Evening star., 1921-02-20


hundred d-thousand-doll necklace. There
is small wonder il his own eyes
sparkled in return {: small WONDER Wha.
when the glasses were raised IN a TOAST
to her he found it difficult to put down
his own glass untasted.
''Eh?" commented Fiji to him WIN her
dark brows lifted.
III YOU will allow me to drink the
toast in something else" he said.
From pique she turned to him with
fresh interest. She noted MS cIear;
flushed cheeks. Her eyelashes dropped
and she held slightly above the table
as if for her own critical inspection
the fingers flashing with emerald and
ruby and diamonds.
!. "In these?" she questioned as though
to test him.
r .If those are what you want" he an
swercd.
s.s3 .Bien' she replied with a cynical
smile We shall see.
.If you'll tell me where to send
| will do better. I will tell you
where to find me tomorro" afternoon
and | will assist you in the selection.
If she had expected to embarass Billy
Talbot when she threw back her head
and flashed her white teeth at him. she
must have been disappointed
Right" he answered.
She whispered her address.
AT three she concluded
"At three"
From the other end of the table Bangs
incurred somewhat peeved:
/ whats the joke?
"A little Joke between Monsieur Talbot
and me-" she answered. He drinks my
health tomorrow in a new wine.
Talbot was game from the start. He
met Mile. Collette the afternoon foiiow-
ing the dinner-met her for the hrst time
in broad daylight. She did not appear
quite as fresh or quite as brliiiant. ne
thought, when he looked her 1air IN tne
faces but taking her as A whole. inciuo-
ing her wonderful Paris raiment. sne
was decidedly striking. At any rate sne
was still Mile Collette of the ROOF Gar
den, and half New York recognized ner
as such on sight. Her own car was
| waiting to take them to the avenue anu
when she stepped out before the city
/ SIMS rtcst jewelers. a dozen stopped 10
turn and when she entered dozen clerks
sent the news around. Billy was on
confused, but at that he did not suffer by
COMPARISON Tall, erect, flushed WIN
youth, Immediately, if somewhat quieus
dressed, he was an escort OF WHOM
mademoiselle could we'll be proud.
At the gem counter she turned 10 MN
with her dark eyes brilliant. whats
the limit ?" she asked.
NO limit" he answered coolly.
J.. ..Chcrie - murmured Fin in deilSht-
co FOR a half-hour she toyed WIN
- this pretty stone and that, match-
ing each upon her slim white hnger'
holding each to the light. demanding
Billy's opinion of each. but IN the emu
relying always upon her own sure
taste Eagerly as child she pia!eo
with them, picking them up and put
ting them down. and like child nnd-
ing it difficult to decide among SO
manv. Talbot watched her with
certain pride of being here. with
certain sense of power in his position
which allowed him this privilege Oh
pleasing her. with certain appreeia-
ton of her charm and daintiness, out
on the whole with not as keen a re-
action as he expected. That was Curl
ous hecause now he was dealing quite
definitely in tangibles: -
Mile. Collette called for no enort OF
imagination.. and, though he knew
nothing about stones, they were con.
vertible into terms OF money SO tna.
one was left with clear conception
Of, their value, Yet Yet Wnea w Tars sta colorins %
and size-and the clerk announced tne
price as $4,000 Billy Talbot souSnt
his check book with scarcely more
than amused surprise that he was not
getting more oa for ms Is. m0nex; nnaei;oned Fif,
more concerned, oddly enough, than
he was himself,
Not if it excuses me for last night"
he answered. ~
An, she whispered, lit does more
than that"
cluded
They returned to the car and ne or
dered the driver to Sherrys; AS me ne
placed her ungloved hand upon ms
and. throwing back her head, looked
at him through smiling. half-ciosed
eyes. But somehow Talbot did not feel
the thrill that was his due
It was not Mile. Collette, but her
friends, or. rather. the friends OF TED
Bangs, who persuaded Talbot into the
little card game which later an the
week cleaned him out of fifty thou
sand more. He would % ID no. tps game nape
been strai ght. but toward the end he
discovered that it was not. Even so,
the thing he got peeved about was
that Bangs deprived him OF q gam
bler's chance and SO took all the pep
out Of the proposition. And. of course.
] it was a grave breach of etiquette to
lmention this, but Talbot did.
He made out a check on the spot.
and as he handed it to Bangs ne said:
You're not a good sport. because you
did not give me run for my money.
This game was crooked:
Bangs was encouraged by the fact
that his five friends gathered in close
behind him at this point.
You must learn to be better
loser" he answered, with an ugly
smile.
Talbot was young and he had not
been drinking. He looked over the
tgroup-five of them-and replied, de-
liberately:
mo. i must learn to keep away
from thieves"
That's rough talk" growIed Bangs
I'm ready to back it up
| Then Bangs lost his temper He
stepped forward as though to strike,
and the real game of the evening was
on. Talbot waded into the six with
minutes he kept them exceedingly
busy. 1t was always a source of in
tense qualification to him that before
he was stunned by a blow from behind
he laid out both Bangs and Einstein-
knocked them fiat with fair blows
from in front.
When he came to he was in his own
room with d very sore head. and it
took him a moment to recall how he
, came by it. Then he smiled. remem-
bering the expression of panied sur
prise on Einstein's face when he fell.
* x X j:
THIS was the episode that Barney
got hold of. for it seems that at the
last moment some one had called in
the police. This was the item that
the office the next morning.