The Aberdeen weekly. [volume] (Aberdeen, Miss.) 1878-1933, 1922-03-03

! Percy the immaculate pulling bone
head joke like this!"
You are taking it for joker" she
questioned.
''Sure L am; and it's rather rotten
one at that, L should say-considering
the source"
Then you won't go to look for the
blue-eyed girl with nut-brown hair and
! the cunning little mole? Think of what
/ you may be missing!"
For just one crazy minute I had a
bunch. or a premonition, or whatever
you like to call it, that the letter might
not be a joke. Grandfather Jasper had
always been bit eccentric-a rich
mans privilege and rich old mans
incOntestable right What if he had
actually done this thing TO me?-a
thing scarcely less devastating than
cutting me off without a penny? On
the spur Of the moment / said:
| If I should go, would you wait for
me, Lisette?"
She took her time about answering
"a good and sufficient plenty of it.
Il think perhaps I'd better not
change the ring back, Stannie," she
said, sort of wintrily IF there is any
money and you should happen to find
it, you would probably fling it ali
away before you could get back to Bos-
ton. Besides, there is the blue-eyed
girl; if she should bring you a fortune,
you'd have to marry her, wouldn't you?
You are big and strong, and-well-er
nice in a good many ways, Stannie
and much too good-looking for your
own good; but when you marry-if
you do marry-yOu'd better be sure
that the girl has money enough TO buy
her own hats. / haven't enough, as
you know"
Il know only too we'll that the love
in-a-cottage idea has never appealed
to YOU" / said, with the regretful stop
pulled all the way out in Difference to
the sentimental decencieS.
Not in the least, Stannie, dear; not
in the littlest least"
This appeared to be the end of our
rather lukewarm lOve-dream, and to
be really honest and aboveboard about
it, / am obliged to confess that it
didn't break as many bones for me as
! suppose it should have. Anyway,
half-hour or so after 1 had said good
by to Lisette I met Jack Downing !;
and when he asked me if l didn't want
to go with him and bunch of the
fellows for a little spin down the coast
of Maine in his motor cruiser, 1 fell
for the invitation so suddenly that he
hadn't ghost of a chance to back out,
if he had wanted TO.
So. a few hours beyond that touch
ing little scene at THE Rockerie," you
may figure me, if you please, spinning
the wheel of one of the nattiest little
boats on the North shore, with q fresh
nOr'easter blowing and the sea getting
up to give me the time of my young
life to hold the Guinevere to her
course, nor nor'east, half a point east,
as we lifted the Shoals on our port
bow.
In such jolly good company as we
had aboard the stout ship Guinevere,
three full days elapsed before a
thought of Percy or his joke ever en-
tered my head again; and it's a ten
to-one shot that 1 wouldn't have
thought of him, or it, during the re-
mainder of the cruise if we hadn't
been obliged to tie up at ROckland for
motor repairs. This, as 1 recall it,
was on the fourth day. and it was
dog that made me remember; a mon
grel cur that followed the motor re-
pairman down to the wharf; a most
disreputable looking mongrel, at that,
but-by JOve! he had the magic mark
ings Half Of his face, measuring from
line drawn straight down over the
tip of his nose, was black. and the 9th
er half was a dingy. dirty white
So then l did a little rapid figuring
on train schedules. If Percy had left
Washington as l knew he was plan
ming to, my diplomatic cousin should