Teiniaiaiacaialecataiaieialelel ls EE MR OH HH ROR OR HOR ROMO HOO NOHO RL Ll . = 2 = a Tt. TA A Te A AT A TALE OF RED ROSES RR | GEORGE RANDOLPH CHESTER Copyright, 1914, by the Bobbs- Merrill Co. SYNOPSIS Sledge, a typical politician, becomes in- fatuated with Molly Marley, daughter of a street car company president. He sends her red rosec ‘ CHAPTER Il. Molly Invites an Additional Guest. HERE are the red roses, Molly?” asked Bert Glider as he walked into the re- | ception parlor of Marley's pretentious big house that night. “1 don’t know,” replied Molly, much concerned. *‘Did you send some?” “No, but I thought some were to be sent to you,” laughed Bert. “It’s too good to keep, Fern. By the way, that ‘Fern’ just slipped, and you'll have to pardon me for it. It’s Molly's fault. She never called you anything else.” “Who 18 it?’ demanded Molly, more eager to hear the news than he liked to see. | **The information’ is highly im- portant, if true, and I must not be ' kept in suspense.” “Hold on to something, then.” he warned her. *One, two, three—Sledge!” *“Sledge!” she repeated. “What? That great big” — She paused for lack of words, and her face flamed suddenly scarlet with indignation. “Sledge,” he joyously insisted, and J , to the puzzled Fern, *‘You re- &. the big fellow whose car stop- ped just abreast us last night.” Mr. Glider, who as a boy “had been an expert in pulling the wings from flies, went straight on with the slaugh- ter, seizing immediately the glorious opportunity which presented itself when Mr; Marley, brave in smoking jacket and pumps, sauntered into the parlor. “Great news, Marley!” hailed Bert, beaming with delight upon the joyous laughter of Fern. “Molly has captured a new honor for the family. Whose do you suppose is the latest scalp at | her belt?” ‘ “It might be almost anybody,” re- turned Marley, who felt that his moth- erless danghter’s popularity reflected somehow on himself. “Who is the particular victim you have in mind?” and he laughed in advance. “Sledge!” exploded Bert. ‘“By the way, Marley, he gave you a hint of it too. Didn’t he ask you today while 1 was there for an invitation to Molly's party tomorrow night or something like that?" “Well, not exactly, but he did throw out some pretty strong hints,” ac- knowledged. Marley with a. grin, en- te into the joyous spirit of the oc- Tih “He asked permission to call I told him that was up to wf “ fd “How unusually considerate!” ob- - served Molly. biting her lips to sup- press the rising fury which had driven the blushes from her cheeks and left them almost waxen. The Marley butler. a thin faced and thin legged young man with a pain- fully intellectual countenance, stalked past the hallway portieres in answer to a below stairs ring and returned from the front door with: “Mr. Sledge, sir, to see Mr. Marley.” “Show him into the library,” hastily directed. Marley, suddenly contrite and feeling a sinking horror, as did all the others in the room, of having this man face to face with Molly, especially after the crimes against her, of which they had themselves been guilty. “The instructions were too late, how- ever. “Good evening,’ rumbled the deep voice of Sledge, who just then appear- ed directly in the center of the opening in the portieres. He wore an Inverness topcoat, the open front of which dis- closed a marvelous expanse. of ‘white shirt front, spaced with diamond studs, the glitter of which paled, how- ever, by contrast with the enormous solitaire which illuminated the solid gold watch fob presented to him. by the Young Men's Marching club of Ward G. His hair was pressed as smoothly to his skull as an earnest ItzHan barber: could plaster it, zand various angry specks on his cheeks told how microscopically he had been shay- ed. The erowning triumphs of his toi- 14t. ‘however. he carried. In his right a ‘He bore. held ‘by a wide velvet n; inthe same huge fingers which clutched the gold headed eane pre sented by the Capital City Sledge club, a thirty dollar box of candy. two feet across, wrapped with six beribbened layers of fancy paper ‘and’ provided with an absolute maze of drawers and partitions. In his left hand he carried a speckless silk hat of the latest French shape, and that arm encircled a conical