OCR Text |
Show I Extenuating I I j Circumstances r H j A Christmas Story L H li By ANDREW D. GRANGE. H 41 1 1 1 H ,M-FrreTrW-rFfr;i-fTrr H (CopjrlgM, IWJ.bjr WrlKht h I'allrnan.) BlH H ii"it T wns ll" Hupardonnblo llbor- j 'J J ty," said Kitty. H Cil ..T1)0 lomiitntlon " 1 began. H Slio out mo shoit with nn angry lit- 1 111! H "That linn nothing whatever to do W with It," she remarked Icily. B "On thu conlrarj," Bald 1, "It pal- H llatos thu offense, If It duos not ulto- gcther excuse It. Lot us consider the H ' facts of the case. You woro spending M Christmas with )uur mint, Mrs. Glen H torrldon, In the- country. One ovenlnK. H ns j on wcro passing along n darkenod H corridor, nn Hip way to your room, H youjnet a curtain gontlomnn " H "Ho wiiHii't a gentleman," hIio inter,- H posed qulckl. H "Oh!" I exclaimed. "'I cortalnty H thought that your nunl'H guests" H "lie wasn't n true gentleman," she H added disdainfully, "or ho wouldn't 9 have acted us ho did " H "A discourteous i;onllomnn, then H who taking advantage; of I ho darkness, H deliberately kissed you upon " H "Don't ho ridiculous!" slio snapped. H "I naked you to help me." H "I am undenvorlng to do no," said I H "Than do It properly'" I nsnumed H an air of profound gravity Kitty re- H gardrd mo thoughtfully out of a cor- H nor of her deep hluo cyo. "Von see." H she continued, "I don't know who it H was and well, you know. It makes H it rather awkwnrd for mo." H. "Didn't you seo his face?" I asked. H "No," she answered. "Ho came up H liohlnd, nnd and It was all ovnr In' H n Bocond." Slio shuddered prettily "It H was quite dark," she added, "and I H j ?333K5 M Deliberately Kitted You. H only saw his shlrtfront. Ho wns In H evening dress, you know." H "Hut woro there no distinguishing H features, such as a shirt stud, or a H moustache?" I suggested. H "Oh, yes!" slio respondod quickly, B "ho had n moustache; and I think he H was tall, bocauso ho had to bond down B when when ho did It. His shirt stud SB was a plain gold one, I believe." Hi "Well," said I, "how many tall men HJ wero there In tho party who possessed J moustaches and plain gold shirt j studs?" HJ "Let mo seo," she mused; "thcio H was Capt, Jaok Hat land, Mr. , Porter, Hi nnd your nephew Jack " ' Hi "Jack," I Raid, "Is quite cnpablo of Hi behaving In such n disgraceful man W "Yes," sho assented, almost cheer- HJ fully; "but I don't think It was Jack, HJ At loast," Bhe added with n bright HJ smllo, "I want you to bo a dear old HJ I meun, a good, kind-hearted person, H and And out for mo" HJ "It shalt bo done!" I ciled, rising HJ both to tho occasion nnd to take my H HJ It is ono thing to niako a promts HJ In all tho glow of n generous moment, HJ and another thing to keep It In tho HJ cold, practical light of after reasoning. HE However, I did tho best that I could. H In tho first place I wrote to Jack, who H waB then at Harvard, and, without dl- HJ vulglng the source of my luformatlonr j stated briefly what had come to my HI knowledge, and asked him if ha could J throw nny light on tho matter It was H somo two or three days before I re-Hj re-Hj eelved his reply which was character-HJ character-HJ Istlcally brief and ran: HJ "Dearost Uncle: I received your HJ letter containing a vivid description HJt of what you term the 'shameful out-Hi out-Hi rnge.' Now, I don't mind confessing HJ to you that I am tho culprit, because Hj you have been young yourself (once),' HJ and know that tho path of jouth Is HJ strewn, etc. Hosldos, thorn wero ex-HjF ex-HjF teuuatlng circumstances lu this cuso, B Like the decent old sort you are, make Mj It right for mo with the Kirl, and for Hj ever earn the gratitude of, Your affne-Hj affne-Hj tionate nephew, Jack Owen. HI "P. S. I don't know thut I wouldn't Hf do it again If I got the chance " B I folded the letter and sat In my Hn armchair, staring savagely at ths fire. HJ Here had I got myself Into no end of HJh a mess, and most probably lost two H good friends, at Isast, not to mention Hf: making myself ultorly ridiculous, over K ' Uili confounded business, and.RJI (lit I Hp " ' ' I flme I ml'rht havi- guojsed who was j ! tho rctl offender I wished now Hint I had vailed boforo castlne giuplc.ons I upon the hospllablo captain nnd tue Influential Mr. Porter, both of Whom would doubtloss cut mo dead In the future. Hut, nlas! nhon a man Is In my condition, ho Suddenly an Idea occurred to mo. ill. Miss Malnwarlng wai" at hpirt I made my w ty up to the' dainty- blue, and -white shrlno In which Kitty ro-coUed ro-coUed her. most dovotvd worshippers. "Ah," sho exclaimed, running to meet mo, "I am glad you have come!" "Nol moic