Mexico weekly ledger., 1921-12-29

Harriet. whose manAef with all old
persOns was the essence of scuupulous
I~forniality, rose al once to her feeI.
Nina has gene TO change her dress.
Eadame Carter"
"She took itupon herself to ask
you to help US out this afternoonT'
the old lady added, with the sort OF
gracious cruelty Of which SIZE was mis-
tress. Richard Carter gave his daugh-
ter's companion q look that asked In
diligence.
Harriet said nothing, and resumed
her seat as the old ladTrustled slowly
away. who's comingf@ she asked In
an ~undertone, to Ward, as one more
motor swept about the carriage drive.
what is It, Beautiful" Ward
laughed. Harriet's glorious eyes Wild
ened into smiling warning. His open
and boyish admiration was "a sort Of
joke between them. Yet in this sec
ond, as he craned his neck to get q
glimpse Of the approaching guests. a
sudden thought wal born in her.
Honor had compelled her to q gen
erous policy with Ward. She had held
his admiration firmly in check: she
had maintained 4 big-sister attitude
that was asSwhoiesome for herself as
for him.
Bnt here. she thought with sudden
satisfaction, might be the realisation
Of her OWE ambition, after all. Ward
was but four years her junior, and
Ward would be Richard Carriers heir.
"It's the Beliamys and their crowd"
said Ward, watching the approach Of
newcomers. ".Look' at that, man with
them. that, fellow with. the hair
that's Blondin That's the man / was
telling you about the other night, the
man whose name l couldn't remem-
bert"
"Who?"
Harriet did not know whether she
said 1t or screamed 1t. She lost all
consciousness Of her surroundings and
her neighbors for a few terrible Sec
onds; her mouth was dry, her throat
CONSTRUCTED, and a hideous weakness
ran like nausea through her entire
body. The hand with which she
touched the sugar tongs was icy cold,
a pain split her forehead, and she felt
suddenly tired and broken.
Ward had gone across to greet the
RoI1o we . Il oSsrtokt Aond hos A~no
with a sort of fascination upon the
man to whom she presently saw him
talking. Almost everyone else in the
group was looking at him, too; Royal
Biondin was used to it; one of his
favorite affectations wal an apparent
Inconsistencies of being observed.
Well over six feet In height, he had
dropped his leonine head, with Its
thick locks Of dark hair, a little on
n side; his mobile, thin lips were
set, and his piercing eyes searched the
boys face with a sort Of passionate
attention. ~. @ M. VA
In~trodictions were In order, .eyerys
one wanted to meet the Belihmys'
friend. and Harriet saw that it pleased
him, for some inscrutabie reason. to
continue his ridiculous conversation
with the fiattered Ward. and to accept
anne and greetings absentiy. I'M an
aside. as It were, smiling perfunctoriiy
and briefly at the eager, girls, and
women, and returning Immediately to
his concerned and passionate under
tones with the boy. IS "t'
1t was Isabelle who brought nina 10
the tea table. Harriet hadafeft, With
. sure premonition of disastery that II
must be. She might not es~cape;pthere
was nothing for It but courage now
Her breath was behaving badly, and
the muscles contracted In her throat
but she managed a smile.
sand this is Miss Field, Mr.. Blon.
din," said Isabelle. "She will give YOU
some teal" 49,
"Miss Field" said Royal Blondin
and his dark hand came across the