Show A RA D V ma el 71 by evelyn campbell by evelyn campbell CP belL f CHAPTER VIII continued 14 to aw K together they them had everything youth wealth ambition their future wa was limitless suddenly she aielt felt old and on the bhela what was she doing immured icher solitude under gray skies when alie others were finding life gay ard happy together she had been cheated of her girlhood and now womanhood lind had as little to offer but if the senators letter plunged her er into deeper depression on the other hand it aroused her from lassi bide and made cadeac action tion imperative she went ent to see sea stevens and laid a long manila envelope on the desk before him 1 I want to leave new york she said these are the last will you see what you can do for me mel the broker a dry flat man drew the corners comers of abr crackly parchment papers from the flap of the envelope and glanced nt at them light and power traction little y 0 alaid maud olf ile he smiled imperceptibly well we have placed a great deal of this stuff perhaps ion said this was good and I 1 have kept it until the last she interrupted Interrupt Pd impatiently she was I 1 biting her lip an amazing sign of nervousness in her mr stevens raised his yellowish brows only a month ago we forwarded our check what of that the securities had been in your hands since october Oct I 1 very well I 1 will do what I 1 can he turned away brokers have a uniform antipathy to irritable clients linda who had always swept in and out of that office as a queen lingered hesitant at the door there Is an obligation which Is troubling tro me me my bly bill at the st sevier has been runn running ing for a long time they must have a payment i from this money she spoke thought fully as it if the stock was already sold and she had only to disburse its equiv alent mr stevens was shocked ed this was an error in tactics or which he was unprepared he had nothing whatever to do the liabilities or embarrassment embarrass ments 3 0 hla his clients the bookkeeper will forward the chock check to your address mrs roth both he be said frigidly and so linda assured the manager of her hotel that he would hear from i her within the week she was giving up her rooms for good leaving new 1 york politely asked for an address she answered vaguely washington she had bad been in that city many times but cowher now her heart beat as mad ly as any sixteen year olds who gets 14 her first peep at the world through 1 the hi historic if utterly dull and ale belan hordes that migrate to and from the political center at every season she had sent no word of her coming to the two men who would be inter ested in seeing her but twenty minutes after her bags were brought up she telephoned converse to come to her he r his response was so pleased and triumphant that she was smiling faintly when she turned from the aels telephone when they met an hour later he be still stiff wore the manner of victory but this disappeared at her first words 1 I have given everything into stevens hands she said soon the last bit of paper I 1 possess will be gone and then you will be troubled with my poor little affairs no ton conw tir she i tried to speak lightly disguising the i meaning a f her words with mo mockery chery his face altered at once but not 1 l with chagrin rather it ii w was with a closing down of pleasantry A a tighten ing of every muscle in that visage i which beneath its purple mask of flesh i remained crafty and sinister 1 f CHAPTER IX i from mountain top into the i J valley senator converse made himself comfortable in iha widest chair the 1 I 1 room afforded and aud selected a cigarette with care before he be sn answered linda she watched this striving to keep her thoughts from her eyes ab j t so our friendship Is to end with tt the e last hundred sh shares arest she winced from something Ow ething in hla his tone were we ever friends I 1 he ha reflected upon th this is possibly not I 1 am then to be of no further use to you we will put it that way in spite of bild baldness ness she sha interrupted warmly you helped me with advice with your influence in idling those stocks because you jou liked my father fat hernot me the senator burst out laughing gad what frauds you women arel freyou are you lying to yourself youra elt or lost just ti ito to meal me it was going to be horrible but she he must control herself 1 I gave you no encouragement to believe yourself my friend she said coldly 1 I would have paid you for what you did that Is how I 1 have ill ways felt to you she realized that made an error when she saw him start violently she had bad angered him and he had power lie ile repeated her words worda slowly so you would have paid me but bul not with the coin I 1 wanted fro from in you his glance traveled over her slowly and site she cringed before it she wanted to say that this was pay as 0 0 ool Ys so our friendship Is to end with the last hundred shares Shar csT she had paid a hundred times in humiliation but that would have gained her nothing after a little while he became merciful and turned his eyes away 1 I believed that you would turn to me some day he said slowly turn tura to you no no I 1 could not I 1 if there been another man he went on tonelessly have got over that feeling you have for me repulsion I 1 suppose call it have got so you could touch me without shivering that was just youth and you spent your youth pretty freely its nearly gone though you lived so very many years I 1 figured it would la last st about as to long n g as the red and blue papers your daddy left behind him red and blue papers she repeated dully though she knew it was just that he got up and took a step toward her A thick dark vein stood out on his forehead like an ugly bruise and his fits hand trembled when it fell upon her shoulder she would have screamed but there was no escape she would bo be smothered effaced before anyone came it Is another man attl it she could not say no then let me tell you you cant have that boy ruin him a woman like you why dont you let him marry that young girl ashes fresh shell give him everything she can have half a dozen children without remembering that wrested it a cry from her what have I 1 done A woman like me mel 11 oil you you she began to sob seeing his face through a blur of tears he laughed dryly youre oure defending your virtue now a woman can always do that ev even e n when its gone wrong but my dear linda do not misunderstand me ill admit that you have been pure exemplary em plary but perhaps that la Is my fault 11 I 1 made it easy for you I 1 have paved the way with stevens checks ile he had been smoking one cigarette after another a puff then flung flum away the ashes and stubs uttered littered the carpet around where he be sat it was absurd to see the tiny paper rolls in his mouth lost between his pendulous cheeks at a glance he seemed to be burning up inside we are still bigoted enough to call the woman virtuous who has bas never given herself to a man I 1 would be the last iasi to rob you of chrt claim to superiority my dear girl we will say that you have accepted a casket from me to keep your virtue safely in by this athla ambiguity the truth to Is upheld and no one offended ile he paused but even by borrowers there Is a code to be considered TO cro DR BB CONTINUED |