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Show I li laree Men anoiaMaicl j j Bij P. Q. 1DODEROUSE 1 S Copyright by George H. Doran Co. H "daicH-iBmrer.irer'-Mr G .3 "ALPHONSO." Mrs. Horace Hlgrnett, world-famous world-famous writer on theosophy. author au-thor of "The Spreading Light," etc., etc. arrives In New York on a lecturing tour. Eustace, her son. is with her. Windles, ancestral ances-tral home of the Hijrnetts. is his, so her life is largely devoted to keeping- him unmarried. Enter her nephew. Sam. son of Sir Mal-laby Mal-laby Marlowe, the eminent London Lon-don lawyer. It is arranged that ' Sam and Eustace shall sail to- . , gether on the Atlantic the next, day. Enter Bream Mortimer. American, son of a friend of an ' insufferable American named Bennett, who has been pestering , Mrs. Hignett to lease Windles. Bream Informs her that YVil-helmtna YVil-helmtna Bennett is waiting for Eustace at the Little Church Round the Corner. Fream him- . self is in love with Wi'.helmlna. Mrs. Hignett marches off to Eustace's Eus-tace's room. The scene shifts ' to the Atlantic at her pier. Sam. , heading for the gangplank, meets , i a. glorious, red-headed girl, with whom he instantly f3lls In love, though her doer bites him. Eustace Eus-tace appears, heart-broken. It , , appears that his mother had "pinched his trousers" and de- -laved the ceremony, whereupon Wllhelmina had declared the wedding wed-ding off. Earn is pushed overboard, over-board, has a desperate struggle in tht water with another swim- -mer and rejoins the Atlantic at 1 quarantine. The red-headed girl is Wllhelmina Bennett "Billie." She hails Sam as a hero and Introduces In-troduces Bream. C"" ' CHAPTER III Continued. 5 "Any special poet?" "Well, she seemed to like my stuff. You never read my sonnet-sequence on spring, did you?" "No. What other poets did she Uke besides you?" "Tennyson principally," said Eustace Eus-tace Hijrnett with a reminiscent quiver in his voice. "The hours we have spent together reading the 'Idylls of the King :' " "The which of what?" inquired Sam, taking a pencil frum his pocket and shooting out a cuff. "'The Idylls of the King.' My good man, I know you have a soul which would be considered inadequate by a common earthworm, but you have surely heard of Tennyson's 'Idylls of the King " "Oh, those! Why, my dear old chap; Tennyson's 'Idylls of the King!' Well, I should say! Have I heard of Tennyson's Ten-nyson's 'Idylls of the Kingr Well, really! I suppose you haven't a copy with you on board by any chance?" "There is a copy in my kit-bag. The very one we used to read together. Take It and keep it or throw It overboard. over-board. I don't want to see it again." Sam prospected among the shirts, collars and trousers in the bag and presently came upon a morocco-bound volume. lie laid It beside him on the lounge. "Little by little, bit by bit." he said. " am beginning to form a sort of picture pic-ture of tills girl, this what was hf-r name again? Ii-nnett this Miss Bennett- You have a wonderful knack of description. You make her seem so real and vivid. Tell me some more about her. She wasn't keen on golf, by any change, I suppose?" "I believe she did play. The subject carne up once and she seemed rather enthusiastic. Why?" "Well, I'd much sooner talk to a girl about golf than pietry." "You are hardly likely to be In a position to talk to Wllhelmina I'.ennett about either, I should Imagine." "No. there's that, of course. I was thinking of girls In general. Some girls bar golf, and then it's rather difficult to know how to start conversation, fiut, tell me, were there any topics which got on Miss Bennett's nerves. If you know what I rnenn? It seems to me that at one time or another you may have said something that offended her. I mean, it seems curious that she uliould have broken off the engagemint If you had never disagreed or quarreled quar-reled about anything." "Well, of course, there was always the matter of that dog of hers. She had a dog, you know, a snappy brute of a Pekingese. If there was ever any nhadow of disagreement between us, It bad to do with that dog. I made rather a point of It that I would not have It ahoiit the home lifter we were married." mar-ried." "I