The Coolidge examiner., 1931-04-17

his rivals presence.
He held out his gift to her.
my Uncle Hepsibah has just
| come from the English colonies.
and he brought me this that
might in turn give it to you. viii
you accept it, TOinetteT
He forgot Paul Tache. Spots Of
red came into his cheeks as TOi-
nette's surprised eyes greeted him.
She almost smiled, and as if some
thing made her fOrgetful Of her
magnifcence and the dignity it i'm,
posed, she extended her hand to
receive the package. The manner
in which she accepted his gift sent
| the blood racing through his body.
| The color deepened in her cheeks,
and, mistaking this for still greater
evidence of the pleasurable thrill
he had given her, Jeems was sure
| she was about to thank him for his
| gift, when Paul stood beside them.
| Ignoring Jeems, TOinette's cousin
| led her away, politely relieving her
of the package as they went. It
was then that Toinette turned to
smile at Jeems, in spite If the eyes
she knew were watching her. In
| this same moment her escort al
lowed the package to drop surrep-
| titiously from his hand.
This act, inspired by contempt
for the forest boy, and urged by a
meanness of spirit hidden under n
display of wealth and fine clothes.
swept Jeems' thought from Toi-
nette whose nearnesS of person, sur
! prising beauty. and sweetness of
disposition had almost made him
forget mis- one reason for being at
Lussan's sale. This weakness in
the armOr of his intentions was
sealed when he saw his present fall
to the ground. Toinette became in
stantly immaterial in the path of a
storm of emotion which caught and
held him fiercely. He saw only one
person where there were two, and
that one was Paul Tacte. In
brain white with heat, and in eyes
blinded to the presence OF all liv-
ing forms except that Of the youth
who had darkened his mind with
| IbAtiCllC NCcSCu W tAlS'
for him, and when he sprang for
ward to recover the bundle. it was
not with the thought that he was
rescuing it for her. but that it was
to be his reason for glorious war
when the moment was at hand for
him TO hurl 1t in his rivals face.
Detaching themselves from the
shifting groups of which they had
been a part, Toinette and young
| Tache strolled to their horses,
| knowing that many glanceS fol-
lowed their elegant departure. Civ
ing themselves a brief time in
which to be admired, they saun-
tered into the gardens back of Lus-
sans house.
Jeems was only few steps from
| Paul and Toinette when the disap-
peared behind the house. He held
back with a feeling of satisfaction
when he saw the two going down a
path which took them out of sight
Of any curious eyes that might
have watched them. Not until the
last flutter of Toinette's skirt was
gone did he proceed with the busi-
ness of following them, and then,
like an Indian, he slipped noise
lessly along the path and found
them standing, somewhat per-
picked. at the edge Of sOggy and
ill-smelling open space where Lus-
san had built his barn and wherein
his cattle and pigs had gathered
for so long that one was sure of
precarious and unpleasant footing.
Toinette, her chin tilted, a flash of
indignation in her eyes as she held
up her skirt, with both hands, was
on the point of loosing her wrath
upon her escort for daring to bring
her to such a place Of deflement
when Jeems stepped out from a
rim of bushes and confronted them
His face was pale. His slim body
was as taut as a bowstring. His
eyes were almost black. He did
not see T0inette, scarcely knew
that she was in his world. even as
her anger gave place to an excla-
nation of surprise when she saw
in his hand the package which he
had given her a few minutes be-
fore. He approached Paul Tache,
and that youth, misinterpreting the
slowness of his movement and the
bloodless pallor of his face as signs
of embarrassment and fear, sought
to cover his disgrace in TOinette's
eyes by an explosion Of naughty
protest at being followed and spied
upon in this way. Jeems made no
reply except to hold out the pack
age. Sight of it choked the words
in the others throat. Jeems' 81
lence and the way in which he con-
tinued to extend the package
brought a deep color into Paul's
face. He and not Jeems was con-
scious of the amazement in TOT
nette's countenance and of the in
tensity of her interest in the situa-
ton. He recovered himself swiftly
and, with a guileful change of man
ner, held out his hand.
pardon me-" he apolOgized. at
is good of you to bring the pack
age-which l accidentally dropped"
Jeems came step nearer.
"You ieI" he cried and with a
, furious movement he hurled the
; bundle in Tache's face.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)