parcel. so big that it’ would have staggered a gmall man,’ ‘while from the upper end of the cone pro- truded a square yard of screaming red roses. “Good evening. Miss Molly.” he add- ed, becoming more specific. “1 brought these for you myself)” and he beamed hia cordial good: will upen the entire oom g—— assemblage. It was in this breathless crisis that Molly Marley, aggravated beyond en- durance, took her merciless revenge. «How perfectly delightful!” she cried. eager cordiality than she had ever be- stowed upon Bert Glider himself. “We've just been talking about you,” and then, to the intense consternation of her father and her foremost suitor, she added: “I want you at my party tomorrow night Won’t you come. please?” * » * * * * * The next day Smash. Molly's pet. like the way of many good dogs. fell into the hands ef the official dog catch- er and was taken off to the pound. Molly. was in a pitiable state. She ap- pealed to Ler father. He testily said that he was busy. In her desperation and hardly knowing why she did it. she telephoned to Sledge. One of Sledge’s men said that he was very busy. But when he heard it was Molly he jump- ed into an automobile. accompanied Molly to the pound and got Smash. On the way home Sledge talked of his dog Bob, and Molly shivered when he said he'd like to match Bob against Smash. As if noticing her displeasure, he changed the subject to Molly's par- ty, and for the hundredth time Molly was sorry she invited him. ! * * = * “a * * A yelp on the front porch announced the arrival of Ben Sledge, and he ap- peared in the brilliantly lighted hall, holding a tightly stretched chain, to the other end of which was attached a one eyed, stub eared. battle scarred bull terrier, which took such a violent dislike to the intellectual faced Marley butler that Sledge was compelled te bold him clear of the. floor with one ‘brawny hand.and spank him loudly in the ribs with the other. whereupon Bob gave. a single yelping promise to be good, and Sledge let him down. “This is Bob, Miss Molly,” intro- duced Sledge. “I'm sending him right back with Mike, but you said you'd like to see him.” “Delighted to meet you, Bob,” laugh-. ed Molly. stooping down and patting him on the seamy head. Bob deliberately batted his good eye with all the effect of a wink and wagged his absurd stump of a tail by | | ™ (( | | i { | “] brought these for you myself.” way of friendly greeting, then he sud- denly made a lunge of about four feet and strained, choking, at the end of his chain, on his hind feet, with his tongue hanging out. From the rear of the lot he had beard the bark of the suspicious Smash. “Where's Mike?" demanded Molly hastily and in some fear. Bert Glider and five of the eight couples whom Molly had invited bad already arrived and were now, of course, thronged eagerly in the door- ways. “What's your hurry, Molly?" snick- ered loose jointed Dicky Reynolds. “Hold your caller till I run out and get Bmash. He knows me.” “Don’t you dare!” shrieked Molly, distrusting him with good reason. Bob loosened his throat enough to answer the challenge from the kennel, and there wasn’t a girl left in the doorways except Jessie Peters, who cling to Dicky’s sleeve. “1"11'go with'yoti, Dicky,” offered cir- cular little Willie ‘Walters, with ‘an | ecHo'of "Dicky’s ‘snicker. ! i &If “you do he’ll'bark at you,” hotly retorted Molly, knowing Wee Willie's cautious propensities. ‘ The rest of the boys were for keep- ing up the good work, but Sledge cut | short the incipient hysteria by picking . up Bob by the ‘heck, returning to the door and booming ‘into ‘the night the : silent, ‘potent ‘syllable: “Mike!” A squatty man. who looked so much ! lke Bob, even to a patched eye, that they could have been taken for twins, emerged from the darkness, hugged Bob to his bosom like a brother and hurried away. Fern and Molly looked at each other with dismay. If this was the start of the evening what else might they ex- | | pect! i { SP A IR ns a rl SO and she swept toward him with more “Why didn’t Mike take them both away?” whispered Fern. “You poor girl!” ? : “I'm not!” denied Molly fiercely. “I said this morning that I'd like to see Bob. and, of course, Mr. Sledge brought him. The only trouble is he’s so