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