It Pays to Smile

d get their experiences from books and from the stage, and no lady experiences the primal emotions except vicariously. But none

st as though I were indeed living it myself, and not half an hour after my entran

p my carpetbag as easily as if it had been a

d, closing the door, and Peaches, disposing the luggage upon a receptable constructed for that very purpose, perched upon the foot of the be

I laid out my toilet articles-"sa

aid I,

Fresno when he was a hopper-picking hops with a bunch of greasers. Brought him home for me to play with. We went swimming together and riding togethe

g person," said I, "b

"The first car pa bought made him that! He can

rified. "A servant! Wha

nd anyhow, I don't want to marry Dicky, even if he is your cousin. I

e, was appalling. High time, indee

a subject!" I said severely. "And t

ble young woman. "There may have been some liv

m which region he had never returned nor sent any token of his existence except, upon one occasion shortly after his departure, a specimen of polished redwood, which at t

a matter on which to press just at first, but really the girl's clothing was certainly somewhere within my legitimate provi

by way of reply; not rudely,

she said at last. "We both of us look the limit. But after all, wha

ill be clawing the ai

en she stuck her head in abruptly, without knocking. "He certainly can eat, though I

ve me an absent-minded greeting, quite as if I had been in his employ for years. He took a sheaf of papers to the table with him, and we

she complained. "And he says he actually likes wearing them, though I k

on Mr. Pegg s

sail to-morrow

went on, "Miss Talbot's got a cousin in Mont

coming!" said Sila

er formal, and I entertained a qualm or two about sending it. But we were not asking to visit her, so things might not be too dreadful after all. Besides which, I was beginning to experience a dist

sed herself clad in a nautical costume of blue serge with a sailor

blue! How do you like my pull-for-the-shore effect? Say, have you

e been on neith

a, I guess, and they were darn near right! So you've never been anywhere. Well, I had a hunch I'd be the one to do the chaperoning. Nev

a simple coat and skirt would be less conspicuous and quite

ooth out those groups of curls,"

them always!" I p

ilk gloves. Come on, let me fix your hair! No-I have a bright idea. Let's hav

tell my curled fringe did appear a trifle old-f

r engaged me as I am, and I feel it

ed she was angry; but to my surprise, upon our departure she a

d then, accompanied by a most stupendous array of luggage, including my own small tr

aturday, hence there would be but little delay between our departure and the weekly renewal of his petition. For we began our travels in no less a vehicle than a terrific red automobile

ot lessened when, stopping at the railway station, Talbot, the chauffeur, was dismissed to gather up some spare bags, and Peaches took the steering gear. The remainder of the ride is a blur in my memory, filled with a horrid realization that we upset an apple cart, or I thought we had, until looking backward I saw it miraculously intact; that we seemingly murdered two pol

d queen!"

, I should trouble

le upon first acquaintance from the great hotel we had just left, except that the apartments were rather smaller. I had once before taken a boat trip to Nantucket to see an old servant of ours who was ill, and the vessel which conveyed me was not in the lea

appeared of no importance. Nothing appeared of any importance except the distress of my body. I longed most ardently for the stability of the house on Chestnut Street, and it seemed inconceivable that I had ever left my dear sister of my own free will. My idea of paradise became distorted from the true

h dimension, which was a favorite topic with my dear father. But incredible as it may seem, some persons on the boat actually laid claim to an enjoyable experience, and among these Spartans were my employer and his daughter; and also, b

ss, I'll get you to Europe alive and show you the country. Couldn't you come on deck? It's a swell d

ed to gasp. "Who

"I forgot to ask his name, but he's

on sailor?" I said feebly. "Oh! Alicia! I fear I am neglect

ight find a captain or a mate or something for you. Couldn't you eat a li

ed state despite the herb tea which I had had made by the sea-going chambermaid from my own me

e mad and reeling drunkenly in their purple-and-black mystery, with the foam like the

kissed you?" I moaned, stru

really isn't important. I never lose my head, though between ourselves I sometimes wish I could. When I do I'll marry the

tion I could not

upon such subj

birds and Chinese cooks. But some of us, like you, don't have much luck, and

my dear?"

