Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1925-12-16
! JOAN m A
1.-THE Gracious Gift of God"
By H. L. GATES
By II. L. GATES

I Il rather watch them" he said
| and motfoned TO the vacant seat al
his table In invitation to the unknown
to sit out the number with him. The
| unknown declined. Il want to waltz.
she said. ANY one will do-if not you
A more gallant knight will humor me
| It's the only time | ever think
when I'm waltzing'
| An odd condition. that" Bra ndon
| taunted her. Sounds so. doesn't It,
she returned. But it isn't, you know
Women think while they waltz; all
women do. 1t reminds them OF foolish
dreams they had when they were very
young" With n firt of her hand
across his shoulders the unknown dis.
appeared. A moment later he saw
her, among the dancers, saw that she
was dancing silently. And he saw
100, that Joanna. n striking figure in
the colorful maze, danced silently: as
| If she, too. were thinking He saw
! too, that kenlworth was holding her
| tightly.
| When the music died in a plaintive
bar, the dancers stood expectant of
, the customary encore. The lights
which had been dimmed, fared. how
ever. and roll OF the orchestra drums
announced an unwonted interruption.
From the balcony railing a voice
| called: "Monsieurs ct MAZDA mes" All
who were in the room glanced up
curiously, at the club house host, who
stood at the rail, leaning forward over
| the dance floor
Il am desolate. my friends" the
| functlonary called out before the
necessity / must urge upon you all
must ask YOU Sorrowfully to make
your departures from my hospitalities
as soon as may be convenient for you
The mist, of which YOU must have
taken note as you so kindly came UP
! 10 our clubhouse earlier in the eve
| ming. has risen fast and densely Soon
Your car lamps will he of no use to
! YOU. Even now YOU must go down
very carefully. If there be any of you
whose humor it is to remain with us
| until daylight. when the sun will cha Sc
! the fog away. ! assure you of my
| welcome. Those of YOU who feel II
! Your duty to descend before the night
/ mas passed, must go at once-and
! very, very cautiously. In a little
/ while il will he too late"
There was an instant babel OF
/ voices, and the rustic of those who
! Tor their various rea sons. must at
tempt the descent rather than remain
( al La Turbie during the night Bran
}
! watched Joanna and Kenilworth He
saw that both Of them turned imme
/ dlately toward the foyer. where 10
| anna had left her wrap. Then he
I slipped out the door and went to the
! big car in which Antoine awaited
/ AS | expected" he said to the
! MoneGa sque.' she will not remain
/ BE ready 70 pull out when they ap
proach their car. We want not more
! than two or three cars between us
/ When kenilworth and Joanna came
[ out many OF the cars in the yard had
/ already vanished in the fog their
/ horns echoinE up from the road mo-
notonOusly. An attendant was order
ing departures. insisting upon an in
terval Of two minutes between them.
Brandon waited until Joanna. her
! wrap held close about her, her mask
in her hand now. had climbed into the
seat beside kenilworth Then he
touched Antoine's arm. and. AT the
next signal from the starter, the big
car slid away
In the smaller car Wentworth re-
marked, crimly: "1t'u he a test OF
nerve. but We'll make il if any one
I does The girl seemed to detect a
note of detection in his tone. She
J slipped her hand under his arm.
O
were wonderful, and / am conceited
enough to think YOU meant all that
you said. But you just didn't sweep
me off my feet as thought you might
| suppose there must he something
old-faShioned about me. after all
Your arms are awfuHy comforting my
dear, but l couldn't help the feeling
that the thorns would just have to
crow on them. | know YOU think I've
treated You rotten. but l couldn't help
it, | feel better for it, too. I'm sure
of myself. anyway"
Il don't know" he said. but what
| you've got the right idea at that Bet
| ter than mine. ! almost asked you to
marry me, and that's wholly against
my principles"
I'm glad you didn't" she returned
I'm afraid | might have given in to
! that"
! The starter appeared a their run
| ming board and asked them 10 pro-
coed. They Crept. noiselessly. out of the
! parking yard. Until they came to the
! first turn, some so yards away. the
| pickering lights from the clubhouse
/ aided them. Then. when they had
! swerved sharply to the left they were
wrapped in wet, almost impenetrable
! obscurity. Ahead they could see only
| the faint glimmer of their own head
| lights.
Twice they bumped into cars stalled
at the inner side of the road Each
! time they We're called out to by mem
bers of a party going back afoot-
even women in fragile slippers anG
delicate gowns already soggy from the
damp-rather than fight the descent
| any longer.
The red car nosinG downward at 2
snail's pace. struck A stump. 1T was
| foolish of me to let you attempt to &C
down." Joanna declared. Before W,
are too far away we must walk back
The car will he as safe at the side o
the road as are the others being
| abandoned"
IF we have to walk" Kenilwortf