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three men and
f AMAID
PG.Wodehouse
‘•BILLIEl"
Mr3 Horace Hignett, world
famous writer on theosophy, au
thor of "The Spreading Light,
( to, etc., arrives in New York on
a lecturing tour. Eustace, her
son, is with her. Windles, ances
tral home of the liignetts, is hla
c 0 her life is largely devoted to
keeping him unmarried Enter
her nephew, Sam. son of Sir Rlat
laby Marlowe, the eminent Lon
don lawyer. It is arranged that
Sam and Eustace shall sail to
gether on the Atlantic the next
day Enter Bream Mortimer,
American, son of a friend of an
insufferable American named
Bennett, who has been pester ng
Mrs. Hignett to lease Mindies.
Bream informs her that Wli
holmina Ber.nett is waiting for
Eustace at tho Little Church
Round the Corn-r. Bream him
self 's in love with Wilhelmlna.
Mrs. Hignett marches off to Eub
tace'3 room. The scene shifts
to the Atlantic at her pier. Sam,
heading for tne gangplank, meets
a glorious, red-headed girl, with
whom he Instantly falls in love,
though her dog bites him. Eustace
appears, heart-broken It appears
that his mother had “pinched his
trousers” and delayed the cere
mony, whereupon Wilhelmlna had
declared the wedding off. Sam
is pushed overboard, has a des
perate struggle In the water with
another swimmer and plans to
rejoin the Atlantic at quarantine.
CHAP TER ll—Continued.
The trousers did not even quiver.
Hut this girl was a girl of decision.
There was some nautical Implement
resting In a rack convenient to her
hand. It was long, solid, and con
structed of one of the harder forms
of wood. Deftly extracting this from
its place she smote her inoffensive par
ent on the only visible portion of him.
He turned sharply, exhibiting a red,
bearded face.
“Pa, this gentleman wants to be
took aboard the boat at quarantine.
He’ll give you fifty berries.”
The wrath died out of the skipper’s
face like the. slow turning down of a
lamp. The tlsliing had been poor, and
so far he had only managed to secure
a single two-dollar bill. In a crisis
like the one which had so suddenly
arisen you cannot do yourself justice
with a boathook.
"Fifty berries!”
“Fifty seeds!” the girl assured him.
. “Are you on?” ‘ - ( >
“Queen,” said the skipper simply,
“you said a mouthful 1”
Twenty minutes later . Sam was
climbing up the side of the liner as it
lay towering over the tug like'a moun
tain. ills clothes hung about him
dammlly. He squelched as he walked.
A kindly looking old gentleman who
"as smoking a cigar by the rail re
garded him with open eyes.
My dear sir, you’re very wet,” be
said.
Sain passed him with a cold face and
hurried through the door leading to
die companionway.
Mummie, why is that man wet?”
cried the clear voice of a child.
‘^ :im "bizzed by, leaping down tbe
£t a i rs,
'Hood Lord, sir! You’re very wet!”
K ' a steward In the doorway of the
thnmg-saloon.
F i are wet,” said a stewardess In
•be passage.
Sam raced for his stateroom. He
; ;n and sank on the lounge.' In
’? lower be >’th Eustace liignett was
, ” , u-lth c >°sed eyes. He opened
“tnguidly—then stared.
wet ,Ull ° *” he Ba!d ' 6ayl You ’ re
|“ rem oved his clinging garments
j- ; hurried Into anew suit. He was
’ n."od f or conversation, and Eus
* -gnett’s frank curiosity Jarred
him Happily, at this point, a
l shl vering of the floor and a
f.‘. of woodwork proclaimed the
; -it the vessel was under way
. !,a(j h!s cousin, turning pea
„ rol,ed over on his side with a
! moan Sam finished buttoning
> * and wont out.
( ', p f ßslu f tbe inquiry bureau
. V eck ’ s,ri ding along with bent
fowling brow, w r hen a sud
t-r, caused him to look
] ■ md the scow l was wiped from his
r , 'V,. a s P° n Ke. For there
•• *’ lr he had met on the dock,
t . " r Wus a superfluous young
• 'ho looked like a parrot.
y ° U? ” aSked 1116 * lrl
thanks,” said Sam
... m t you get very wet?”
