Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 3 — page 62: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

$44 ‘* Even if you got it on already?” *““ Even if I’m at the ball in it and danc- ing in it!” Thomas stated. ‘* Because this young feller that rented it already—”’ rT $ Say, mildly, ‘‘ you know—don’t your—that in about one minute more I’m going to lose patience and tell you and your armor where you can go?” Mr. Kratz accepted the ten dollar bill and reached for the roll of wrapping paper. Thus it came that Thomas left the estab- lishment with a rather bulky pasteboard box, well wrapped, under his arm—a box so bulky, indeed, that before he reached home, a shining film was upon his well-cut forehead and his curly hair curled the tighter. But it was worth the bother and the exertion! This Tommy had known at the time, but he knew it still better when, eventually, he stood before his mirror fully arrayed. . As a costume, this one was a winner! New, impressively shining, it had been contrived for purely modern uses. Shim- mering chain mail filled all the gaps be- tween the main plates; with the last buckle pulled tight and the vizor down, Thomas himself had vanished altogether. ‘He laughed richly inside his helmet as he viewed the reflection through the eye- slits. Other young men at Braydon’s big ball, however carefully they might dress for the evening, were bound to leave a clue or two by which intimate friends might guess accurately at their identity; of the whole crew Thomas Henning would be the only one in an absolutely impenetrable disguise. He shook merrily and slapped his iron thigh with his rather crude iron glove! Later, with his foot gear and his head-— gear in a neat bundle and the rest of his hardware concealed beneath a long raincoat, Thomas clanked inconspicuously into a taxicab and went to call for Dolly Hayes. Later still, when he had reveled in her rare beauty, as enhanced by the Dresden China gown made for the occasion, he made. his way to the big affair with Dolly. And, as Thomas reflected almost won- deringly, it was indeed some ball! Digitized by Go ogle ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. f Kratz,” said Thomas Henning, - The whole world seemed to be on hand, dancing dizzily in every costume conceiv- able to the mind of man or woman. In an odd, indefinable way, one particularly old- fashioned girl seemed to stand out. At first it might have been chance, but after his third dance with Dolly Hayes, Thomas concluded that the old-fashioned girl was deliberately lurking in his neigh- borhood. He did not know her, but be she whom she might, the old-fashioned girl was a creature of marked bad taste. Although the records inform us that old- fashioned girls never did that sort of thing, this one beyond a peradventure was trying to flirt with Richard III, otherwise Thomas Henning, a visibly engaged man. CHAPTER IX. MARY DECIDES. ARY dined alone with her uncle. This in itself explains much. Out there on the veranda, after Peter’s going, after Maggie’s return with the dinner things, Mary had waved madly, astonishingly, for a long time. She dare not go—and yet she craved to go and see it all—and still, she dared not go! Indeed, she must not go, because she had promised Billy to eschew anything of that sort. Although going could not possibly do any harm, what Billy had meant was that she mustn’t permit them to start parties in her honor or take her to places remote from the station. Well, this party certainly was not in her honor and the house where they were holding it was nearly half-way between this house and the station! So that, if she did go, she would be that much nearer the station and stand just that much less chance of missing Billy! Really, that was a point one ought to consider. And Billy knew Uncle Arthur quite well, too, and the last thing that he would ask of Mary was that she sit at home and listen to uncle’s snore. In fact, for a brief space Mary felt quite t certain that, could Billy know the circum- stances of this evening, he would be the very first to urge her to go and enjoy her- self! After which, she shook her head and Original Tron THE C ATE UNWELL HE DOO S a) =i) C@