quick.” . : : “He's instantaneous.” corrected Fern. «You have to admire it.” laughed Molly. ‘Well, the only thing 1 can:do is to be as game as he is.” And upon Sledge’s return from some careful di- rections to an unseen companion of Mike's she introduced him to her friends with all the sprightliness of which she was capable. J In that process she firmly intended to make him the center of things and to see that he had a good time. He relieved her of that tremendous bur- den. however. for after moving through the introductions with a cordial ease which not only delighted but surprised her. until she was.reminded that he had been introduced to more notables than she would probably ever see. he quietly disappeared into Marley’s den and smoked fat cigars in calm com- fort, with a stein of cool beer at his el- bow. leaving the young people to enjoy their hilarity without the damper of hig presence. = Melly, mindful of her duties as host- ess, dropped in occasionally to see that he was satisfied, and each time she found him in exactly the same position, as placidly contented as he could pos- sibly have been in the little back room of. the Occident saloon: On one of hex visits, after answering in the affirma- tive her inquiry if he was all right, he rose from his comfortable nest in the big leather chair. \ . «I suppose we eat.’ he guessed. “I think youd call it bluff,” she laughingly returned. “I get you,” he replied. orations. Souvenirs?” “Phe usual.” “Hand ‘em these,” and he thrust into her hands two bundles of small envel- opes, red ones and white ones. “Mostly dec- ment. “I—get you,” ridicule. for the boys. What are they?” “Aw, nothing much,” he diffidently replied as he resumed his seat. “Sea- son tickets for grand opera week in the red ones and for the Athletic club fights in the white ones. Admit two. Is it all right?” “Is it all right? It's glorious!” she assured him, with shining eyes. Delighted with this unmatchable nov- elty, Molly was herself placing the red and white envelopes at the covers in the dining room when Bert Glider found her there and closed the door after himself. “Molly, you're carrying this Sledge joke too far!" he hotly charged. “3Who elected you? she quietly wanted to know and laid a white en-’ velope at his place with extreme care, angling the corner of it just so. “Both of us, I hope,” he stated, dis- playing a warning signal by pulling at the top of his collar to give his throat more room. “Molly”’— And he advanc- | ed toward her. The symptoms were unmistakable. Molly, having rounded the end of the table, slipped out thrcugh the pantry door and handed ber remaining en- velopes to the intellectual looking but- ler. “Place these on the table just as I have done. Alternate red and white ones,” she kindly directed, and the next time Bert saw her she was the lve center of the laughing taffy pull- ing. She had preferred to escape rather than to treat this matter either seriously or flippantly when she: was annoyed with him, 4 At 11:30 Mr. Marley, with the worry of eight absent mothers on his own shoulders, was fretting over some in- vention to send them home when the earth split open in the wide stretch of ‘vacant land across the street and ejected into the sky, with a loud, un- earthly noise, a tremendous assortment of flery meteors, mostly red. Roman candles in reckless bunches shot up from behind every bush, skyrockets dragged their spiraling tails through all the available circumambience, while fancy bombs carried their aerial fioat- ers and other brilliant pyrotechnical surprises into ‘all the celestial terri- tory hitherto unoccupied. Gidea “Through it all: Sledge stood as im- movable and as impasgsive.as if he had been: glued to .the spot and frozen. Even when the display flowed out into the middle of the highway and piled up the street cars for two blocks in both ‘directions he remained a calm’ and disinterested spectator. ~The pres- ident of the traction. company was thrown into extreme agitation by this excess of zeal, for he had some con- sideration for the feelings of the pub- lic, and he rushed: right out to restore the scattered schedule. t .A‘Here, what's this?’ he demanded of a demon with a smoke blackened face. “Why are you holding up the cars?” “Sledge’s orders,” replied the demon, lighting the fuse of a red rose set plece.’ “He said everything went, and it's going.” 3 Mr. Marley came back. Sledge was no longer on the porch. Molly bad slipped in to wrap up some cake for Baby Peters, and Sledge, who seemingly saw nothing, had followed her. “Well, is your party a hit?” he anx- iously inquired. “I's a scream!” she said, unable to control her laughter. “Really, Mr. Sledge, I have you to thank for the most extravagantly joyous occasion at which I have ever had the good for- tune to preside.” “We'll open her another notch next ¢ene—— stated Sledge. ‘morning about that Porson property?’ She looked at them blankly a mo- she smiled, flushing} slightly as she wondered whether her; amused and wholly vexed. adoption of his phrase was flattery or | “Red omnes, in honor of the' roses, are for girls, and the white ones { time,” he confidently promised her. “Molly, marry me.” «Oh, it's impossible!” she blurted. “Really, I'm sorry, Mr. Sledge. 1 know it’s my own fault, but I didn’t mean it to go this far. I don’t mean that— that is—well, 1 don’t know what I mean. You’ve been so good, and I do appreciate it so, but it is impossible! I simply couldn’t. Don’t you see?” “You'll come around to it.” “1 bet I don’t?” she blazed. «what'll you bet—Smash against Bob?” “Anything you like!” she angrily agreed, furious enough to poison him. “You're on.” he said. CHAPTER IIL An Engagement Without a Kiss. ERT. annoyed by the events of the evening, but relieved to some extent by Molly's inex- plicable and delightful change of manner toward him in the pleasant half hour before the party had dis- persed. took his thoughtful place in Sledge’s machine and prepared for the usual welcome silence, which those who knew him had a right to expeet from the reticent boss. To his sur- prise, however, Sledge talked. “Great party Molly had,” observed the donor of the fireworks and the mu- sic and the passes and the red roses. “A feverish success,” agreed Bert. “Molly is inclined to give you all the credit for it." She can have anything she wants,” “I'm going to marry her.” “Did she say so?” inquired Bert. “Not yet,” acknowledged Sledge. “She's thinking it over.” “Oh!” returned Bert, much relieved and smiling in the darkness. He com- placently twirled his mustache. He had. a good one on Molly. “What time am I to see you in the he inquired, determined not further to discuss the lady. “Eleven o'clock.” Bert went into the house, half It miczht be very funny to see this blundering big boor making a fool of himself, but the joke was entirely ruined by the fact that at the same time he was making a fool of everybody else. Bert knew, to the share, how much street railway and Gas and Electric stock Marley held. The growing city needed vastly increased transporta- tion facilities, and with the increase of these would come an increase of Mar- ley wealth and influence. It might be a very handy thing for a young real estate dealer to have the president of a rapidly expanding street railway company for a father-in-law. He went to, sleep. dreaming pleasantly of ex- tensions and subdivisions and advance information on factory sites—and of Molly, of course! He awoke determined to concrete thésé dreams or to dismiss them and find others. Molly had either to ac- cept him or definitely to turn him lcose after what other fish there might be in the sea. The absurdity of hav- ing Sledge for a rival was too much to endure. He went to his office, dividing this train of thought with his plans for the marketing of the Porson tract, hurried to the First National to secure a loan of ten thousand on the new property and arranged at the German bank for an extension of certain other loans which would have to be deferred if he used his ‘ten thousand available funds to complete the cash purchase which Bendix demanded. These more urgent matters disposed of, he called up Molly. “May I come out?” he demanded. “When?” drawled a languid voice. “Right away.” “No,” she drawled again. “But, Molly, I must see you,” he seri- ously insisted. “It's important.” “It always is,” she laughed. “What's it about this time?” . “Oh, the same old thing,” he ac- knowledged, ‘“‘only more 50.” “You're crowding them closer to- gether,” chided