The Honorable Percival Part 24

"He _isn't_! He's a darling!" Bobby flashed out hotly. "It's just that you don't understand him."

"What's more, I don't want to. I've had enough of him and his kind. If I'd known you were going to run amuck of a thing like this, I'd have let you bury yourself on the ranch for the rest of your life."

"Well," agreed Bobby, carefully studying her pink palm, and weighing her words as one who is quite open to reason, "I think I could have been happy with Hal; but you thought we were both too young and that I ought to see some other men first."

"Yes, but I didn't know you were going to get your head turned by the first fool that came lording it around with a valet and a t.i.tle. The Fords may be plain people, but, by Jugs! they are the sort to tie up to in a squall."

Bobby smiled broadly under the brim of her hat.

"Then you advise me to take Hal?"

"I advise you to let me send this fellow Has...o...b.. about his business.

I'll make short work of him."

Bobby slipped her arm through his, and looked up saucily.

"You needn't bother, dear," she said. "Now that it's all settled about Hal, I don't mind telling you that I refused Mr. Has...o...b.. last night."

On the gangway below, the pa.s.sengers were slowly filing ash.o.r.e. Among the last to debark was the Honorable Percival Has...o...b.., followed by a fur coat, a gun-case, two pigskin bags, a hat-box, and a valet. On his face was an expression of unutterable ennui. As he reached the wharf he turned and casually surveyed the steamer. On the bridge he discerned a small alert figure, clad in white, her dark head framed by the broad brim of a Panama hat. She waved her hand and smiled, and he waved back, but he did not smile.

"Judson," said the Honorable Percival as they handed their bags to Sister Cordelia's footman, "quite unnecessary to mention any--er--any incidents of the voyage. You understand?"

"Quite so, sir," said Judson.

FINIS

"When Alice Hegan Rice writes a little book, lovers of whimsical fiction rejoice with open rejoicing."--_Chicago Tribune_.

"Mrs. Rice has been paid the compliment of being compared with d.i.c.kens.

Those who appreciate her real merits will see that she is more natural, more lifelike, and more unaffectedly humorous than the author of 'Pickwick Papers.'"--_Rochester Post-Express_.

"There is a delicious humor in everything she writes, and it has the virtue of non-boisterousness and sobriety in tone. There is no straining for wit: everything has the merit of spontaneity and naturalness."--_Philadelphia Record_.

"She is one of the real humorists, for at the bottom of her humor there is a deep well of human kindness."--_The Metropolitan_.

_See next page for complete list of Mrs. Rice's books_

Books by Alice Hegan Rice

MRS. WIGGS OF THE CABBAGE PATCH

"A sure cure for the blues, and a gay challenge to pessimists in general."--_Chicago Herald_.

LOVEY MARY

"For fun and pathos, for crisp wit and serene philosophy, and for the charm that holds the reader spellbound, 'Lovey Mary' is as notable as 'Mrs. Wiggs.'"--_The Christian Intelligencer_.

MR. OPP

"He is a figure that might hang without insidious comparison in George Eliot's own immortal character portrait gallery."--_New York Sun_.

A ROMANCE OF BILLY-GOAT HILL

"The love story has the fragrance of a wild rose, and every character in the book is worth knowing."--_Chicago Record-Herald_.

SANDY

Sandy is a lovable Irish waif, and his story overflows with suns.h.i.+ne and humor.

CAPTAIN JUNE

A happy story of a dear little American lad who has all kinds of interesting and unusual experiences in j.a.pan.