• S®t a little damp.”
"I thought you would,” said the
young man who looked like a parrot.
‘‘Directly I saw you go over the side
I said to myself: ‘That fellow’s going
to get wet!’ ’’
There was a pause.
"Oh l”" said the girl, ‘‘may I —Mr.— ?"
“Marlowe."
“Mr. Marlowe. Mr. Bream Morti
mer.”
Sam smirked at the young man. The
young man smirked at Sam.
“Nearly got left behind,” said Bream
Mortimer.
“Yes, nearly."
“No joke getting left behind."
“No.”
“Have to take the next boat. Lose
a lot of time,” said Mr. Mortimer, driv
ing home his point.
The girl had listened to these In
tellectual exchanges with impatience.
She now spoke again.
“Oh, Bream I"
“Hello?”
“Do he a dear and run down to the
saloon and see if it's all right about
our places for lunch."
“It is all right. The table steward
said so."
“Yes. hut go and make certain."
"All right.”
He hopped away and the girl turned
to Sam with shining eyes.
“Oh, Mr. Marlowe, you oughtn’t to
have done it! Really, you oughtn’t!
You might have been drowned! But
I never saw anything so wonderful. It
was like the stories of knights who
used to jump into lions’ dens after
gloves 1”
“Yes?” said Sum, a litle vaguely.
The resemblance had not struck him.
It seemed a silly hobby and rough on
the lions, too.
“It was the sort of thing Sir Launce
lot or Sir Galahad would have done!
But you shouldn’t have bothered,
really! It’s all right now.”
"Oh, It’s all right now?”
“Yes. I'd quite forgotten that Mr.
Mortimer was to be on board. lie lias
given me all the money I shall need.
You see it was this way. 1 had to sail
on this boat in rather a hurry. Fa
ther’s head clerk was to have gone to
the bank and got some money and met
me on board and given it to me, but
the silly old man was late, and when
he got to the dock they had Just pulled
in the gang-plank. So tie tried to
throw the money to me in a handker
chief and it fell into the water. But
you shouldn’t have dived in' after It.”
“Oh, well I” said Sain, straightening
his tie, with a quiet braye smile. He
had never expected to feel grateful to
that obese bounder who had shoved
him off the rail, but now he would
have liked to seek him out and offer
him his bankroll.
“You really are the bravest man I
ever met 1”
“Oh, no!”
“How modest you are! But I sup
pose all brave men are modest 1”
“I was only too delighted at w’hat
looked like a chance of doing yor a
service.”
“It was the extraordinary quickness
of It that was so wonderful. I do ad
mire presence of mind. You didn't
hesitate for a second. You just chot
over the side as though propelled by
some Irresistible force!”
“It was nothing, nothing really. One
Just happens to have the knack of
keeping one’s head and acting quickly
on the spur of the moment. Some
people have It, some haven t.’
“And just think! As Bream was
saying . .
“It Is all right,” said Mr. Mortimer,
reappearing suddenly. “I saw a couple
of stewards and they both said It was
all right. So it’s all right.”
“Splendid,” said the girl. “Oh,
Bream!’’
“Hello?”
“Do be an angel and run along to
my stateroom and see if Plnky-Boodle3
is quite comfortable.”
“Bound to be.”
“Yes, but do go. lie may be fee!-
ing lonely. Chirrup to him a little.”
“Chirrup?”
“Yes, to cheer him up.”
“Oh, all right.”
“Run along!”
Mr. Mortimer ran along. He had
the air of one w’ho feels that he only
needs a peaked cap and a uniform
two sizes too small for him to be a
properly equipped messenger boy.
* “And, as Bream was saying” re
sumed the girl, “you might have neen
left behind.”
“That,” said Sam, edging a step
closer “was the thought that tortured
me, the thought that a friendship so
delightfully begun . . -*
THE DANIELSVILLE MONITOR, DANIELSVILLE, GEORGIA.
“But It hadn't begun. \Ye have
never spoken to each other before
now."
“Have you forgotten? On the
dock . . ”
Sudden enlightenment came Into her
eyes.
“Oh, you are the man poor Pinky-
Boodies bit I”
"The lucky man I"
Her face clouded.