ti!" said Sam. lie shot his cuff on''ff more and wrote on it: "I'og-ron- rlllafe.' "Yes, of course, that must have woui.ded her." "Not half so much as he wounded me! lie pinned me by the atikle the flay before we Wllheimlna and I, I me:in vere to have been married. It Is some Fatlifactiiiii to me In my broken stale to remember that I got borne on the little beast with considerable consider-able Jiib-ineas and lifted him clean Oi er till- I'beslei lieid." Mum shook bis lii ad reprovingly. "You v.liouldii't baie ijnne Unit !" lie (III Id. lie ittell'leil Ills 'HIT mid lidded the v.oi'bi "Vitally Important" to what ),e bud ju t v, ritten. "It uiis probably I bill wlii' il decided her." "Well. I hate lings," m'lid I'jntllcl) Hignett querulously. "I remember V, llbel.liiiOll Oli'e gelling quite llll- T'1 "illl Hie be. llU'ie I refused to j step In and separate a couple of the brutes, absolute strangers to me, who were fighting In the street I reminded her that we were all fighters nowadays, nowa-days, that life Itself was In a sense a fight; but she wouldn't be reasonable about It She said that Sir Galahad would have done It like a shot. I thought not We had no evidence whatsoever what-soever that Sir Galahad was ever called upon to do anything half as dangerous. And, anyway, he wore armor. ar-mor. Give me a suit of mall reaching well down over the ankles, and I will willingly Intervene in a hundred dog fights. But in thirl flannel trousers, no !" Sam rose. His heart was light. lie had never, of course, supposed that the girl was anything but perfect; but It was nice to find his high opinion of her corroborated by one who had no reason rea-son to exhibit her in a favorable light. He understood her point of view and sympathized with It. An Idealist, how could she trust herself to Eustace llig-r.ett? llig-r.ett? How could she be content with a craven who, Instead of scouring the world in the quest for deeds of derring do, had fallen down so lamentably on his first assignment? There was a specious attractiveness about poor old Eustace which might conceivably win a girl's heart for a time; he wrote poetry, talked well, and had a nice singing voice; but, as a partner for life . . . well, he simply wouldn't do. That was all there was to It He simply didn't add ud right. The man a girl like Wllhelmina Bennett required for a husband was somebody entirely different . . . somebody, felt Samuel Sam-uel Marlowe, much mora like Samuel Marlowe. Swelled almost to bursting-point with these reflections, he went on deck to Join the ante-luncheon promenade. He saw Billie almost at once. She had put on one of these nice sacky sport-coats which so enhance feminine charms, and was striding along the deck with the breeze playing In her vivid hair like the female equivalent of a Viking. Beside her walked young Mr. Bream Mortimer. Sam had been fix-ling a good deal of a fellow already, but at the sight of her welcoming smile his s'lf-i-sti.;n almost caused hlru to expbxle. What magic there Is In a girl's smile! It Is the raisin which, dropped In the yeat of male complacency. Induces fermentation. fermen-tation. "nh, there you are, Mr. Marlowe!" "Oh, there you are," said I!r-i:n Mortimer, with a slightly different Inflection. In-flection. "I thought I'd like a breath of fresh air before lunch," fcald Sam. "Oh, Bn-.im!" said the girl. "Hello?" "Do be a darling and take this gr-at heavy coat of mine down to my stateroom state-room wlil you? I had no bb-a It was so warm." "I'll curry It" said Bream. "Nonsense, I wouldn't dream of burdening you with It. Trot along and put It on the berth. It doesn't matter about folding It up." "All right." said Bream moodily. lie trotted along. There are moments mo-ments when a man feels that all he needs In order to be a delivery wagon Is a hors and a driver. "He had better chirrup to the dog while he's there, don't you think?" suggested sug-gested Sam. He felt that a resolute "I Love It. How Extraordinary That We Should Have So Much In Common." man with legi an long as Bream's might well deposit n cloak on n berth and bo back under the half -minute. "I h, yes I Bi ea in 1" "Hello?" "While you're down tlnM-r Ju it chirrup chir-rup a Utile more to poor I'lnky. lie