Show T + I I + t ItlRorneo and Juliet a lc r III t f t By Louise McHenry Copyright 1908 by Dully Story Pub Co Tho night key turned In the lock na It the hand upon it vas quite accustomed accus-tomed to manipulating It but ns the door opened the search for the electric elec-tric button by lie aid of matches struck in quick succession indicated unlnmlllnrlty with tho apartment into which the man entered This was heightened by the Intense mid eager look of curiosity on hit face that showed in the brilliant flare ns the electricity was turned on Ho saw his rellectlon In u mirror and as if to rcassuro himself muttered Steady old hoy No cause for alarm You have seen tho master hero pall out on tho Night Express and can take your own time for Investigation Investiga-tion You havent been watching the young dandy counterpart of yourself nil those months for nothing You but reap tho just reward of patience and perseverance I Now for his belongings Ho walked around tl > room leisurely leisure-ly I surveying every article of furniture furni-ture critically He lingered before the dresser opening and closing tho drawers Then he stopped at tho writing writ-Ing desk Whats this and ho picked up a telegram Your presence Imperative at a meeting of stockholders Leave by night express Crlttmore That accounts for his agitated haste dropping his keys under the ticket window and just barely making his train As tho man moved his foot struck something on the floor Stooping ho picked up a letter To my lady nlia and ho laughed heartily ns he read upon the sealed and stamped envelope en-velope the name of Mlso Hortenso Waring a noted bello of tho metropolis metrop-olis He examined It closely holding it to tho light then turning to tho picture of a handsome young fellow In a frame on the desk so like himself that ho might have sat for It In all gravity he bowed to It with the air of one worthy diplomatic service With your kind permission my frlendand slipping a thin bladed knife under tho flap he loosed It and withdrawing the note read My Dear Miss Waring Fate in the shape of n telegram has at the last moment ordered mo away to Chicago I shall be absent a week perhaps Had It not been n most urgent demand de-mand I would never have given up the mask ball at the Van Ritters tonight to-night But my father has madethis a test year as to my power of application applica-tion to business so I must prove myself my-self You will recognize bow Important Im-portant I feel It when I forego the pleasure of seeing you to fulfill this business demand My dear Miss Waring you cannot know the dreams I havo woven about this night but Fate does not take cognizance of dreams Grant me I I pray permission to see you imme dlatcly uon my return when I shall tell you the part I would have taken In the mask The ball will be a great success the Van Hitters as hosts assure that my absence will count as nought but I hope you will be kind enough to send a thought after a wouldbe participant that bears a sore disappointment In his heart as ho journeys away from the scene of gravity Sincerely yours Frederick Langhnm A budding romance and the man pursed his lips In a low whistle Further Fur-ther cause for agitation here bo mused as he threw himself back In II chulrThere There will be jewels galore at hunt ball tonight and his eyes flashed liS he thought of them The papers have been full of them for days Any more letters or telegrams I wonder and ho aroused himself and searched the drawers Nothing so Interesting as this and he again took up the letter Pushing Push-ing the chair back from the desk his eye fell upon the waste basket He pulled out a handful of papers glancing glanc-ing hastily over them Here is the Invitation and another note Dear Fred I have ferreted out Miss Warings secret She Is going to appear as Juliet at the Van Ritters ball but I am sworn not to tell So keep It quiet as you value my friendship friend-ship Now Is your opportunity Go as Romeo act him In earnest as you have been timidly doing these months Go In to win that night old friend and my blessings with you I have chosen Tannhauser as you know but there Is neither Venus nor Elizabeth in my case I simply am fond of the music Your friend Bob Osgood The man relapsed Into meditation Suddenly his attention was drawn to an open book I that lay on a table Romeo and Juliet By George the fellow has gone in to win sure enough Hes been learning poetry to quote tonight Here are the marked passages It Is my lady 0 It Is my love nnd us his eye ran over similar ex juesslons he threw the book down suddenly sud-denly and the gleam of a welldollnct purpose lighted his face He began to move hurriedly I about the room looking Into wardrobes and closets In a few moments he gave an outburst