to spoon with anybody I ever met! My shoulder is the highest and therefore the handiest! My ha

bility of my position toward this amazingly innocent, terrifyingly frank young savage, who wanted to be in love and did not hesitate to say so, and who kissed the chauffeur simply and solely because it was a moonlit night! I felt

rt and that my ability to rise was founded, not, as I had fancied, in my having attained what is rather indelicately known as "sea legs," but was due to the fact of the boat being at a standstill. I only then realized

elt quite foreign to me. It appeared, in fact, entirely unsteady and of a heaving disposition, more what one might have expected of the n

Gee, what a town! What a country! They ought to see San F

had been ordered far in advance and was awaiting us at Liverpool. It was a monstrous affair of black trimmed with vermilion, and recalled to my mind nothing

id over and over. "If

ic language in which she spoke to her familias

nce man working for me once and he told me so. He says all the good art is in the Catholic countries, except what has been smuggled out of them. He to

and Stratford-on-Avon, the home of Shakespere, and-and real English muffins and En

nough Boston accent right on your person. I figure that foreign travel is foreign travel, and I mean we should go right to Rome, the h

ce ahead, as if we were a part of his business. And indeed I presently ascertained that the plunge toward Italy

will be a world-wide proposition. Oranges are a great little fruit-eat 'em, drink 'em and preserve 'em-the wood is swell. A great game, Miss Talbot, that hurts nobody and is of benefit to all. I'm to meet this here Pagreleri, the president of the Sorrento

shout from her seat in front beside Richard. "I'm dying to see if

terward to see a motion picture of some American by the name of Charles Chapin or something of the sort, an amazing affair centering about a custard pie and not at all to my taste. Mr. Pegg and Miss Peaches were enormously intrigued by it, as was Richard, the chauffeur, whom t

nearest me. My dear father was in the habit of saying that observation of the human race is the truest form of education and I have ever diligently tried to follow whatever precepts he laid down. And so this evening I had in turn observed a stout person in a beaded gown, a pair of young soldiers in red coats, and then the two men directly in front of me. They were unobtrusive in appearance, but palpably of Latin extracti

aid in a low tone,

a profile one would not easily forget. I at once thought of Romeo-that daring young Italian lover who met so unfortunate an end, and whose tragic story was one of the secret absorptions of my girlhood. Yet this young man even in the dimness of the theater conveyed a sense of strength which had not been convincing to me in the actor whom I had once seen in that part. He sat well above his neighbors in height, and t

me!" said the man with the mustache,

r?" whispered the other. "Or as

e know he has it on him. The hotel may be too late. He

men were plainly robbers planning to waylay and perhaps murder that nice-looking young man who sat there in

dly revolving these thoughts action was violently put upon me. The picture flashed "The End," and the young man whose life was in danger rose to leave, as did several others. His seat, as I have stated, was downstairs, while we occupied a box. Thus he was far

er fainting by intent upon the bosom of an intended assassin, but it served to delay them for all of ten minutes, at the end of which time I came to under the anxious ministrations of my own people and of the two foreigners, whom Peaches, an unconscious accessory,

ying as I opened my eyes. "Say you are not

murmured feebly, lookin

aches took it marvelously. In a flash of understanding that I had some ulterior motive behind my behavior she maintained what she cal

th her heavy hair hanging over her shoulders in two monstrous braids of molten gold, and swathed in an outrageous robe of crimson-an

"I just knew I'd have to look after you! And I'll keep a closer

hen she kissed me good night I knew our f

I had absurdly hoped that the hotel to which the conspirators had referred might prove to be ours, but it was impossi

rse, unlikely to have any mention of a murder unless the crime is consummated. And so it appeared that the incident was closed. I

urously. "Wouldn't it be wonderful

young enough to have been my so

that just before the big event. So cheer up, wh

ch, for Peaches was fated to see him, though not for m

er. I only know that nothing in my previous nautical experience compared with it. And when at last we landed and I had to some degree recovered my equilibrium the most startling incident occurred. We once agai

n an excited whisper. "There

g man of the motion-picture theater. At the same moment I discerned the two Frenchmen whose plot I had frustrated, and on the instan

young man. Oh, the villains! They are aft

said Alic

ndeavoring to avoid the appearance of flight. The two men in pursuit w

ed to move. The young man sprang forward, threw in his bags, slipped into th

g black car shot down the street just as the t