Hearts and Masks
ht to have been in command of an army. On the Bo
ighed because the thought of jail for the night in a dress-suit dwindled in perspective; the girl sighed for the same reason and one or two other things; the chief of the village police a
s, from titled impostors down to petty thieves. He was not a man to trifle with, mentally or physically, and for this reason we were all shaking in our boots. He owned to a keen but brutal wit; to hi
ur looks, and he showed us his star of authority, and went to work in a business-like w
lway station," snarled Haggerty. "Now, then, tell me
e and shrugged his broad shoulders. As for the girl, he never gave her so
m for weeks, and to-day laid eyes on him for the first time. Had my clumsy paws on him this very afternoon. He seemed so willing to be locked up that I grew careless. Biff! and he and his accomplice, an erstwhile v
imself out of a melancholy dream. (There woul
od watch-dog-for a hen-coop!" growled Haggerty. "Ten thousand in gems to-nigh
you that there might be a mistake. A good officer never quits his prisoners. If there is an accomplice in toils elsewhere, he makes them bring him in, he does not go out for him. And now I've got to star
feet uneasily. Then they all started in to explain their theori
ded, with a jerk of his head in our direction. "You can all return to to
going to do?"
be a good one. If it is, I'll telephon
e spoke so low that none of us overheard what he said; bu
wthorne resolutely shook her head; and as there was nothing in the world that would have induced me to stay without her, I shook my head, too. It seemed to me I had known this girl all my life, so closely does mi
ilton dismally, "if she hears that I've been the ca
miling inscrutably. "In fact, it would be perfectly sati
u," said the defeated M. F. H. "
cup, the next time we meet at th
el of sleighbells, toward Moriarty's Hollywood Inn. The moon shone; not a cloud darkened her serene and lovely countenance. The pearly whiteness
iful night!"
nning of
f the end? What
spoke to me, it was
o be the end; this is the t
hunger lies back of the eyes. I haven't had anything to eat, save that single app
s. I'll find a way of waking him up, in case he's asleep, whic
vel
ds. And now it is all over and
ould have been funnier still if the real Hagge
I shall never forget th
ely glad to forget it
our romanc
between book-covers. As I grow ol
ldly, "it seems that I ha
dee
well as I do this very minute,-and less than a dozen hours between this and our first
et me out?" Then she laughed
is so
king of tha
a lonely potato to fr
rave enough-amo
re bea
m hu
e most beau
somethin
it possible for a man to fa
ive, fool; comparative, fooler; superlative, foolest.
Dicky," I said in
uld always be thinki
were witty
down beneat
bulous prices. And here I was, sitting so close to her that our shoulders touched: and she a girl who knew intimately emperors and princesses and dukes, not to mention t
e you m
o-
ged to be
ustn't ask all t
around in a first-class moto
rrily. Possibl
ways amusin
g I were
y you had not yet slipped
ness was di
of hearts is lucky,
I consider that the b
your card
card, and I pu
you do
bring about an en
toccini, or as
ed my position in the mus
r some time there was no soun
f Hollywood Inn and were welcomed by the genial Moria
to eat?" I cried, sha
can hate ye a pot of coffee on the gasolene-bur
-joyfully, helping Mis
y too much grub. Now, I'll putt ye in a little room all be yersilves, with a windy and a log
d fireplace was merry with crackling logs. Casually I observed that we were not alone. Over yonder, in a shadowed corner, sat two men, very well bundled up, and, t
to do these things hundreds of years
ying aside her domino for the first time; "but delightful! I no
and I knew instantly that I was never going to recover. I drew two chairs close to the grate. I sat down
sigh she rested her blue-slipp
t I haven't any shoes
oo good to be true. Ah, if it might always be like this-to return home from the da
th the chicken a
ye George Washington's room; or"-with inimitable Irish d
led the girl; and Mori
clatter of silver upon porcelain.
ravenous," the
ing aside my plate, and dropping sugar into my coffee, and vainly hunting i
be?" she asked. "The wherea
n. No, that's not the mystery. Why did you tell me you were an impostor; why did you go to t
elbows and smile
of light seemed to surround her and frame her. "Mrs. Hyphen-Bonds accidentally dropped that invitation in my studio,
think you were t
o longer m
f." I knew it. Without rhyme or reason, I was in l
ble to solve such a
depends
be taking advantage of my helplessness; for I really depend upon you to see me safe back to New York. It is only the romance, the adventure; and such moonlight nights often superinduce sentimentality. What do you know of me? Nothing
as only consistent that, having been the fool, I sho
us drank; the
s in soiled every-day clothes, the other in immaculate evening dress. The latter doffed his opera hat with the most engaging smile imaginable. The
ffable inspector of the
Romance
Romance
Romance
Romance
Romance
Romance