Gunnison news-champion., 1924-03-07

Margaret HildItch. her chair pushet
I a-s into the reCesSes of the hor.
srarcely turned her head at her IA
& rtI-Ts entranoe-
! have brought an acquaintance o.
yours MarEarrt." the latter an
nouuo-d. as h- hung up his hat -Yoa
{ rgu-mber Mr.. LedsamT7
Frnncis drew n little breath Of re-
1 IL as he bowed over her hand For
i!- second time her inordinate com
/ pasur- had h--en assailei- She was her
usual calm and Indifferent self alfnos,
ll.wed!atsIy. hut the gIeam Of sur
rr.>-. and he fanciet not unplea SAINT
Surprise, had been ungaIstakabIe
Are you deyotee. Mr. Ledsamr-
Sc asked
= am fond OF music" Francis an
susa,-d, especially this opera
She mO;ioned 10 the chair In the
frDa' Of The box. facing the stage.
You must sit there" she insisted.
= prefer always to remain here. and
my father always likes 10 face the
ua that he likes 10 catch the eve Of
'n- journalist who writes little gossipy
l'r-ns. and TO see his name In print"
But you yourselfT' Francis ven
rlrrd
i fancy that my reasons FOR pre-
r.-r.ns secluslon should be obvious
a-nuEh." sh" replied. q little bitterly
Ny daughter is Inclined. l fear. to
nr q little morbid" Sir Timothy said.
....''.ng down in his place.
francis made no reply triangu-
'r- conversation Of this sort wns nj.
ru<' impossible The members Of the
"-rh"stra were already climbing up 10
'na.r places in preparation for the
o'er'ure to the las, act. Sir Timothy
rinse 10 his feet.
"Yor will excuse me for moment
he begged. u see a lady to whom
uusi pay my respects"
Francis drew sigh of relief at his
departure. He turned nj once to his
rrmpanion.
Did you mind my comingT' he
.sErt
Mind irT~ she repeated. with al.
~nSr InS1Icnt nOnchalance. -why
.nnuld II Affect me In any wayf My
'arhcr's friends come and 90. have
no Interest in any of them"
But" be protested. u want you TO
be Interested In me"
She moved a little uucasily in her
place, Her tone. nevertheless. re-
ma!ned icy.
Could you possibly manage 70 avoid
personalities in your conversation. Mr..
LeGSam7' she begged Il have tried
already To tell you how / feel about
such things"
She was certninly difficult. Francis
realized that with little sigh
Were you surprised TO see me with
your ratherT' he asked. little in
sneIy.
II cannot conceive what you two
have found in c"mSon." she admitted.
Perhaps our interest In you" he
replied. 'By-ihe-bye. have just seen
him perform quiSoflc huf very fine
action" Francis said He stopped
carter from thrashIng his horse.
Knocked him down. bought the horse
from him and sent II home
She was mildly Interested
An amiable side Of my fathers
Character which no one would sus-
pect." she remarked ''rhe entire
park Of his country house nt Hatton
End is given over TO broken-do AMI
mnis.'
II am one OF those" he confessed.
swhn find this trait amazing"
And am another" she remarked
eoolly. III any one settled down seri-
ously to try and understand my father,
he would need the spectncles OF a De
Quincy. the outlook of voltnire.
and the cailorsness Of Borgia. Yon
see. he doesn't lend himself to any OF
the recognized standards
Neither do you" he said boldly.
She looked away from him across
the house. TO where Sir Timothy was
talking 10 n man md woman In one Of
the ground floor boxes. Francis recog-
nized them with some surprise-an
agricultural duke and his daughter
Lady Cynthia Milton. one of the most
beautiful and famous young women In
London.
"Your father goes far afield for his
friends" Francis remarked
"My father has no friends" she re-
piled. "He has many acqun!ntances. !
doubt whether he has a single con
ndant. I expect Cynthia is trying to
persuade him to invite her to his
next party at the Walled Honse"
II should think she would fan.
won't she?' he asked
"why should you think that?"
Francis shrugged his shoulders
slightly.
"Your fathers entertainments have
the reputation Of being somewhat
UNIQUE" he remarked You do not.
by-the-bye. attend them yourself"
"You must remember that have
had very few opportunities 20 far"
she observed. BESIDES. CYNTHIA has