Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1919-08-08

butler, despite his Seventh avenue
by two stalwart and amazingly clumsy
footmen, of similar ilk and nationality.
On seeing these additional men sery-
ants Barnes began figuratively to
count on his fingers the retainers he
had so far encountered on the place.
Already he had seen six. all Of them
powerful, rugged fellows. 1t struck
him as extraordinary, and in way
significant, that there should be so
many men at Green Fancy.
Much to his disappointment he was
not placed near Miss Cameron at
table. Indeed she was seated as far
away from him as possible. There was
a place set between him and De Soto,
for symmetrv's sake Barnes con-
Guided. In this he was mistaken;
they had barely seated themselves
when Mrs. Collier remarked:
"Mr. Curtis secretary usually joins
us here for coffee. He has his dinner
with my brother, and then, poor man,
tion When my brother is In one Of
his bad spells poor Mr.. Loeb doesn't
have much time to himself"
Loeb, the private secretary, came in
for coffee. He was a tall, spare man
of thirty. pallidly handsome, with
dark, studious eyes and features Of an
Enthusiastically Hebraic cast, as his
name might have fOretold. His teeth
were marvelously white and his slow
smile attractive. More than once dur
ing the hour that Loeb spent with
them Barnes formed and dismissed a
stubborn ever-recurring opinion that
the man was not a Jew. Certainly he
was not an American Jew. His voice,
his manner of speech, his every action
stamped him as one born and bred in
a land far from Broadway and its
cOunterparts. If Jew he was of the
east as it is measured from Rome
the Jew of the carnal Orient.
And as the evening wore on there
came to Barnes the singular fancy
that this man was the master and not
the servant of the house! He could
not put the ridiculous idea out of his
mind.
He was to depart at ten. The hour
drew near and he had had no opportu-
nifty for detached conversation with
Miss Cameron. He had listened to her
bright retorts to O'DOwd's sallies, and
faarveIed at the ease and composure
with which she met the witty Irish
man on even terms
Not until the very close of the eve
ming, and when he had resigned him.
nifty come for him to speak with her
alone She caught his eye, and, to his
amaZement, made a slight movement
of her head unobserved by the others
but curiously imperative to him. There
was no mistaking the meaning of the
direct, intense look that she gave him.
She was appealing to him as a
friend-as one on whom she could de-
pend !
The spirit of chfvalry took posses
sion Of him. His blood leaped to the
cali She needed him and he would
not fail her And 1t was with diffl-
Guilty that he contrived to hide the
cxaltation that might have ruined ev-
erything!
While he was trying to invent pre-
text for drawing her apart from the
others she calmly ordered Van Dyke
to relinquish his place on the couch
beside her to Barnes.
Come and sit beside me, Mr..
Barnes" she called out gayly. 81 will
not bite you or scratch you or harm
you in any way. Ask Mr.. O'Dowd,
and he will tell you that am quite
docile. don't bite, do I, Mr.. O'Dowd"
"You do,'' said O'Dowd promptly.
''You do more than that. You devour.
Bedad I have to look In a mirror to
convince meself that you haven't swal-
lowed me whole. That's another way
of telling you, Barnes, that she'll alb
sOrb you entirely"
For a few minutes she chided him
for his unseemly aversion. He was
beginning to think that he had been
mistaken in her motive, and that after
all she was merely satisfying her van
ity. Suddenly, and as she smiled into
his eyes, she said, lowering her voice
slightly:
DO not appear surprised at any
thing / may say to YOU Smile as If
we were uttering the silliest nonsense.
So much depends upon it, Mr.. Barnes"