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Show ! DOC HORNE (of the Alfalfa Hotel) AND MIS FRIENDS george ape i A (--.Ht: lightiunu dentist stood iu (he V' '1 iloorwny of the Alfalfa Koropeau I hotel "'"I looked out tit (lie s (tripping stroot. Tho granite l.lo.'ks of tin: pavement were, newly l narlieil, and t b v shone in surprised I J.-auliuess where tho light fell on V. llu'IH- :.. . handsome eab rolled by, the horse t .aarainf; and the driver erouehed in- ide h great robber coat. Only one i . ;j,.lit could bo. seen in tho big, water-. water-. .oal.ed bnilding opposite, and that was a tirst tloor othVe where a lafoi eni- -y.ee was doubled over :i ledger. 1 uae or two pedestrians sloshe.t along, l,ra'-i:ig their umbrellas against tiie 0(! wind. The lightning dentist turned ; up hi? coflt eollar and shivero-1 with ii aiparb ". A stronger gust of wind - l the" raindrops against his face, and ".: ue retreated. lie saw Doe. Home, the actor and the Hi seated in drooping silence near the "' tram heater. They had moved their "' i-iiairs toward the radiator as if to de-" de-" ,oive themselves, but they kuewjthoj T.: .aviator "was the coldest thing iu the T room. Doe Home had been attempting ,u read an evening- paper. Kveu the .V I ;iiiper was moist, for it did not eraekle JI wlieu he folded it and gave it a disgust-O disgust-O tling. '.; "Bad night," observed tho dentist, ..I -loo'iiily, rubbing his hands. ".'." Miserable, miserable,'' said DoC V Home. 'It's cold in this offiee tonight," said the dentist. 'I wish I knew where V 10 go and what to do." 'We might go into the bar and see I. Steve," said the lush, hopefully. This suggestion "was received in si-' si-' Icni'e. "Or," continued the lush. "-we might . go up t niy room and send down for V. something to drink. Come on; it will be more comfortable up there." -. The invitation was accepted without any enthusiasm. Before the party went upstairs the lush sent a bell-boy for a bottle of whisky and a large-sized irservoir of seltzer. Whenever the lush had visitors lie always made these preparations for entertaining en-tertaining them, no matter whether thpy drank or not. "Doe Home was - a total abstainer. The actor was a eau-': eau-': tious drickerj who. when dragged to the V har, usually compromised on sweet Catawba wine or a small glass of beer l'.ven tho lightning dentist, although he t"ld stones of fabulous expenditures tor wine, while visiting in Cincinnati, seldom took more than one. drink an evening. Nevertheless, the lush put the whiskv, the seltzer, the ice and tho glasses on the table m his room and contidentlv invited his friends to "drink heart v. " the lightning dentist took his one drink, although he nearly choked iu the ellort, aud the others mildlv protested and asked to be excused. The lush expressed himself as disappointed disap-pointed at their failure to be "good lollows." and drank two magniiicent "high balls" iu order to rebuke them. Then he sat on the bed and at intervals thereafter ho would point at. the bottles on the table and look inquiringly at, his guests, who never failed to shake their heads. I'he. conversation had gone the range of 'common places, mostly in regard to the weather, and then it turned upon the fact, that a Kuropean hotel on a wet aud chilly night is not the most cheerful place in the world. "Here we are, gentlemen, four of us," said Doe. Home. "All of us have reached the age at which meu should marry perhaps- all have passed the ago at which it is advisable to choose a helpmate. ' ' "That's a fact, Doe," said the lush, reaching for the seltzer. "Of course, matrimony is a lottery. Perhaps we arc better off than if we had joined the Benedicts, but on a night like this it occurs to me that if I were seated before my own grate-fire, grate-fire, in my own library, "with mv own children around me, I would be happier than I am here." Doc vnado a reassuring reassur-ing gesture, and continued: "T don't mean to reflect on the hospitality of our friend here, or intimate, that t am not satisfied with the present company, but ' ' "Certainly, wc understand," said the actor. ' ' If we were to own up, gentlemen, T suppose every man-jack of us came very near being married at some time or other. ' ' The lush softly prepared another ' high-ball. ' ' "Doctor, I consider it, quite remarkable remark-able that you never married," said the actor. "Maybe he couldn't find a woman good enough for him," suggested the deutist. "1 have met thousands who were too youd for any man who ever lived," replied re-plied Doc, witii considerable warmth. The problem iu matrimony is not to find n juod woman. The "problem is to find a woman who will he sut'tieientlv patient ami charitable to bear with the laulls which are common to the sex represented rep-resented here this evening.' "The ladies," said the lush, arising from the bed aud holding out tho glass aa it' to offer a toast. "Sit down!" commanded the deutist. "It is largely a question of compatibility, compati-bility, " continued Doe. "Harmless compound No. 1 harmless compound No. You put them