The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1920-06-04

established ON the premises, and her
coming and the circumstances OF her
advent constituted a good joke Ut
which I and not she was the victim.
When l reached my quarters in the
Flynn appeared, frightened by my
noisy mirth that had penetrated to his
quarters.
] wakened early. rang a bell on
meeting my rooms with the chauf-
feur's end of the garage as a warn-
ing to the Flynns to prepare break.
fast, n was dressed when the Irish
man came in with the tray. In the
absence of "A morning paper l chung
to him for company.
II trust you will not be leaving,
SORT" he remarked, cycling my half
packed trunk.
Very soon, Flynn"
'"Then Elsie and I will be going
too. sorr. It's most uncomfortable
they're making us-Dutch and the
rest. That Antoine and his army
keep peSterin' us and calm us Huns.
ITS most disagreeable we find it,
the wife and me-"
Suffer and be strOng-that's the
~watchword! We will hope that Mrs.
Bashford is a woman of sound sense
and tact who will exert herself to
restore peace on her property. When
i call to pay my respects and make
my adieuS I shall speak to her of the
situation and vouch for your loyalty.
You haven't. | suppose, seen the widow
yet-she's probably sleeping late"
quite the contrary. sorr. She's
been up and around for an hour an
more. She's been all over the place
and stopped for Il squirt at the garage,
her and the pup
She been here. inspecting the
%garage?" / asked. CHANGING at my
watch. 1t was not yet eight o'clock.
The banter died out Of me; clearly it
had been my duty to be on hand to
pilot her Owe the estate. or at least
to receive her at the garage. Just
what was the lady's frame of mind
as to things generally. Peeved, was
she. over the row last nightT'
"Oh, no, sorr; quite cheerful an
friendly. She's ordered a big car
from New York and told me it would
be coming up to-day and to make a
place for it,"
Here was news indeed, destroying
all my hopes that she meditated only
a brief %sojourn. The purchase of a
machine meant definitely that she
would remain for some time, perhaps
for the winter. I poured a second cup
OF coffee, swallowed it. grabbed my hat
and stick, and asked enlightenment
as to the course taken by Mrs. Basil
ford when she left the garage.
"She took the lower road. sorr.
toward the Sound aud stepped off
quite .brisk-lfke."
1t was the serencst of September
mornings, and l hurried away. think
ing the cloudless blue arch, the
%twinkling sea, and he crisp air might
serve to soften my aunt's ~displeasure
Mt her hostile reception. From the
Conservatives / caught a glimpse of
a woman on the beach-a slender.
agile woman, throwing a ball for the
amusement of q foX-terrier. The two
were having no end of Il good time.
She laughed j~oyfully when the ball
fell into her ha,:ds and the terrier
barked his discontinue n eager
ness for a char ce to redeem himself.
Antoine's equivOcal statement as TO
Mrs. BaShford'S & was ridiculous.
Instead of the m~iddle-aged woman
whom l was prepared to meet, here
was beyond question Il vigorous,
healthy being whose every movement
spoke for youth and the joy of life.
1t might, after all, be the maid Of
whom Antoine had spoken. l reached
a low stone wall that separated the
lawn from the beach just as she
effected a running pickup of the ball.
She turned swiftly and flung it straight
at my head. ~Involuntarily l put up
saw me and cried out-a cry Of warn
ing and contrition. l tossed the ball
to the dog.
"What must you think of mel" she
exclaimed. II was blinded by the
sunlight and I didn't see you-really
I did not"
II had no business being In the
way" l laughed, noting first her
glowing color, her violet yes
amazingly fine yes they were-her
fair hair with it's golden CLINT. her
plain black gown with lawn collar
and wristbands. 1t was her age, how
ever. that reused me to instant spec.
ulation. Twenty-Five, l decided, was q
maximum more likely she was not
more than twenty-five. and IL | had
been told that eighteen IA the total
of her years l shouldn't have had the
heart to dispute 1t.
Bob Singleton" l said and stupidity
added. "and you are Mrs. Bashford?"
unable for the life of me to avoid
turning the statement into an inquiry.