Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-28

Aunt Con on the Island of Java and
| lost her on me? And then, when we
| found her. didn't she get sick, in n
| jungle, and didn't she sit right down
on a shrine and say she'd have to be
| carried home, over two volcanoes and
through IL tea plantations. mostly
| under Water?"
After the plum,colored butler at the
head of the stairs had proclaimed
them, Ernestine led her escort TO an
exceptionally large room and found
her remote kinswoman, Mrs. Jilley.
"Oh, Ernestinei So good of you to
come. And this is Mr.. Ancaster?"
This is Mr.. Spriggett, Aunt
Jessie"
"Oh, I thought YOU were bringing
Mr.. Ancaster, too"
"Mr. Ancestors coming on another
boat"
Emily" commanded Mrs. Jilley to
her daughter. take Ernestine and
Mr.. Spiggot over to the tea table.
And you'll be nice to Lady Daragh,
| won't you?"
They were introduced to the hunt.
ress, whose fluffy lilac gown seemed
to accentuate her sineWy manliness.
A group of males of collegiate age
was gawping at this chaste Diana.
Lady Daagh," a youth inquired,
do YOU need a great deal of practice
to kill a lion?"
Just then a voice at the door an
nounced:
MIR. Waldo An-caster."
Here comes the BRIDE" Ernestine
murmured to Glen.
They watched him approach his
hostess. What an absurd little crea-
ture,
Lady Daragh, Mr.. Ancaster," ex-
planned Emily. The lion slayer, who
had been flirting with Yale junior,
was not interested.
Gosh, she didn't even smell the
bait" admitted Ernestine, openly dis.
appointed. But the Fungus was edg-
ing closer. Then Lady Daragh turned
her kind. sun-faded eyes toward An
caster. Here was young man not
enjoying himself, and her warm heart
went out to him. She turned and
addressed the Fungus.
DO you shoot?"
"Well, not much"
so many Amer-r-ricans don't" she
decided. What do you do?''
"Oh, form expeditions" Poor
Fungus, he wasn't getting on at all.
| Expeditions. Where?"
| Venice, Cairo, Suva, SIAM" Then
he frightened visibly. Il do wish we
could have a talk, Lady Daragh. I
understand you're interested along the
same lines as / am. It's funny. But
don't think anybody else has been
WORKING on that plan. And. if it goes,
it's bound to be a sensation in the
tourist trade"
| "Plan?" said Lady Daragh. "Sen.
sation?" said Lady Daragh. Tourist
trade" said Lady Daragh. Glenn
Spriggett laid his hand on Ernestine's
elbow to restrain her from jumping
up and down.
when 1 heard you were thinking
lof-er-organizing lion hunts on the
personally conducted PLAN" pursued
the young enthusiast, " I saw how
important it was for us to get to.
gether. know this isn't the place
| to talk" Yet he was talking, oh, how
FATALLY! But you've probably realized
| that two minds are better than one in
putting over a novelty like this. /
| can tell you how pleased 1 was. LADY
| Daragh, when your niece told me you
wanted to see me-
HE stopped, for her ladyship's
- eyes, once so geniallv glowing
had glazed like frozen ponds.
That was dreadfully nice of nv
niece" Her voice was still gentle.
To which niece do you refer?"
Why-of course. didn't know
there were Others" He was begin.
ming to freeze. ITO Miss Chum.
| ley
Miss Chumley?"
Miss Phyllis Chumley."
Well within sound Of this dialogue
Ernestine bit her lip. "Ill bet she's
going to shootp' she thought.
Fell an instant of racking silence.
The two unequal combatants stood
facing each other. In the Fungus
look there was supplication, in the
beast-klller's nothing more than a de-
sire TO crush a small reptilian speci.
men and be on with the chase.
"Oh, yes" tinkled Lady Daragh.
drawing her lips over her teeth. And
now may 1 ask"
She might have, and stilled his
quavering voice forever. But, at the
instant, there fell into that atnos-
phere bomb in it's politest form-a
sugar-coated bomb. a bomb in tender
roses wreathed. Its pleasantly modu-
lated report caused Lady Daragh to
pause.
For the liveried man at the door had
just lifted his melodious voice to an.
nOunCe the latest arrival:
Miss Phyllis Chum.ley."
The chatter went on, yet the name,
to four pairs of ears, at least, tinkled
as distinctly as though it had fallen
into a crystal we'll of silence. Four
pairs of eyes wandered toward the
door, where slight, girlish person in
modest blue-gray came in, not STOP
ping to look for her hostess. Her
eager, honest, scared little face, her
pansy eyes, her look of painful resolu-
ton were somewhat out of keeping
with the grandiose name. But Miss
Phyllis Chumley had undoubtedly
arrived.
The Fungus stood in a daze. He
only knew that Miss Phyllis Chumley
had arrived in the nick of time. |
And because the room seemed sud-
denly bathed IN magic, she had come
i'll the earthly body of Miss Peggy
Brown,
Had he not been there-and he
wasn't entirely--he could not have
been less sure of what happened after |
that. He only knew that the crowd
underwent one of the Kaleidoscope |
changes familiar to tea parties. !,
Emily, Mrs. Jilley's daughter. being
under instructions to see that he was
not neglected, led him to the other |
side of the tea table. Ernestine and |
Glenn were accosted by the jolly Frank |
Peabody, who had to tell them a funny |
story. And a far funnier story was |
being enacted few yards behind |
their shoulder blades. Thus Ernes. |
tines attention was diverted, and. |
when she had an opportunity to turn |
one quick. haunted glance, she was I,
aware of stranger. stranger things.
The guest OF honor was standing |
with one arm around Miss Phyllis |
Chumley's slight shoulders, Then |
other merry guests trooped around |
Ernestine, and she was left in agon-