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Show seimiin Xwe Tangle of and Tqclay I B from Preceding Page.) the KjBm n. psd till W Uurl IbHttsncc im ..B; If v is onh Jone Jgnd 1 1 li p, pletely and delicately analyzt-d The -ton' ended In the tragedy of th only son of the dlvorcrd couple 1 forcrt whether he murdered hie father, or whether he diosnsod himself In the Seine. However, It doesn't matter I'm sleepy . . . good-night." There was no good-night for Nick. ITo tossed about sleeplessl) . ami had hakr.ir.l .v. tin hi ifv o'clock nox" day his father called round with the news that he had found a Jolly llttlo house In Redcllffe Road which would suit thin to n T. ."I am afraid there will be ton much work for Polly." he said, "!ut l win get a little maid to help i ('ome round and have n look at the place, old man." But when Nick was putting on WW . sASgr W if i ' ' f .' ''' ' I Hp1' i Mieen i 1 Hfl can i 4 game ' i.;, i far as oM I i, Corayns &rful v jUt you v, iddiug "Jk B lot: . r. I By four.il on.- wh;i 0'i yako don't gl. Ml" said Nick "If Isn't ii it, K 1'U' Kut a lather to ASie nov. whistled. "What, haa iBOVtflls' come to ton" Ided and groaned m..ih Udeuce of a 1 ha-, en'i ; Of a notion bat t,, do " JHfts Ten- thought hi I for . fclnut. (Knly on- thing you can Ud. jrllhat"- ;. ! N, it or the n'V i 1 1 go-b kke toit v( ith youT j day and supper father the lit iBT jealous ni en uth '"Jdog. and hi v, ould imracket it won't work, Jm&Uox, mc " J l devil do you ki fcs it r lou as ho Hf dancing pumps and IBtr the m basket with unerring Ifcdent r.i mP&l 1 don't know about ull between men and TO Is a short story B the author's name tor the moment In .resent situation Is com- his boots anu when his father was looking at some of (he drawings on the wall, the door which had been lett i n i .i t t ' d, was flung open, and a gay veil . cried out, "I believe the boy is still in bed!" and Beauty came in. "Or all the unsociable, dis (TOUtled, discourteous, ungrateful nnd unloving sons!" she cried, standing Inside the door with her arm outstretched as she held the knob of a very tall parasol, and struck au attitude of melodramatic indignation. Nick did not answer. He had just finished lacing up his boots, and he sat staring at his mother. In a stupid, speechless way. In a second she became aware that something was amiss, and aware also of a third perron !n the room She -turned ber bead, Just as the man who had been her husband swung round on his heel at the sound of her voice. "Bristles'" said Beauty. The word ramo In a whisper irom her Hps, and all Ihe laughter fled out of her eyes, changing to a look or fear. The man she bad called by his old pt name stood very straight, staring at her, so that their eyes searched each other. A wnv of color swept into her face, and then died down, leaving it white It seemed quite a long time that they stood like this, while there was a great silence in the room. Then nt lat Beauty turned, and shrugged her shoulders. and screwed out something like a laugh. "How funny'" she said, "after al! these year-' You have hardly changed a little bit. Bristles'" "1 have changed." eaid Bristles, "in body and heart and brain." He apoke In a queer hollow role, and the line In I. Is face hardened Beauty put her head Mt'le on one side and qulzrej him, with the flicker of a smile about her lips. - hare grown a wee bit fray," she said. She sidled forward a little, and held out her hand aud said: ' Why not ? " Nick's lather drcrr hack from ber hand, as a man would draw hack from the fangs of a snake. '1 do rot know you." he said. "I must teg of you to leave this room, where my son and I wish to be alone together." He spoke the words with great deliberation, each lyllablt perfectly accented, like r man speaking In a foreign tongue Only the rise and fall of his chest showed that he was deeply moved Beauty laughed now In quite a natural way, a shrill, scornful laugh. "Leave this room? My dear good man. I came here to see Nick. who. Is more my son than yours. Very much more. I shall stay here as long as I like." Bristles turned to his son. . "Nick," he said very quietly. 