FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153  
154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   >>   >|  
n there's that jeweller man from Paris--has a shop in the Galerie Charles Trois. She strolled into his place to buy the gold bag you saw on the beggars' table and he went wild about her. Cheek of him! Sent her a bracelet she had to send back. How dare a fellow like that have the impudence to fall in love with a girl like her?" "Cats may look at kings, and I suppose kings embrace queens, don't they? You needn't be so mad. You come from a democratic country, and Grandma Carleton's father was a grocer." "He was a super-grocer. And, anyhow, Americans are different." "Some of them fly high nowadays, eh, Mr. Air-pirate?" Dick laughed. "You haven't told me yet what happened next at the beggars' feast, and how you found out who _she_ was." "Nothing happened to any one except me. They went on feasting and gave her some more chestnuts. I don't know what she'd given them! But she'd probably rubbed the lucky hump and paid for it. I was dying to go up and speak to my pals, and perhaps be introduced to the girl, but I hadn't got quite cheek enough, and they seemed to be having such a good time, it was a shame to interrupt. The elf was talking, with explosive sort of gestures in between mouthfuls, evidently telling something very interesting. And you know, I always pretend to myself in a kind of fairy story that he's really a person of immense, mysterious influence, a weird power behind the throne, starting or stopping revolutions. Of course it's nonsense--all founded on my seeing him with one of the new revolutionary newspapers in his hand--the ones they allow nowadays to be sold in the principality, against the Prince, and the Casino, and everything. But if I were to write a sensational story of Monte Carlo, that little red-eyed dwarf at the bridge should be the hero. And just as I was thinking about all that, and tying my second shoe, along came a taxi with poor Captain Hannaford in it. He'd been into Italy to see Madame Berenger, the actress, at her villa, which he would like to buy, and was coming back to lunch; so he made the chauffeur pull up while he asked if he could drive me home? I said yes, because I saw him lift his hat to that girl, and I hoped he could tell me something about her." "What did he tell you?" "Not so very much. He didn't seem to want to talk about her, I thought. That didn't surprise me, because he has an idea that women feel disgust for him and can't bear to look at him if they can help it--al
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139   140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153  
154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   165   166   167   168   169   170   171   172   173   174   175   176   177   178   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
nowadays
 

happened

 

beggars

 

grocer

 

Prince

 
principality
 
bridge
 

sensational

 
Casino
 

nonsense


influence

 

mysterious

 
immense
 

person

 
pretend
 

throne

 
starting
 
revolutionary
 

newspapers

 

founded


stopping

 

revolutions

 

disgust

 

thought

 

surprise

 

Captain

 

Hannaford

 

thinking

 

coming

 

chauffeur


Madame

 
Berenger
 

actress

 

interrupt

 

father

 
Americans
 

Carleton

 
Grandma
 

democratic

 
country

laughed
 

pirate

 
Galerie
 
fellow
 

bracelet

 

impudence

 
queens
 

embrace

 
Charles
 

suppose