The Washington herald., 1921-04-24

dals. Also. he shaved of a three
days beard.
| Etienne, being French. began on
the beard frst. He pomaded it,
from a little tube of grease Hon.
groise in his vest pocket He
combed IL with a little aluminium
fcomb from the same vest pocket.
He trimmed IT with manicure scis-
sors from the same vest pocket.
His light and Gallo spirits under
went a sudden miraculous change
He. hummed q blithe San Salvador
Opera Company tune: he grinned,
smirked. bowed. pirouetted, twid-
died. twaddled. twisted, and toora-
looed. Gayly. the notorious trou-
badour could not have equaled
Etienne.
Ross method of advance was
brusque, domineering. Little wo-
man." he said. you're welcome
here"'-and with what he thought
subtle double Neutrality-suspicious.
to stay here as long as you like,
snow or no snow"
Miss Adams thanked him a little
wildly, some of the wintergreen
berries creeping into the birch
bark. She looked around hurriedly
as If seeking escape. But there
was none, save the kitchen and the
room allotted her. She made an
excuse and disappeared into her
| own room.
Later. l. feigning sleep. heard the
following:
"Mees Adams. l was aImos' to
perish-die of monotony wen your
fair and beautiful face appear in
these meeserable house" / opened
my starboard eye. The beard was
being curled furiously around a
finger, the Svengali eye was roll
ing. the chair was being hunched
closer to the schooI-teacher's II am
French-you see-temperamenta
nervous! l cannot endure thees dull
hours in thees ranch house; but-a
woman comes! Ah!" The shoulders
gave nine 'rahs and tiger What
a difference, All is light and gay;
everything smile wen you smile
You have cart beauty. grace. Ny
cart comes back to me wen ! feel
your cart. Sol" He laid his hand
| upon his vest pocket. From this
| vantage point he suddenly snatched
at the school teachers own hand.
"Ah! Mees Adams, IL could only
tell you how / ad-"
Dinner" remarked George. He
was standing just behind the
Frenchman's car. His eyes looked
straight into the school teachers
eyes. After thirty seconds of sur
| vey, his lips moved. deep in the
finty, frozen maelstrom of his
face; Dinner" he concluded. will
| ~ -,
Miss Adams jumped to her feet
relieved. Il must get ready for din
ner,' she said brightly, and went
to her room.
Ross came in fifteen minutes
late. After the dishes had been
cleared away, l waited until q pro-
pitious time when the room was
temporarily ours alone, and told
him what had happened.
He became so excited that he lit
a stogy without thinking. "Yeller
hided, unwashed, palm-readin
! skunk" he said under his breath
sT'l shoot him full O. holes II he
don't watch out talkin' that way
| to my wife" SO
| gave a jump that set my COL
farbone back another, week, Your
wifer l gasped. IL .,......
| well, mean to make her that,
he announced. N
The air in the ranch house the
rest of the day was tense with pent-
up emotions, oh, best buyers of best
/ sellers.
| Ross watched Miss. Adams as a
| hawk does a hen; he watched
Etienne as a hawk does a scare
crow. Etienne watched Miss Adam.
asha weasel does a hen house. He
paid no attention to Ross.
The condition of Miss Adams, ir
1 the role of sought-after, was fever.
| ish. Lately escaped from the agony
| and long torture of, the white cold
| where for hours Nature had kept
the little school-teacher's vision
locked in and turned upon herself
| nobody knows through what pro-
found feminine introspections she
1 had gone. Now, suddenly cast upor
! men. instead of finding relief and
security, she beheld herself plunged
/ anew into other discomforts. Ever
| in her own room she could hear the
loud voices of her imposed suitors
I'm blow you full Of holesr' shout.
cd Ross. Witnesses" sfirieked
Etienne, waving his hand at the
cook, and me. She could not have
4 known the previous .harrassed con.
dition of the men. fretting under in,
door conditions. All she knew was
that where she had expected the
frank freemasonry of the West, sht
found the subtle tangle Of twolmen's
minds. bent upon exacting whatever
romance there. might: be in her stu.
\ alton. r. ,s.-t -.
She tried to dodge Ross and the
Frenchman> by spells Of nursing me.
They also came over tR help nurse.
This combination sro3sed such .