One Wonderful Night

he address his patron with a species of good-humored tolerance, almost of sarcasm; his mental attitude had now become one of respect, even of hero-worship.

me coolin' my heels a good quarter of an hour. I grew uneasy, because fares do get so nasty about waitin' charges, so I signals the elevator man, name o' Rafferty, to ask if it was O.K. When Rafferty comes back, we had a chat, an' he tells me that this Miss Grandison-a mighty smart piece she is, too,-was goin' to marry a little Frenchman right away-she was expectin' him to call at eight o'cloc

laimed his highly

e, I asked him-said something about havin' finished one long voyage an' beginnin' another. Then the fun began. I was just startin' the machine when a private auto dashes up, an' out jumps a foreign-lookin' swell.

," remonstrated the

. Ain't I tellin'

nt was

was Hermione, was it?

te right. It was more l

Hermione" rhyme with "bone," and laid no stress on the second syllable. Strong in her superior knowledge, for sh

demanded b

quick. I couldn't have floored him so beautifully if I'd hit him with a spanner. But that was only part of the entertainment. Curtis-mind you, before that I'd been treatin' him as an ordinary dude in evenin'

bethought himself,

ere I am,"

ded out a good fa

it. Tipped me a couple of doll

ve been more. Men are usually gene

t of stuff, unless I am much mistaken,

headed off the scent of a fifty-dollar bill. She

really like-how was she

Street into Seventh Avenue. Curtis, who was sitting with his back to the driver

eral minutes; but we must leave nothing to chance," so he sank back

e not exactly those of a f

that you are able to hit a wretch like Cou

her parted lips, the color which was suffusing forehead

slike me as thoroughly as you

r nature to treat women as he treat

est gratification, I'll take the first opportunity to work out the approximate force required to drive back a moving body of that weight while traveling forward, s

cose mood. He could picture the droop in the

not

ey procured the minister's address fr

Wait till I see him,

were safe on board the Switzerland till the morning. I see now that they telegraphed for a tug, and it is best to assume that they have been kept informed

rriage is to serve any

riage. You and I are as firmly bound togethe

ce was etched in Rembrandt lights b

ficulties for the sake of a girl whom you met to-night for the first time. Why not go out of my life now-this

r some such app

he police know exactly where to lay hands on me, and my crime would become monstrous if it were proved that I ran away from my wife on the night of our marriage. No; we must face the music boldly, and together. We must go to some well-known hotel, register openly, secure rooms, and conduct ourselves on the orthodox lines

showed that she had hardly given a thought

craven who absconded before the battle began? If, on the other hand, I am, so to speak

told you that I trust you, and I can only repeat my w

ma'am-that is,

aravanserais, merely because it lay a considerable distance from 27th Street. Otherwise, his object in picking a large hotel being to avoid notice among a fashionable throng, he might easily have taken his

ions which govern this new venture?" said Curtis, when

are

at manner of man this knight errant could be; but his very self-possession fluttered her; she had been so accustomed to think and act in h

his Manchurian railway schemes-"we must treat each other with a certain familiarity-e

is recalled the tinkle of silver bells in a temp

e name of a dog

rin put obstacles in my way. I never gave any warning, but rushed in and bit him, not act

he said. "Your name is

not see the smile that flitte

ve never had anyone else to give me a pet

I like the sound of Hermione so well that it is pat on my lips already.... N

t Mrs.

r retains her courtesy

ilant. She had been "dying" to use her mistress's title, on

t brief discussion in the cab, but Hermione was not

shed looking young man in evening dress-for Curtis had promptly whipped off that ominous overcoat-and a slender, veiled lady, of e

Scenes from t

hotel clerk. "We want a suite of rooms, a sitting-room, three bedrooms with baths-you would like M

red, for the attac

We have a nice s

prung a mine on her own account. "I know it is s

ly believed by every hotel proprietor in New York in so far as his own building is con

he morrow bring its own cares. "Now, you understand that we are here without baggage, though my wife's maid will procure some

e credit of the clerk be it said, the

wouldn't be on to my job it I didn't know how and when t

ok a pen

lumn for visitors' home addresses. But the clerk was obviously impressed by Hermione's title, no less t

o Suite F." Then he added, as an afterthought: "Woul

is, "but my wife shall

ly behind the closed door of a well-furni

ar all expenses,

uarreling alre

, b

how to charge like a taxi. Now, no argument till to-morrow. An American millionaire can really be quite a decent sort of

and looked at him,

er men? Why have I never before sp

serving you-that is all. Now, won't you go and see if your room is comfortable, and whether or not Marcelle's quart

at Chi

once,' but every hotel-wala

she li

sters-a mother l

mean to give myself the pleasure of a full introduc

morsel since lunch

e head waiter. No common serf

out of the dining-room of the Central Hotel. He stood there, motionless, with hands plunged deep in his pockets, but, at the outset of a reverie in which judgment and prudence might have helped in the council, he happened to catch sight of himself in an oblong mirror over the mantelpiece, for the apartment, redo

iction of a man whose mind has been made up

onel Curtis, before ever the war was ended and its bitterness assuaged, had decided a Southern girl's conflic

ver cried over spilt milk. Now he merely turned, peered into his own bedroom, assured h

ilarly engaged in taking stock of the situation; but sh

t of a novel you ever read?" cried Marcelle when she en

She, too, was gazing in a mirror, though, being a woman, the oppressive thought bobbed up

right moment. Talk about life buoys for drowning men and rich uncles from California

hese two now were not mistress and maid, but a pa

hat I am only married under mere pretense. Mr. Curtis is nothing to me, nor I to him. He has been k

like it, you

ou marry, don't you hope to love the man of your ch

es, mi

y relationship of that sort to

way already, ma'am

ll me ma'am. It-

east, a marriage being necessary, that y

it is that fact which m

hings hard, y

celle, if I seem distraught and unreasonable, promise m

th tears, and Marcelle wa

t I do hope-and pray-you will be happy-even though-you only met your husband-little more than an hour ago!... And I beli

the poor ma

im. There was something underhanded and mean about him. I have seen

Don't you understand that I have nev

ng into the sitting-room

" she

nd that she should go to your flat for any

threw ope

that it was impossible to thin

. Who is to hinder? That man, Raffer

ferty all right,"

o bring-and get Rafferty to call a taxi without attracting too much notice. If you think you are being followed, put your

d Marcelle, and Hermione said "Yes," wit

at his prett

" he said. "It will be

, a close-fitting one of a style that fastened à la militaire, high in the neck. Beneath it she had been wearing a white silk blouse, and the delicate pink of her arms and throat was revealed now through its diaphanous sheen. A string of pearls supported a d

once to draw her attention to the table, "but the head-waiter here is a gourmet. He sug

," she said, with valoro

as to

om touc

sleep. What do you say to

at a c

es

ens, that is the

e meal, though he would have stuffed himself remorselessly to save his charming vis-à-vis from the slightest em

supplied Hermione with glimpses of his own career, and ascertained from her that she had secure

ing her name, she does not speak French," said

ress for an explanation, but she

magined she was annoyed because he always conver

avoid Chines

cell

consciousness of the imminent disclosure, yet too we

opinion already," she said. "But

alone, and she glanced

inquired, and her voice was l

the f

es

g to my hotel for some baggage. Y

ill re

e hour-if

to-mo

your ladyship, we breakfas

mainly composed of

policy is one

dinarily good to

ck' in the

si

and I receive. Will you-will you believe, in the future, that d

e said

only unkind thi

black despair. But-here is Marcelle, and slaves

then with coffee, Marcelle's voice r

that hat-box! Do you think yo