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Show jl JliJcj lUlUl By Ludana Sheldon in Town Topics I EITON, feeling the rim of the big tropical bouquet under his feet, flung th painter back into the boat and kicked the prow viciously, thereby driving it out into the current. From her seat behind a huge cactus 20 feet away, Cora Ardsley, heiress, tourist and, at present, castaway, hit her tongue to keep from screaming a violent protest. It was on her lips almost audible when she suddenly sensed the reason for Merton's action, and the pride and anger that surged through her veins closed her lips automatically. She watched, furiously, as Merton stood scowling at the boat as if he was afraid the listless water would send it back to him. When he was satisfied that such tide as there was at the spot was getting get-ting in its wanton work a smile broke over his features that made them almost al-most handsome. "Now, my lady, there are two of us," ho said aloud, but without any idea that he had an audience. "So far on this trip you have had things all your own way and my wants and wishes have been ignored. We'll see how it will be when wo are prisoners together on a desert island!" Ho bared his head to tho sun and ran his fingers through his hair, laugh ing. The glow from the water had dazzled his vision and was still dazzling daz-zling it, but neither heat nor Iblind staggers could overcome his merriment. merri-ment. He looked over the broad expanse ex-panse of blue water, only a bit more ruffled than the blue sky, noted the lazy white sails flapping here and there at only a little more than hailing hail-ing distance, and left very well satisfied sat-isfied so far with what he had undertaken. under-taken. Cora Ardsley slipped from behind the cactus and walked away among the heterogeneous mass of shrubs, keeping her back to him. Merton heard her step, looked, saw and comprehended. So she still intended to ignore him, did she? Doubtless she had seen his act he did not dream that she could hear him nnd he was not surprised that Miss Ardsley was angry, nor was he sorry. Instead of following her Merton squatted on tho edge of a vine-cushioned stump and mediated. They had been together for three weeks, uests on his brother-in-law's yacht, now anchored somewhere off there in the harbor Merton indicated tho direction with a sweep of his glance he had no idea how far ho had come, and just now the location of most things was sofewhat hazy. Miss Ardsley had started out first, in the yacht's smallest boat, the lady's boat, they called it sho was an expert ex-pert oarswoman and expected to be back by luncheon. He followed her in the tender, trailing her to the island and discovering some time before be-fore he reached it that her craft had eslipped Its moorings and left her interned one one of the innumerable islands, a stone's throw from each other, that looked like so many overfilled over-filled epergnes on a sky-blue table. It was his chance. He chuckled to think of tho predicament she was in at present. There was no real danger the tender would be picked up by one of the multitude of small boats ho could see in tho offing, and when it was returned to the yacht some of the crew would 'come for them. It would take a little time to find them, of course long enough, perhaps, per-haps, to accomplish his purpose. If the episode annoyed Miss Ardsley Ards-ley sufficiently to make her speak to him it would be all he asked. He would not harm her for the world, and as for her reputation, scandal did not adhere to Cora Ardt.ey! Neither the angels in heaven nor the demons in hell had been able to prove any sin, in her, and yet Merton had heard weird and wonderful tales of her esca- H pades in foreign cities. H She was daring enough, he know H that positively, so why wouldn't she iH flirt a little with him like other H women? 'H Ho had tried being civil, then gal- ,H lant. Later he attempted love-making H after the socially prescribed, methods. H She laughed at him first, and jended H by refusing to recognize his exist- H once, in spite of the fact that she M was his sister's guest, and for a week H now she had seemingly been oblivious M of his presence. M And she was at her tricks here on M this lonely island, when she must fl know that sho would have to change M her tactics if she expected to be fed M until somebody came for tlu n. jfl He wondered if she would, rig up a yJ signal he would not and as he spec- M ulated on what she would not do he r entertained himself by skipping peb- 'H bles upon the water. jJ Other circles made by pebbles a M short distance away told him that 11 Miss Ardsley way enjoying herself in jH the same innocent manner. Ho tried H to guess how long her courage