together and the result, is an explosive. Poison No. 1 added to poison No. 2 givet a harm-loss harm-loss neutral. Two beautiful colors put them together and v0u have discord. Matrimony is often a plunge in the dnrfi. Tho man never knows,' whether he will land on a bed of roses or in a nest of thorns. "That is, he doesn't know unless ho has knowledge uf women based on the study of many marriages and the resulting re-sulting experiences. I"ow, T know just what, kind of a wife 1 ought to have, hn fc.it iuis required manv vears of study for me to rind it out. " I know you gentlemen fairly well. I know the kiud of wife that each of you ought to " "Do you, for a fact. Doc?" asked tho dentist, eagerly. " What kind wife I ought to have,' Doe ?" asked the lu&h. "None just at present," .replied Doc, closing his lips tight v. "Thanks," and he reached for the bottle. ''Doc, you said a while ago that probably every one of us had come very near being married at some time or other." put in the dentist. "Now, as a matter of fact, how near cjid you ever come to it?" "T was married once," said Doc, quietly. "J was and I was not. I am a single man m the United States. In Brazil, at this minute, T would be a married man, provided Rita is still living." "What's her name pita?" "Yes. I hayen 't seen her in thirty years. That's rather a long time for a man to remain awav from his wife, eh ? ' ' He winked at the dentist and shook with niwanl daughter. They waited. ''The circumstances were rather peculiar," pe-culiar," began Doc. gazing Tiard at the floor. "It was in. let's see ves, II.-RITA. ; lSb'tj. I was in New York that spring to transact some business, and whi le there J became acquainted with a Brazilian named Miguel iriartos, a cotVce planter, lie had been visaing in New i'ork and I had met him at a club there. lie was about to return to Bra7.ii in a sailing vessel that he owned, and lie invited me to go as iar as Savannah with him. They were to touch at Savannah, I remember, to get the mail and some small supplies, i had a little time at my disposal, so I accepted the. in vital ion. I didn 't know until after we sailed that lienor 13ur-tos 13ur-tos " " knew hiin well," said the lush. " I didn 't know that he had a daughter," daugh-ter," continued Doc, ignoring the interruption. inter-ruption. "She was a perfect specimen Hjt" the Spauish type of beauty olive complexion, dark nai r and the most wonderful eyes J ever saw. Senor Bar-tos Bar-tos and the daughter, his business partner, part-ner, named Pramada, and i. were the ouly passengers 011 board. The captain was a Spaniard, the first mate an Ameri- . ca n who had Jived in the tropics for ; years, and the crew was made up en-' tirely of Brazilians. " Well, we had lovely weather, and, very naturally, I was thrown into the society of the seuorita much of the time. I showed her many attentions, but no more than I thought was due from any American gentleman under the circumstances. I didn't realize until un-til it was too late that she was completely com-pletely infatuated with me." "How could she help herself'?" asked the lush. "Now. sir, " said Doc, turning on the lush, "will vou allow me to continue?' ' "Sure thing," replied the lush, with a filtering salute. ' "I I had remembered Spanish customs, cus-toms, particularly as r.hcy are localized in Brazil, I wouldn't have allowed myself my-self to become entangled. She was a young girl, and I was considerably her senior, and did not realize the significance signifi-cance of what I did. One evening, in the presence of her father, I kissed her. j You must remember that she was quite ! young. I regarded her as a mere child. "Even at that I would not have presumed pre-sumed to take such liberty had she not suggested it in a bantering spirit. Her father was present, and I saw no harm in it so long as he did not ob ject. You may be able to appreciate my surprise and consternation, gentlemen, when Scnor Bart us called me into the cabin next day and informed me in all seriousness that according to Brazilian Bra-zilian custom, when an unmarried man kisses a woman 01 eiigible age the act is equivalent to a betrothal and may be regarded as a marriage under tne common law. Pie said that his daughter loved me. and that he was willing to give a handsome dowry, but he would insist that I proceed" to Brazil with them and have an additional ceremony pcrtormed in the cathedral. ; When i showed my surprise and told him 1 had no intention of marrying his daughter he drew a dagger and would have stabbed me if Senor Pramada Pra-mada hud not restrained him. I was told that I would be killed if I failed too carry out the marriage contract. Well, there I was. I pretended to consent, con-sent, but I was determined to escape when the vessel touched at Savannah. I knew every man on board had been cautioned to watch me and prevent my escape. I had to proceed with secrecy, but I managed to get the first mate on my side. He promised to help QIC. 1 "Well, when we anchored off Savannah Savan-nah tho captain and Senor Bartos went ashore and got my mail, but I