does appreciate It so !" Bream disappeared. It Is not always easy to Interpret emotion from a glance, at a man's buck; but Bream's buck looked like, that of a man to win. in the thought has occurred that, given n couple of fld'llcn .nil n piano, be would luivp Hindu n good hired ori-ln-mra. "How In your ilenr llltlu do, 1 tli i way?" inquired Sam solicitously, as he fell Into step by her side. "Much better now, thanks. I've made friends with a girl on board did you ever hear her name June Hubbard she's a rather well-known big-game hunter and she fixed up some sort of a mixture for Tinky which did him a world of good. I don't know what was in it except Worcester sauce, but she said she always gave It to her mules In Africa when they had the botts . . . it's very nice of you to speak so affectionately affection-ately of poor Pinky when he bit you." "Animal spirits!" said Sam tolerantly." tolerant-ly." Pure animal spirits! I like to see them. But, of course, I love all dogs." "Oh, do yon? So do I !" "I only wish they didn't fight so much. I'm always stopping dog lights." "I do admire a man who knows what to do at a dog light. I'm nfrald I'm rather helpless myself. There never seems anything to catch hold of." She looked down. "Have you been nailing? What Is the hook?" "It's a volume of Tennyson." "Are you fond of Tennyson?" "I worship him," said Sam reverently. reverent-ly. "Those " he glanced at his cuff "those Idylls of the King! I do not like to think what an ocean voyage would be If I had not my Tennyson with me." "We must rpnft Mm f IV-..I 'i ..r TTo la my favorite poet !" "We will! There is something about Tennyson. . . ." "Yes, Isn't there! I've felt that myself my-self so often !" "Some poets are whahs nt epics and all that sort of thing, while others call It a day when they've written something some-thing that runs to a couple of verses, hut where Tennyson had the bulge was that his long game was Just as g.xd as his short He wiis gnat off the tee and a marvel with his cl.!;-s!iots." "That sounds as though you played go! f." "When I nm not rinding Tennyson, you can generally And nie out on the links. I hi ou play?" "I love It. How e-raordinary that we should have so much In common. We really ought to be gr.-at friends." He was pausing to select the best of three replies when the lunch bugle .undi d. "Oh, i!.-;ir!" she cried. "I must rush. But we shall se, one another again up here afterward?" "We nili." said S.iia. "We'll sit and re. id Tennyson." "Fine! Ki you and I and Mortimer?'' Morti-mer?'' "i ih, no. Brt am Is going to s!t don below and look after poor Pinky." "Ii.--s he d.-s he know lie Uf "Not y-t." said Billie. "I'm going tn tell him at lun.-h." CHAPTER IV It as the fourth morning of tho voyage, (if reiir,.!-, hIi.-h this story Is done in the iixn li-s they won't be satisfied with a bald statement like that ; they will have a Spoken Title or u Out-Biok Sub-Caption or Mluiicvor they rail the thing In the low dens where m"ti..npcture s.-e:iarlo-i!r:irds do their dark work, which wlil ruu : "And ao, calm and golden, tho dayi went by, each fraught with hope and youth and iwcctncn linking two young hearti in ailken fetten forged by the laughing Love God" and tho males In the audience will shift their chewing gum to the other cheek and take a firmer grip of their companions' hands and the man at the piano "111 play "Everybody wauls a key to my cellar" or something equally equal-ly appropriate, very soulfuily and slowly, with n wistful eye. on the hnlf-smoked hnlf-smoked elk'arette which he lias parked on thq lowest octave and Intends Mulshing Mu-lshing as soon as the picture Is over. But I prefer the plain frank statement that It was the fourth day of the voyage. voy-age. That Is my story and I mean to stick to It Samuel Marlown, mntllod In a bathrobe, bath-robe, came back to the stateroom from his tub. Ills manner bad the ofTVn-slve. ofTVn-slve. Jauntlness of the man who has bad n cold bath when h" might Just a H easily have had n hot one. lie looked out of the portlioli! at the shimmering shim-mering sea. He felt strong and lin-py lin-py and exuberant. It was not merely the spiritual pride Induced by n cold bath that was u-lifting u-lifting this young