The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1917-07-05

IAi liAiilNtiAfs iiii htll iti III ~ w.
Of amusement that precluded dlscour-
lgement of his eccentric woolng.
~ want you TO know me as i really
he informed her on one occa-
sion. "If | should seem MS sober-sidcd
and solemn as your next adOrer, you'd
marry me in ignorance Of Imy true
character"
"But | haven't the slightest intention
of marrying you, Mr.. Trait"
"That's-a fine line" he commented
admiringly. 'What you heroines of
modern fiction would do without IL
heaven only knowsl It's certain our
noyelists don't, or they'd invent some
thing less s%tereotypcd. But you
mustn't forget 1t really means nothing
In the first chapters. Along about
page three hundred and twenty-one
it's n signal either for the clench or
for the b%ouncer.'
81 do wish you'd talk senslbly in Ian.
guage / can understand"
"As for the language, If 1t cramps
your style, Miss Craven, believe me,
I'll slip the rollers under 1t and give
1t the gatel But as for talking sen
slbly-not l, not while sparrlng for
wind and trying to figure how / stand
With you. 1t wouldn't be fair to snare
your affections with the Impression
any building material more substan-
tial than funny-bones."
do you mean me to understand
you're incurably f%rlvolousf'
"Rnther! -
isn't 1t n pretty poor recommended
ton for n suitor to advnnce2"-
ADO you think sol" He appeared
to ponder this gravely. "But I cant
see that. Think how deadly life would
be with n nan who took everything
seriously-himself. for instance, and
the candidate for president on the Pro.
hlbltion ticket, and Lloyd George, and
-ah-thc Anti-Woman Suffrage move
ment. There's only one thing I'm
ready to promise to take seriously,
Now pretend you don't get mel"
"You are quite, quite hopelessW
"Wrong again: l was never more
hopeful. First thing you know you'll
be lying awake nights wondering II
| can possibly be as silly as l sound
and thinking what n pity It's If true
and when you come to that stage, itd
be all over but the rice and old shoe:
and Niagara Fallsl"
certainly You must be an incurabl'
optimist"
"You think so? I say, that's an aw
fully good signi You're thinking abouI
me already ]"
But of the four It was Quoin who
most impressed Lydla's lmpressionabl'
Imagination. His seemed an individu
ality rarely simple and stralghtfor
ward, to which latency and i%ndirectlor
must be altogether foreign. He was
Lydia understood, a criminal investi
gator of unusual attainments; yet IN
utterly lacked every idiosyncrasy of In
great" detective of fiction. He wa
n long, lank man, with n thin face o
strong features. His wide, thin lip
dropped quizzlcally at their corners
And his eyes were dark and, normally
deep with humorous expression. II
Lydia's notion he was the Yankee typ
ness she had been bred to expect.
Because the Alsatia, cropping he
blind way at half-speed through wrap
pings of fog ever more Opaque, per
sisted in making night hideous wit
ln, ,,paartIlv .phA,,. 90 xxsurutn,S Oh
concert all but fell fiat. Only Ora
ven's inexhaustible enthusiasm save
the function.
When 1t was over Lydia, announc
ing her intention of going to bed, dc
layed'only to say goodnight to Pete
Trait on the upper companionwa,
landing, near the doorway to the por
side of the boat deck. One-half o
this double door was open. Beyon
1t was nothlngness--a fiat wall of gra,
! but feebly tinted with artificial light.
Then, descending to the promenad
1 deck, she turned aft to her stateroon
Q and was about to enter when sh
: heard her name called In Craven
voice, ~and--since she had left him onl
g n few minutes before the center of al
animated group In the music room
g with pardonable surprise she dlscoy
Y cred the nan coming swiftly towar,
her from the after part Of the shiT
"Just to say goodnight! he ey
9 planned hastily, folding his daughte
in the tenderest OF embraces; and the
0 in a rapid. whisper, "Meet me on dec
a this deck-to %port-fifth stanchlol
g aft from the door--in an hour. 1
anyone seems to be watching you. g
f back!" And again aloud, Goodnight
{ dear child, goodnight !" he murmure'
fondly, releasing her, and hurried for
( ward.
e Almost without her knowledge tn
h knob turned in Lydia's grasp; an
e when she found herself alone In tina
4 dark stateroom her hands tremble,
| so with excitement that for a momen