Show I 1 MI k jiw ji w i u aa bantit jj the tha nu mutiny finy of the tha albin at adin I 1 10 aas L 9 1 by WYNDHAN WYNDHAM IN TWO tir U V IL 1 fralc r THE STORY STOBY rloyd floyd unwin and howard bettington Bettl take tak dinner difine r with an old collece chum alfred gibbons magnate unwin un win pro duces a written pledge taken by the throe ahr ait t college to tg help each other in adversity e that bat h ho needs needa financial assisto assistance ance anc to I 1 educate ducat his son eon dob and daughter mary gibbons molts let t th the 1 legality I of the pledge but ari agree to make a 0 place for or th the daughter aughtr in hl ble organization CHAPTER 11 II 2 the no planning of the cruise the place stifled me said unwin when be was alone la in the street with bettington HetU Mett aeton ington walk as far as my studio bettington suggested it strange that we should have lost eight cofone of one another I 1 feel guilty its true im not cot often in now new york tubby ril ill not lose loag sight of you now bow 11 Detting tons studio was more a collection of marine objects a museum of the ten sea than a place to work in there were two rooms at tile tho top of an old brown stone atone house housa on the north ado tilde of east bast thirty fourth treed street ne he had a yearly lease of the place and used it but rarely there were il quaint figureheads figure heads of old sailing ships now long broken up or sunk 1 I havo have not always led the simple itin uneventful eventful life gibbons assigned to me ine the painter bald suid ambling stalling when lie he noted ills his fri friends endla interest sit down tubby tabby while I 1 ranks make real coffee later he began 1 I had bad a small fortune when w hen nott harvard nar vard I 1 spent most of it in seeing the world with what was left and some bonia arnall savings I 1 have bought a camp at present im hard up but theres plenty of money in this very room it if im energetic enough to get it I 1 have sold very tow few of my paintings I 1 have been able to afford not to I 1 have commissions for t aum ar which I 1 have not 1 L T iiri mall of uie ill execute them a bcd d sell some of the canvases your Youel irl rt mary shall go to smith and youry boy shall havo have tile the kocl and point paint shall take them both there it has been a fortunate evening fir f r me I 1 needed wak ang ng up anivin thought of how soon this miracle Int might be accomplished which should give Us his children choir opportunities tuni tunit ties les the narrow things at home homa bad trained ahli to calculate with greila niceness such adjustments bettington planned to start for the painting expedition within two days time ve he would start at gloucester and wander up the coast reaching hla his new calp campin far northern maine in a time it were wise he thought to solid send mary to gibbons office the tha pictures might not cot sell gibbons might offer the girl a splendid stipend he might seek to make amends for his brusqueness by unexpected kindnesses perhaps they had wronged alfred gibbons enry looked at him next morning avei over the breakfast table andhor and her eyes I 1 4 sit down tubby while I 1 mako make real coffee asked the question ber lips lip did not formulate smith roust must wait justa just a little he maid but dont be cast down alary there Is hope you will yet win to Wort northampton hampton take an hour hoar off this very day and go and see the great alfred gibbons Us lie wants to see eee you commercially speaking your fortune it Is made ne ile ts Is expecting your you war mary unwin had bad been almost a year an inmate of the office of 0 klear hadway she tad bad quickly accommodated herself to the routine of her work she sha worked always at top speed as edid idid did her employer himself and was imald dollars weekly the were kindly bandi and radway notorious as a man about town never nixed axed ills his pleasures with tili his work site wab as an free from harm when tak ing its hla dictation as aa she would have bare been with a decent minded man it casato him felie preferred tho the request for fin an hour dour WIT off ile he was mia riot not pleated pleased im busy he grunted im off for or it ft vacation soon and theres ii lot to do 9 pont dont be longer longe r than an hour lie he looked at her curiously na as she ehe went from alic office As AB a connoisseur of women lie admired her charm but ehe seq was worth more to him in the office than out cut of t it was ana a voluptuary of sixty who was finding out that lie he lived now in a soberer age aga and could not adapt himself to it it gibbons victory pointed the moral ne ile did riot cot greatly beur gibbons lie ile comforted that after a low few weeks on the seafie sea he would come back refreshed tor for the big biff game lie he was thinking of gibbons triumph over the memphis lits and toledo road only made possible by the treachery of a trusted sted manager when hary entered the office of tier her fathers onetime one time friend gibbons was ROS often of 11 matter matte of speculation anning the railway start staff it was waa known that he had once ben been Rad clerk cleric and had left suddenly breathing threats against tits his employer and it seemed lie he had devoted hla his life to getting even for some some grievance of whose orl origin