Evening star., 1925-08-23

Life Guards and the eldest son OF q
ninth baronet!" said Mr.. Hollins TO
himself. sardonically. If Mr.. Hollins
had not been very rich he might have
been nervous, but he was very rich
both in money and in his daughter.
Capt. Coggleshall corresponded quite
satisfactorily with Mr.. Hollins' notion
of what a captain in the 1st Life
Guards and the eldest son of a ninth
baronet ought to be. He was hand
some, muscular, slim, well tailored,
had an admirable natural demeanor
and was free from self-consciousness
Only his voice was rather quieter
than Mr.. Hollins would have expected
After a few changes Capt CoggIeshan
announced that he wished to marry
Minnie. He gave his age, which was
81. and his record, and his expecta-
tions. He admitted that for the pres
ent he had nothing but his captains
pay and what Sir Maurice allowed
him, which was not much, because
Sir Maurice was poor.
Il should like to know, as soon as It
Is convenient to you to tell me-" said
Capt. Coggleshall, whether in princi-
marriage" without adding anything
about feeling himself to be quite un-
worthy Of the peerless girl.
Il don't say that l have, and |
don't say that 1 haven't" Mr.. Hollins
answered, with brutal indifference.
But have you got enough to keep my
daughter decently? Or haven't you?"
Enough to keep us from starving
Mr.. Hollins. But my father and I
We're hoping that you would make a
settlement
''Ye We're, were We? Well, as you've
mentioned your father, perhaps the
old gentleman had better come and
see me-" He would not refer to the
captains parent as "Sir Maurice" No,
he would noti
My father lives in Northumber-
land" said Capt. Coggleshall. with un-
diminished suavity.
and what IL he does?" asked Mr..
Hollins. This business is worth a
journey TO London, isn't it? Or
doesn't the old gentleman think so?"
Money is wonderful. Two days
later Sir Maurice Coggleshall made a
personal call upon Mr.. Jack HoIlins.
Sir Maurice conceived that he was
performing really very astonishing
act of condescension. But, being Ii
gentleman, or the ruins of one, he
kept this conception absolutely to
himself and to his son Marmion.
CIR MAURICE was a very different
~ man from his son. AT the wheel
of a taxi he could easily have passed
for an old London cabby who had
taken to mechanical transport late in
life. He was stout and thick-necked,
like Mr.. Jack HollinS. He had white
hair and luxuriant white eyebrows.
He wore a black-and-white check suit,
white SpatS. and a white tie. He
moved quickly. His voice was
enormous.
How dye do, Sir Maurice" said
Mr.. Hollfns. but do not imagine that
he added Very good of you to come
all this way to see me-" For he did
not.
However. he recognized in Sir
Maurice a fellow creature, and did for
him what he had not dreamt of doing
for his Son-he ordered drinks and
cigars. Sir Maurice puffed and blew
and gulped and smacked, and talked
loudly about railway trains. crop
prospects. the prospects Of revolution
and the folly of the nation. Then he
said:
by the way, Mr. Hollins, suppose
we can settle our little affair in two
words. My son wants to marry your
daughter. 1 agree. 1 had the
pleasure of meeting your daughter
yesterday at Claridge's. And 1 can
only repeat: 1 agree. 1 agree. If you
do
well, Sir Maurice. I'm like your
self. I'm not one for beating about
the bush, and l can give you my
answer in two words: agree"
That's great whisky. Mr.. Hollins,
if you'll allow me to say 50. What set
tlement do you intend to make on Miss
Minnie? 1 don't want to press for de-
tails. It's a matter for our lawyers.
Mr.. Hollins replied in a voice as
loud as Sir Maurice's own:
I'm not much for settlements"
But surely, my good sir"
LAS I say, I'm not one for beating
about the bush, and If you'd like it
straight, shall make no settlement"
At this moment these two stout,
thick k-necked, red-faced old men grew
stouter and thicker-necked and more
red-faced, and it appeared TO be nice
question which of them would explode
first. But simultaneously they both
reflected and saved themselves by as
founding efforts of self-control
Mr.. Jack Hollins spoke again:
I'm not asking your son to marry
my daughter. It's him and you as are
asking me to let my daughter marry
him. I'm not going to buy your son.
It's the duty Of a man to keep his
wife, and if he can't do it he'd better
not marry. II your son Is marrying
my daughter for my money, he can't
have either. If he isn't. let him prove
it. That's how l look at it. If there's
any hole in my argument, happen
you'll tell me-"
Sir Maurice finished his whisky.
III think it over" said he, dashed
and irritated.
NO" said Mr.. Hollins. You'll de-
eide at once, before you leave this
room. If you don't, l shall. My