Netty entered the room presently, and greeted her mother with a warmth of emotion beyond the usual. Dick took advantage of her coming to excuse himself for a little while. He had promised Dora immediate information concerning his mother’s coming, and he was now all eagerness to tell her of the new happiness in his home. He had telephoned for a hansom, and the drive through the Park to the colonel’s was quickly accomplished. Soon, the girl he loved was a sharer in his joy over the reunion of father and mother. After a time, there came a lapse into silence, when the first subject had been gone over with fond thoroughness. It was broken by Dora: “Do you know, Dick,” she remarked, “that I shall be hard put to it to live up to you? You are such a hero!” “Pooh! Nonsense!” the lover exclaimed, in much confusion. But Dora shook her head, solemnly. “It is a fact,” she declared, “and all the world knows it. If I didn’t love you to distraction, I could “Good heavens!” Dick muttered, in consternation. “—and they are going to club on a silver service for a wedding present. Isn’t that lovely?” “Oh, yes, I suppose so,” Dick conceded. “But just think—if they should expect me to make a speech at the dinner! Good lord!” Dora opened her clear, gray eyes wide: “Why, Dick!” she remonstrated. “You don’t mean to tell me that you would show the white feather, just at the idea of making some response to a toast in your honor?” “I never made a speech in my life,” the lover answered, shamefacedly; “and I am frightened nearly out of my wits at the bare idea of being called on.... But you spoke of the white feather, dearest. I never told you that my miserable enemy, Ormsby, sent me one.” “What? He dared?” Dora sat erect, and her eyes flashed in a sudden wrath. “Tell me about it, Dick.” The story was soon related, and the girl’s indignation against his whilom rival filled him with delight. “The odd thing about it all was,” he went on, “that I carried that white feather with me. I had “Oh, Dick,” Dora cried, “have you the feather still?” “Yes, indeed,” was the smiling answer. “You see, I got into the habit of keeping it by me.” “But you haven’t it with you, now?” The girl’s eyes were very wistful. To her imagination, there was a potent charm in this lying symbol, which had been the companion of the man whom she adored. “Oh, yes, I have it,” Dick replied, carelessly. He reached a hand into an inner pocket of his waistcoat, and brought forth the feather, which he held out to the girl. She accepted it reverently, but an expression of dissatisfaction showed on her face. “It—it isn’t exactly a white feather now,” she suggested. “It is really quite shockingly dirty. But I shall have it cleaned, and then set in a case or a frame of gold, decorated with—” Dick interrupted, somewhat indignantly. “You can’t expect a man living for months in the way I did to keep a white feather immaculate. And, anyhow, it is not so very dirty. Besides, I couldn’t help the blood—could I?” “The blood!” Dora exclaimed, startled, and her face whitened. “What blood, Dick?” “Mine. You see, it lay right alongside the place where that bullet scraped my side.” “Your blood!” The girl’s face was wonderfully alight. “And I said that I would have it cleaned. Why, the idea seems sacrilege! No, this feather shall never be cleaned from those precious stains, sweetheart. The white feather—and now it is scarlet with the blood of my hero. Ah, this scarlet feather shall be set in purest gold, and bordered with jewels. It shall be a shrine for my worship, Dick. And—” The lover, who had taken her into his arms, bent his head suddenly, and kissed her to silence. THE END A FEW OF GROSSET & DUNLAP’S Great Books at Little Prices NEW, CLEVER, ENTERTAINING. GRET: The Story of a Pagan. By Beatrice Mantle. Illustrated by C. M. Relyea. The wild free life of an Oregon lumber camp furnishes the setting for this strong original story. Gret is the daughter of the camp and is utterly content with the wild life—until love comes. A fine book, unmarred by convention. OLD CHESTER TALES. By Margaret Deland. Illustrated by Howard Pyle. A vivid yet delicate portrayal of characters in an old New England town. Dr. Lavendar’s fine, kindly wisdom is