would H hold out if there was any, great delay j H about their rescue there was the boat H to ibo nicked up and returned and I'H then there were so many islands to be tjH THE IDIOT (Continued from Page 5.) searched. His sister would probably think he was drowned he put that out of his head and refused to con sider it. The interior of the island was badly tangled. Nature had run riot there, and palms, pepper trees, magnolias, in fact, a dozen varieties of itropical growths, mixed democratically. Around the edge there was a foot or two of sand in places, whore a collection col-lection of shells scintillated in the sunshine, but for the most part the shrubs grew to the water's edge, other islands presenting the same aspect. He ran over Miss Ardsley's shortcomings short-comings as he sat with the glow of the water still flaming in his eyes. She was the only woman he had ever taiet who scorned his love-making. He recalled the last time he had ventured to pay her a compliment. It was on the yacht's deck one glorious night when he had hoped to keep her out for a time after the others had gone to the cabin. "Platitudes! Commonplace inanities! Why don't you think of something I new, something original, Mr. Merton?" I , j she asked sarcastically. Then with a ! withering glance from her brown eyes I and a scathing ''good evening," she H ' turned on her heel and left him. It was the last time they had spok-I spok-I en. He was beginning to wonder what I kind of a lover shoswas looking for H when he caught a glimpse of her as l she emerged from the shrubbery Hi about fifty feet ahead of him, her I short,. full skirt and high leggings per-i per-i mitting a free stride over the tropical H impedmimenta. H "Deucedly fine girl!" he muttered H aloud. "Muscular as a man and yet as H graceful as an angel! It must be the H drawing-room veneer that she de- B spises, but would she have a man a H' boor in civilized society? I He glanced at his hands; they were I white- and shapely. He had never H done hard work, for, being rich, he I had not been obliged to. Surreptitiously he felt his muscles, H his biceps and over the torso. All H soft and flabby, and still he was a I well-built fellow. H Behjg sure that she could see him, H he drew a small mirror from his H pocket and scrutinized his features. I There was the smooth chin, the H white teeth, the closely cropped mus- H tache and properly cut hair of a I gentleman. What else could she want? If she had condescended to talk with him she would have found him well w read. He had traveled extensively, H' moreover, and could be vastly enter- H taining. It nettled him to bo the object of such supremo contempt, merely because be-cause ho had tried to treat her as ho had treated dozens of other women whom he had mot' in society drawing-rooms, drawing-rooms, on yachts and shipboard. (Furthermore, there were the stories he"had about her each contradicted in the next issue of the paper, to be sure,but just queer enough not to be forgotten. And just here he was conscious of a big' surprise a tropical shower was coming up and it was likely to "ram guns" in a minute. He was startled at first, "s he dreaded dread-ed a wetting for Miss Adsley, but his wits reacted instantly and he almost hugged himself with pleasure. If it thundered and lightened would Her Highness be alarmed, and would it force her to seek his aid and speak to him civilly? He stared after her over the low, tangled bushes. She (had noticed the clouds, evidently, and was making her way through the confusion, tearing apart fllowering vines, as she headed for a clump of palms, whose overlapping overlap-ping leaves seemed to promise protection. protec-tion. He would have to go there also if he did not wish to get wet, but in the spirit of bravado he decided to take the drenching if only to show her that he was not a mollycoddle. When the rain came it came in torrents, tor-rents, and in spitei of his delight over Miss Ardsley's dilemma, he began casting cast-ing glances over the ocean to see if there was a iboat coming. (Strangely enough, the small craft had all disappeared his own boat was lost sight of long ago the sea had swallowed them all, aparently. Tho natives knew enough to go in when iit rained, if they did not know much else and they (had no raiment to spoil, either certainly a New York crew on a Now York yacht would 1)0 equally prudent. There was not mxich prospct of ibeing rescued right away Iho could hardly see the next island for the space of five minutes. When it was over ho was soaked to the skin and was sure the palms had not saved iMlss Ardsley, tout lie only paced back and forth on the strip of sand .avoiding the dripping branches. Pie had the best of her there; he would dry off