in none i in his domce had any definite idea mary alary looked at him with a curiosity that thai had nothing to do with his financial cial position she looked at him no as one who had in the other years b been ee n a close friend of her poor blundering clever but unstable fattier father whom si she e loved the more because she saw h hla is need gibbons was not prepared tor for a beauty it was true epwin had fine fen features tures and brilliant eyes but ono one remembered unwin as an the roan man who perpetually failed and looked apologetic there was a cloud of depression about unwin which seemed to malie make his carriage mean and lucon incon p Qs qu A V A t L 1 dry ry ana slim and bield held ile tier self as Q gh 5 no failure or self depreciation hadi ha dt fever ever come boroo near her there was as something fine about her and tho the brown eyes which looked at him under level brows raised a doubt in his mind ind as to tho the successful outcome 0 of rut t the seberne scheme which was working in hla his crafty head bend ile he first set bet himself to disarm tier lier by the adoption of the air of en an old and privileged friend so this Is tittle little mary unwin 11 ho he exclaimed shaking her hand well I 1 well I 1 it was a banal be inning the girl thought put she ehe smiled there Ther emust must be something good in a man whom her father had liked so yon want to go to smith V he went on lie could see her vivid interest now mora alore than anything on earth she answered 1 I dont suppose you yoo can ever aver guess how much I 1 want bantit wan tit ailt 11 Per perhaps harat I 1 can lie smiled your tour father helped me to understand 11 ills ilia air was one of delight la in well doing there was born in her heart it a fluttering hope that for old friendships ships sake he was waa going to help her tile tho cheeks that were usually pate took to themselves a lovely flush site she could not bring herself to ask ash what lie he meant for fear of meeting disappointment in e fit it was good to hope after so ao in much uch despair 1 I told your father I 1 would help you the world knows me as a hard man but it knows me for a man of my word im going to hup you and your brother oh ob mr gibbons she bho cried 1 I cant believe it it la Is one of those things too toko good to be true I 1 how can dob bob end and I 1 ever thank you enough ue lie looked at her keenly this was the ripe alpo moment you would like to feel you earned the money rather than be under a monetary obligation to me Is that what you menn bennt of she replied 1 I should expect to earn it out but how can IV 11 lie ile leaned over the glass topped table you clan can lie ha said you can very easily repay me tor for the few thousand dollars your will cost you are railways private stenographer very well you must tavo have taken many letters from him to thred men named harrod harte and buford you yes sho she admitted what I 1 want la Is this I 1 wish you to leave and bring to this office the notebooks with the letters written since the fifth of the month to these men you will find a typewrite ins ilia machine in the adjoining office you will transcribe the letters and then forget alt all about it forget forgets tr she ansy answered ered forget all about it the idea he said delight edly he was very much relieved ue he had dreaded tho the idea of tempting her forget it entirely go to smith and el betl that you have earned the money ra HI tell your fa ta therIt is it loan so ike he will feel satisfied aba roso Ustle isly color had gone from her check she blie felt i lacally icalla weakened after til all it ws was to be a life of oak office brud drudgery gibbons did not understand this sudden alteration whits the matter he said tr ir r bably tably oh not very much she said bald 1 I 1 was only wondering how my father ith cr coald could oer ever have fal pilled IC a you hla his friend W alint Wl 1 int he be exclaimed you tire are going to throw away a chance like that she ronde a little gesture of despair 1 I am going to throw it away ile he was now thoroughly angry lie ile had bad not hern bien so upset for or inon months the you vou deserve to starve lie with that d 4 3 foot fool of a fattier or of yours and will will too she shook her head 1 I shant starve stane but I 1 think I 1 id d rather starve than do that gibbons had been wrong in ing ine that the find end toledo road hied been taken from radway because ile he was wag drunk gibbons had hid bid so high that one on whom radway rolled wholly bad sold him well that would not happen cigala for the moment there was a lull in the warfare fore fare it was not until some allies of gib dona bons returned from rom europe that the struggle would begin dignin and before that happened there would ile be one on month on shipboard where he could fill himself with alcohol and feel he was not ruining tits hla prospects it was the debauch of an alcoholic long lone denied n led hta his pleasure elgar radway badway always deceived liam allm self and others about this annual voyage but he never deceived hta his wife there had been a day ten years earlier when lie he was a national figure in politics the death of a governor had made him a little heard of lieutenant governor the head of a great state bante nia ills financial knowledge was at the service