The L'Anse sentinel., 1924-02-01


her, why not do 1t thoroughly.
'Mr. Peters," she cried. you are
quite mistakenw
Il beg your pardon" said John Pc
ters, with not little asperity. moth
ing Of the kindr"
"Yor arel'
II assure you am not. QuiclSpess'
In the draw Is essential"
You have been misinformed."
well, had 1t direct from the man
at the Rupert street range" said Mr..
Peters stiffly. "And If you had ever
seen picture called Two-Gun Thomas
"Mr. Peters" cried Billie desper-
ately. He was making her head
swim with his meaningless rawlings.
'Mr. Peters, hear me! am not mar
ried to man at Ealing Westw
Mr.. Peters betrayed no excitement
at the information. This girl seemed
for some reason to consider her situa-
lion an extraordinary one. but many
women, he was aware, were in a SINH
slar position. In fact. he could not at
the moment think of any of his femi-
nine acquaintances who were married
to men at Ealing West.
"IndeedT he said politely.
won't you believe me?" exclaimed
Billie wildly.
"Why, certainly, certainly" said
John Peters.
Thank Godr said Billie. "Tm not
even engagedl It's all been a terrible
mistaken
When two people In small room
are speaking on two distinct and diff
ferent subjects and neither knows
what on earth the other Is driving at,
there is bound to be certain amount
of mental confusion: but at this point
John Peters, though still not wholly
equal TO the intellectual pressure of
the conversation, began to see a faint
simmer of light behind the clouds.
In nebulous kind of way he began
to understand that the girl had come
to consult the firm about breach-of-
promise action. Some unknown man
at Ealing West had been trifilng with
her heart-hardened lawyers clerk
as he was. that poignant cry. "rm not
| engagedw had touched Mr.. Peters
and she wished to start proceedings.
| Mr.. Peters felt almost In his depth
again. He put the revolver In his
pocket. and drew out notebook.
Il should be glad to hear the facts"
he said with professional courtesy.
I'm the absence of the. .Guv'nor :"
Il have told you the facts!"
This man at Ealing West" said Mr..
Peters. molstening the point of his
pencil. ''he wrote you letters propos-
| ing marriage?"
mo. no. nor
AT any rate" said Mr.. Peters, dis
| appointed but hopeful, "he made love
to you before witnessesT
Never! Neverl There is no man
at Ealing Westl There never was a
man at Ealing Westl"
1t was at this point that John Pc
ters began for the first time to enter
| tain serious doubts of the girls mental
| balance. The most elementary ac-
| quaintance with the latest census was
! enough to tell him that there were any
number of men at Ealing West. The
place was full Of them. Would sane
woman have made an assertion to the
contrary He thought not, and he
was glad that he had the revolver with
him. She had done nothing as yet ac-
| lively violent, but 1t was nice to feel
| prepared. He took II out and laid
1t nonchalantly in his lap.
The sight of the weapon acted on
Billie electrically. She flung out her
hands, in a gesture of passionate ap-
peal, and played her last card.
II love your she cried. She wished
she could have remembered his first
name. 1t would have rounded or the
sentence neatly. In such moment
she could hardly call him Mr.. Peters
You are the only man love"
MY gracious goodness calculated
Mr.. Peters. and nearly fell over back
wards. To a naturally shy man this
sudden and wholly unexpected decla-
ration was disconcerting: and the
clerk was, moreover, engaged. He
blusned violently. And yet. even In
| LndtFf HODutut VI Hc
| could not check certain thrill. No
man ever thinks he Is as homely as
he really Is, but John Peters had al
ways come fairly near to correct esti-
mate of his charms, and 1t had always
seemed to him that, In inducing his
fiancee to accept him, he had gone
some. He now began to wonder II he
! were not really rather of devil Of a
chap after al. There must, he felt,
be precious few men going about
sspable Of inspiring devotion like this
on the strength of about six and half
minutes casual conversation.
Calmer thoughts succeeded this little
flicker Of complacency. The girl was
mad. That was the fact Of the matter.
He got up and began to edge toward
the door. Mr.. Samuel would be re-
turning shortly. and he ought to be
warned.
$50 that's all right isn't itr' said
1 nsnt~ ~ sftN4 VA M