and she would not that is, unless she came out in the sun as soon as tho shower was over. But the sky cleared, tho rain stopped stop-ped and the sun broiled out red hot again and her head was not raised from the shrubs. As he spread his outer garments on the sand to dry them, and incidentally get tho rays as near as possible to his skin, he was strongly strong-ly tempted to call to her, hut he choked chok-ed hack the desire and 'began 'to whistle. The pearly twilight would come trailing along after a time and with it the ipangs of hunger. As the thought dawned on him fllerton Ibegan a search for whatever might he edible on the island. He skimmed the circumference after a few wild scrambles and discovered nothing Ibut a few luscious berries. These he put in a cup-shaped leaf and carried them carefully, and at last was able to add a few pomegranates. Was Miss Ardsley hungry? If she was, why didn't she come out of her hiding place and say so? Would she suffer rather than ask him to forage for her? Tis blood boiled at the thought, and acting on impulse he sat down and devoured his collection. 'He was conscious right here of something lacking in his program. The boat had not picked up and the rescuers rescu-ers were not coming. It was getting late and would soon he evening. That was all right so far, hut was there not something that he should do to force iMiss Ardsley's recognition of his existence? ex-istence? 'Sitting on the shore and whistling all night, While she hid herself in the bushes like a itoad, did not seem to him to he especially clever. If ho only knew just how daring she wias ho would try to shock her into admiration by some adventurous, even reckless maneuver. He would begin by striding boldly into her presence, and! chasing her if she ran ifrom him. It would be un-gentlemanly, un-gentlemanly, but it would make her notice him a tiling which courtesy had failed to do for over a week on the yacht. His soliliquy ended and he stared fixedly at (tlie water. There was something hobhing up now and then above the little ripples made by the storm, and whatever it was it was headed for the island. While ho waited, not knowing whether the thing was brute or human, hu-man, there was a rustling In the shrubbery shrub-bery and Miss Ardsley, not quite as wet as ho was, stepped out on the sand beside him. Merton had to admit that wetness did not seem to disturb her equanimity nor destroy her beauty. She had discarded dis-carded her straw hat, presumably because be-cause It was rain-soaked, and her hair, instead of getting stringy, was curling about her temples even higher than ever. Ho had never seen her look more bewitching than she did at this minute. She had been the object, too, apparently, ap-parently, and come down to inspect it, but as ever, while ho glanced at her expectantly, she utterly ignored him. The black thing in the water resolved re-solved Itself Into a head, a black body followed It and In time a native, garbed In nature's simple costume, k waded slowly to the Island's edge, . JJ shaking himself like a dog and signing I to them. v For a minuto Morton was abashed because of the lady and stood undecided unde-cided as to what wan his role in this new development, but to his amaze- Gsy ment Miss Ardsley went directly to- I ward the fellow and began to talk with him, principally by gestures. Not to bo outdone, Merton joined them and attempted conversation. All he learned was that the native had picked up a boat and was holding it at the next island. He had swum over to look for the occupants, preferring swimming to rowing. "It is my boat," Merton began, but Miss Ardsley had said it first, and the native, the rings in his ears jingling, jing-ling, grunted as he pointed to the lady. Then Miss Ardsley added more signs and gestures and Merton's heart sank pitifully. At last his horror of her suggestion overcame him and he weakened weak-ened and spoke to her. "Don't do it, I beg of you!" he said I earnestly. "You are perfectly safe un til ho brings the boat. I admit I've been frustrated in my intentions and - f I'll give up the game if you will only f"j I be prudent!" II Miss Ardsley's expression of scorn . was her only answer. The big black follow bent and she climbed upon his back. She wound her legs around his ribs and her arms around his neck, and not until he was waist deep in the water did she let go her grip on him. "I'll send a boat for you some time!" she called to Merton as her body slid down the broad back and her gaitered legs kicked the water. She was going to try swimming, evidently, evi-dently, holding only to the fellow's hips. Then her voice vibrated with fun as she added: "You will have to have it, of course, you are such a conventional idiot!" |