eyes and the ready, though unexpected retort. Uncle Caspar placed his
napkin to his lips and coughed. Aunt Yvonne studiously inspected her
bill of fare. "No matter what you call a rose, it is always sweet," he
added, meaningly.
At this she laughed good-naturedly. He marveled at her white teeth
and red lips. A rose, after all. Guggenslocker, rose; rose, not
Guggenslocker. No, no! A rose only! He fancied he caught a sly look of
triumph in her uncle's swift glance toward her. But Uncle Caspar was not
a rose--he was Guggenslocker. Guggenslocker--butcher! Still, he did not
look the part--no, indeed. That extraordinary man a butcher, a gardener,
a--and Aunt Yvonne? Yet they were Guggenslockers.
"Here is the waiter," the girl observed, to his relief. "I am famished
after my pleasant drive. It was so bracing, was it not Mr. Grenfall
Lorry?"
"Give me a mountain ride always as an appetizer," he said, obligingly,
and so ended the jest about a name.
The orders for the dinner were given and the quartette sat back in their
chairs to await the coming of the soup. Grenfall was still wondering how
she had learned his name, and was on the point of asking several times
during the conventional discussion of the weather, the train and the
mountains. He considerately refrained, however, unwilling to embarrass
her.
"Aunt Yvonne tells me she never expected to see me alive after the
station agent telegraphed that we were coming overland in that awful old
carriage. The agent at P---- says it is a dangerous road, at the very
edge of the mountain. He also increased the composure of my uncle and
aunt by telling them that a wagon rolled off yesterday, killing a man,
two women and two horses. Dear Aunt Yvonne, how troubled you must have
been."
"I'll confess there were times when I thought we were rolling down the
mountain," said Lorry, with a relieved shake of the head.
"Sometimes I thought we were soaring through space, whether upward or
downwards I could not tell. We never failed to come to earth, though,
did we?" she laughingly asked.
"Emphatically! Earth and a little grief," he said, putting his hand to
his head.
"Does it pain you?" she asked, quickly.
"Not in the least. I was merely feeling to see if the cut were still
there. Mr--Mr. Guggenslocker, did the conductor object to holding the
train?" he asked, remembering what the conductor had told him of the old
gentleman's actions.
"At first, but I soon convinced him tha
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