“Poor Pinky is feeling the motion
of the boat a little. It’s ids first voy
age.”
“I shall always remember that It was
Pinky who first brought us together.
Would you care for a stroll on deck?"
“Not just now, thanks. I must be
getting back to my room to finish un
packing. After lunch, perhaps.”
“I will be there. By the way, you
know my name, but . .
“Oh, mine?” She smiled brightly.
“It’s funny that a person’s name is
the last thing one thinks of asking.
Mine is Bennett.”
"Bennett J”
“Wilhelmlna Bennett. My friends,"
she said softly as she turned away,
“call me Billie 1“
CHAPTER 111
For some moments Sam remained
where he was, staring after the girl as
she flitted down the passage. He felt
dizzy. Listening to Eustace Hignett’s
story of his blighted romance, Sam
had formed an unflattering opinion of
this Wilhelmlna Bennett who had
broken off her engagement simply be
cause on the day of the marringe his
cousin had been short of the necessary
wedding garment. He had, Indeed,
thought a little smugly how different
his goddess of the red hair was from
the object of Eustace Uignett’s af
fections. And now they had proved to
he one and the same. It was disturb
ing. It was like suddenly finding the
vampire of a five-reel feature film turn
Into the heroine.
Some men, on making the discovery
of this girl’s identity, might have felt
that providence had intervened to save
them from a disastrous entanglement.
Tills point of view never occurred to
Samuel xMnrlowe. The way he looked
at it was that lie had been all wrong
about Wilhelmlna Bennett. Eustace,
he felt, had been to blnme throughout.
If this girl had maltreated Eustace’s
finer feelings, then her reason for do
ing so must have been excellent and
praiseworthy.
After all . . . poor old Eustace
. . . quite a good fellow, no doubt
In many ways . . . but, coming
down to brass tacks, what was there
about Eustace that gave him any li
cense to monopolize the affections of
a wonderful girl? Where, In a word,
did Eustace Hignett get off? He made
a tremendous grievance of the fact
that she had broken off the engage
ment, but what right had he to go
about the place expecting her to be
engaged to him? Eustace Hignett, no
doubt, looked upon the poor girl as
utterly heartless. Marlowe regarded
her behavior as thoroughly sensible.
She had made a mistake, and, realiz
ing this at the eleventh hour, she had
had the force of character to correct
it. He was sorry for poor old Eustace,
but he really could not permit the sug
gestion that Wilhelmlna Bennett—her
friends called her Billie— had not be
haved in a perfectly splendid way
throughout. It was women like \VII
- Bennett—Billie to her Inti
mates — who made the world worth
living in.
Her friends called her Billie. He
did not blame them. It was a delight
ful name and suited bei to perfection.
He practiced it a few times. "Billie
. Billie . . .” It certainly
ran pleasantly off the tongue. “Billie
Bennett.” Very musical. “Billie Mar
lowe.” Still better. “We noticed
among those present the charming and
popular Mrs. ‘Billie’ Marlowe.”
A consuming desire came over him
to talk about the girl to someone.
Obviously indicated as the party of
the second part wus Eustace Hlgnett
If Eustace was still capable of speech
—and after all the boat was burdiy
rolling at all —be would enjoy a
further chat about his ruined life.
Besides, he had another reason for
seeking Eustace’s society. Asa man
who had been actually engaged to
marry this supreme girl, Eustace Ulg
nett had an attraction for Sam akin
to that of some great public monu
ment. He had become a sort of shrine.
He had taken on a glamor. Sam en
tered the stateroom ulmost reveren
tlally with something of the emotions
of a boy going into his first dime mu
seum.
The exhibit was lying on his back
staring at the roof of tbe berth. By
lying absolutely still and forcing him
self to think of purely inland scenes
and objects he had contrived to reduce
the green In his complexion to a mere
tinge. But It v.ould be paltering with
the truth to sa that he felt debonair.
He received Sam with a wan austerity.
“Sit down!” he said. “Don’t stand
there swaying like that. 1 can’t bear
It.”
“Why, we arent’ out of the harbor
yet- Surely you aren’t going to be
seasick already."
“I can issue no positive guarantee.
Perhaps if I can keep my mind off It
I have had good results for
the last ten minutes by thinking Rtead
il’y of the Sahara. There,” said Bus-
face Hignett with enthusiasm, “Is a
place for you I That is something like
a spot! Miles and miles of sand and
not a drop of water anywhere I"
Sam sat down on the lounge.
“You’re quite right. The great
thing ir to concentrate your mind on
other topics. Why not, for instance,
tell me some more about your unfor
tunate affair with that girl —Billie
Bennett I think you said her name
was.”
“Wilhelmlna Bennett. Where on
earth did you get the idea that her
name was Billie?”
“I had a notion that girls called
Wilhelmlna were sometimes Billie to
their friends."
“I never call her anything but Wll*
helmina. But 1 really cannot talk
about it. The recollection tortures
me.”
“That’s just what you want. It’s the
counter-irritation principle. Persevere
and you’ll soon forget that you’re on
board ship at all.”
“There’s something in that," admit
ted Eustace reflectively/ “It’s very
good of you to be so sympathetic and
interested.”
"My denr fellow . . . anything
that I can do . . . where did you
meet her first, for Instance?”
“At a dinner . . Eustace Hig
nett broke off abruptly. He hnd a
good memory and lie had just recol
lected the fish they had served at that
dinner—a flabby and exhausted-look
ing fish, half sunk beneath the sur
face of a thick white sauce.
"And what struck you most forcibly
about her at Urst? Her lovely hair, l
suppose?”
“llov did you know she hnd lovely
hair?”
“My dear chap, 1 naturally assumed
that any girl with whom you fell In
love would have nice hair.”
“Well, you are perfectly right, as It
happens. Her hair was remarkably
beautiful. It was red . . ."
“Lika autumn leaves with the sun
on them!” said Marlowe ecstatically.
“What an extraordinary thing!
That is an absolutely exact descrip
tion. Her eyes were a deep blue . .
“Or, rather, green.”
“Blue.”
“Green. There is a shade of green
that looks blue.”
“What the devil do you know abont
the color of her eyes?" demanded Eus
tnce heatedly. “Am I telling you
about her, or are you telling me?”
“My dear old man, don’t get excited.
Don’t you see I am trying to construct
that girl in my Imagination, to visual
ize her? 1 don’t pretend to doubt
your special knowledge, but after all
green eyes generally do go with red
hair and there are all shades of green.
There Is the bright green of meadow
grass, the dull green of the uncut
emerald, the faint yellowish green of
your face at the' present moment . .
“Don’t talk about the color of my
face! Now you’ve gone and reminded
me Just when I was beginning to for
get.”
“Awfully sorry 1 Stupid of me! Get
your mind off it again—quick! What
were you saying? Oh,, yes, this girl. I
always think It helps one to form a
mental picture of people if one know*
something about their tastes—what
sort of thing they are interested In.
their favorite topics of conversation,
and so on. Tills Miss Bennett now,
what did she like tnlklng about?"
“Oh, all sorts of things."
“Yes, but what?"
“Well, for one thing she was vsry
fond of poetry. It was that which
first drew us together."
“Poetry!" Sam’s heart sank a
little. He had read a certain amount
of poetry at school, and once he had
won a prize for the last line of a
limerick in a competition In n weekly
paper, but he was self-critic enough
to know that poetry was not his long
suit. Still there was a library on
board ship and no doubt It would be
possible to borrow the works of some
standard poet and bone them up from
time to time.
“Oh no, Bream is going to go
below and look after poor Pinky.”
('i'O HE CONTINUED.)
Curious Changes In Eyes of Fish.
A study of the different forms anO
habits of fishes will bring most Inter
esting things to light. An instance:
One of the most peculiar things about
flounders is that the young of the spe
cies swim upright ns In the cff&e of
all udults of any ordinary species. The
eyes of young flounders are like those
of any ordinary fish, one being situ
ated on each side of the head. Oradu*
ally, however, a change comes in the
appearunce of the young flounder. As
it grows one of the eyes travels around
to the side of the head until both are
on the same side. Subsequently this
side becomes the upper side of the
head. Most of this rotation of the
eye is a rapid process, taking not more
than three days.
A Wise Citizen.