man. The fad was that, as he toweled his glowing back, be had suddenly come to the decision that this very iiy be would propose to Wlllieliiiliia I'.ennett. Yes, In- would put his fortune to the test. In win or lose It all. True, be bad only known her for four days, but what of that? Nothing In the way of i lorn progress prog-ress Is more reuiiii-kiible than the milliner In which tin. aliunde of your lover has chani:ed concenilng proposals pro-posals of auirrliiire. When Siunm-l Marlowe's cninilfniher bad convln I himself, arii-r about a year and n half of respectful aloorneis, that the emotion emo-tion which he felt towards Samuel Marlowe's ginndinoi her to be was love, the fashion of the period compelled him to approach the imitier In a round about way. I'll si, he spent i uvi ning or two singing sentimental bal lads, she accompanying him on the piano and the rest of the family sitting sit-ting on the side lines to see that no rough stuff was pulled. Having noted that she drooped her eyelashes and turned faintly pink when he came to the "Thee only thee!" bit he felt a mild sense of encouragement, strong enough to Justify him In taking her sister aside next day and asking If the object of his affections ever happened hap-pened to mention his name in the course of conversation. Further pourparlers pour-parlers having passed with her aunt, two more sisters, and her little brother, broth-er, he felt that the moment had arrived ar-rived when he might send her a volume vol-ume of Shelley, w ith some of the pas- ! sages marked in pencil. A few weeks j later, he Interviewed her father and obtained his consent to the paying of his nddresses. And finally, after writing her a letter which began "Madam ! you will not have been insensible in-sensible to the fact that for some time past you have inspired in my bosom feelings deeper than those of ordinary " W1 L" I "I Am, I Am the Bandolero! Yes, Yes, I Am the Bandolero!" friendship. . . ." he waylaid her In the r.e.o garden and brought the thing off. How different Is the behavior of the modern young man. His courtship run hardly be railed a courtship at all. His methods are those of Sir W. S. ; Gilbert's "Aiphnnso." Alrhonio, who frr cool asur.nc all ! cr-nttn l'.ck. . l up r.'l ph.! to Emily who has chi.-k en-uich for mx: I "Ml Kir.llv. t lovo you. Will you : n.nrry? Snjr the w..r.!'" ! And Emily n.l "C-rl.xinly. Alphonso, , l.ke a InrJ!" Sam Marlowe was a bright young hum and did not require a year to make up his mind that Wllhelmina Bennett had been set npnrt by Fate from the beginning of time to he his ! brid". He bad known It from the mo- i meat be saw her on the dock, snd all ' the subsequent strolling, reading, talking. soup drinking. ten. drinking, and sbullle board playing which they had done together had merely solidified solidi-fied his original Impression. He loved this girl with all the force of a tlery nature the fiery nature of the Marlowe Mar-lowe was a by word In Bruton street, Berkeley square nnd something seemed to whisper that she loved him. At any rate she wanted somebody like Sir Galahad, and, without wishing to burl bouquets at himself, he could not see where she could possibly get anyone any-one liker Sir Galahad than himself. So, wind nnd weather permitting, Samuel Marlowe Intended to proposil to Wllhelmina Bennett this very day lie let down the trick basin which hung beneath the mirror nnd, collecting collect-ing his shaving materials, began to lather bis face. "I am the Bandolero 1" sang Sam blithely through the soap. "I nm. I am the Bandolero I Yes, yes, I nm the Bandolero !" The untidy heap of bedclothes In the lower berth stirred restlessly. "Oh, G d !" said Eustace Hignett thrusting out a tousled head. Sum regarded his cousin with coin mlsernl Ion. Horrid things had been happening to Eustace during the last few days, and II was quite a pleasant surprise each morning to find that he was silll nllve. "l-'eeling bad aguln, old man?" "I was feeling nil right." replied lllgiielt churlishly, "until you began I he faiin.s ard Imitations. What sort of a day. Is II?" "Ghu lous ! The sea . . ." "1 ii.n't talk about the sea I" ("What I'm trying to a.iy la, 'Will you marry nul'" 'III IU0 'I1NTINI'ICI.) |