ho than Ln:n." I rojilled, pressing hor hand warmly. "Oh, heaps!" sho said gaily. "1 am Just dying to hear tho news, llavo jou dlscovcicd anything?" ' "I have," said I, taking n soat by tho tc.itaulc. "I havo discovered ev orythlng." Sho clapped hor hands delightedly. "You dear old thing!" Bho cried. "I know you would. Who wns It?" "It uas that misguided nophew of mine," I announced gloomily. For a moment I thouuht she wn going to go up and dauco lonnd tho room. Then suddenly' nho beramo grave,- and tho light died out of hor cyus. "Oh!" sho remarked, "It was Jack, was it?" "Yes," said I. "It was Jack." She poured out a cup of tea and passed It to me, keeping hor eyes fixed on tho tea-cosy tho while. Then wo talked about oilier matters until It was tlmo for mo to Kb. "Ooodhjp," she said; "and thank you for tnklng so much trouble " "It was no trouble," I assuied hor. One must do the polite thing, you know, at nny cost, "I can only hope," I continued, "thnl In lime you will bo able to forgive my nephew for such an act of gross 1m-portlnenco," 1m-portlnenco," . rt "Ab, yes!" she answered" warmly. "I think jes, 1 nm really very glad It wns Jack." "Oh!" I ejnculoted sharply "Rather than one of tho others," sho roncludivl hastily. IV. I wandered disconsolately In a loss-frequented loss-frequented pait of the aventto trvlng, to think things out It was now close upon a month since niv last telen tote, with Kltty.'nAd during (hat time 1 hnd never onco been ablo to catch her alone. Indeed, on most of the occasions occa-sions when I called she was out. a ploce of bad luck I had not hitherto been accustpraed to; and when I did find her In, she was either surrounded by friends, or engaged In elaborate sewing operations which necessitated the constant attendance of her maid Onc or twice, too, I caught sight of Master Jack In town, when by the calendar he ought to ha,ve h?en pursu Ing his studies; and the clrcumstrinco coupled with his obvious anxiety tc avoid mo, filled my mind with a vague foreboding "What the deuce does It mean?" I asked raysolf, as I strodo nlong with oyca thoughtfully bent upon the ground, regardless alike of passers by nnd tho people who would have passed by had I not collided with thorn. I cannoned off an eminent dfgnltary of tho church, and ran full tlt ajtnlnst a smartly dressed couple who were, dodging round the episcopal bnck. (1 could only see the billowy edRlng ol a dainty skirt and what not above a still daintier, ankle, and the bottoms of a pair of Immaculate! creasod trou sers ) My murmured apology was cut excessively short as I raised my hat and my eyes at the same time. It waB Jock and Kitty, looking very spic and span, and no little pleased with themselves. them-selves. "Eh? What'" I gasped, taken somewhat some-what aback Kitty's smile was as the wine of Oporto In Its Intoxicating sweetness "Oh." she cried, "It Is Mr. Walker!" "It Is," said, I, frowning at her levity. I was feeling In no particularly light mood myself Just then. s -1 Sho prmtod and turned to her companion. com-panion. "Don't rou think, Jack." sKe said, "you ought to tell your uuelo about about It?" "Certainly," responded, that young hopeful. "You will, my dear uncle, bo delighted to learn that I have Just ob-talned ob-talned Mrs. Malnwarliig's consent to my engagement with Kitty hero" "Hum ah exceedingly delighted pray accpt my congratulations," I stammered. "Thanks'" said Jack. "I thought you would be pleased." The young vagabond actually winked as he said this "Ah, yes of course." said I. with a futile attempt at dignity "Kitty Is a charming that Is, you will both beer be-er very happy." . "We mean to bo." he asserted stout ly "Don't we, little woman?'" "Yes." she whinnered thr'tlr" i,. Ing his arm with her daintily gloved hand Irony of Ironies! I ha,d bought those gloves' "I'll look you up this evening at your dub," said Jack, making as 7f to movo on. "Yes lo,'.sald I . . . , They departed In a blustwing Bale of laughter, two young, handsarae, perfectly per-fectly m'ited creatures, and l-A I Jammed my hat firmly dow'n upon my head, and walked away as If the love affairs of a mere boy and girl could have no Interest for a confirmed old bachelor of something and forty. Kitty and I aro the best of friends still She Is Mrs Owen now, and does not seem at all to regret having thrown herself away upon a worthless young scamp like Jack She actually adores the fellow, and has forgiven him his outrageous treatment of hv, even though the only "oxtonuatlng ejr-eumstance" ejr-eumstance" was a bunch of mlbtlete! Out then, women are like that hum-bugs, hum-bugs, yos, humbugs, i call 'em I |