brought to bear upon the lives of all, permeating the whole volume like the pungent odor of pine, healthful and life giving. “Old Chester Tales” will surely be among the books that abide. THE MEMOIRS OF A BABY. By Josephine Daskam. Illustrated by F. Y. Cory. The dawning intelligence of the baby was grappled with by its great aunt, an elderly maiden, whose book knowledge of babies was something at which even the infant himself winked. A delicious bit of humor. REBECCA MARY. By Annie Hamilton Donnell. Illustrated by Elizabeth Shippen Green. The heart tragedies of this little girl with no one near to share them, are told with a delicate art, a keen appreciation of the needs of the childish heart and a humorous knowledge of the workings of the childish mind. THE FLY ON THE WHEEL. By Katherine Cecil Thurston. Frontispiece by Harrison Fisher. An Irish story of real power, perfect in development and showing a true conception of the spirited Hibernian character as displayed in the tragic as well as the tender phases of life. THE MAN FROM BRODNEY’S. By George Barr McCutcheon. Illustrated by Harrison Fisher. An island in the South Sea is the setting for this entertaining tale, and an all-conquering hero and a beautiful princess figure in a most complicated plot. One of Mr. McCutcheon’s best books. TOLD BY UNCLE REMUS. By Joel Chandler Harris. Illustrated by A. B. Frost, J. M. Conde and Frank Verbeck. Again Uncle Remus enters the fields of childhood, and leads another little boy to that non-locatable land called “Brer Rabbit’s Laughing Place,” and again the quaint animals spring into active life and play their parts, for the edification of a small but appreciative audience. THE CLIMBER. By E. F. Benson. With frontispiece. An unsparing analysis of an ambitious woman’s soul—a woman who believed that in social supremacy she would find happiness, and who finds instead the utter despair of one who has chosen the things that pass away. LYNCH’S DAUGHTER. By Leonard Merrick. Illustrated by Geo. Brehm. A story of to-day, telling how a rich girl acquires ideals of beautiful and simple living, and of men and love, quite apart from the teachings of her father, “Old Man Lynch” of Wall St. True to life, clever in treatment. Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York GROSSET & DUNLAP’S DRAMATIZED NOVELS A Few that are Making Theatrical History MARY JANE’S PA. By Norman Way. Illustrated with scenes from the play. Delightful, irresponsible “Mary Jane’s Pa” awakes one morning to find himself famous, and, genius being ill adapted to domestic joys, he wanders from home to work out his own unique destiny. One of the most humorous bits of recent fiction. CHERUB DEVINE. By Sewell Ford. “Cherub,” a good hearted but not over refined young man is brought in touch with the aristocracy. Of sprightly wit, he is sometimes a merciless analyst, but he proves in the end that manhood counts for more than ancient lineage by winning the love of the fairest girl in the flock. A WOMAN’S WAY. By Charles Somerville. Illustrated with scenes from the play. A story in which a woman’s wit and self-sacrificing love save her husband from the toils of an adventuress, and change an apparently tragic situation into one of delicious comedy. THE CLIMAX. By George C. Jenks. With ambition luring her on, a young choir soprano leaves the little village where she was born and the limited audience of St. Jude’s to train for the opera in New York. She leaves love behind her and meets love more ardent but not more sincere in her new environment. How she works, how she studies, how she suffers, are vividly portrayed. A FOOL THERE WAS. By Porter Emerson Browne. Illustrated by Edmund Magrath and W. W. Fawcett. A relentless portrayal of the career of a man who comes under the influence of a beautiful but evil woman; how she lures him on and on, how he struggles, falls and rises, only to fall again into her net, make a story of unflinching realism. THE SQUAW MAN. By Julie Opp Faversham and Edwin Milton Royle. Illustrated with scenes from the play. A glowing story, rapid in action, bright in dialogue with a fine courageous hero and a beautiful English heroine. THE GIRL IN WAITING. By Archibald Eyre. Illustrated with scenes from the play. A droll little comedy of misunderstandings, told with a light touch, a venturesome spirit and an eye for human oddities. THE SCARLET PIMPERNEL. By Baroness Orczy. Illustrated with scenes from the play. A realistic story of the days of the French Revolution, abounding in dramatic incident, with a young English soldier of fortune, daring, mysterious as the hero. Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York A FEW OF GROSSET & DUNLAP’S Great Books at Little Prices CY WHITTAKER’S PLACE. By Joseph C. Lincoln. Illustrated by Wallace Morgan. A Cape Cod story describing the amusing efforts of an elderly bachelor and his two cronies to rear and educate a little girl. Full of honest fun—a rural drama. THE FORGE IN THE FOREST. By Charles G. D. Roberts. Illustrated by H. Sandham. A story of the conflict in Acadia after its conquest by the British. A dramatic picture that lives and shines with the indefinable charm of poetic romance. A SISTER TO EVANGELINE. By Charles G. D. Roberts. Illustrated by E. McConnell. Being the story of Yvonne de Lamourie, and how she went into exile with the villagers of Grand PrÈ. Swift action, fresh atmosphere, wholesome purity, deep passion and searching analysis characterize this strong novel. THE OPENED SHUTTERS. By Clara Louise Burnham. Frontispiece by Harrison Fisher. A summer haunt on an island in Casco Bay is the background for this romance. A beautiful woman, at discord with life, is brought to realize, by her new friends, that she may open the shutters of her soul to the blessed sunlight of joy by casting aside vanity and self love. A delicately humorous work with a lofty motive underlying it all. THE RIGHT PRINCESS. By Clara Louise Burnham. An amusing story, opening at a fashionable Long Island resort, where a stately Englishwoman employs a forcible New England housekeeper to serve in her interesting home. How types so widely apart react on each others’ lives, all to ultimate good, makes a story both humorous and rich in sentiment. THE LEAVEN OF LOVE. By Clara Louise Burnham. Frontispiece by Harrison Fisher. At a Southern California resort a world-weary woman, young and beautiful but disillusioned, meets a girl who has learned the art of living—of tasting life in all its richness, opulence and joy. The story hinges upon the change wrought in the soul of the blasÈ woman by this glimpse into a cheery life. Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York A FEW OF GROSSET & DUNLAP’S Great Books at Little Prices QUINCY ADAMS SAWYER. A Picture of New England Home Life. With illustrations by C. W. Reed, and Scenes Reproduced from the Play. One of the best New England stories ever written. It is full of homely human interest * * * there is a wealth of New England village character, scenes and incidents * * * forcibly, vividly and truthfully drawn. Few books have enjoyed a greater sale and popularity. Dramatized, it made the greatest rural play of recent times. THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF QUINCY ADAMS SAWYER. By Charles Felton Pidgin. Illustrated by Henry Roth. All who love honest sentiment, quaint and sunny humor, and homespun philosophy will find these “Further Adventures” a book after their own heart. HALF A CHANCE. By Frederic S. Isham. Illustrated by Herman Pfeifer. The thrill of excitement will keep the reader in a state of suspense, and he will become personally concerned from the start, as to the central character, a very real man who suffers, dares—and achieves! VIRGINIA OF THE AIR LANES. By Herbert Quick. Illustrated by William R. Leigh. The author has seized the romantic moment for the airship novel, and created the pretty story of “a lover and his lass” contending with an elderly relative for the monopoly of the skies. An exciting tale of adventure in midair. THE GAME AND THE CANDLE. By Eleanor M. Ingram. Illustrated by P. D. Johnson. The hero is a young American, who, to save his family from poverty, deliberately commits a felony. Then follow his capture and imprisonment, and his rescue by a Russian Grand Duke. A stirring story, rich in sentiment. Grosset & Dunlap, 526 West 26th St., New York
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