The Bozeman courier., 1926-09-03

/ lul8-
He broke off his speech. Once more
there was the throbbing ef a motor out
side. Witb even more haste than that
which had heraldsd the entrance Of Sir
iHenry, younger edition Of him burst
"Good GodP' he exclaimed, looking
around. What's all thls7 And what in
the name Of all that's ridiculous are you
doing in your underelOthes, Armand7
What's it mean, dad1"
''DO you know this persOn7 2" Sir Henry
asked his son, pointing to where the young
man was resuming bis outer garments.
KNOW him2 OF course, / do" was the
/ Calls himself De MelIet," Sir Henry con-
tinued dOubtfully. Arrived on a motor
bicycle with scarcely any clothes and says
you asked him to stay. Who the devil is
The eyes Of the two young men met.
George MelhamptOn laughed for moment
81 don't know what ats all about" he
said, "Or why he called himself De Mellet-
except that he's so beastly modest. Let me
Introduce you, dad: Monsieur Armand Paul
De Mellet, Marquis de SeVeran. There's lots
more Of 1t and I'm not good at French
and2'
) 1T is undoubtedly correct" his friend
admitted.
"Then why the devll2" Sir Henry began.
Il owe you an apology for my reticence,
Sir Henry" the young man acknowledged
ut was really your servants fault. hap
pened to have very old dispatch case"
I can see how that happened, especially
} as George didn't mention your name in his
! telegram" Sir Henry acknowledged, ''but
: why on earth did you refuse to be searched
) and do a bOlt2"
e Because had the pearl" he confided.
Z xThere was bTeathless silence. Events
3 had marched a little too rapidly for the
original company. They simply sat, steep
ed in a sense Of the unexpected Sir Hem
ry frOwned. His son stared.
you had the pearl2" George repeated.
The young man nodded. He reached
e for horn snuff box upon the mantel-
! piece, thrust his fingers down to the bot
q to his friend.
e "I had lust time TO hide It when every
one left this room thinking there had been
! an accident" he observed. Now l must
! really tell you what happened. dislike
doing it very much and / should prefer
{ to speak in private"
Sir Henry was suddenly obstinate
!, 81 think you had better explain here
and nOw," he said. "0ur village friends
know so much; they may as well know the
. rest"
\ The marquis shrugged his shoulders.
|. Just as you will," he assented. what
: happened was this: I came down TO din
d ner rather, as you know, Sir Henry, and
o the intrOductiOns we're a little inaudible
to me, as since the war, ! suffer from a
- slight deafness in my left ear. / sat
d next to very charming young lady" he
IS went on. "whO was, / gathered, cOmpan-
ion to Lady MelhamptOn, and for whom,
II must confess, I conceived a great admir-
n alton. We talked the usual sort of din
IS ner conversation. She seemed to find much
fault with my seX-preferrred the more
II chivalrOus epOchs Of the past, and thought
none of us nowadays capable of anything
If i'm the way Of self-sacrifice"
Is "WhO the devil was she?" George ex-
claimed. Mother hasn't a companion"
De Mellet seemed a little taken back, but
g. he proceeded.
ar Anyway, in the billiard room I saw the
N pearl fall and roll under the table, and
ID saw the young lady-whOever she was
n pick 1t up. was surprised of course,
when she said nothing about 1t, and l was
v even more surprised when the alarm was
is given and she still remained silent. How
\? ever"
n Then came the third interruption; once
more the thrObbing Of q motor; this time
light flying footsteps. A girl entered, an
~ ermine cloak flung hurriedly over her
st evening dress. There were tears in her
ce "Dad-GeOrge" she exclaimed. "What-
re ever have / dOne3"
''whO is this young ladyP" the Marquis
asked.
"My daughter" Sir Henry replied.
k The marquis cOughed.
We "Then I have been very stupid" he
" confessed, after a moments pause OF OBJ
'se 'e viOus bewilderment "TO finish my story
l4fee thought that mademOiselle had been
"a tempted and had been mOmentarily fool
= ish. and then in her error had Slipped
-" the thing into her pocket. 1t was in
re credible, but what was one to understand
Mne M turn the thing anonymously"
eT She came towards him with Outstreched
". hands. Her eyes like stars.
ce "You can't forgive me-" she exclaimed
ds "I don't know that yOu"u ever believe
d. me, but it's the truth. / did keep the
Nv pearl for a minute and, as / felt sure
that you had seen me pick IL up, / put
-er 1t into your pocket to see what you would
do. Directly we had been searched we lef
,le the room. I thought iR five minutes Il
sct would be up to me to explain. Instead
IN: Of that I went to my little study. I had
no ner that / was tired out-and there wa
~ a huge fire there, and-it sounds absurd
/ know, but I went fast asleep! I wOk
,s- up half an hour ago and heard all thes
horrible things. You can't forgive me
his but do believe-it's the truth. 1 had N
is. idea Of going to sleep. I never do sucl
: a thing But I did. wouldn't have staye'
mr. away for a minute, and I thought yOl
yht knew who really was and that it wouldn'
q be serious"
led Beyond the Outburst Of spoken word
the appeal from her eyes and her trembling
rou tone was almost Dathetic The Young ma
took her hands in his He certainly hel
cps them a great deal longer than was neces
sary.
Dr. "a chapter of accidents" he murmeret
lty "As for fOrgsveness-it is yours. But pei
OF haps you will reward me with your kind
%, % ness for these slight discomforts. al
ouI o9 going to stay for week"
sed Her answer, If a little incOherent, SCENE
o. to be satisfactory. Sir Henry whispere
Sac with Mrs. DowdswelI. There was a gres
81 deal Of hustle behind the bar; a disjOinte
conversation in front Of It between Il
, two young people who we're still standin
iel hand in hand. Somehow or other they a
M found themselves in a circle around Il
. fire. The squire himself served the stean
ing glasses. Granfer CrOcOmbe raised hi
=z Here's to them as says that nothir
III ever happens at MelhamptOn," he declare
"To my mind, it's the excitingest pla
that ever a body lived in."
Police Constable ChOpping drained b
glass and whispered to the squire
CLOSING time be damned Z" the chairms
OF the bench Of magistrates replied.
II Copyright 1925 by r. Phillips OppenheiT
thin
ned NsG nA N