An Idyll of All Fools' Day An Idyll of All Fools' Day By Josephine Daskam Bacon Author of "Memoirs of a Baby," "The Madness of Philip," etc. _With numerous illustrations_ By R. M. Crosby New York Dodd, Mead and Company 1908 Copyright, 1908, by The Phillips Publishing Co. Copyright, 1908, by Dodd, Mead & Company _Published, October, 1908_ To A. A. B. this bit of busy nonsense is dedicated. J. D. B. ILLUSTRATIONS "Only her shriek of terror saved them from the stone wall" (p, 47) Frontispiece Facing page "'Here we are at last, Nette dear, dressed in our best for you!'" "'On the right,' he began didactically" "The red-headed boy bounded beside them, whooping madly" "At the risk of losing his straight course he stole a rapid glance at her" "'Jump! Jump!' he cried hoarsely" "'Well, here we are!' he said tentatively" "Nette, wringing her hair and murmuring incoherent abnegations" "'Mademoiselle,' he began, 'you are--you are--' he paused, for genuine lack of words" "'This gentleman here will take you down directly'" THE ESCAPE I. THE ESCAPE 'TWAS a bloomy morning, all crocuses and tree buds, and Antony sniffed it into his nostrils thankfully, even while he scowled. "Come, come!" said his Uncle Julius, a wealthy old gentleman buttoned firmly into a white vest, "what a face! It is nothing so terrible that I ask of you! One would think it a hanging matter, to beau a pretty young girl about the place!" "You know that I do not care for schoolgirls, Uncle Julius," said Antony severely. "Fiddlestick!" his Uncle Julius cried, "and what are you sir, but a school boy, I should like to know? What shall we hear next, I wonder?" Antony put on some fresh grey gloves with a sigh. "Schoolgirl! Schoolgirl!" his uncle repeated mimickingly, "she will not be reciting her lessons, I suppose!" Antony buttoned his gloves. "Or if she does, it will be your fault, sir," pursued his uncle. Antony selected a slender walking stick from a rack of many, and reviewed his collar with a critical hand. "The young lady's topics of conversation will be a matter of indifference to me, Uncle Julius," said he, "I assure you." "And I assure _you_," cried Uncle Julius, "that if we were not on this open porch, I should be strongly tempted to apply that stick of yours where, as we used to say, it would do the most good!" Antony adjusted his coat trimly and started down the steps. "But since we are upon this open porch, let us, Uncle Julius," said he, "go where duty calls us. _En avant!_" He strode along the flagged walk with Uncle Julius puffing behind him, loquaciously indignant. "Look at your mates, sir, as we pass them, and notice how enviously they smile," he urged the youth, who replied shortly that he observed them.