The Adair County news., 1921-02-09
gan's. Colonel Pennington was the

send you for luncheon Some Oil
pickles, probably"
She pretended to be very busy with
the roses, and not to have heard
him.
! Shirley, left alone at the breakfast
table, picked idly at the preserved figs
the owlish butler set before her.
Vaguely she wondered at her uncle's
| apparent hostility to the Cardigans;
she was as vaguely troubled in the
knowledge that until she should succeed
in eradicating this hostility, it must
| inevitably act as a bar to the further
progress of her friendship with Bryce
Cardigan. And she told herself she
did not want to lose that friendship.
| She wasn't the least bit in love with
him albeit she realized he was rather
lovable. And lastly he was good, de
voted son and was susceptible Of
development into a congenial and
wholly acceptable comrade to young
lady absolutely lacking in other means
| of amusement.
She finished her breakfast In
thoughtful silence; then she went to
the telephone and called up Bryce.
He recognized her voice instantly and
called her name before she had oppor-
tunity to announce her identity.
THANK you so much for the beauti-
full roses, Mr.. Cardigan" she began.
SIN glad you liked them. Nobody
! picks flowers out of our garden, you
know. I used to, but I'll be too busy
hereafter to bother with the garden.
By the way, Miss Sumner, does your
uncle own a carr"
II believe he does-a little old-rat-
tletrap which he drives himself"
"Then I'll send George over with
the Napier this afternoon. You might
care to take spin out into the sur
rounding country. BY the way, Miss
Sumner, you are to consider George
and that car as your personal prop
erty. l fear you're going to find
Sequoia dull place; so whenever you
wish to go for ride, just call me up,
and I'll have George report to you"
"But think of all the expensive gaso-
line and tires !"
"Oh, but you mustn't look at things
from that angle after you cross the
Rocky mountains on your way west
What are you going to do this after
nOon?"
81 don't know. 1 haven't thought
that far ahead"
"For some real sport / would sug-
gest that you motor up to Laguna
Grande. That's Spanish for Big La
COON, you know. Take a rod with
you. There are some land-locked sal
mon in the lagoon.
"But haven't any rod"
"Pll send you over good one"
"But I have nobody to teach me
how to use it, she limited daringly.
II appreciate that-compliment," he
flashed back at her, "but unfortunate
ly my holidays are over for a long,
long time. took my fathers place in
the business this morning."
$50 sOon?'
"Yes. Things have been happening
while was away. However, speak
ing of fishing, George Sea Otter will
prove an invaluable instructor. He is
a good boy and you may trust him
implicitly. On Thursday evening
you can tell what success you had
with the salmon
"Oh, that reminds me, Mr.. Cardigan.
You can't come Thursday evening,
after ALL" And she explained the rea-
son. Suppose you come Wednesday
night instead"
"Well call that bet. Thank YOU"
She chuckled at his frank good hui
NOR. "Thank you, Mr.. Cardigan, for
all your kindness and theughtfulness
and If you will persist In being nice
to me, you might send George Sea
Otter and the car at one-thirty. TIL
be glad to avail myself Of both until
1 can get car Of my own sent up
from San Francisco. Till Wednesday
night, then. Good bye"
As Bryce Cardigan hung up, he
heaved a slight sigh. 1t was difficult
to get out Of the habit Of playing; he
found himself the possessor Of a very
great desire to close down the desk,
call on Shirley Sumner, and spend the
remainder of the day basking in the
sunlight of her presence.
Following his discovery of the out
rage committed on his fathers sanctu-
airy, Bryce wasted considerable, val
liable time and effort in a futile en-
deavor to gather some further hint
of the identity of the vandals; but
despairing at last, he dismissed the
matter from his mind, resolving only
that on Thursday he would go up
into Pennington's woods and interview
the redoubtable Jules Rondeau.
Bryce's natural inclination was to
wait upon M. Rondeau Immediately,
If not sooner, but the recollection of
his dinner engagement at the Penning-
ton home warned him to proceed
cautiously; for while harboring no
apprehensions as to the outcome of
possible clash with Rondeau, Bryce
was not so optimistic as to believe he
would escape unscathed from an en-
counter.
Colonel Pennington's pompous i'm