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Show I THE BROCADE BAG !; I I; By KATE EDMONDS Olive swung the bag carelessly as she walked; it was a beautiful thing,1 created of oriental brocade In peacock shades. Larry Deane had given It to her on her birthday, shortly aftef.j their engagement, and she cherished it above all her treasures save the' beautiful cluster of diamonds on her finger. 'The cord will break and you will lose the bag," cautioned Larry. "It Is quite strong," retorted Olive, quite unpleasantly. "I don't suppose It would matter If you did lose It," went on Larry in a frigid tone. : Olive pondered provoklngly. "There are some really precious things In It my vanity case, my gold purse, the phllopena gift Joe Watterson gave me, one of his letters, and " "Isn't that enough?" glared Larry, for they had been disagreeing about Joe's attentions to OJive. As he helped her out of the car at her home and she released her hand, he discovered that she had left the cluster-of-dlamonds ring in his palm.' He grew white and stared at her. j "You mean that, Olive?" "Of course." "Why?" "You do not trust me you are Jealous," "I am sorry you believe that I said nothing until you criticised my dancing with Ella well, what does it matter? If you really cared you could not play with happiness in this way. Good-by," he said, and drove madly down the driva On the veranda, Olive watched him with unbelieving eyes ; as he went the gray car became a blur because she was crying. When her mother Inquired why she wept, ' Olive confessed con-fessed that she had lost her beautiful brocade bag. "How careless," chided Mrs". Dare.' "Perhaps it is In the car, dear. Shall telephone to Larry?" "No no please do not I I have given Larry back Ids ring and I've lost his bag and I never want any of them back again," announced Miss Dare in a wavering tone. "You have lost something very precious," pre-cious," remarked her mother sadly. "The bag ri'du't have much In it just a bread-and-butter note from Jog, Watterson and a few other things." "I did not mean the bag I meant Larry," was Mrs. Dare's quiet reply. "Some bird," ejaculated Larry, as the little gray car poked along through a pleasant byway on the road home. His gaze was fixed on a bit of brilliant bril-liant blue-green perched In a shad bush beside the road. "Olive's bag !" he ejaculated, recognizing recog-nizing it with a pang, and the little gray car stopped abruptly. Larry took the bag from Its perch and studied the gorgeous peacocks woven into the fabric. She had said Joe Watterson'3 letter was there ruthlessly he pulled the bag open and looked ; the golden purse, the foolish pencil Joe had given her it looked like a stick of peppermint pepper-mint candy some letters which he recognized as his own and one penciled pen-ciled scrawl which might be Joe's. Suddenly he did not care about Joe. His own letters made the bag precious to her naughty little thing. Just then he heard footsteps, hurrying. Larry hung the bag on the shad bush and the little car scampered to a bend in the load and waited breathlessly. breath-lessly. Larry peered through the underbrush. un-derbrush. It was Olive. She was hatless and there were traces of tears on her soft cheeks and her lips were very pathetic. When she saw the brocade bag she uttered a soft cry of pleasure, and snatching it from the bush, hugged it to her lips. "You dear, dear thing !" she sobbed, "you are all that I have left " That Is what she really said, for Larry had stolen upon her and heard her just in time to hold her very tightly tight-ly in his strong arms. "Is it too late for happlnese, dear?" he asked the repentant girl. "Not if you can forgive my folly," she whispered. "Then let us say It will never happen hap-pen aguin and the ring is in the bag " At last when they were seated in the car and Larry had started it, Olive turned swiftly. "What was that sound?" Larry said he didn't know, but I think he suspected It was a quiet chuckle from the sympathetic little gray car. |