Mexico Missouri message., 1916-05-25

ho"SpapciS Dut NC hou W pay SIN
fine"
THAT might be worth looking up,
too" ruminated Average Jones
thoughtfully.
He turned to his telephone in an
swer to ring. 'All right, come in,
Simpson" he said.
The confidential clerk appeared.
'Ramson says that regular black bee
ties are out of season, sir" he re-
ported. but he can send to the
country and dig up plenty of red-and-
black ones"
THAT will do" returned the Ad-
Visor. Tell him to have two or three
hundred here tomorrow morning"
Thus is was that on the morning
after this dialogue, a clean-built
young fellow walked along West Six
teenth street. He was rather shabby
looking. On the evidence of the band
box which he carried, his mission
should have been mental; but he bore
himself wholly unlike one subdued to
petty employments. His steady, gray
eyes showed a CLINT of anticipation as
he turned in at the gate Of the high,
broad, brown house standing back,
aloof and indignant, from the roaring
Entertainments of trade. He set his
| burden down and pulled the bell
The door opened promptly to the
deep, far-away clangor. A flashing
impression of girlish freshness, vigor,
and grace was disclosed to the caller
against a background of interior
gloom. The girl glanced not at him,
but at the box, and spoke trife i'm
patiently.
IF it's my hat, it's very late"
ut isn't, miss. It's the insects"
The what?"
The bugs, miss"
He extracted from his pocket a slip
of paper, looked from it to the num-
bered door, as one verifying an ad-
dress, and handed it to her.
From yesterdays copy Of the Ban
ner, miss. You're not going back on
that, surely" he said somewhat re-
proachfully.
She read, and as she read her eyes
widened to lakes of limpid brown.
Then they crinkled at the corners,
and her laugh arose from the mid
tone contralto, to high, birdlike trill
of joyousness.
1T must have been uncle" she
gasped finally. "He said he'd be quits
with the real estate agent before he
left. How perfectly absurd! And
are those the creatures in that box?"
1.-THE first couple of hundred of
'em, Miss Ackroyd."
The girl looked\at him with suspi-
cion, but his face was blankly inno-
cent.
I'm not Miss Ackroyd," she began
with emphasis, when a querulous
voice from an inner room called OUT
Whom are you talking to, Sylvia?"
"a young man with a boxful of
Beetles" returned the girl.
} Average Jones mutely held up the
box in one hand and the advertise
ment in the other.
every WELL" said the girl, in demure
tones, though lambent mirth still flick.
cred, golden, in the depths of the
brown eyes. IF you persist, l can
only suggest that you come back when
Judge Ackroyd is heTe. You won't
find him particularly amenable to hu.
NOR, particularly when perpetrated by
practical joker in masquerade"
discovered" murmured Average
Jones.
81 don't ask any real reason fol
your extraordinary CALL" pursued the
girl with a CLINT of mischief in hel
l eyes, but auntie thinks you've come
p, to steal my dog. She thinks that o.
everyone lately"
"Auntie? Your dog? Then you're
: Sylvia Graham. might have known
it."
: 81 don't know how you might hav,
, known it. But / am Sylvia Graham
: if you insist on introducing me tt
4 yourself"
s Miss Graham" said the visito
, promptly and gravely, 'Iet me presen
7 A. v. R. e. Jones, a friend"
: mot the famous Average Jones!
Q cried the girl. THAT is why you
: face seemed so familiar. I've seel
your picture at Edna Hale's. You go
, her blue fires back for her. Blu
really, that hardly explains your be
r ing here, in this way, you know"
/, Nothing simpler. Once upon tim
g there lived crack-brained young Do
r Quixote who wandered through an ag
o of buried romance piously searchin
a for trouble. And, twice upon a time
l. there dwelt in an enchanted ston
castle in West Sixteenth street an Ell
1 chanting young damsel in distress"
g I'm not a damsel in distress" IL
l. terrupted Miss Graham, passing owe
IT the adjective.
The young man leaned to her. TIL
IS half smile had passed from his lip
II and his eyes were very grave.
q ''Not-er-if your dog were ter
s. disappear" he drawled quietly.
is The swift unexpectedness of tn
r counter broke down the girls guar,
" s,t, al,