans eyes. as Of on,
who dreams pleasantly with little ef
fort. but excellent effect. His pip,
had gone out, so his dream must hav,
been long and uninterrupted. Eigh
bells sounded. But what is time to ,
dreamer? Then came one hell ant
two, and now his eyes were closed.
Two women came and stood ovel
him. but little did they suspect tina,
his dream was of one of them-th<
one with the lovely eyes and the sof,
brown hair. They surveyed him. whis
pering, the one with q little perplexet
frown on her brow, the other with dis
tinct signs Of annoyance in her face
The girl was not more than twenty
her companion quite old enough to bt
her mother. a considerate ii not com
plimentary estimate, for a girls moth
er may be either forty. fifty or ever
hfty-fve when you come to think of it
They were looking for something
That was quite clear. And it was de
plorahly clear that whatever it was R
Schmidt was sitting upon it. The,
saw that he was asleep. which made
the search il not the actual recover,
quite out of the question. The Older
woman was on the point of poking the
sleeper with the toe of her shoe, be
ing matter of fact sort of person
when the girl imperatively shook hel
head and frowned upon the lady in q
way to prove that. even though she
was old enough to be the mother of 8
girl Of twenty. she was by no means
the mother Of this one.
At that very instant, r. Schmid
opened his eyes. 1t must have been {