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Show ' I DOG AND DIPLOMAT. , 1 By Lowell Otts Reeso. fcfjrlght. ll, by Lowell Otus Reese ) ,j LjAGN'OLIA was one of those quiet ffflfl ' little towns by the southern soa 11 where many people go to spend tttfll the winter. Its chief beauty lay HMtjie forest of live oaks all about, jiLwgh which wound the level drlve-' drlve-' fpllh its accompanying bicycle 'llelh. The sea knocked lazily at the mt, tut never with enough energy -to ' - ! E"ut the quiet little town to give it any iktion beyond that of an occasional J biTlnter bathing party or a clam-:.; clam-:.; tlir.g expedition up the coast, where fci rock's were largo and black in the flight and the scene peculiarly Mri to the telling of ghost stories ii tie walks homo eminently well 'iUarf to the telling of love stories jfeb, while not so thrilling, were infl-- infl-- liitly more satisfactory. '4 jfarleton saw Her on the avenue one k.ulns. He watched her enter a cer- ' ih house with magnolias in the front ki She entered with an air of pro-.! pro-.! fetcrahlp, and Carleton promptly de- UjA that It was her home. He strode rto the nearest drug store, and by , tniu! diplomacy elicited from the eivplent old gentleman with specta-fa specta-fa that the house was occupied by Col. judsy of New York, and Bst Carleton promptly forgot the reat lit as being "irrelevant, incompetent t4 Ircroaterlai." He remembered the i3, however, nnd he saw her again ; ; evenlng-afar off. L p out oC &1Blit. However, he jW about her most assiduously, S WEtnlly he dreamed about her. This 2 Kiting !?erIou3. To think all day 1 tat a girl you've never met and to j a about her all night is alarming. !flfi , lndlcatlon that it is time for I jIui tl 'e t0W" r llUnt Up a mutual ?i 5ileton knevv' 110 ono 'n Magnolia , titf wuld not Induce himself to leave. ccntlnu-a ty haunt the beach and S and lel1 ha troubles to the big rai tew,iT'h0..,lhvaya listened wJth an u) fctcialive thump of the tall and a 1 "J fFMny drcop of his cavernous jaw. y- veiling Carleton was lying upon 'Pi JECTi,3"Jiair 111110 from town whep ajM &77.thE: Pointer sprang up with a iS ,a?k a"d ruahed out into the f , ,ne Dlt-yelo path, frisking and 1 iiru1 roml' Hc was Just in time f nllVI ,i ,rlw,th Barclay's wheel nnd I fllw . frIKhltncd young lady to the ' Sri ii an "ndlsnitled heap, i !wL01? out 5 a perfect pgony , Jetton, "it's all TJon'o fault!" he 11 5Mih?pe yu won't are you hurt?" --5 g'Aed anxiously. l i0UnB ,ad' was regarding her wl "'tuwe with mingled wrath and 47lln- Her faco burned a rosy 4k lui : 5he sprang quickly upon her 111 kLtcd tatcd with all speed from III L'WM of her tumble. ,W hon-ld, muddy beast!" she Medi "and 11 1 ow"cd him I to1? ,hlm not!" Then with a half ' lidV,, ,tne abject young man, who J cat in hand, sho Bwept around a I ?H7,tn6 road and was gone. : i . '6in stood benumbed. "It's all ' U ii ft, h? slghed- "Dn- you've ' "Rt i, 9 lLrre a11 rIsht!" Tho poor j iRt ri e l?ls hcad and away JiM?? ,beulnd a tree and watch 'fS It H!VVllh a?onIzcd. apprehensive K&yrcearded h,m long and if fc:B llSf !?01 t0 be' sacrificed. It, 7 WliLV mc 01,1 chap, but she irvS yln. and that "les It." rt 'Roubffi1 i'3 .tal1 anxiously and Qm M K; e dlan L understand, only Bn mi ap ll'0lhle ahead. "JBnornliS eBKirc,l!iy camo down the ? K a mlEhV0und the blff Poster WoKrdto 1,13 collar w a card. I f bM rf, thtl dK; . Don sat down f 4t- fy an,"i heiJ thrashing his tall vlg-f vlg-f I W$rSS& th? Le4ttVCM t0 tel1 her he , W clrT Ut mlhty friendly. Jf. 1' K1 approached slowly. Don watched her. but made no extravagant demonstrations. It was a point In h s favor and went far toward excusing his ill-chosen frivolity of the day before. Miss Barclay laid a tentative hand upon his head. Don looked into her eyes gravely, but made no effort to presume ; upon the short acquaintance by unseemly unseem-ly fawnlngs. The girl smiled finally. "Whose dog are you. anyway?" she asked quizzically. quizzi-cally. The