of the white house at a moment when a black seemed about to devastate the country senator whitburn Wh Uburn of hla his own state looked upon badway erivn na as life vown own discovery an and d tv talked nal 0 a af pf f lit harn rn BO Q much colv I 1 ift t ii I 1 daught daughter ef va cited by tbt spirit which Is found s much ip in washington society found the disparity in years yeara more than offset by his name prominence i and promise prom from the begin beginning ning the marriage was unhappy ile he had bad found that the scandals discovered by a political rival were not to bo lived down in an era when women were powers lie ile had gone back to hla his financing in new york evelyn was a splendid hostess she was beautiful and she was clever the radway dinner parties were internationally famous lie ile was bound to admit that she had been a great asset to him it was at a dinner party that he announced his intention of taking a months vacation there were wera as guests some foreign financiers ile he k knew now that his wife realized why he was going lie ile find never been able wholly to met the glance of those almond shaped violet eyes with the calmness he wished jn in ten years she had learned most moat of his secrets one hears sald said the president of a paris banking house that you work woric even when making holiday but I 1 never believe that no no its what you call the bluff 1 im taking a secretary and a wireless operator radway retorted and there for buil business ness and my wife will probably come too that Is if she corea cares to thank you elgar she answered to his extreme surprise the change will do me good he smiled as though tile the prospect entranced hlin hita tie ile now flow saw himself committed to at least two extra guests what on earth had ho he wanted to talk about taking a secretary for lie ile was even more astonished to find that his wife consented to come she did not care for the ocean as a rule iule lie ile rather suspected that hla his physician had been warning her that this trip might be dangerous it if he reverted to ti tits hla old habits she was coming to set see that lie he kept within bounds 1 I ant aai glad you tire are coming evelyn lie he said when his guests had gone lit jt will do you good you are really taking a serre secretary tary she deni certainly he said a trine trifle imea tle this Is a business busl nesa trip as r tow told Slon monsieur Detain lis theres for my cay maid I 1 she said Ar ample arrille he answered what ellry will you taker ile he thought a ra the ahro wo men in his office who might anver answer were well veil enough in their ivirty way but the enforced intimacy of would probably discover unsuspected shortcomings would you be annoyed if I 1 took a pretty girl do you mean that slight dartt dark girl I 1 have seen oil oh N elgar I 1 wish you would it would be such company for me it if you can arrange 14 it ill il take her probably Iro bably her people let her come coma it I 1 suggested it XII ril phone you her address from the office tomorrow and you can go and see her mother tt it she has baa one n tell her shi she will get twenty five dollars a week slie she ought to jump at iv it 1 it t v wui v 1 with A 1 t h t the he hope the girl would g go 0 that mrs biro culled called next laurn ing ut at the unwinds home mr uh win recognized her instantly at her ii marriage ja r ra t t g e S i i r ge ants portrait had helped to make bial e her famous since that time line tile the columns arid and liveris Li Ln p minting 41 fit ing of her had kept tier in the public eye the were delighted at the idea of mary getting a whole month on shipboard arid the additional say eav ing nie something to them it was mary herself he self who seemed dubious she in tier her brother 1 I 1 have a feeling sho she that I 1 ought not togo to go its a kind hind of presentment se sent ment I 1 wish ym 1 coul come 1 I wish osh they would find a job for me in tile the engine room he exclaimed ills ilia eyes brightened ut at the prospect of such each nearress near vess to machinery at work i fel vel that be luck sla do you think it could be alleged allt ged r do you think theres sonic could do if there she decided 1 I wont go it was waa astounded at her demand I 1 what to do I 1 want with an engine adoring boy aboard he snapped Iller haps your father would like to go also 1807 she colored a little lie ile decided that when she flushed she was prettier illi than any girl in the winter foli follies I im rather relieved she said quietly 1 I want to go and now I 1 certainly shall not 1 I suppose I 1 shull have to find a place for him radway grumbled tie ile took up some plans and glanced at them there are arc four boats carried I 1 see eee and one of rhems a twenty one foot launch lie ile shall took look after it of course hell have to mesa with the crew crem tell him to report to captain hallett allott II of the albatross at the new york yacht club loot float at the foot of east cast twenty third street she leaves dar bar harbor tomorrow night and will be here by sunday when she was gone radway sarik sank down into ii his padded chair and told himself he was getting old there were physical troubles multiplying with n frightening rapidity after all lie might not be able to turn this trip into one of the old time ca |