Evening star., 1922-12-10

tho situation in that delightfully."- rea-
| sonable couplet:
For II she be not for me.
| What care for whom she be:
i 1 repeated the words aloud several
times as I strolled back. 1t comfort
ed me to persuade myself that
agreed with them.
shaving.
Hello" he said. Feeling fitter?"
Il am quite well this morning.
thank you. George" I answered.
'In that case" said he kindly. you
may cook breakfast
unearthed some bacon, and, while
engaged in chasing two rather elusive
slices around the fryingpan. debated
with myself as to whether / should
mention the invitation to tea I had
no intention of going myself-that
would be altogether too great a strain
upon my philosophy-but as my ad-
venture of the previous day was
bound to come out sooner or later. 1t
seemed rather unfair to rob George
of an afternoons entertainment.
Still, in my present state of mind.
SHE'D violently at the thought Of the
explanations which would be involv-
ed by my telling him I felt that
anything in the nature OF chaff. even
from George, would be quite unbear-
able. So. like Mrs. Grimmage, Il Just
went on cookin' and said nuffin'."
1t was the boy from Dunton's boat
house who eventually supplied the
solution to the problem in the shape
Of the morning post. There was a
letter for George. and as soon as he
opened it he gave an exclamation of
disgust.
Whats the NATTER" inquired.
my future partner" said George, sis
sick Of a cold and desires me to come
up to town for the day. Fancy catch
ing cold this weather.
SIT suggests considerable skill."I ad-
mitted. "Are you going?''
| Must" answered George sadly. HE
says that a man is coming to see US
present state of architecture we cannot
afford to miss such an opportunity"
From your ideas Of keeping the tent
tidy" observed. you ought to be an
authority on the subject"
ST shall be down by the six-thirty," {"
said George. What will you do with
yourself?"
II shall spend the day." replied, 'in
trying to forget certain incidents which
ought never to have happened"
IF you forget them ALL" said George
l l1v, ~r,ff1 -
My sek-imposed program, though ex-
cellent in theory, did not prove very
successful in practice. George went of.
grumbling, at about half-past eight,
and, having washed up the breakfast
things. and tidied up the tent. 1 made
an attempt to settle down to some
black and white work. which an impa-
tient editor had just reminded me was
several days overdue.
! \ X
A T the end of an hour all had COM
"A pleted was q very passable like
ness Of Mrs. Consreve punting. l sat
and stared at it in a kind of stupid
trance. It seemed impossible to believe
that my beautiful romance Of yesterday
was dead and buried in some obscure
vestry. Ny whole nature rose UP in
passionate revolt against such an in
creditable idea All the pseudo-resig-
nation on which had prided myself in
the early morning deserted mo in the
hour Of need. I began to recall the way
| she spoke. the charming manner in
which the corners Of her mouth turned
up before she laughed. and the gracious
atmosphere OF tenderness and humor in
which she seemed to live.
At last, with q sroan, I threw down
the pencil and got Up from my chair.
Hang it," I said. Il can't stand this
any longer"
/ walked to tho door Of the tent and
looked out. Except for a couple Of
barses, emerging from the lock. the
| river was deserted On the further
bank. however. alongside OF Dunton's
! boathouse, a motor car was just dis
charging a gigEfing cargo Of fiimsily
dressed damsels and befianneled youths.
glanced at them inhospitably. and
then . sudden idea struck me. Why not
walk over to Brooklands and watch the
motor racing? A savage four-miie an