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Show a dally Pftfr. and the. following; paragraph para-graph marked In violent pencil: ' 'The Rajublers' fa&cy-drosa ball tvjw a rrct.1 sucreas, and the prizes particularly1 lavish. 'Much originality original-ity was jktowa In the selection of cob-turn, cob-turn, and' the one which took tho ladle' flrat prlzo also took away one's breath. I "Mrs. Cuthbert Veene went as 'Mi and my Past,' and won a slxty-horso- power motor car. which valuable prlie bag been presented by the mal;er as , an advertisement. " Such was rlf printed Information la the newspapers, and on the margin bolow thein wcro thews penciled wordx : 6teprcd Into the hall than the parlor maid advanced with tbe Information that Mrs. Verne had received a wire asking her to go down at once to Ernberbrldge. Sbo had gone by the 5:J3 train, and she would return as early as possible tomorrow morning. Mr. Vcneo groanod. At Ernberbrldge lived a widowed sister, and with 1 nerves, who had lately contntctf-d the unploaslng habit of telegraphing for various members of the family whenever when-ever an incomprehensible pain suggested sug-gested Itself. A week later, when Mr. Veneo knew 1 himself to be a motorless man Spec- , tre could not be repaired without the , expenditure of ft sum which certainly tho worn-out "petrol pram" wasn't worth), he found one evening tho need of a leather strap for the purpose of securing a portmanteau full of business busi-ness papers. He rang the bell, ana Ridge the parlor par-lor maid, appeared. "I can't see my small leather strap that ono that used to hang 011 the cupboard door. Do you know where : It Is?" demanded the master of "Rose-land.V "Rose-land.V In the somewhat acidly chill tones. "No, sir, I don't," began Rldpe, when suddenly she Mopped and looked nearly Intelligent. "Yes, sir, I do," she added "Oh, you do! Well, where Is It?" "I'm afraid It hasn't come back, sir" "Back from where?" "I don't know, sir, 1 used It to fasten up the new spangle dress mistress mis-tress made and took with her In a cardboard box that night when you were out and she went to Ernberbrldge." Ernber-brldge." "All right, Ridge; thank you. That will do." When the parlor maid had departed, deceitful Mrs. Vecre's bigoted husband hus-band sat still and clinched his teeth Instead nf going down to Ember-bridge, Ember-bridge, Nancy bad posed as a "Columbine "Col-umbine Queen." to bo gazed upon by any Thomas. Richard or Harry, who could find a quarter for a back seat Precisely at 11 o'clock the next morning Cnthbert surveyed with a gloomy eye an omelette which he could not eat, for turbid thoughts had made lilm restless all night. "I must tell hc-r that. I know, and say that a Keparatlon Is the only" he mused, when suddenly these unhappy un-happy thoughts were Interrupted by a sound that brought passionate longing long-ing and regret to the muser's mind. "Teuf Teuf! Teul-' Mr. Veene left the omelette and darted to the window to find that exactly ex-actly outside his own gates was stationed sta-tioned a glorious new green and tan car! " At this juncture Ridge entered the room bearing a letter on a tray. "Pbaso, sir, mist reus told mo to give you this, she said vacantly. The ndsrlvo was mysterious Just a page torn from the current lesue of k SHOOT STORY Cuthbert Veene was a bigoted man. His wife acknowledged tills fact to herself, but denied It to her mother. It was absurd that his objection b) private theatricals should be so strenuous stren-uous and unfair as well, because if he ran his motoring hobby to death, It was only fair that Nancy should bo allowed to Indulge In her favorite paa-time paa-time of creating one-act comedy heroines he-roines And now there wore these tableaux vlvants, which the Bells were getting up on behalf of some obscure, but obliging charity. Would Cuthbert object ob-ject to her taking part In those? Nancy decided to broach the subject sub-ject on one particular Wednesday evenln, when they had Just returned frohi a ruu In the car. "You've been a bit quiet during the trip, my scarlet Plmpcrucl What's upl" Cuthbert inquired as they entered en-tered the house, making an effort at playful change of conversation ty using us-ing an Inapt pet name, which Mrs. Vcene's bright auburn hair had originated orig-inated "Thinking about my dress for the tableaux." replied Nancy boldly. "Tableaux? Tableaux wnat?" "Vivants, dear." Ch er " ' The Hells have written asking me to be the Columbine Queen' in a living liv-ing picture called 'Lliies and Tinsel.' " "I did not know," "Really I It'll be so Jolly, and I think the costumes all red, blue and green spangles will suit nie awfullv well." Cuthbert lit a cigar before he answered. an-swered. "t will not suit you, my dear, because be-cause you won't wear It. Write at once and informe the Bolls that If tliero Is one Ui1n6 to which I object more than private theatricals it is living liv-ing pictures; therefore you will not be able to pose as a Columbine queen! Pah! Do they Imagine for a moment that I shall permit my wire to stand still In spangles to bo looked at by any cad who can pay a quarter. "Write at onco. dear, and dK:llne," Naucy pouted, and au ostr?ngeruent sprang up lu the house of Vccne an estrangement which, so far as Cuthbert Cuth-bert was concerned, wa3 not entirely unmixed with suspicion. He Knew that Nancy Imd, aeenrdinf; to ord'-ra. declined to take part In the tableaux but he couldn't quite understand under-stand that spangle. It was a red spantfle, and he saw It lying on Vhc mat ouUli!e tho door of his wife's tiny sitting room "You're busy, arn you not?" he Inquired In-quired ono evening, atler returning from a more than usually unsatisfactory unsatisfac-tory run In his old motor car. "Busy er er?" responded Nancy, vaguely; but, despite the vagueness, her cheek grew pink. "Yes! I've found a lot of these thing sail over the place; I know they aro sewn on something somehow." And here the four incriminating spangles span-gles were laid on the table. Mrs. Veene stooped down abruptly to pick up Bomethhig which wasn't there, and when sho got up her face wa9 flushed by exertion. "What were ou snying? Oh, yes spangles! You'd never relieve what quantities ore required to ctvcr a tea cosy. A nice wedding present, thoiik'h. a spangled tea cosy! Oh, no! I can't show it to you. If It's a success when it's llnl6hed. then you shall see but not now. It mayn't come off, and it's always a pltty to display possible failures. fail-ures. In exactly a month's time the Hells' entertainment would take place. By dint of subtle Investigation. Mr. Veene discovered this fact, so now he intended to He low and watcn for two or three weeks before taking any definite defi-nite UR'Hsure They were awkward weeks, and Is It, as more or less embarrassing to spend many tete-a-tete hours with a secretly antagonistic and plotting companion. Cuthbert took longer and longer mn's In the "Spectre," till ono particularly muddy day th over-worked little "petrol pram" broke down In the middle of a lonely country road, nnd refused to bndgo another Inch. It would be harrowing to relate how the motorist was forced to tramp In 6earch of a farruor who would lend country horses at town price to drag the surly little car to a , woodshed; PAd to tell howr after thre and a half miles' walk, through the rain to the nearest station, he found th train had gone, and that there would not bo another for an hour and a quarter. it is enough to say that when Cuthbert Cuth-bert at last reAched hh own detached residence a great longing for wtfelr tendemess and sympathy throbUd within his breast. But hl perfectly legitimate com-fort com-fort was denied to the bigoted motorist, motor-ist, for no sooner had his muddy feet |