Show f 81 8 1 r i wa occa IS ll 11 ac I 1 acy u K nj co r SYNOPSIS T aleut leut etiny mallory la ordered to the me and Is eft ton to elope but wreck ot taxicab pre vents their fx elna minister on the way to 14 mriln transcontinental train la tak ins on pas I 1 orter haa a lively lime with an and ira lath r a 1 business man the elopers have an exciting alroe to the train little eginton eH inton bound fi reno to set a divorce boards train af in condition later mra i appears sl e Is also bound or ilano with y t likewise mrs simmy ehlt I altar blimes mrs or her troubles classmates of mat lory decorate bridal berth rev and mrs start on a ta catlon they decide to cut loose and temple removes evidence at lila calling marjoree Marj orle decider to let t proceed alone but train starts ln iha arp lost in farewell farea elL jasien COM join classmates in riving aile wed ling marjoree Marj orle Is als r rai tl ira lathrop woman fr ta belor discovers an old sweetheart ame gattle ft fellow ital liry almly hunts for a preacher among af 1 the passengers 1 CHAPTER XIII hostilities begin during SIal lorys absence bad laet ath a little adventure ot her on ira lathrop finished his re with anne cattle shortly after mallory set 0 t stalking clergymen in the contusion 0 t arding bis one romantic name still J A i plowing on a vestal altar and of I 1 her with an escape or pro farlay he backed away from her pres ei ce ind ank into his own berth L ie realized realised reali sed that he was not alone somebody wa alongside he turned 0 o tand the great tear spent ees ot staring at aln he rose a recrudescence 0 his woman lilting wrath and dashing up the talsie found the porter just returning from the car lie seized the blaas factotum and growled siy porter there s a woman in adv berth the porter chuckled incredulous woman in 50 berth Us get her out acsah as sah the porter nodded and on marjorie with a gentle scaife e missus yo berth Is num la one don t care snapped marjoree Marj orle 1 I wont tae it hut this un belongs to that gentle ran he can haie mine ours air mal lory s cried marjoree Marj orle pointing to the white rib boned tent in the farther and of the car rhen she gripped the arms of the seat aa it defying evac alon the porter stared at her in helpless hel chagrin then he shuttled back and murmured 1 reckon betta put her out lathrop withered the coward one contemptuous look and strode down ehg aisle with a determined gramness he took his ticket from bis pocket as a clinching proof of his title and thrust it out at Alar lorie bhe gave it one indifferent glance and then her aies and mouth puckered as it she had munched a green inon and a long low wall like a als aalt engine whistle stole from her lips iri lthrop stared at ner in mank wrath doddered irresolutely and roared aeb let her have it the porter smiled triumphantly and eald she says you kin have her berth he pointed at the bridal arbor lathrop almost exploded at tho ya idea dav he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to see little well ington emerging from bis berth with en enormous smile bay pop have ou seen lovely V ice trap stick around till she hops dut lathrop flung away to the x smoking room little turned to the jovial negro porter porter lm right by you 1 what atme d you say we get to ileno lawnin law of the to th day bah well call me just before we roll in and he rolled in his last words down the aisle and met little jimmie wellington just return ing from the omen s bloom where she hid sought nepenthe in more than one of cpr exquisite little cigars 1 he familiar voice bibulous smote her car with amazement bhe beckoned the porter to her anxiously porter portera 1 do ou know the nans of the man who just nur ried in no ro eald the porter 1 I reckon he s so broken up he aln t got any name left i it coutan t be mrs mused things can be sometimes said the porter you may make up my berth now said mrs wellington forgetting that anne battle was still there mm elK hastened to apologize and hor to stay but the inato to tw away from the als atmosphere of divorce abe was dreaming already with her eyes open and she sank 1 to number six li H lotus cater a ravert mrs wellington gathered certain things together end took up her hand big to to the women s koom just as mrs hlf comb came forth from the curtains of her own berth where she had made certain prelim to disrobing dis and put on a light decidedly negligee negligee the two women collided in the aisle whirled on one another as worn an do when they joe recognized each other alth wild stares of amazement set their teeth and made a simultaneous dash along the corridor shoulder wrestling with shoulder they reached the door barked omen at tho same instant and as neither would have dreamed of offer ing the other a courtesy they squeezed through together la a kil kenny jumble CHAPTER xay iriti dormitory on wheels of all the shocking institutions in human history the sleeping car Is the most shocking or would be it we v ere not so used to it there can be no doubt that we are the most moral nation on earth for we admit it our selves perhaps we prove it too by the arcadian prosperity of these two story hotels on wheels where miscellaneous cel travelers dwell in corn promiscuity and sleep almost aldei by side in apartments or corn apartments part ments separated only by a plank and a curtain and guarded only by one sleepy negro after the fashion of tho country whose inhabitants earned a meager sustenance by taking in each others washing so in sleeping car nathla we attain a meager respectability by ever body a chaperoning chape roning everybody else so indeed are our notions once we are aboard a train that the staterooms state rooms alone are regard ed with suspicion we question the motives of those who must have a room to themselves a room with a real door that locks and now on this sleeping car pret illy named snowdrop scenes w ere enacting that would have thrown