Indiscretions of Archie

mplating his bride in a drawing-room on the express from Miami. He was thinking that this was too good to be true. His brain had

She was so altogether perfect that Archie had frequently found himself compelled to take the marriage-certificate out of his

old thing,-I mean, darling," sa

ha

erstand why you should have

opened. She squ

ful thing in the world, prec

aped my notice.

onder-child! Nobody could

hought crossed his mind. It was a though

if your father

urse h

n the old lad," said Archie dubiously

s a darl

l row with a blighter of a manager there just before I left for Miami.

happy pair should separate for half an hour or so, Archie hanging around in the offing while Lucille saw her father and told him the whole story, or those chapters of it which she had omitted from h

lmost equal parts the more admirable characteristics of Apollo, Sir Galahad, and Marcus Aurelius. True, he had gathered in the course of the conversation that dear Archie had no occupation and no private means; but Mr. Brewster felt that a great-souled man like Archie didn't

perceived Archie, he

!" said Archie,

, this is father

rd!" sai

ut understanding why that the big introduction scene had stubbed its toe on some unlooked-for obstacle, waited anxiousl

nd a quarter minutes, Mr. Brewster swal

L

, fa

his t

ouded over with perple

ru

atching with a frozen fascination the rapid shimmying of his new relative's Adam's-apple. "Go away! I want to have a few

u, father.

oo

-f-f-a-m, but p

rchie, helpfully,

ter, "run away! I wa

e THIS before

ry, father, dea

o! I'm tickl

withdrawn, Mr. Brews

hen!"

and what not. Rum coincidence and so forth! How would it be to bury the jolly old hatchet-start a new life-forgi

ly unsoftened by this manly

o you mean by mar

e ref

f once, and all that. I was most frightfully in love, and Lu seemed to think it wouldn't

ink you've done prett

cerned, everything's topping! I've

'topping.' You haven't a cent to your name, and you've managed to fool a rich man's daugh

ter had not struck Arc

t it like that before! I can see that, from your poi

ose to support L

llar. He felt embarrassed, His father-in-law w

ave me!" He turned the matter over for a moment. "I had a so

ng at

I should kind of look round, you know, and nose about and buzz to and

y daughter was to live whi

THINK we rather expected YOU to

expected to

anything out-that WAS what you might call the general sche

wster e

out of my hotel-MY hotel-calling it all the names

thout thinking. Dashed tap had gone DRIP-DRIP-DRIP all nig

as no one has ever knocked it since it was built, and you s

. Slipped the old bean, somehow.

e to fling my arms round you and kiss you,

osing about and b

otel is a pretty poor hotel, eh? Well, you'll have plenty of opportunity of judging, because you're coming to live here. I'll let

y! You mea

out me. And, if you want your shoes shined, you can pay for it yourself in the basement. If you leave them outside your door, I'll

ed a propit

to ask if you would stagger along and

ill

ie, ingratiatingly. "You don't