Evening star., 1918-02-10

ths very best OF humor and vnase1sd
softfy to himself At his writing IKE one
with whom the world goes smoosny. -,
SOUND old port, inding Give shy and
distrait, his good uncle delioatsly ap-
proached the subject Of the marriage.
7 am anxious fo. youf. eapntncs. .:sI,,s vnss
es,y my asas sInc cx xss aou nc se1 quite Certain
your happiness win be secured by this
Of course, Give was desperately, fer
vent1y. vehemently certain.
Gle grandly. you shall have my con-
sent without the asking"
Give started from his chair IN =
culver of delight. II cannot tell you.
'how grateful I am. I shall take care :.
you do not suffer from your generosity.
But his uncle nobly put aside his nepn,
ew's protestations and promises.
need no reward" he said. 'but the ap-
proval Of my own conscience and the
feeling that I have made two young
people happy without any weary Walt
ing for their happiness. People think
I have been improvident. Give. out
they are mistaken; I have. thanks 70
5oyed q handsome income. and I have
put by enough to keep me in comfort
for the poor remainder Of my days"
Presently Mr.. Marmaduke Meredith
Il
done. it cannot be done too soon." he
said softly. Drink your wine. my boy.
and come with me to my study"
He unlocked the American desk.
spread out q sheet Of foolscap before
him and dipped gold pen in the little
round brown DELPHI bottle of ink. The
bottle was fuller than he expected. and
a big drop plopped upon the foolscap
Mr.. Meredith tore tho blotted paper into
small bits. threw the fragments into
ha NJ q
other sheet.
In a large flowing hand he wrote his
consent to Clive's marriage, dated and
signed 1t with q flourish.
Mamie will be SO surprised and de-
lighted. I knew was right all along
but she thought
His uncle eyed him keenly for a mo.
ment, then smiled kindly. taking pity
on his embarrassment. Poor little Ma.
miew he said In his gentlest way. ''l
suppose she thinks me a wicked mon
ster: a babe-in -the-woods kind Of
uncle. Well, Give, we must not blame
her. She don't know me as you do, and
she's very young and believes in fairy.
lesson. though. IL you don't mind"
He took the signed paper from hi.
nephew's hand. folded 1t up and put 4
into an envelope which he CAREFUL,
sealed with a big red seal.
II want to teach her to trust u.s." HI
explained. do you mind promising
me. Give. that you won't show her thu
consent-that You won't even open this
envelope till after your marTfage!"
"Of course. uncle, I'll do what 20,
wish" Give answered gratefully. Ma
mie will take my word for anything
or after Significant pause-'your'
either, for that matter"
But Mamie was not satisfied whe1
she heard the whole story, and wa
allowed to look with eyes vafnly IN
auisitive at the outside Of the scale,
envelope.
Il trust you, of course, dear, but
don't trust him. He's too sweet to b.
wholesome. I'm sure he means to chea
you"
For a second time Mr.. Beck was ap
pointed umpire. and they went straigh
to his house.
'T think 1 can guess what has hap
pened." he said to Give. Your uncl
has signed the CONSENT"
Give nodded.
Perhaps he volunteered to sign it7
How did you guess that?"
than that in my time. After signing 1
he put 1t in an envelope. sealed 1t, an
made you promise you would not ope
1t until after your marriage"
Give was too surprised to answer.
There. I told you So" cried Mamie
'.Mr. Beck has guessed the trick at tn
paper you saw for a blank sheet"
Then Mr.. Beck quietly interposed
TITS all right, Mr.. Meredith" he said
"you can get married just as soon a
you like"
"I'll get the license tomorrow" erie
Give delightedly. and Mamie the Will
full submitted without a word.
1t was to be very quiet wedding
for neither Of them wanted to make
society show Of their happiness. The
were to start almost straight from tn
church door for Rome and spen
Christmas there.
The tenth Of December was the happ
day. The marriage morning was as un
clouded as the lovers Joy: the sky clea
the sun bright and a keen, exhilaratin
snap Of frost in the air that made tn
blood tingle with intense vitality. TIL
little church was brightly lighted an
gayly decorated with holly, and tn
best man was well up to time in ortho
dox wedding garments, with han