of delight An Ideal Romeo with those Bptcn lid trappings I Quick for tho effect Hastily stripping off his street gar t meats ho stood In a short time trans formolII figure BO graceful In movement move-ment and attractive In appearance lint ho retained that dear perfection of which Juliet spoke Ho stood bc fore tho mirror as It Infatuated with ilmsclf Ho practiced the stage mono ncnls of Iloineo and pitched his volco like that of lute non whose faco null Iguro he bore reciting lines from Hit tragedy 1 Tim maskers assembled in tho great corridor mid sought partners for the grand march into tho ballroom The eyes of Romeo Instinctively foil upon Juliet Clad In a gorgeous robe of white silk heavy with pearl embroidery if embroid-ery her yellow braids falling from under un-der her Jeweled cap oho looked us though fashioned of sunshine and moonbeams About her waist was c bound the famous Waring lope of Pearls and diamonds They took their places In line amid so radiant a couple did they make that nil eyes followed them with admiring glances Romeos head was bowed intender In-tender solicitude over the one qf gold and as they kept step to tho music the jewels upon her person glistened with myriad lights i Juliet in the wealth of jewels hero t there arc two that outshine all the rest restThe merriment In her eyes added to their brightness You know already that those Jewels are your eyeftho two fairest stars In all the heavens So the mock love making went on But as the evening woro away ho sought her in another mood The most delightful place about the house Is a little nook In the conservatory conserva-tory May I lead you thither There In the quiet amid the flowers with a dim light about them they seated themselves Though you wear a becoming disguise dis-guise tonight you are not more en f tranclngly beautiful than when robed t In your own personality Hortenso k She looked up quickly Did you recognize mo from the very 7From From the very first I saw you when you were In tho hall below I suppose It Is only fair to say that your great coat gave away your Identity but I would have known you anyway for as you made the turn on thoBtalrwayI noticed thatpeculiar little gesture of your hands < aud y laughingly sho threw hers out with a quick movement Tho man gave silent thanks for his power of observation and Imitation Now as we sit face to face despite i disguises I shall unmask my heart The words that fall from my lips a though they lack the poetic fire ot W Shakespeare shall have tho value of coming straight from my heart It In the old old story of love I would tell you Hortense The lids dropped low over tho sweet eyes and growing bolder his hand elapsed within it tho delicate whlto palm Hortenso dear one dare I hope and he held the trembling hand closer The golden head bent forward His arm stole gently under the chiffon coat she had thrown over her shoulders shoul-ders and which fell In graceful folds to the hem of her skirt and in an ecstasy of first lovo she felt the pressure pres-sure of his clasp about her In a til lance that needs no words they sat unmindful un-mindful of the passing moments r It Is time to say adleux tho gue hare h-are departing The conservatory la already x al-ready deserted The voice canto from a group of men passing the door I She arose with a start and the rattle ol her jewels and passementerie nail crash of her fallen fan caused them 1 to stop nnd look within Her companion com-panion dropped instantly to till floor at her feet picking up the fallen articles ar-ticles The men looked at each other smiled and passed on ur As Romeo arose and banded bur handkerchief and fan to her bo whls pered Tomorrow love I shall speak with your father And she blushed nn assent J The Waring carriage was hardly In motion before thin man was speeding j back to Langhams apartments Ills t hand touched the button this time without fumbling Old boy If youre brisk you can catch the three oclock train Hut steady leave no track behind Romeos gorgeous costume was folded carefully and packed away Every article In the room was put just as it had been found Rearraycd In his own clothes the man picked up and resettled the loiter toMiss Waring tossing It Into the book that still lay r open and slapped the covers together Those my good friends must 150 with me and he hurriedly pocketed si i pair of knuckle nippers They have done a good nleco of work this night Then he delayed a moment to watch ndmlrlngly the famous Waring rope of pearls and diamonds us he slipped them through his fingers and chuckled In satisfaction when ho cameo came-o tho link that was cut In twain Tho apartment grew dark as lha electric button snapped Tho > door opened and closed and II mans Dame r 3 passed out into tLc tight f J |