1111 you order this woman out of your ffudlo?" Beauty was very much amused. "I should like to see him do it! I should Jolly well like to see him do It!" She went across to him and put her arms about his shoulders as ho sat In the cane chair. Just 33 he had sat when lacing up his boots. She bent her head down and rubbed her cheek against his. "Dear old Nick! My dear precious boy! He would rather die than wound his mother's heart." Nicholas Barton was as pale as death. He stared up at his father in a tragic way Tremendous forces were at work within him. plucking at his heart, tearing him asunder. His father's eyes were fixed upon him. called to his loyalty, to their old comradeship There was a great entreaty in his father's face. But bis mother's arms were about his neck. Her face was pressed against his. His cheek was wt with her fears which had begun to flon . She was Beauty, bis moth r. for whom he had yearned all the da of his boyhood. "Father!" lie said, "couldn't you make it up again? i ooldl I M and Beauty come to (Chef again Is it too late?" The.e words, these faltering word, teemed to give a kind of shock to the man and woman Beau'y unclasped her arms from her son's neck, and stood up " V "It was only when he saw her yielding to me that he gave a great cry and said, 'If you abandon me I die.'" Straight with an extraordinary look on her face, a look of hard contempt con-tempt lor the man who had been hor husband, u rather cruel look. "That Is not at all likely. Once bit twice shy!" Bristles stared her straight In the eyes. "Nick dees not. understand what, he asks. ... I tell him now. before you. that I would rather drown myself than live, again with a woman who has no sense of honor, no decency of mind or heart, no honesty or truth. It wa too late, to come together again fourteen four-teen years ago. when you betrayed me once too often." Nflch sprang up from his chair, his face aflame. "Father, I I must defend Beauty. 1 am her son. Do you forget that?" Beauty sprang to him and put her arm through his. and laid her face on his shoulder, weeping. "Yet. Nick, you are my son' Thank God I may lean on you now. In the old days i had no one to defend me." Bristles Ignored the woman. Hc spoke to Nick. "I do not forget you are her son But you do not remember that I am your father. Which has the greater claim on vou? The mother who abandoned you. or the lather who cherished you? Answer me. Nick " N'h k aafWt red. tout it was not a straight answer. "There wore faults on both aides. There must hawe been! It was not all Beauty's fault. You told me that long ago." "It was all your fathers fault'" rled Beauty in a sharp, shrill voice 'You do not know what I suffered from that man. dear Nick. Oh. you will never know' He was as hard u nai'- to me He was it' fa 'oinuter He whipped me with i mora) birch, scourged me with the lash of his virtuous con-celt. con-celt. If he had been a little kind to me I should have clung to him If he had been my mate Instead of my school teacher I should have leaned upon him. He could have kept me straight with a smile, and called m buck with n worl o.' love. But he was always nagging, blaming, blam-ing, bullying He was jealous of tny art, jealous of my friends, jealous even of you, little Nick. He was as hard as this deal table here." She struck the table with her bare baud and said: "Hard! . . Hard! . . . Hard!" The lip.-i of the man who had been her husband were twisted Into a tragic smile, and he spoke to Nick again, not looking at the woman. "Do you believe that, Nick' Is there any hardness in my nature? Good God! I was as weak as water. If I had had any strength of will to master her T might have kept her straight But I was a fool in her hands It was she who as hard. She had the hardness of utter selfishness She was as cruel as a tiger cat. and dug her clawg into my heart. I have still hermarks. The wounds still bleed at times." Beauty's face was on fire. Your father was always a liar N I she aald. speaking through clenched teeth. Her hands -were clenched also, as though they were ready to strike tho man who had ailed her a tiger cat. Nicholas stood between the two people who wr th author i his being. 