THAT NECKTIE OF COLOR.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10646, 21 December 1910, Page 6

THAT NECKTIE OF COLOR.

(By Frank Condon.)

Anne Townsend's mother said afterward that if Anne lin_.d not been such a perfect little imbecile about fortunetellers, palmists, clairvoyants, and the like, it couldn't possibly have happened. Anna's father said a few brief words to Upton Traske, but these were never revealed.

Upton'.s round face was very red and hot when he left the presence of the elder Townsend, but- he never referred to the interview and no one had the. colira ire to inquire. Anric herself was inclined to complete sdencc, and that's about the way the incident wound itself up. For five years, Upton had been desperately in,love with Anne; "but-lie-had only t -/discovered, .the • fact,--within six months; then lie .worried-, avbit for feax hisunbelievable joy would-.upsetthe law of gravitation/ or. that -an . elevator would-fall down a shaft and mangle him. ■■

• Anne was twenty-two; she" young men gurglirig'in 'the throes of passionate devotion before; and"she was quick-to. detect symptoms; she knew what was. the matter , with Upton. Traske years before he knew, it himself,,and she smiled in secret. For-a young man who had known a: girl so: long and who was reasonable and self-possessed in many" ways, ,young Traske behavgd miserably. • In the presence of the adorable Anne, he lost most of -his five senses and; displayed himself as. a species of gibbering. ,idiot, which Anne knew he was not. ■' He had been making miscellaneous l.ove to .-'young;. ladies ever : since h e stopped wearing bibs,., and lie was moderately skilful: in -.the art;-, but . be-fore-Anne Townsend, he was a halting; nervous, blundering dunderhead. In a faltering, weak-minded way,' :,he had determined to tell her,, and have, the

. agony over. j! He had a. vague notion that Anne liked him, but he trembled when he thought of asking her -to marry- him, and lie knew that he trembled and that he always woaild tremble • before that momentous, proposal. - ~ ; : Therefore lie became acquainted with Keith Sinclair, and because he was young and inexperienced he poured into the sympathetic ear of that gentleman a tale of woe that many men would have refused to hear. ... • Mr Sinclair was a clairvoyant, with a "store" on-West Forty-Foyrth street, and it was his business to ; 4iSen ii6'men and women who iriiagined'themselves in trouble. A colored attendant in a blue uniform with brass buttons arid a cake-pan hat ushered Mr Traske into the presence. The presence, was smoking a cork-tipped' cigarette and his feet reposed inelegantly upon the top of a broad mahogany table. Round the room liung heavy curtain's.. The rugs were two inches deep and a dim light filtered in through .a skylight window. It was a mysterious room. Mr Traske gazed about liim with undisguised interest.; "Do you want me to tell-you-your entire name before you say . a; word ?". inquired the clairvoyant, removing his feet from the table and assuming,a busi-ness-like air. . "I know my entire name quite well," responded Upton politely,-, "so you need not put yourself, to a.ny trouble. I used to have a friend in this business, so if you w-ill excuse my frankness; I don't come to you to-day. in the,-role of a sucker, which I believe is your professional designation of' customers." Mr Sinehiir.smiled genially. ? - "Sit down and have a cigarette," he spid. "If T can't stick you for money the regulation way, -maybe I can prya few dollars out of .your system in some other inaurier." "You can do that; in fact my visit ought to be worth while to you. I want n. little help from you, ..and ; of course I'm prepared to pay you. I'm not worth a million and I don't care to invest in any gold-mines in Mexico, so. we may as well start in with the understanding that you can't work me through any of tlie time-honored channels of your calling. "I'm in love with a girl. I am clean crazy about her. and I have "worked out a plan in which I will need your assistance. I will pay you twenty-five dollars down as an evidence of my good intentions toward you, and if the plan is successful I will pas' you one hundred more. "In view of the fact that you will be called upon to do very little —nothing that yon do not- now do for a dollar or two—you will be highly remunerated for this bit of work." "I am interested intensely," responded' Mr Sinclair. "Let's have the dope." "This young lady is the daughter of wealthy people. She is inclined to extravagance, but she is well provided with funds —in fact she has her own little cheque-book and a cozy bank balance. I; have been in love with her steadily and persistently, and I can talk about it to others, hut not to her. "Before her I am speechless and idiotic. I can't get down on my knees and tell her I think she's the dearest little girl in the world and that I earnestly desire to marry her. I want to tell her that, but I cannot." "What do you want me to do—propose for you," inquired the clairvoyant. - "Nothing of-the'sort. That would be the coarsest kind of work. ■ I know ittb be a fact that Anne —her name is Anne Townsend —is interested in people of your business. She is everlastingly having her hand read or her fortune told or some other foolishness, and my idea is to bring her to you without letting her know that I am the cause of her coniing here." "Yoii mean you want to stay oiit of the game." "Exactly. I will manage to bring your name and address to her attention, in such a manner that she will not know I .have had anything to do with it. When she finally calls here to get a slight hunch: on her future; I want you to fill her full of one thought." j "The thought being that she. ought to marry you; arid that as you "haven't the courage to propose yourself, maybe yon want her to ask you." "You're wrong. I want you .to tell her, in your own inimitable way and with all the oriental mystery , you can, throw into the communication, that a certain man is frightfully in love with her, and 1 that she is or will be frightfully in love with him; that her future, depends entirely upon her marrying-tbis paragon, because he is going to be a tremendous business success, arid will make an ideal, devoted, and adoring husband. And I'm the paragon." "That sounds to me like the coarse work you now spoke of. If the girl has more than one ounce of brains she

