San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1925-09-20

return to town so that she might
learn the full story of the raid
with the embroidery which Charl-
ton and the others might supply.
There was no story to tell other
than that which the newspapers
had published, but they wished to
see Tina.
Before she left home early in
the evening she made discovery
that failed to excite her beyond
the raising of her eyebrows. Her
father spoke of John Humphrey
and the object of his visit the pre-
vious day.
an love with mer' she ex-
claimed. "How absurdE
Her father said: "Yes, i sup
pose it is, but you might do great
deal worse" He hadn't looked for
the swift rush of color to the
cheeks. and temples which would
have been inevitable in his young
days, so that he wasn't surprised
by her attitude.
"Do you mean, papa, that you
wouldn't feel sticky down the back
if YOU had to introduce him as
your son-in-law? There was a time
when you talked of titles as though
they were apples in the orchard
awaiting your picking Of them"
"The worst Of fellow with
title nowadays" said Carteret, lis
that he hasn't anything else to
commend him. -. Yes,
confess that Humphrey makes as
strong an appeal to me as any Of
your other acquaintance. More.
over, he is able to settle a good
deal on you; the others do little
else than settle their debts on me,
and l couldn't stand much more OF
that"
'Pll think it over-when I've
nothing else to think about" said
Tina brusquely. Meanwhile, I'm
running up to town again and shall
motor back with Dennis and Au-
brey. If our friend from Win
grove should find his way across
here this afternoon don't tell him
where ! am. / don't like the idea
of being sheiked. The papers
might get hold of the next incident
of the sort and make a fool OF
me-"
She travelled to town by the )
o'clock express that evening and
Lady Pinter and Charlton, the aes-
thetic, had full hour in which to
discuss her before she arrived at
the Lancaster Gate flat.
Charlton was not in happy
frame of mind; the affair in the
court hadn't been nearly so humor-
GUS as he had expected; the fur-
Their charge against Sarling in re-
spect of the cocaine had cast a
hateful aspersion on the whole OF
the party, and at the club, where
he lunched that day after the court
proceedings, the wits had been eX'
tremely caustic.
Alas, and probably this was the
primary cause of his irritabllity,
funds were shockingly low. Always
funds were low with Charlton, but
never had he known his credit to
fail him SO dismally as now. Lady
Pinter was the last in the world to
provide security against actual
want, but, in his reasoning, she
was a woman with ideas-helpful
ideas: more important still, she
sought nothing more than his
friendship in return.
"Somehow,'" she unused as she
sat near him in the Lancaster Gate
flat. glancing furtively in the mir
ror on the wall to assure herself
that she did look much younger
than her years, somehow I'm
nursing a feeling that Tina is like
ly to do so much for all of u.s."
eve thought of that" said
Charlton, yawning elegantly and
smoothing back his pomaded hair.
ashes a dear girl'-as if he were
apologizing to Tina already for
the thoughts that were percolating
through his mind.
"She'll probably marry some
wretched cross-country rider If we
don't exert little influence.
There's the tang of the soil in
Tina's makeup if you look care
fully into it. She'd have made a
laundering good poultry farmer"
Don't be catty," said Charlton
lazily.
"My dear, I've known the child
for months and months, and i
fancy | know her much better than
her father knows her." Lady Pin.
ter lit a fresh cigarette and
glimpsed him amusedly through the
smoke. "Let's have what's in your
mind" she said.
He started rather guiltily.
"Eh? Oh, / was thinking OF
Humphrey" he said. -,
eve must marry them"-witf
the decisiveness of a judge on the
bench saying: "Take him away and
hang him." 49,,
whats your, particular rea'
SOM" asked Lady Pinter. :,
"He may be so useful-dont
you think SOL"
Lady Pinter sighed.
"Why are these people singled
out for all the good things of life"
She shook her head in a hopeless
way. "That man would be emf
nently satisfied with country cot
tage and couple of terriers
IA gramophone-
"And last weeks newspapers,
she added. "Why-why should HI