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Show let me come over some evening1 acid vrntch a came?" Isabel beamed at him, her eyes bright !(h friendliness and pteasure in his companionship. "Ho come," she said. "Come to our next seventeenth birthday party tomorrow to-morrow night." . tleorge was booked for the Gaynors" dance the next night and Diana knew it. It was rather mutually understood i hat he was to claim her for at least five dances out of every ten. His reply to Isabel Townley was as unprintable un-printable as it was unexpected. "Come, of course, I'll come. Will you have a birthday cake?" 'Vis, Indeed," laughed Isabel, radian:. radi-an:. "In your honor, with seventeen cand.'os on It." She rose to go and for the first time in her life addressed Margaret Ellis without awkwardness or self-consciousness. self-consciousness. "I've had sech a nice time." she said. "God-by" and to Diana "so glad to have seen you again." Like an echo came lieorge Forrest's voice after hers. "(it od-by." he was saying, "I've hnd a perfectly bully time." And to-other the best-known flirt In New York ;md the gill whose skirt was too I ng and who was about as modern as the mid-Victorians left Margr-f Kills' home. "Well, -.lint do you think of that?" gjv "Tt Maivarot, as she and Diana fun;. J themselves alone and beauless. "He really r-enned to like her!" Diana didn't say a word as she threw her ha'f-finlshed cigarette Into the fire and lit another. You Just Can't l ! Always Tell By MARY MORRISON 121, by McClur Newspaper Syndicate.) "Who's coming?" asked George Forrest For-rest as he glanced at the fourth teacup. tea-cup. Margaret Ellis and Diana laughed. "Don't grow excited, George," said Diana, "she Isn't your style at all ; looks like the outskirts of the smallest town In the smallest state in the Union. She is so embarrassed If a man speaks to her that she Is apt to fall into her teacup ; she Is the one woman in the world I could swear has never had a love affair." Margaret here added her voice to 'the description. "She blushes in hor-Hd hor-Hd red spots, too. I'm afraid you Avon't be at all intrigued, my dear. I had to ask her because she's Aunt iSarah's adopted daughter and Aunt Sarah stands for all the riches of Croesus." George Forrest smiled urbanely. Urbanity was one of his strongest points. Hut he thought to himself: j "May the good Lord protect me from society cats like these! For real humanity hu-manity give me a nice, kind bush-bman bush-bman of South Africa or an hospitable South Sea Islander. I'm going to imake myself so agreeable to this maiden who blushes in spots and looks like Pokeville, Delaware, thai (Ivy never can say no one ever fTCed with her, at any rate." i The doorbell rang at '! moment and into the room came the irl. Her skirt was too long, her ears showed, her lips were not scarlet but natural all this George ti ok in at a glance. And she seemed far from her ease when she greeted Diana and Margaret Ellis. As had been predicted, she blushed violently, and becomingly, when D'ana offered her a cigarette. Diana v-'n'-pd at George, and George noticed that Miss Townley saw the wink and that she turned her face away as if to hide the hurt expression expres-sion that spread over it. "Good for you, Miss To'vnley," said he, drawing his chair close to hers and putting into his gaze the intensity and "for you alone" look wlrch had made him famous as the best little lady killer In New York. "Whv women wom-en think It Is cute to have a cigarette dangling from their mouths e-ery minute min-ute in the day, I can't see. I am glad to meet a modern girl who can refuse one." "But I am not a modern girl. I'm afraid," faltered Miss Townley. T'" re was something very appealing nboit her, and her eyes really were rtler beautiful when she looked straight at one. George began to find the gaute interesting and It pleased his sc-"-of justice to see Margaret Ellis and Diana fall back in their seats in he;p-less he;p-less amazement. "Better and better," smiled he at her quite unnecessary admission; "If you tell me you don't 'toddle' I'll want to kiss your hand." "I don't." laughed the girl. And when George put his words In action she blushed again, only not unbecomingly unbecom-ingly this time. Margaret Ellis smiled somewhat frigidly as she watched the scene. "Don't let Mr. Forrest deceive you, Isabel," she put in. "You can't believe one word he says, you know. He's Ananias and Sapphlra rolled into one the truth Isn't in him." Isabel Townley looked quite seriously serious-ly at Forrest and then back1 again at Margaret. "Well, as our old gardener up in the country used to say, 'You can't always he pleasant and truthful at the same time.' And he is awfully pleasant, isn't lie?" George Forrest laughed with a spontaneous spon-taneous ring to his voice that was not usually heard In the drawing rooms he frequented. The girl was great she wasn't dull and she was so absolutely abso-lutely naive. " 'You've said a mouthful, queen.' " he quoted as he took her empty cup and put It down on the table. ' "If you don't toddle and you don't smoke, what do you do all day?" asked Diana. She thought she'd better make some effort to be agreeable as long as George Forrest was leading the way. She did wish, though, Margaret had not asked Isabel today of all days. She wanted Forrest's attentions herself. her-self. i "Oh, I'm quite busy with the housekeeping house-keeping In the morning ordering and !nll that and In the afternoon mother and I always go some place together, driving or to the theater or opera, and 'in the evening I play chess with father. fa-ther. We're chess fans, father and I," she said, looking at Forrest, i "Jove! that's great!" he exclaimed, real enthusiasm In his voice. "It's the best game going. We have a chess team over at the club and play wildly every Monday night." Again George and Isabel were, conversationally, alone in the field. "How splendid ! Father taught me to play when I was only eight years old, nnd ever since we've been the greatest pals. When two people sit opposite each other at a chessboard, somehow It makes a difference in age. or In upbringing, or In anything else, just disappear, don't you think? Mother Moth-er says dad and I are. both of us. just celebrating our seventeenth birthday when we are at It!" Why was It. she Wondered, that this good-looking man didn't frighten her or make her self-ronscious? self-ronscious? It must be because they both liked chess! "I say, It must be great to see you." wild George "I don't suppose you'd |