MR. PENNE (dictates)--"He greeted her with his usual smile and manner. 'See the waves,' he cried, pointing to the heaving waters of the sea, 'ever wooing and returning to the rockbound shore.'" "'Ready to break,' Kate said, with--" MISS LORE--My! One evening he has his arm around her, and the next morning he's ready to break her head! Just like a man! MR. PENNE (with suspicious calmness)--There are times, Miss Lore, when a man becomes so far exasperated that even a woman--But suppose we finish the sentence. (Dictates.) "'Ready to break,' Kate said, with the thrilling look of a soul-awakened woman, 'into foam and spray, destroying themselves upon the shore they love so well." MISS LORE--Oh! MR. PENNE (dictates)--"Cortland, in Kate's presence heard faintly the voice of caution. Thirty years had not cooled his ardor. It was in his power to bestow great gifts upon this girl. He still retained the beliefs that he had at twenty." (To Miss Lore, wearily) I think that will be enough for the present. MISS LORE (wisely)--Well, if he had the twenty that he believed he had, it might buy her a rather nice one. MR. PENNE (faintly)--The last sentence was my own. We will discontinue for the day, Miss Lore. MISS LORE--Shall I come again to-morrow? MR. PENNE (helpless under the spell)--If you will be so good. (Exit Miss Lore.) ASBESTOS CURTAIN [Illustrations: Two letters of reference taken by young Will Porter from North Carolina to Texas] TICTOCQ [These two farcical stories about Tictocq appeared in _The Rolling Stone_. They are reprinted here with all of their local references because, written hurriedly and for neighborly reading, they nevertheless have an interest for the admirer of O. Henry. They were written in 1894.] THE GREAT FRENCH DETECTIVE, IN AUSTIN A Successful Political Intrigue CHAPTER I It is not generally known that Tictocq, the famous French detective, was in Austin last week. He registered at the Avenue Hotel under an assumed name, and his quiet and reserved manners singled him out at once for one not to be singled out. No one knows why he came to Austin, but to one or two he vouchsafed the information that his mission was an important one from the French Government. One report is that the French Minister of State has discovered an old statute among the laws of the empire, resulting from a treaty between the Emperor Charlemagne and Governor Roberts which expressly provides for the north gate of the Capital grounds being kept open, but this is merely a conjecture. Last Wednesday afternoon a well-dressed gentleman knocked at the door of Tictocq's room in the hotel. The detective opened the door. "Monsieur Tictocq, I believe," said the gentleman.