Molly. “Moreover, this is the first time by telephone, I think.” “I didn’t mean it to be so,” he apolo- gized: “You've trapped me into it and taken away any chance I might have of persuasiveness Now I suppose it will be the same old answer.” “Not necessarily,” was her astound- ing reply, in the same sleepy drawl “What!” he “gasped. “Say that again.” i ; “Not necessarily,” she repeated, and ho caught the sound of a repressed giggle. “You're teasing me,” he protested. “You don’t mean that I'm to have the right answer this time.” “It depends on what you mean by the right answer.” “The one I've always wanted.” ¥What' one'is’ that?” “Yes,” ‘he blurted. “Yes what?” “Will you?’ “Yes.” “Yes what?’ he confusedly de- manded. “I will. ‘Say. Bert, I don’t like the all platinum settings. with the. platinum and a hali,’: “I'm cheated.” he earnestly complain: ed. 1 like the gold prongs. Size Six “There are certain formalities which I am keenly missing. I'm com- ing out.” * * * * a * * The governor's ball being considered by common consent the first social gun of the season, after which lesser so-| cial lights might presume to shine with . authorization, everybody who was anybody made it a point to be there and compare artillery. They made it a special point this year since Qavernor Waver's term was expiring. edn ne becsemi panel =H L i =u ALCOHOL 3 PER CENT. | 8] AVegetable Preparation forAs- | simi te madahen {ingle Sma adler ness and Rest Contains either Opium Morphine nor Mineral NOT NARCOTIC. itt A erfect Rem for Consfipe il fh Sour Stoic Dar . +9 3 Sm—— /yie CENTAUR COMPARY, NEW YORK. : hb) ~ 35 CENTS TY! BA Dadubtlnt » bial | Bears the En Signature For Infants and CHildren. TOD; Mothers Know That ti Genuine Castoria Always of A ~ be started leading from wat locality is be- pe one of the larg- of thai company and .Somerset county opera- Consolidation. Mr. C. A. who is well known here 3 charge of the company store. TEATHS IN THIS COUNTY fh 3r- oy RE : Some Friends Whom You Knew . Exget Copy of Wrapper. ang and Loved Who Have Passed EEE "| Away Recently in This Vicin- rg wn | WY. master and a share at least of the governo Up his social glory would flicker out with Record. office. Molly Marley in the first breath moment after the grand circle of i ductions led Fern about the st SNDAYS modern mansion with an air of prietorship, for this was her seWhitehead, visit, and she displayed with glee, will hold the még Trinity pwimming pool. the pipe organ. 5 avenue conservatory fountains, outdoor sleeping rooms and the sun gardens, all of which she had ment: ed to Sledge the previous day. § had not known until afterward th: she had had this very place in mind. “It’s a dream!” declared Fern, with awed enthusiasm. “Wouldn't you like to own a wonderful place like this, Molly?” : “Jt isn’t worth the moral price,” judged Molly. looking about the beau- tion, nevertheless. “It would be nice, though, after all,” she finally admitted. “Mrs. Waver doesn’t seem to enjoy it,” wondered Fern. “She hides as much as possible, I think.” “She has never overcome her fear of using the wrong fork,” guessed Molly. added. “Mrs. Waver is a good, sweet wonian, like my own mother, but I don't believe she is quite comfortable In. all this magnificence. Governor Waver, on the other hand, likes it and consequently looks as if he belonged here.” “That's the trouble with most mar- rlages,” observed Fern from the depth of her twenty-one years of wisdom. “Phey’re 80. unequal. It's perfectly ghastly, Molly, for either a man or a woman to marry beneath one’s own capabilities of expansion.” “What does it say onthe next page?” laughed Molly. . They were winding up out of the quaintly lighted sunken gardens, and they both stopped to admire the cold- ly ‘severe beauty of the big white mar- ble house as it lay gleaming in the moonlight. ~Phat there's no danger of that with you and Bert. you lucky girl.” replied Fern, with a queer note in her voice. at which Molly wondered. “Bert's a dandy fellow. It makes me hopping mad on your account when anybody knocks him.” “Has the Lord Help the Absent Member club got at him, too?” asked Molly, with a smile. “I thought only women were eligible for discussion.” “They take anybody,” dryly com- mented