our great grandmothers into fits scenes which if we found them in france or japan we should view with alarm as almost unmentionable evidence of the moral obliquity of those nations but this was our own country the part of it which admits that H Is the best part the mora lest part the staunch middle west this was yet dozens of cars were behold ing similar Immodest ies in illinois and all over the map thou sands of people in hundreds of cars were permitting total strangers to view preparations which have always hitherto been reserved tor the most intimate and legalized relations the porter was deftly transforming the day coach into narrow lane en surrounded by draperies behind most of the port leres fluttering in the breeze and perilously following the hasty passer by homely of flees were being enacted the of this little town was going to bed the porter was putting them to sleep as it they were children in a nursery and he a black mammy the frail walls of little sanctums sanc tums were bulging with the bodies of people disrobing dis in the aisle with noth ing between them and the beholders eye but a clinging curtain that ex what it did not reveal from apertures aper tures here and there disembodied fee webe protruding and mysterious hands were removing shoes and other things women in risky attire were ecott ing to one end of the car and men in shirt bledes Ble ees or less were hastening to the other when mallory returned to the snowdrop bis ear was greeted by the thud of dropping shoes lie found marjoree Marj orle being rapidly immured like foes prisoner in a jail of closing walls she waa unspeakably ill at ease and by the arony of custom the one person on whom she depended for protection was the one person whose contiguity was most alarming and all for lacet of a brief with a clergyman as the quid malloris Mal lorys careworn face appeared round the edge of the partition now erected between her and the abode of dr and mrs temple mar borle shivered anew am asked with all anxiety did you find a minister perhaps the recording angel overlooked malloris Mal lorys answer not a damn minister when be dropped at marjoree Marj orle s side she edged away from him pleading oh what shall we doa he answered dismally and binef well have to go on pretending to be just friends but everybody thinks we re married chats BO he admitted with the imbecility ot fatigued hope I 1 hey sat a while listening to the porter slipping sheets into place and thumping pillows into cases a few doors down the street ha would be ready tor them at any moment something must be done but what whit CHAPTER XV A premature divorce suddenly marjories heart gave a eap of joy she was having another idea I 1 II 11 tell you harry we 11 pretend to quarrel and then and then you can leave me in high dudgeon 1 the ruse struck him as a trine un poat you think it looks kind of improbable on on suan an occasion marjoree Marj orle blushed and lowered tier ayea and her voice can you sug gest anything bf etter no but then we 11 have to quarrel darl ing he yielded for lack of a better idea all right beloved how shall we begin on close approach the idea did seem rather to her how could I 1 ever quarrel with you my love she coded cooed he gazed at her with a rush ox lovely tenderness and how could 1 ever speak crossly to youa we never shall have a harsh word shall we she resolved irever he seconded so that resolution passed the housa they held hands in luxury a while then she began again we must pretend you start it love ko you start it he pleaded tiou ot to ehe beamed you cot me into this mess the word slipped out mallory started mess how is it my fault good lord are you going to begin chucking it upa well ou must admit darling Marj orlo urged that auve bungled everything pretty badly it was BO undeniable that be could only groan and I 1 suppose hear of this till my dying day dearest marjoree Marj orle had a little temper all her own so she defended it it you are so afraid of my temper love perhaps better call it all off before its too late 1 I say anything about your temper sweetheart mallory insisted you did too honey you said I 1 d chuck this up till your dying day As if I 1 had such a disposition you can stay here she rose to her feet he pressed her back with a decisive motion and demanded where are you going up in the baggage car with she sniffled hes the only one that doean doesn t find fault with me mallory was stung to action by this crisis walt be said he leaned out and motioned down the talley porter walt a moment darling porter the porter arrived with a halt fold ed blanket in his hands and his usual bassah Yas sah beckoning him closer mallory mum bled in a low tone Is there an ex tra berth on this car the porters eyes seemed to rebuke his ears does you want this upper made upa no of course not ex excuse me I 1 thought don t you dare to think mallory thundered isn t there another low er berth the porter breathed hard and gave this bridal couple up as a riddle that followed DO known rules he bent to find the sleeping car conductor and returned with the information that the showed nobody assigned to number three then take number three said mallory poking money at the porter and still the porter could not under isow lemme onder stan you all he stammered does you both move over to anumba numba three or does yo yo lady remain heah while jest you pre ambulates ambula tes just I 1 you black hound mallory answered in a threatening tone the porter could understand that at least and ho bristled ariy with a meek dessah three Is yours sah the troubled features of the bat fled porter cleared up as by magic when ho arrived at number three tor there be his tyrant and tor mentor the english invader he remembered how indignantly mr wedgewood had refused to show hia ticket how cocksure he was of his number how he had leased the porter s services as a sort of private nurse and bad paid no advance roy aleles TO BE |