will suspect the whole thing in a frameup." • "Vou haven't heard all the details," continued young Mr Traske. "You are not to tell her that Upton Traske i-s the man for her to marry ; hot at all. You are to —did you ever liear of a soarlet necktie embroidered with purple forget-me-nots?" '.'l never did; if there ever was such a necktie, I would probably have heard, it- moaning, in the night." "Did you ever see.such a cravat?" "Never." ■'•'And you never expect to and neither do I. That's the point exactly. At tho present moment, I doilbt that there is a scarlet cravat with purple forgetrGie-; nots in existence. Even in the Grand street haberdashery windows you would find no such spectacle.

"But- there will be a scarlet tie of that description. It will be distinctive. It- will be unique, and it will be all alone in the great city of New York. There will be no other like it and iio of duplication." "I admit it." returned Sinclair. "But what in the name of goodness has that [ tie to do with this frame-up ?" 1 "Just this. When Anne Townsrwltomes to yon for advice, yon siro u> toil her that lior fate is .appi-naviving. Toll her that the man. wlv., i on,. = to .• her wearing a scarlet-'crnyat ivii.li pur-l-lf iorcet-me-nots is the j<i:in with wh-Mti she.'will bo happy. iinf.il hor /dyiugi d:ivs\ T nut the ; mail who ,witl.;.qppgnr,': with the scarTof cravat. Now do .'you see the' point?" ; 'Pin 1 clairvoyant leaned bac!c« ,i>) liis i chr.ir and blew a ruminative olond of ovjarette-smoke toward tho coilijijr. He | smiled appreciatively. - >•;

■'T don't'knou; whafcl}ii^mo.?sv 4 vou are" in, -Mr Traske, but you oort;;in]y li.ivp; a Ibvely imagination: Ths; .wlipnu"' of yours is" 'full of blow-hoW;: hut rfc. may," work.; .If it is successful,,av.ii: will havo to hand me a whole lot of i-rodit, be--cause my end, of it "will call: for genuine artis'trv." . --/---v'. "

] "As JLsaid," Upton remarked, _ "you. .to --spread•. on -the mystery - in 'Hhiok-i .layers. Anne-loves Tnyslery,- ; ati<rl whengjie- gees me breeding ?ji tbjpugUiithat