Fern. “But, aftér all, it is you ‘who are up.” “Me!” gasped Molly. worst about myself.” “You've made a sensational hit,” gig- gled Fern, “and that’s enough to send you to the, electrical chair any place. However, they're taking it cut in pity.” “They must hate me, then.” Molly felt assured at last of her success. “But why pity?” “Bert,” responded Fern. here.” “He telephoned me this afternoon he might be late,” said Molly, with a slightly worried air. “What of it?” “Common malice, on view in the clogkroom, has it that he is at the “Tell me the “He isn’t ed Fern and waited. “It would be absurd if it were not so mean. 1 gave one cat a piece of my mind about it, the feather chinned woman with the purple condolence ribbons fastened on her cerise chiffon with brass furniture tacks.” Molly howled at the description. «Wow! she gasped. “That's Mrs. Senator Allerton. to her?’ vening at | tiful grounds with a sigh of admira- «hat wasn’t nice, Fern.” she quickly {| present moment unpresentable,” stat- What did you say “That she seemed so happy to be- le Sie SSR JOSEPH LOWRY. The remains of Jospeh Lowry of | Fair Hope, who died at the Mont Al- {to sanitarium on Saturday, were brought to Meyersdale on Monday for burial. Services were held in the Catholic Church, following which iu- terment was made in the Catholic cemetery. Mr. Lowry was 27 years of age and is survived by his wife and four small children, his parents and several brothers and sisters, all liv- ing at Fairhope. WILLIAM BEALS, We A well known former citizen of this vicinity died yesterday at the Hor'® | ome of his son, J. cy a at Hazel 3 ¢ 8’ 0d. The remains Vii be received ee ys place to-morow afternoon and "oul give youtaken by Undertaker Reich for that as soon. the brother-in-law of the promised Molly. 8 Fike and on Saturday «You're almost as libdces will be held’ complimented Fern. “I Wurghit give up that'spangle fan for worngs. What do you suppose is keeping Bert, Molly ?” “He's probably ‘slewed,’ to use the Sledge dictionary,” responded Molly calmly. . “Does that mean the same as jag- ged?’ : «Spifiicated,” elucidated Molly. “Don’t look so shocked, Fern. Bert isn’t in the’ habit of it. Any of the boys will tell you that he’s so sober he breaks up most of their parties.” «Then why did he show off tonight?” «I pelieve they call it drowning their sorrows,” explained Molly quietly. “He lost everything today—money, busi- ness, prospects. Sledge broke him.” “poor Bert!” sympathized the warm hearted Fern. “Why, that putty faced old thief! Molly! He did it on your account! Isn't he clever! How on earth did he work 1t?” “Had Bert tie up all his money, in- cluding some he borrowed. in property Sledge depreciated in value, then Sledge had the bank call the loan. Bert can't pay, and thé Lank Seizes the property. Moreover, nobody will in- vest in Bert's enterprises since they know that Sledge is against him.” “I don’t blame him for getting—what does Sledge call it?" “Slewed.” “Po you?" asked Fern. «Hell probably feel sorry for it to- morrow,” evaded Molly. “A man’s conscience usually hurts him when he can’t eat.” They had neared the house, and now a glender figure in black came rapid- ly toward them. “Is that you, Molly?” inquired the anxious voice of Frank Marley. “It is your fair daughter,” she light- ly ‘assured him. “They are missing you,” he declared with all the. responsibility of a suc- cessful showman. ‘The governor and his wife, Sénator Allerton, the mayor and a dozen others have been inquir- ing about you.. You .are this year’s prize beauty.” and be laughed proudly. Embarrassed by the display he ap- parently wished to make of her, Molly followed him into the maze of gor- geous drawing rooms, where the aris- tocracy of Ring county and the state dispayed’ its evening clothes in com- stantly shifting array. The mayor himself. a keen eyed young man with a preternaturally bald head and a reputation which fol- lowed him about like a black cat, came hurrying up to her with her dance program in his hand. With him was a gangling old beau with a profession- al lady killer duced by + and handed to I'emn ¢ i 1 her misdeeds 1 (To be Continued). 1 smit vhom le intro- an u i3 it 14s 1:4 18 14 1 & i
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers