The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1916-04-06

My plans are never SenS1Dle, anu what few I have are as empty as my pockets To tell the truth, have neither plans nor pockets,'' she laugh ed, .'since this is borrowed gown Pockets in gowns are entirely mat they exist. You are going back to Seattle?''
 "No. Mother would never allow it. In fact, when she learns that I'm out here she'll. probably send me back to New York as fast as can go.''
 Doesn't she know where you are?'
 Indeed, no! She thinks I'm safely and tamely at home. Uncle Curtis wouldn't object to my visit, I fancy; at any rate, I've been counting on his good offices with mother, but it's too late now"
 "Tm like you," he said; 'EI can't brook disappointment. I'm going on.''
 In answer to her questioning look he explained his plan of intercepting the freight steamer that night whereupon her face frightened with sudden hope.
 Can't go, too?'' she fmpIored eager ly. She was no longer the naughty young lady he had met upon entering the room, but a very wistful child.
 "I'm afraid that's hardly''-
 Please! Pleasei Be a real prince and grant me this boon. Won't you? My heart is set upon it.'' } It was hard to resist her imploring eyes-eyes which showed they had never been denied. It was hard for O'Nen to refuse anything to a woman.
 eff your uncle is wiling" he began hesita ingly.
 ''He isn't my really uncle. I just call him that b
 .sweIl. if MT. Gordon wouldn't ob- ject, perhaps I can manage it, provid- ed, of course, you promise to explain to your mother"
 Miss Gerard's frank delight showed that she was indeed no more than child. Her changed demeanor awak-, ened a doubt in the mans mind.-
 ttIt will mean that you'll have to sit cautioned her.
 9TH sit up for a week.
 With the creepy water all about and big black mountains frowning at youg'
 .".Oh, fiddler she exclaimed. You'll be there if I get frightened Rising impulsively, she laid her hand on his arm and thanked him with an odd mingling of frankness and shyness, as if there could be no further doubt of his acquiescence. He saw that her eyes were the color of shaded wood land springs and that her hair was not black. but of a deep, rich brown where the sun played upon it, the hue of very old mahogany, with the same blood red flame running through it. He allowed himself to, admire her in silence until suddenly she drew back with a startled exclamation.
 What is it?''
 'I forgot-I have no clothes'' Her words came with a doleful cadence.
 .'The universal complaint of your sex" he said, smiling. 'sAllow me to talk with your hostess. Pm sure she will let you walk out with your bor- rowed fnery just like Cinderella. You will need nick thick coat too.''
 .But this is her very, very best dress.,
 stShe shall receive on the next ship big box all lined with tissue paper, with the imprint of the most fashion able dressmaker in Seattle. I'll ar range all that by cable.''
 You don't know how she loves it," the girl said doubtfully.
 Come! Call her in. If I'm to be prince you mustn't doubt my power.'
 d1o LAS ONOGl prove h1n OVorcOn- fdent. Before he had fairly made known his request the good lady of the house was ready to surrender not only her best Sunday gown, but her . duttering heart as well. Murray O'NeiI had a way of making people do what he wanted, and women invariably yielded to him.
 To Natalie Gerard the trip down the bay and into the sound that night was a wonderful adventure She remem. bered it far more vivid1y than the ship wreck, which became blurred in retro spect, so that she soon began to think of it as of some half forgotten night mare, To begin with, the personality of Murray O'Neil intrigued her more and more. The man was so strong, so sympathetic and he had such a resist less way of doing things. The stories she had heard of him were romantic, and the superintendent's wife had not allowed them to suffer in the telling.
 When midnight came she found that she was ravenously hungry, and she was agreeably surprised when O'Neil produced an elaborate lunch. There were even patent bottles filed with steaming hot coffee, more delicious she thought, than anything she had ever before tasted. He called the meal their after theater party, pretending that they had just come from a Broad way melodrama of shipwreck and peril. The subject led them, naturally to talk of New York, and she found he was more familiar with the city than she
 q usually spend my winters there,'' he explained.
 "Then you have an office in the city T'
 "Oh, yes. I've maintained place of business there for years"
 Where is 1t? On Wall street2"
 ''No,'' he smiled "On upper Fifth avenue. It's situated in the extreme southwest corner of the mems cafe at the Flint House. IT consists oe 2