it. | j.. ■ ' front door with a naming cravat, believe me, the rest is easy. "I won't have to talk. I will take one long, lingering look into her eyes, and what I will see there will encourage rue to fold the young lady in my arms —and then; —wedding-bells.". "There is another thing,'' said Sinclair. ''ln order to bring about a favorable impression T ought to know something about this young lady—her age, habits, likes, and dislikes, relatives dead and living, occupation, amusements, superstitions, fears, and so on. If I can suprise her by telling her a few astonishing facts about her past life she will more easily believe my dope on her future." "Quite- true," replied Upton. "I'll tell you everything I know; and while j-ou're advising her, , you might dwell upon, the advisability, of keeping away from, the stock market. . >Slie has., a. no- • tionSHat she can make money in stocks ; it is perfectly .foolish, because .she lias plentv as it is. But she will buy cop-, per. . and steel —I think, she, has, lost more than most young a^. I lifetime already.", ■/,.. .. "That's "bad," said" the " clairvoyant. "If you marryi.her, steer her away from stock- speculation,: *or~youMl-.- both go broke. What stock does she favor lately?" "She's been itching ,to buy Roebelt Copper—and her sensible father ■ has been itching to catch lier domg.it,'', I Sinclair, carefully lotted -.down stray bits of. information about the unsuspecting one, and received final instructions from the plotter. ; v "You know your'business-better than I do," Upton • admitted.. : "So Ido .a good job. tay all the stress-possible, upon the scarlet cravat and make it mysterious. Here's your, first payment. If I can do so, I will 'phone you and tell just when Anne is commg . in. . If. ' I can't find out myself, you will have to use your old familiar : methods ,or learning who she is." . ~ "Leave it to me," said bmclair pleasantly. "I'll make no mistake." Young Traske departed _ from the house of mystery. m a,estate;; of mental exaltation." He stepped into a large liotel on West Forty-fourth street arid indulged himself in a complimentary drink. ••• •< "That was one of. the neatest little schemes I ever devised," lie, reflected. "In fact, I doubt whether anyone ever devised a better scheme." . '■ ■ Then he plunged with enthusiasm, into the second half of the plot, wliicli,-.\va.s to' induce the object of his adoration to hie lier down to Forty-Foui th street and learn her future; In his. pocket he carried several-of the business cards, <which related-in, detail what a might discover, about the future. Sinclair had- giy.en. a .great deal of attention to the .cards and their textwas alluring and full of promise. The very first promise was the ,timehonor.ed, offer. to tell the caller his -full name without hesitancy.:!. In the ?case of line Townsend-, this- would be comparatively -simple. . Young -.Traske . had given Sinclair a detailed , description of the igirl, down to. the ..big, brown mole 'under the lobe of her left ear,- and .even if the: lover failed to. send ji,ews of her coming, the skilful faker, could, scarcely make a mistake. . ■ ! Upton read the flamboyant cards with delight... . They, promised information about' friends and admirers, guidance in money matters, and infallible advice concerning investments. No girl could; read the card .without..a-.thrill -.of- anticipation, and the :fee ; .was ..merely a dollar. Traske mailed .one of,: the advertisements to Anne: the afternoon of his arrangement with.'Sinclair, and he enclosed a lengthy and' mysterious circular. V " " • -- . ,

Two evenings later he called at the i Townsend home and Anne greeted him breezily. Her first question was ; : "Do* you know anything. ( about a clairvoyant on- Fort\-iourth stieet named Siuclair?" . . - , "Never heard of hnn," Upton re'plied brazenly. "Do j'ou suppose any o'f them know I'anything—l' mean —are they all plain fakers?" ■ - r ' "I'm sure I don't know, said Upton. "They say some of them , are . wonderful." " : J