pointer opened his wide Jaws and laughed with a soft, panting breath. Then he solemnly raised the right paw and laid It In Miss Barclay's hand. Curiosity Curi-osity took possesrslon of the girl and she tore the card from the dog's collar and read It: , "Dear Miss Barclay," it ran. "Here Is the bearer, Don, purmiant to your expressed ex-pressed wish of yesterday. Perhaps it is a bit cowardly, but I confess I haven't the heart to kill him myself. He and I have been chums a long time and he w the only being I know ln the whole South. So, while I express my deepest regret for the annoyance he caused you yesterday, let me bespeak for him an easy and painless death, for ho has his good points. Very respectfully, "ROBERT CARLETON." "Well!" ejaculated Miss Barclay when she had read 11. "Oh, my!" She glanced furtively up and down the street and across the way and seemed about to run. Nobody waa In eight, however, save a ragged negro boy carrying a valise around the corner. "How foolish of me!" she smiled. She reread the note and looked at the dog. Don wig-wagged her a friendly signal, and the tears came to her eyes. "Kill such a dear fellow! fel-low! Never1" She sat down on tho grass and pupk-ered pupk-ered Iter brows as sho thought. Presently Present-ly a light came into her eyes and she gasped. Then she frowned and smiled. "Ho'o a horrid, muddy beast." "Impudent rascall" she said. "He's trying to get acquainted with me. It's perfectly outrageous of hlml" She tried to be angry -very, very angry. Butsome-how Butsome-how ahe did not quite succeed. She remembered re-membered the picture of a tall, flushed young fellow with a well-bred face standing before her with a look of miserable mis-erable apology, and she was bound to confess that she was not able to feel Just as indignant aa she ought. She read tho note onco more. "Impudent!" Bhc said to Don. "Impudent "Impu-dent but but clever!" and she laughed The dog laughed back and whacked the ground violently with his tall. Then the real serious part of the puz-zlo puz-zlo occurred to her. She did not know the man's address. How then could she send this valuable animal back to him? And really, did she not owe him an apology for her rude remark to him T 4 4& 'Ws j yesterday? He had not been to blame ' and he had tried so hard to apologize After awhile she decided to advertise discreetly. It seemed the best solution solu-tion of the distracting problem. She untied tho rope nnd led the dog around to the rear of the house, where she turned him over to the housemaid and went In to telephone her advertisement to the papur. Fifteen minutes later ahe found herself her-self out ln the back yard again. Don's eyes met her reproachfully. He "Was confined Ignomlnlously in a chicken coop. Miss Barclay tried her best to think It was all right Then she gave It up. He was such a splendid dog after all. She took him from the coop and allowed him the freedom of the back yard. Don did not abuse the- privilege. He seemed to understand that he was on parole. He lay down at her feet and watched her adoringly. She wandered away to the- hammock and tried to forget the whole Incident in a book. Don followed, j sat down and peered solemnly over the edge of the hammock with grave eyes which seemed to aay, "What are you going to do about It?" That evening Carleton picked up tho paper nnd read: "R. C. Your dog has been pardoned and released on his own recognizance. Please come and get him. L. B." And when Carleton cabled, Don had been promoted. He was In the parlor, lying on the best Persian rug. "Bless old Don!" said Carleton fervently fer-vently six months later. "He caused it all. He's a diplomat worthy the Court of St. James." "Yes," said Miss Barclay with a shy smile, "he's almost as great a diplomat as his master save that he lacks his master's Impudence." "Perhaps," assented Carleton cheerfully, cheer-fully, "but much goea with Impudence which might possibly be missed by mere diplomacy." And he klesed her. |