The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1916-12-28
THE HUSBAND HUNTER
., eRNEsT 4. YouNa.

+ asa t#Ai tAAH 50
''Nhai 90 yos enow about ltf Yon
aeFer haa hear, to smash. Aanfed
hag Drew
heFl Temple. the host and presiding
vfn.us af many a smoke-ialk ID the
cu11 bachelor Quarters. prieked Up his
ears fQr bis friends were getting on q
subject which aad acquired d new ln-
ieresi for him.
lie bad 'ateiy discovered THAT be had
g heart, ana be was Inclined 10 feel
hit heady over a.
You are wrong Billy Charles as
serted. FER il was weman's perfdy
thai hleiehed my hair yeurs ago"
~Siorg .-oid brand 81 romance" an
nnumeed Drew wifh a wave of his tat
hands.
y fail 70 see any romance about tie
process of getting stnng at time OF
ilfe when a deesnt Young chap Of
musiy temperament thinks he is in
lese for the only possible ume aud
the girl plays up the delusion until
she finds what boob he is and then
lets him drop.
That, tn subsnrce." continued the
cynic "was what happened. was the
boob and Aliss Doris Ward was the
pertidious maiden, and It happened
eight Years ago, when I was twenty
tuo chortle over IL 1t you lind it hu-
morous because see the joke now as
plainly as you do. also see how Miss
Doris Ward comes to Dunbury for
winter Of sDort-husband hunting"
They laughed at the story, Of course
-all except their host. He had been
p0king the fire and he dropped the
poker as If It had burned his fingers.
The party broke up and no note
was taken Of anything unusual in
Temples manner.
Charles, the cynic, Tilted eight
years ago by Doris Wardm mumbled
the host as the door shut out the last
Of his guests.
1t was like a clip from a blackjack
to the senses Of Bert Temple. Twen-
ty-minutes ago the memory Of Doris
Wards voice was thrilling through his
soul, as he had listened to that voice
the evening before. Sure enough. at
the ripe age Of thirty-slx he had fallen
heels over head at first sight. AL
though they had been hardly two hours
in each others society he lad as good
as told her that she was "the wonder
full woman" and that he was prepared
to close up a marriage contract for the
earliest date. that could be fixed upon
compatible with the conventions.
Now Temple felt sick, dizzy. be-
wlldered. Il was the boob and Miss
Doris Ward was the perfdious maid
en-" were the words that bored into
Temples consciousness. In other
words, at the callow age Of twenty
two Charles Darton had been Tilted by
Miss Ward, and now he. Bertram Tenn
pie, at thirty-six, had betrayed the
same brand Of callowness as that
youngster, whom Temple had never
particularly admired.
Now, according to Charles, the cynic,
this young woman. whose unique
charm had appealed to Temples un-
tutored heart, was husband hunter.
That meant that she was done With the
royal sport of killing for amusement.
and had taken up the practical voca-
tion Of bagging the game. And il
seemed that she had marked him
Bert Temple, age thirty-six-as a like
~ mark.
There was little time In which to
make up his mind what to do. In an
hour he was to call at the inn to take
Miss Ward motoring.
There wasn't time to think out
really good plan for showing Doris I
Ward that he was aware of her little /
scheme Of marrying the first man ia
Dunbury whom she chose to smile up I
on. SO he got out ,his car and asked I
Mollie Clews to so with him.
Temple In his racer with the chat
tering little magple snuggled on the
seat beside him, slackened the pace in
front Of the inn. lie could see Miss
Ward at the foot OF the walk, waiting
for him.
He meant to slow up just enough
SO she would be sure to see how pretty
and happy Mollie looked. and then,
like n cad, he would speed on and
leave the husband hunter to guess
what had happened.
Chugl
The racer stopped short. The en-
gine went dead.
At that juncture Charles Darton
came up with his car, and in twink
ling he had Mollie beside him.
You didn't speak to your-er-
DartoR," stammered Temple
as Doris took MoIlie's place in the
stalled motor.
"Was that Charles Darton?" she ex-
claimed ~Really. | had the impress
sion he was tall and blond.g
"He told us Bert persisted, that
you Tilted him eight years ago. And
now you would pretend
1T was my cousin Doris who did
he Hitting. She told me all about 1t. 5
She called him No. %, If remember /
lightly. She is lots older than | am
ma ,liGerent about--about hlrtlng.s :
They were still sitting beside each 4
,ther IN the stalled racer when they !
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