The conversation was pursued iio fur- : ther in that direction, arid" Upton sat on a stiff-backed, chair . and lost his power of speech, as' lie ialways did. But there was balm for hiin in the thought that this sort of stupidity would soon be ended. Every afternoon he telephoned Sinclair. He had given- up the notion of finding out from Anne herself whether she meant to call upon the clairvoyant, and late in the following week he was delighted to her from his comrade in trickery that the girl had appeared. "Did you know her ?" he asked. over the 'phone eagerly. - ' " ■,;" . \ "In a minute," responded the clairvoyant. "And rest assured the job was the neatest and completest I ever, had a hand in. I told her.: things about herself a nil her family that she .heard, for the first time," and when'- I got down to the scarlet cravat thing she was ready to believe anything;-, "You can believe me, that the girl is waiting for the man with the scarlet cravat and purple .forget-me-nots; but remember one thing: don't be hasty. -Don't hurrv this business at all. In the first place, don't "go near lier for a week. . .. .. . . . "Let the impression sink in and permeate her, and when-.you, do call the ~result will be all the bett€i'. You {telephone me a week from to-day, and probably you had better go up and call the same evening you. .'phone. .But don't go until you-'phone me." ■ "Just as you say,", replied, Upton. "You're running the .occult end. of this sketch, but I hate to wait a week." • . He. wasn't : regretful... A careful; isearch of the men's furnishing shops disclosed the ; fadt that there , was lio, .such thing on sale, as a scarclet.-cra.yat. witli purple forget-?riernqts,,,'. ,:It was necessary iri the end for him to hunt up, a silk manufacturer in the wholesale, dis-, ■•trict, and to that captain finance Upton confided-His trouble. , ..- _ "I want a: silk explained. '"l've got to have it because, J.iave lost a bet, and there isn't one to he bought in New York.' .' , . . "You will probably be arrested on the open street," said the manufacturer kindly. "But I will have our head designer get one up if you promise to keep it a secret." .. .f e.-- ' : The finished cravat came to- young Traske two days- later: It was a thing of beautv. Its purple forget-me-nots stood outin regal-splendor and the-.waves of scarlet floated away" from it in everincreasing volume. Up.ton liid it carefully away, from, his family and wait-, ed. ' ■ r ; '" ."" • On the afternoon of the appointed day be. telephoned to the clairvoyant, but received no response". F6r s half an hour life remained in the -booth, while the. Central girl rang -Sinclair's bell, ■ and then, with a"feeling of disappointment,, Upton gave it up. • He determined that the lapse of a w'eok would be sufficient. -, ;Hc would .call that evening,. "|ust as though -he : had been successful in telephoning to Sinclair. But he would . rather have liad the approval of the mystic. ' At five minutes of eight,- young-Mr i Traske climbed cheenlv' out:of the Sub- ; i way and hurried into the cross street that was honored-bv-the -home of Anne Townsend." H<? pushed the electric but- | ton eagerly- and looked. about him with the pleased", a if-of.- -a -young man who is just about to liave something delightful . happen-.-to him ~, ... ~ A servant opened the big door and ushered him into the --parlor,: .he-, sat upon a chair and-forgot td' removebis overcoat. Anne trotted..downstairs and smiled at him gloriously:.;.-.,. ;. ■"l'm "glad to see .you, Upton,"- she said. "You've staved away so long and I've , missed you. I presume yon. are going: to take off. your coat, and stay, a bit." : "I am." said I'pton solemnl.Vv .

Then he rose and , stood nwliere :,tlielights'from: the chandelier, fell, sqijarelv oipon -his 'nianlv:bosom.,, -He-pulledi-back alio lapel of his .overcoat, and a Mindsat* flash of red struck Anne :in the svo. It was the scarlet cravat with the purple forcet-me-nots..- ' . \\un^..Mi: Traske: never did succeed in getting'the overcoat completelv off. 'The mpirient Anne- saw -the fiery •,neck--!wear she] ; g%p. -a gasp. ,aud,; fel} back* upon a ; , convenient davenport, 'where v f:lvo stared . fixedly, and "horrorstruck at tho .Maze. of cfllo.r.. "-""Whiit—wji.Yi'Svffi ' '-What's wrorig ?! '-V,:;. "'The ' '"Where did you get tliat ; -2. r "I .briiighi,-.it."..;he .returned, in..cou-, stoinihoii- "Whv p " ; " Aivno;pivssM 'her - hands to Ber;temples■and •ply.ing!Th'eri ,-w-itlxpiit warning, 'she ibagan to cry. _ , . f >" Upton • went to 'h'er'raiidV.laid, com- - fortinrr hand; j.ypon- hW"auburn locksl -:-v- ---:; £ ?TeII wgly, -I'Wilatjd? jt" 9 " „ , J,.

