Show oo Q7 f JQ a t e 6JCJt I BrB 7C rnnnvrlaM 1306 liv Dolly Story Tllli Fa1 lire J Arthur Smylho was easily tho lender of Huntingdon Four Hundred Hun-dred Sho hnd established her right to tho title on a hundred battlefields and whllo certain captious mild ills fmtlsned porsons ntlll persisted In referring re-ferring to tho origin of her appear unco In tho social whirl all micli captious cap-tious critics found themselves most embarrassingly placed and Invariably became exceeding sorry that they had spoken In vain was It that those enemies of t Urn Smytho or thoso opposed to her sway recalled that after all sho was only tho wife of old Jnko Smith und that tho foundation of Jakes fortune was laid In tho tavern down on tho crossroads In vain was It that her opponents pointed out that tho origin t of tho fair Mrs Smytho herself was clouded In rumor and surmise For after all question and rumor and surmise sur-mise had dono their worst tho great fact remained that old Jake had made e his millions and had left thorn to his charming widow Also wan It true and evident that whatover her origin t Mrs Smytho was n woman of most conspicuous talent nnd charm and her executive nblllty wan such that nil tho i other daughters of Eve In tho town of Huntingdon had reason to fear and respect re-spect her In vain was It to Inquire how tho good honest old tmrno of Jnko Smith hUll developed Into J Arthur Smythc Thoso who had Inquired had found out even unto tho fullness of their several desire and never inquired In-quired again Her parties wore charming So delightful de-lightful was bur tact nail so great her v resources that everybody was glad togo to-go They always were entertained perfectly and moreover they always heard the very latest bit of gossip and were Initiated into the very latest social j S so-cial fad Hence It was that on a certain cer-tain evening lUcharll f Sherry found himself bowing over her fair hand In tho Smytho drawing rooms room-s Why Mr Sherry this Is a compliment i compli-ment Indeod exclaimed tho hostess To bogullo a recluse nnd a woman hater from his lair Is a feat Indeed t The party Is assuredly a success Tho man smiled gravely Ono Is always suro to bo brightened r bright-ened up and have ones wits sharpened I sharp-ened hero Mrs Smytho ho said What is It to bo tonight theosophy a now nrtlst n musical prodigy vnudo vlllo or a literary lion A poor guess sho responded brightly What would you say to palmistry Palmistry ho repeated Ah I BOO Dark oyetl gypsy girl and all 1 1 that thatStill Still wrong sho replied Ivo found such a darling Do you romom bar tho Raymonds who used to llvo 1 hero and moved south or somewhere flvo years ago Yes I thought sou t n know them Well Dr Raymond lost lJa his fortune and died and Mrs Hay 1 mond and her daughter nro back hero t again trying to support themselves w Tho girl has developed a perfect genius gen-ius for palmistry nnd docs qulto a bit along that line I have engaged her to coma hero tonight and read palms Ho did not answer Ills eyes wero far away and tho hostess thinking he was bored with tho conversation em I t i I I II I l 11f1 I Alone with his thoughts changed tho subject and passed him along to tho bevy of pretty girls always al-ways to bo found at her right hand Ho soon made his escape however and passed into tho conservatory whore ho could struggle alono with his thoughts Remember Florence Raymond What else indeed had ho been doing for tho past live years since ho had thrown himself at her feet and asked her to be his wife It had been tho one great passion of his life and ho h4 always felt sure that aim returned iP Y i F t his love but sho had felt It her duty to rcunnln with her father In his mill fortune and had resolutely refused to parfait an engagement or even an tin Icrstnndlng remarking that It would bo unfair to spoil his llfo by holding out a hopo which probably never would bo fulfilled and would further keep her mind In n state of dlstrac Ion Sherry hall taken It hard and 1 abandoned society for business and hooks Tho shock ho received at Mrs Smylhos disclosure that Florence was to bo there and In such n role was so voro and brought back a flood of memories mem-ories Ills roverlo was cut short by Mrs r a 1 4 tV IB i II it 1 r Q Gazed upon the woman of his dreams Smytho who discovered him in the conservatory Como come this will never do sho cried tapping him with her tan Wlion tho hermit comes to Rome ho must do us the Romans do Come and have your hand read Unresisting ho followed her to the library where tho entertainer was reading tho palms of all comers I kayo found a splendid subject said Mrs Smythc triumphantly Hero is tho enigma of tho town Wo want to know why so fascinating a man shquld bo a recluse and a woman hater Wo want also to know his fate his love affairs past and present Sherry gazed upon the woman of his dreams and she looked up straight Into In-to his eyes grave and unresponsive Sho was not a guest and knew her place Ho also knew his But ho was startled at bet unchangeable beauty The years seamed not to have told at all upon her Indeed In tho short gypsy skirt and with her hair down toer back sho seemed younger than he had over seen her And yet there was an Indefinable something In her eyes which made her seem more mature mud womnnly somethfHgns1Jhough a great sorrow had chastened ltriy Ho placed his hands indoors She followed tho lines Intently looked at tho lingers anti gcneral sunpo of the i hands iou win live to nvcry old nger sho said I do not see much sickness sick-ness past or future Your head Is exceptionally ex-ceptionally strong No mental trouble trou-ble will overcome you You are Intellectual In-tellectual fairly artistic and a moneymaker money-maker And his heart put In Miys Sin the His heart Is wall under control but he Is capable of a great and abiding love for a woman Is his passion passed or to como relentlessly pursued Mrs Smytho I see a strong lino about tho age of 30 said tho girl slowly and very low It seems to bo cut and barred It looks like some obstacle And tho future Insisted Mrs Smytho Tho girl looked long and earnestly Sho was breathing a trifle taster and tho color had como Into her taco I cannot BOO tho future sho said anti then dropped his hand I with n ges turo of exhaustion I am very tired Mrs Smythc nnd really must beg to bo excused from any moro work tonight to-night lima crowd drifts back Into the drawing room and tho palmist slips Into tho conservatory Sherry follows her unobserved After a time they reappear re-appear in tho drawing room whore Mrs Smytho Is receiving tho congratu latlons of her last departing guests Mrs Smythc said Sherry I will finish tho rending of my own palm Tho barrier has been removed and tho one great passion of my life for the ono woman in tho world Is to bo re allzed Mrs Smythe permit mo to present tho future Mrs Sherry and to thank you for tho happiest evening In my life And Mrs limytho catching the dl ino light in both their eyes remarks tactfully I think I may call this party my greatest social triumph It certainly was much talked about |