was given to understand that I must not leave the vessel. One of the letters that I received made it necessary that I should be in Pittsburg in a few days, and I was more than ever determined to get away. "Late that night the mate and I slipped on deck and dropped one of the boats into the water. Just as we jumped into the boat Senor Bartos came on deck aud began to lire on its. ve pulled away, and ho put a knife into his mouth and 'jumped overboard to follow us. Of course wc could have escaped him, but I was afraid he would drown, so we put back and hauled him out of the water. He was nearly exhausted, but still full of deviltry, for he made a vicious lunge at me with the knife, b,ut I grabbed his arm and took the weapon away from him and then I gave him a good hard talking to. I said: " 'Senor Bartos, I claim to be a man of honor, and I would not violate any promise, however lightly made, but you cannot come up into this part of the world und unforee your South American customs. I respect your daughter as a charming and innocent girl, but I do not propose, to marry her under compulsion, i am going ashore here. You may go back to the vessel.' "Well, the mate went ashore with me. If they had got hold of him they would have" murdered him for helping me to escape. 1 never heard anything more of them after that." "It's a good tiling that Brazilian law doesn't hold' in this country,'-' said the dentist- "Our host is dead to the world," observed ob-served the actor. They turned and saw that tho lush had dropped over on the pillows and fail en asleep. "Let him rest," said Doc. "I expect we had better go out. Just turn down the gas. He 'H sleep all right as he lies." So they went out, leaving their host under the peaceful influence. As Doc moved along the hallway toward his room the ligntuing dentist followed him. "Can I see you alone for a little, while? " he asked. t ! "Certainly, my dear sir," replied Doc, with an acquiescent wave of the1 hand. "Come right into my room." Doc fumbled in the darkness until he found a match and then he lighted the gas. The dentist slowly settled into a chair and hold his hat in front of him. "Doe, this this mustn "t go any farther far-ther than you," he said, with some em-1 barrassment. "I never betrayed a confidence in mv life. " "It's something I wouldn't think of mentioning to anvone else around the hotel." - "Whatever it may be, it will bo safe in my hands. ' "I know that. I'll tell you what has induced me to speak. A little while ago vou were speaking .of matrimony and vou compared it to a plunge in the dark. You said that a man never kuew j where he was going to land.V" ! "I qualified that statement." i "I know you did, but that and some 1 more things'you said put me to think-j ing. This, is 'what T wanted to tell you, : and you mustn't whisper a word if it j to anyone else. I'd like to get mar-1 ried. ' J Doc looked at him with grave interest, inter-est, aud rubbed his nose. 'I don't blame, you,'' he said. "Vou heard mv views tiiis evening.'' , ' Ves, but some of the things you said later on kind of scared me. i d hate to make any mistake and get tied up to the wrou girl. '' ' "There's no reason why you should make an" mistake if you are nropetiy advised. You are a pood-looking man, still young, well-dressed, est ibli?bed in a profession, lair prospects, 1 d-ue .-av, and ' ' "I've got more money put away than anybody in this hotel knows anything about. 1 '' said the dentist, bis coioi trembling with gratification at Doc's studied eulogy. "1 sold Iho lots tho other day tuat I've been holding. 1 cleared up a thousand. Next year L expect to have an intercut in tho Neapolitan Dental parlors, where fin working now. it's a sure money maker. Doe, v.o 'vo, got ten men at work now, and I have enough extrao.thig alone, t o .keep me busy most of tho time. V're doubling our advertising contracts, con-tracts, and I 1 eel so sure of siaying there and making a good tbng out ot it that I want to settle down and have a nice little home of my own. A man can't stand this hotel life forever." ''True, trno. I don't want to be inquisitive, in-quisitive, but is there anyone in particular par-ticular that ' " ' ' Xo, because I've simply lived between be-tween office and hotel. But I'm going to look around. I'm going: to find .1 nice girl and I tell you what I want you to do for me. Doc. Before I mako any definite move or commit myself understand? I want you to meet the fir 1 and give me your candid opinion, don't want to make any mistake. I beard vou say that you could pick out the right kind of a wife for any one of your friends, and I want you to promise prom-ise that you'll -well, not 'exactly pick out ono i'or me, but help me to select one. I don't know whether you just understand or not. iCI think I do. I am at your service at any time. ' ' So this compact was made; that after the dentist had "'looked around ami selected a young woman. Doc should inspect her -n nd give expert opinion based on bis vast experience with the sex. (Copyright. 1014. by the TV' heeler Syndicate, Syn-dicate, Inc.") |