the "Rirf moaned, rocking back and forth. Upton stood before her miserably, wondering at the rate of a thousand thoughts a second. "I'm ruined: —ruined," Anne groaned. "I don't see -how it is, but wii. mijst have had. something to do with'it, Upton." . " ... . , ' v "To. do with What/ he asked.; Suddenly she ceased weeping and sat up straight. Her eves sparkled dangerously. . "Upton Traske, vou tell me the truth. If vou don't, vou'll"leave this house ■ forever- Do vou understand that? Upton nodded weakly, feeling that somebody was placing a. mite cracker under him* y |-> . , "Did you go t6 . se<£ it clairvoyant named Sinclair?" ■_■;■■ ■ x u Upton bowed his head in assent, lie -was frightened. _ !■ "Did you say anything to. him about line?" , ' - ,■> j , i Again the victim bowed. <■ > "Then I see.it all,""Ajmojsaid-stern--ly. ' 'Now* I tnoV why I' ctfuldn't get itliat Dr Hardy on, the. telephone. Now I know why. Now I know why he i hasn't come backhand-why t come back, and why I'm a rained, penniless girl. Oh, Upton ! What _a terrible thing you have done. * ou ve .robbed".' ■; ' Anile begari.to weep again. . - ■ Upton Traske. sat? in, .mut^.,,astonishment an 4' stirred at ,the~shakiiig figure ■of his loved He .wished for the moment that..h"e;miglittdie jn. his chair. , But lie wanted to know. "I went to see that Sinclair," Anne continued, bracing-up.---"He told me a great many true things about mysell. Now I see wliere lie learned them. You were j : .. cA-J 4 • "He told me to watch for a man wearing a scarlet :prayat-,Fith purple for-get-me-nots. He found out that I was interested- Coppei steel. He said til lit M T* ever came across a man with a scarlets orayat, , that that man would -be -the direct cause of tripling my bank account —that he would iiave secret investments by which I would be certain to obtain, large profits if I trusted him. I waited. "Four days ago a man called,.to see father about a business matter. I saw the man. He was wearing .a scarlet cravat with-- -purple Vforget-me-nots. Father was. ,absent.; I , talked,ito the man. His riairie Harajf. He said he ■had busiiiess' with father, and :at first he wouldn't talk to me.-. ; ": I' "I implored him. Finally he said lie was interested in copper stocks,' and that father' Kid sent for hirii; about a itremendous mining deal. uT "begged 'him to allow me to participate without - father's knowledge* -He hesitated. I urged him further, and finally he agreed to take five thousand dollars from me and invest it. ... • . "I gave..him my cheque tor:five cent I have saved up. Now gone j arid so is my five thousand —and you did it, Upton .Traske." While the recital was in "progress, Upton sat .with,. ey,es : and, ;.o!pen morith. !As the: girl; told of the .financial: deal; -lie saw tli e trick—he saw the skilful manner, ini.wl^pKv had double-crossed liirii, and on information that he himself had given the clairvoyant; -r n It was terrible. Not a word had -the mystic told Anne about loving and marrying - the . man with, -tlie:. scarlet cravat! owp'-iflea" in an different mariner -. arid for his own profit. J)r Hardy was eitiiei' ''Keith Sinclair himself or an accomplice. •" : "Anne, listen," he began. I went to this Sinclair because I-was in . love with you and wanted, youvto marry me. I didn't ha.v,e the courage to tell you. I' arranged with liim.to have you wait for the mari with a's'eairlet cravat'and I thought that he could impress you and i make you interested in this man. 1 "We arranged to. have him-tell you 'your future rested with" tlie man who -came to you wearing this.-'.. ; v'..- ' He pointed to'tlie briglit-neck-piece, j "I'm sorry, Annei. . I f; was a -terribje Ifbol, but I' never suspected that the .sneaking crook would work the scheme ■ las he did. You know that, Anne." ' "He took every cent," the girl wailed miserably. "Anne,',' .Upton continued., "its harder'to say it now than, ever b.efore; but I love you and I want ydu'to iriarry me. I've got of money for both of us-and if-you can ever forget this this petty hit of scheming and'your own loss—yori -can —will you—" Anne Jooked :; at ..UJptoji .pathetically., "UptoriJ" slie murmured, "why in the world (didn't-you:say. all this' months ago? Why did you have to'think of such a foolish scheme? ;.I'ye loyed-you '.for a year. You might have known that ariy if you had only"asked me. Jfow see what you're done..",. .- 1 He put'his 'arrii around'her-r-one year ilate. ■

! ."Then —will you marry me?" f She laid her head on his shoulder and -nodded as best she could under the conditions. :

s "I'll pay you back that five thousand ■the first tiling I do," he said. "Let's forget it and be happy." .. . "There's a respectable cravat" up in my brother's room," Anne announced. "Would you care to wear it?"

Upton nodded. , . He removed the red badge of error from his collar, rolled it into.a ball and ;said to Anne: "How .do , you get to the furnaceroom ?- I waiit to burn this thing."