Molly Make-Believe

arried in Stanton's conservative make-up explode

or heaven's sake come over here and sit down in this ch

she divided one fleet glance between admi

e 'pretty'!" she announced sternly. Then courtesying low to the

Molly made-

ouge and mad

ouge and the

n, what do

n fairly shouted in his vehemence. "Anybody might have known

the table, and picking up book after book, opened it and stared in it as though it had been a mirror. "Oh, mayb

f, with much jingling, rainbow-colored, sandalwood-scent

ly. Cautiously then she reached out and touched the soft, woolly

e gone utterly mad these past few weeks? Don't you know that if it hadn't been for you-don't you know that if-" A little over-zealously he c

atch a man very young and keep him absolutely constantly by your side you cannot hope to walk even into his friendship-except across the heart of some other woman." Again she shivered and jingled a hundre

yly. "And when it comes to asking personal questions, how dared you send me printed slips in answer t

e study these days that almost everybody this year has ordered the 'Gray-Plush Squirrel' series. But I'm doing one or two 'Japane

Omaha!" said Stanton. "It was the l

rking up all the geography that he knew and I didn't. But-pshaw! You're not interested in Killarney. Then there's a New York boy down in Ceylon on a smelly old tea plantation. His people have dropped him, I guess, for some reason or other; so I'm just 'the girl from home' to him, and I prattle to him every month or so about the things he used to care about. It's easy enough to work that up from the social columns in the New York papers-and twice I've been over to New York to get special details for him; once to find out if his mother was

ell me any more

pound so hard and so loud that he could not seem

Who are you? Tell me instantl

"I'm no one at all-to you," she said c

one seemed to fair

ou are!" he cried. "You

and held them in a vise that sent the rheumatic pains sho

shan't go out of here in ten thousand

ng to wrench her little wrists out of his mighty grasp, stamping in perf

dozen different staccato accents. The whole daring passion of the Orient

vering sigh. Staring up into her face, Stanton gav

re-crying," he whispered

, she made a desperate effor

oiled everythi

feet, afraid even to shuffle his slippers on the floor lest the slightest suspicion of ve

ewhat blindly for her veil in a frantic effort to avoid any possible chance

ic, snuffling little sob that accompanied the words only serve

wfully, awfully strict and particular with yourself about things all your life, that you might have risked-safely-just one little innocent, mischievous sort of a half hour? Especially if it was the only possible way you could think of to square up everything and add just a little wee present besides? 'Cause nothing, you know, that you can afford to give ever seems exa

her narrow, gold-embroidered toes into the wide, blunt depths of

a moment, do you, that after all this wonderful, jolly friendship of ours

ulders in the chair sent the girl scuttling to

ed and smiled at him mockingly. Really it

e able to recognize me in my street

g smile was quite

sing your winter hat for you? Let me see,-it was brown, wi

ck against the door and stared at him suddenly out

ivalent to one week's subscrip

vil of mischief awoke

le week-seven days and nights? Oh, no! No! No! I don't think you've given me, yet, more

ring hands, the girl's whole soul seemed to blaze out at him suddenly, and then winc

I've given you only four days' and nights' worth of t

ccurately, her right hand reach

"do you really 'honest-injun' want to know who I

nton, plunging fo

f the door-knob warned him quite disti

ou've talked with me too, as often as tw

black wig, and shook down all around her such a great, shining, utterly glorious ma

ltzed with you, perhaps? Never! I haven't! I tell you I haven't! I never saw t

, dear! And I thought you were so beautiful!" Then, woman-like, her whole sympathy rushed to defend him from her own accusati

rying desperately to snare all the wild, escaping tendrils with the softer mesh

nton, plunging fo

same strange little glint in her eyes, "to give you something to think about the sixth day, I'll tell y

from his chair, and stood trying to reason out madly whe

stood silhouetted darkly against the bright, yellow-lighted hallway, "here's something for you to think about for twenty-seven days and nights!" Wildly her l

flash sh