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i SUBJUGATION OF FATHER
By Bertha Hart Nance.
i ''I am so glad," declared Felix,
i "that wo are to have a quiet wed
ding." Nan surveyed the ring upon
-her slender finger, then let her
glance 'wander to the veranda
' floor, where the' shadows of the
- vine leaves were dancing mer
i rily. Then, with one of her quick
- changes of mood, she turned to
him eyes that danced like the
. leaves.
t "J believe," she accused, "that
ycu are afraid of a crowd."
- "I surely am," confessed Felix
, ' without turning his head. Her
eyes followed his, and she saw a
. man coming in at the gate,
i "Who is that?" she inquired.
I "I think I saw him at the hotel
- this morning.'1.
The stranger came slowly up
- the path -and paused at the foot
, of thesteps, scanning them with
- alert, gray eyes.
"Good evening," he began,
. slowly, lifting the stylish hat
i from his well-groomed head.
i Then, as they replied, he sudden
j ly bounded up the steps,
i "Why, Nan, Fve found you at
last," he exclaimed, making a
quick dive at her lips with his.
- Iran's head went up and back
, ward, and the kiss exploded in
; midair. Felix sprang to his feet.
"What right have you to kiss
this lady?" he jerked. The other
man faced him with a cool smile;
"The best right in the world,".
He replied. "I am her husband."
t Husband," echoed Felix, and.
'Nan also rose.
"I never saw him before in all
my life," she cried, her voice
quivering with excitement
"You are mistaking her for
some one else," asserted Felix.
The stranger shook his head.
"No mistake about it," he.pro
tested. "I am Charles K. Asberry -of
Chicago, and this lady is Nan '.
Asberry, nee Whipple, whom I
married in Chicago five years
ago. She was there attending
school and we became acquaint
ed. Shortly after the Christmas
,holidays she eloped with me and
we tyere married. We lived hap
pily together for nearly six'
months. I was then, as now, "a ,
traveling salesman, and, return
ing from a business trip, found
Nan jjone, leaving no trace. Stie f
had told me that herparents lived vj
in Wellington, Kan., but I found j
this to be untrue. Happening to '
visit this little Texas town I ?
neara 01 ner tnis morning as
about to be married to Felix Dix
on,, whom I suppose to be you,
sin." Felix was too overcome to
nod.
There musbbe some mistake, -;
he kept repeating. 4 j
"There-is," nut in Nan. "Ldid j
go to 'school in Chicago five years A-U
ago, but I never ran away or "was gj
married, and I never saw this 'le.
man before." - yP
Asberry smiled to himself
"You see she; admits a part of it '
already," he "murmured aside to M
Felix. "By degrees the rest will i$
come to her. Some of these cases &
'of Joss of memory are very pe
culiar.
".What's all this? ghat's all
