Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1921-01-28

ICHllUH. FuIe UHU dVVVTUtu UlIH rlkllHl
opportunity for knIghty combat In the
service OF this extraordinary woman,
and In the absence Of formal intro
ductiOn, what man could desire finer
opportunity for getting acquainted II
/ only their meeting had hut been de-
I layed two weeks. ten days, week
Once free Of his ugly cocoon Of rags
and wEtskers, the butterfly Webster
would not have hesItated one brief In.
slant 10 inform himself Of THAT young
lady's address. following his summary
disposal Of her tOrme1tOr.
But In all things there is a limit,
and John Stuart Websters right eye
constituted a dendllne beyond which,
as gentleman. he dared not venture;
so with a heavy heart re bowed to
the inevitable. Brilliant and mysteri-
GUS as a mPteOrite she had flashed
once across his horizon and was gone.
In the privacy Of his stateroOm Web
ster had ham and eggs for breakfast.
He was lighting his second cigar when
the porter knocked and entered With
an envelope.
Lady In the ObservatiOn-car asked
me to deliver this to you, sah," ne an
nounced Importantly.
II was a note. freshly written on the
train stationery. Webster read:
"The distressed lady desires to
thank the gentleman in staterOOm A
for his Chivalry Of yesterday. She Is
profoundly sorry that In her service
the gentleman In staterOOm A was so
unfortunate as to acquire red eye
with blue trimmings"
JOHN Stuart Webster swOre his
mightiest oath, "By the twelve apOs-
ties, Simon Peter, Andrew, James.
JOha, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew,
Thomas, James Jude and Simon, and
not emitting Judas IscariOt, the scaly
sCOundrel who betrayed his Lord and
Master" He searched through an old
wallet until he discovered fairly
clean professional card. across the hot
tom of which he wrote, THANK you.
J. S. W." and sent 1t to the nO-lOnger-
distressed lady.
"The most signal adventure Of my
life is now over" he sOlilOQuized and
turned to his cigar. "FOr the sake Of
my self-respect, had to let her know
I'm not hobo! And now to the task
Of framing up scheme for future
acquaintance. | must learn her name
and destination; so MS preliminary
I'll Interview the train conductor"
He did and under the ameliOrating
influence of five-dollar bill the con-
ductor bent respectful ear to the
Websterian message
"In Car Seven" he began, there Is
young lady. do not know what sec
tiOn she occupies neither do | know
her name and destination. l only
know what she looks like"
The conductor nodded. "And you
want to ascertain her name and des-
tinatOn"
81 do.
"All right. have the unused por-
ton of her transportation to return
to her before we hit Salt Lake. her
name is on the ticket and the ticket
indicates her destination. I'll make n
mental note of both as soon as I've
identified her ticket"
A few hours later the conductor
came to Websters staterOom and
handed him card upon which was
written:
Dolores Ruey. From Los Angeles,
via San Pedro, Los Angeles & Salt
Lake, to Salt Lake City. Denver & Rio
Grande TO Denver, Burlington to st.
Louis, Illinois Central to New Orleans
StOp-Over at Denver"
John Stuart Webster studied the
name after the conductor withdrew.
That's a Spanish name" he soilO-
Quized, "but for all that, she's not a
parakeet All things considered,
guess III take a chance AID investI-
gate
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