Do as much as you can, as well as
you can, as soon as you can, and you
need not he afraid of being “canned,”
Is the sane advice of a wise citizen.—
Brooklyn Standard Union.
If a man is the real thing he doesn’t
have to proclaim it from the housetop
STATE ITEMS
CONDENSED
Camilla.—Camilla was struck by a
tornado at night recently, causing
damage estimated at five thousand
dollars. Roofs were torn off, plate
glass windows shattered, shade trees
blown down and awnings ripped off.
The path of the storm was about one
hundred yards wide and a half milo
in length. No one was hurt.
Savannah. —Verdicts of guilty were
returned by a jury in the United
States court here recently against J.
B. Bailey, Richard Bailey, C. C. Tuten,
J. F. Williams, J. D. Dillard and Chris
tian Schwarz charged with conspiring
to violate the prohibition law. Tho
jury deliberated fifteen minutes. Sen
tences will be pronounced at a later
date.
Ben Hill. —Valuable papers belong
ing to Fulton county and twelve auto
mobile tires valued at $l5O were taken
by burglars who robbed the store of
E. J. Waits early in (lie morning
hours recently. The papers were rec
ords and time sheets of a sawmill on
the county farm near Adamsville. Mr.
Wait manages the mill. County po
lice are seeking the burglars.
Forsyth. —Forsyth, if it continues
bidding for convention at the rate it
has been holding them the past few
weeks, rightly will lay claim to being
tho “Convention City" of middle Geor
gia. Recently the second annual con
vention of the Georgia Baptist Volun
teers convened here, followed by the
the sixth district Parent-Teacher’s as
sociation, and a few days ago by the
sixth districal Medical society.
Savannah. —Nothing lias been given
nut concerning the findings, if final
findings have been arrived at, In tho
hearing being held at tho offices of
the Atlantic Coast Line railroad in
the matter of the cause of the recent
wreck near Naliunta. On the A. C. L.
Lracks a Southern train crashed into
the rear of tho L. & N. "Southland”
limited, with one engineer killed and
several Injured. It is said that the
crews of the trains involved have
been heard in statements.
Reynolds.—H. F. Underwood, well
known man living near here, was shot
m tho back of the head and killed one
day recently. The body was found in
his automobile early in tho morn
ing hours, six miles from Reynolds.
The body was on the rear seat cov
ered up.' The coroner and sheriff are
investigating, but have found no evi
dence that would throw any light on
the supposed murder. Apparently,
Underwood was shot from the back
with buckshot. His murderers will bo
run down.
Elberton.—Dr. W. J. Matthews, fif
ty-five years old, prominent physician
of this place, was found dead in his
bed one morning recently by his wife.
Me had been dead for some hours. He
!s survived by his wife and several
children. Doctor Matthews was a
member of the city hoard of health,
and had served in the legislature from
Elbert two years. His funeral was
one of the largest attended held in
Elberton in many years. Floral trib
utes testified to the esteem in which
lie "was held.
Quitman.—The question of cattle
tick dipping again will come up in
the nature of a motion to reconsider
the resolution recently passed by the
hoard to suspend dipping and with
draw all financial and moral support
from the movement on December 31,
at the regular monthly session of the
county hoard of commissioners. Since
the board of commissioners passed
the suspension resolution, Thomas
county commissioners undertook to
suspend the dipping campaign in that
county and the action was set with a
hue and cry from cattle owners that
It would mean the utter destruction
of the cattle industry, and the board
reconsidered and resumed dipping
just where it left off.
Home. —Headquarters of the Rome
division of the state highway depart
ment will not be moved from Rome to
Marietta as the state highway depart
ment has been planning for the past
several weeks to do. Despite infor
mation to this effect was received by
Attorney 0. E. Maddox from depart
j ment headquarters in Atlanta. Attor
| ney Maddox, John M. Graham, presi
dent of the National City hank, and
States Senator John Camp Davis ap
peared before the highway commiss
ion in Atlanta. They learned that the
contemplated change was about to b
made because the commission believ
ed the mountain counties could be
more easily reached from Marietta
than from Rome. The Rome commit
tee called the commission’s attention
to the Rome-Calhoun highway point
ing out that while this was not a state
highway, it is an excellent road and
offers most direct communicationj
with the section under consideration. J