The Hayti herald. (Hayti, Mo.) 1908-1922, 1920-11-18

Only ueCeSSdTy 10 whistle anu one c.
the Tyringham veterans would come
running.
In spit Of the complete satisfaction
I had expressed to Terrence as to the
perfect integrity and honest intentions
Of the two women, the curiosity Of the
American state department and the
visit Of Montani required elucidation
beyond my powers. At dinner they
were in the merriest humor. The per
formances Of the little army through.
out the day had amused them greatly.
"How delightfully."- feudal!' ex.
claimed Alice. "Really we should have
moat and drawbridge to make the
thing perfect Constance and I are
the best protected women in the
world!"
We extracted all the iun possible
from the idea that the estate was un-
der siege; that Alice was the chate-
laine Of beleaguered castle. and that
before help could reach us we were in
danger Of being starved out by the
enemy. They called into play the poe
try which had so reused Antoine'e
apprehenslons, and their talk brlstled
with quotations. Alice rose after the
salad and repeated at least page Of
Mallory, and the Knight. of the
Round Table having thus been intro
duced, Mrs. FarnswOrth recited sever
al sonorous passages from 1.-THE Idyls
Of the King" They flung lines from
Browning's "In Balcony" at each
other as though they were improvis-
ing. The befuddlement Of Antoine and
the waiter who assisted him added to
the general joy. They were undoubt-
edly thought the two women quite out
of their heads, and 1t was plain that
] suffered greatly in Antoines estima-
tion by my encouragement of this fri
vOlity. Mrs. FarnswOrth walked majes-
tically round the table and addressed
to me the lines from Macbeth begin
ming:
Glamis thou art. and Cawdor; and
shalt be
What thou art promised
while Antoine clung to the sideboard
listening with mouth open and eyes
rolling.
Later. in the living room, Alice sang
some old ballads. She was more ador-
able thnn ever -. the piano. 1t was
Il happiness beyond any in my experi-
ence of women to watch her, to note
the play Of light upon her golden
head, to yield to the spell of her voice.
Ballads had never been sung before
with the charm and feeling she put
into them; and after ending with
douglas, Douglas" she responded to
my importantly with ben Bolt" and
then dashed into sparkling thing Of
Chcpin's. played it brilliantly and
rose, laughingly mocking my applause.
/ left the house like man over
whom an enchantment has been
spoken and was not pleased when An
tome blocked my path: "Pardon me,
SIR"
Bother my pardon; what's trou-
bling you nOw?" I demanded.
Its nothing troubling me. sir; not
particularly. If you give me time,
think I'll grow used to the poetry talk
and playing at being queens. It's like
children in family served once; an
English family, most respectable. But
In widow, sir"
God knows we ought to be glad
when grownups have the heart to play
at being children and can get away
with 1t as beautifully as those women
do! What else is on your mind?"
TITS about Elsie, sir" groaned at
the mention Of Flynn's German wife.
I'm sorry, sir; but thought should
report 1t. 1t was a man who came to
see her this afternoon. You was out
for your walk, and Flynn had taken
the ladies for drive, so Elsie was
alone at the garage. This person rode
In on the grocer's truck from the viii
lage, which is how he got by the gate.
AS 1t happened. Pierre-he was a
waiter at the Tyringham, Swiss, who
understands German-had gone into
the garage for nap; he's quite old,
sir, and has his snoOze every after
| nOon."
"He's entitled to IT," remarked |;
"he must be thousand years old"
"From what he heard Pierre thought
the man spy, sir. He wanted Elsie
to steal something from the house, 1t
was fan he wanted her to take most
particular, and 1t was to be done soon,
today If she could manage. It was
for the love Of the Fatherland that he
wanted her to do it. Did you notice,
sir. that Mrs. Bashford didn't have
the fan tOnighti Not that one she
carried last night"