The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1916-08-25
A GAME OF BLUFF
BY HOPE AiNsLiE.

Bruce Fleming idly scanned the
want column as he waited for his
Uncle. Robert to finish debating so
they could give Bruce's new roadster
a trial spin to the Country club. AS
he read an advertisement a second
time, he sat for a moment with his
gray eyes looking th%oughtfully ahead.
Then he chuckled softly, and sang,
She's the Lass for Me" just as his
uncle came from a private office, cap
and light overcoat in hand.
who's the lass this timer" asked
his uncle.
Miss Letitia B. Arlington of Add
ingtonia," read Bruce, referring to the
advertisement. do you happen to
know herr"
YES, l do, but as she is old enough
to be your grandmother, l can't quite
see her as the lass for you"
but I'm going to be her landscape
gardener, not her gallant lover, Uncle
Bob. Just hear her plea: Wanted, a
landscape gardener to advise and in
/ SLEuCI, lOI ICd0O11oUAO compensatory
about municipal and private gardens
in conservative town Of five thou
sand But tell me how did you come
to know the LADY,"
Used to hold court in Addingtonia
when l was on the judicial circuit, and
that m owned half the town and
was close asYthe bark on q tree"
ssTXY1l1 a. eAA 10 ~oSn~ IN for mn.
nicipal gardens at her own expense.
she must have had q change of heart"
ventured Bruce.
"She must have lost her mind"
bluntly.
When Bruce left the house the next
day he remembered that it was Friday
and that the regular directors meet
ing had been postponed until Monday.
That left nothing of great importance
awaiting him at the office. and as he
slipped into his snug seat in his shiny
new roadster, he deliberately turned
his car from a downtown direction
and shot out toward the wood beyond
the City park. The farther he went
the more he thought he would like to
lake tuS OU.uullo IuA " ll6tO
and make a BLUM at qualifying for a
landscape gardener for the ancient
lady. Consequently, a little after
noon, his shiny green roadster,
dimmed by the dust, slipped smoothly
along the shady streets of A%ddingtonia
and a street corner loafer readily an
swered his inquiry about the location
80 1Fsro AI5iroko~sc nIooa
In answer to his knock, the door
was opened by a diminutive woman in
a gown Of vast dimensions, q regular
hoop-skirt affair with %f1ounces and
Dolly Warden designs which became a
confused blur in the dim light of the
broad hall. But the incongruity of an
1860 ball gown worn as a morning
house gown in 1916 made him recall
his uncle's suggestion that Miss Add
ington had probably lost her mind.
She sat in a dark orner of the
drawing room and Bruce couldn't
make out enough of her face to tell
whether she looked sane.
In desperation, Bruce began to talk
of the garden plan he had evolved as
De came in. Miss Arlington sat on
the edge of her chair and nodded af-
f1rmatively more than once. but did
not speak. He felt stifled thus shut
up in the daskened drawing room with
the mysterious woman, and suggested
that they inspect the grounds. The
lady rose in silence and rustled out in
to the hall where she snatched up a
huge poke bonnet and quickly put it
on, pulling 1t SO far down that when
walking beside her Bruce could not
see even the tip of her nose.
But the spell Of the quaint old place
was on him, and he began really to en-
thuse about the possibilities of the
grounds. To his amazement, the lady
responded with a like enthusiasm. and
in a voice of wondrous sweetness. She
even withdrew her hands from the ca
pacious folds of her gown and flung
them wide. AS she did SO, Bruce's
eyes went wide with wonder, for the
hands were soft and plump and white,
with pinkish, oval nails.
Puzzled at his silence, the lady gave
the big bonnet a backward push, and
turned her face directly up toward his.
The climax of his amazemens came
when he saw within that old bonnet a
lovely, girlish face, lighted with starry
brown eyes and framed with brown
hair.
"Of course, I'll have to explain now"
she said, with a defiant toss of her head
and a twinkle in her eyes. you see, I
slipped on n of dear Aunt Letitia's
gowns just for comparison with the
new styles. You clicked the old knock
er just as I passed the door. SO I
thought it would be fun to 60 on and
make believe I was a real antebellum
lady. But I've made a sad failure"
.'"You succeeded admirably until you
let me see those hands," Bruce reas-
sured her.
poor Aunt Letitia died three
months ago and left me this lovely old
place with the request that l give to
It and to the town some of the bright.