'cod gratplng the lapela of his coat, with his head drooping and hU ryew itsrtag at the floor. He IS a ttaglc figure there, this son listening to the terrible words of the man and woman who accused each other He belonged so much to botl. of them He had bis father's clean-cut face, tout his mother ws' in his eyes Ho had his father's roleSi the same Inflections of the voire, but Beauty had givon blm hl poise of the head, the unconscious trick of passionate gesture Their flesh and blood mingled in him and no surgeon could cut out the mother's share, or the father's. Il taisd both hands to his head - ! . I rsj i. and then tlung them out as he turned round and faced bis father. "Lord God!" lie said, "how am I o be tho Judge between you?" There wa a silence His father wa. -taring at one of Jack Comyns' k'-rchi i of a dancing girl, tacked on fht wall, as though it had put a spell upon him. Then he came down to Nick, and lain h!s baud on his son's shoulder "You must be the judge," he said "At least you must choose between us. Fourteen years ago the law gave you to me. It condemned con-demned this woman "nd gave me the custody of the child. Did I fall in my trust? Did I not pout-out pout-out niv love upon you? Are you going to let this woman kill our comradeship?" As he spoke the last sentences oice faltered and broke. B inty plucked at Nick'p sleeve. "Tho law was cruel to me. Nick. 1 robbed me of you. I bore you in pain and agony. The law could not alter that fact by writing something some-thing in a book. As the mother irho bore you I claim you now. Oh. vou will not leave me again! You will not, Nick!" She put her fac -lown and sobbed, and smothered his hand with kisses so that it was wet with her tears. I On tbs other side of him his 'h. lather's hand was upon his &' N'lcV.- naid th man, tr L. almly and quietly. - T can see that Jr his woman is deceiving you, jur t at she deceived me. She Is pla:. acting now. as she Is always a pla- L actress Do you think that emotion r hi real? I have seen her do It r. on the stage, to make the servant K- girls aob in the gallery Those F tears are not real, my dear fellow IL Tbsy are aiiam tears Ithoot salt tn them. 8he pretend to lore you. K- to long for you. For fourteen years g she did not give you a thought. She fS- only wants you foi a little, whjt f ; as a plaything. When she Is tired I- of you she will fling yon away. M like a broken toy." P Ho look his hand from Njok f shonlder. and pulled ou hli watcb ' This scene has lasted too long U h a tragic farre I ran't tgnd ' ny more of it " I He looked into his son's eye and all his soul seemed to be in ; bis g!e. B T of us mutt go. Nick. Which t is It to bo? Are you going to turn r this woman out or ma?" i He went over to an oa' r chest and picked up bis hat and stick and gloves. Then P he spoke sgsln, si Nick stood " silent t "I cams zp to town with ac you and I shonld set op nr.' tether i had st tny heart H on jossing that this was go- i open. But it must toe on j thl other. I can't har j : vltl this woman, who would i ys be poisoning your mind against me. always tempting you from me When yon cam j book I hould smell her scent on OU I ihould see ber lies rankling j in your train. I should see the her hand dragging you away No, that wouldn't do a' I all. We should both bo miserable Come. Nick, old msn Make your choice Which Is it to "Nick will slay a ith me!" jid Beauty She flung her arms round j her son, and pu. her face up ?o his rbes she cried out again wilh a , trluropii I t her voice. ' Nick will tay with me'" "Oh mv God"' said Nick. lie was frightfully white. This torture was too much for him A tremendous sorrow was upon him. because he had to make a choice which Nature nevrr mant a msn to make "Well?" said his fathei Nick put his arm round h!s mother's waist. "I can't desert Beauty." he sa!d. "T can't It's impossible." j He had -made his choice. 1 'i(k will ptay with me, aid Beauty She gave an hysterical ugh and stroked his face, and laid her head upon hi? chest, like a woman with her lover (To Be Continued.) I Hi ni ill |