Show north rt of fifty three th L jle by y BERTRAND W IV SINCLAIR f r copyright little brown co BUSHS THREATS TO MAKE HAZEL SUFFER FOR HER REJECTION OF HIS PROPOSAL ARE FOUND NOT TO HAVE BEEN IDLY MADE I 1 synopsis miss hazel weir is employed as a stenographer in the office of harrington bush at granville GranvI Ile ontario slie site Is engaged to jack barrow a young real estate agent mr bush hazels employer suddenly notices her attractiveness and at once makes her his private stenographer after three months bush proposes marriage hazel refuses and after a stormy scene in which chic h bush warns her he be will make her sorry of her action hazel leaves the office never to return CHAPTER 11 continued 2 hazel stared aghast astounded she was not at all sorry she was perhaps a trifle ashamed but the humor of the thing appealed to her roost most strongly of all in spite of herself she smiled as she reached once more for her hat bat and this time mr bush did not attempt to restrain her she breathed a sigh of relief when she had gained the street and she did not in the least care if her departure during business hours excited any curiosity in the main office moreover she was doubly glad to be away from he looked perfectly devilish she told herself isly ly I 1 loathe that man ile he is dangerous marry him the ideal idea she knew that she must have cut him deeply in a mans kenderest ten derest spot his self esteem but just how well she had bad gauged the look and possibilities of mr andrew bush hazel scarcely realized 1 I wont tell jack she reflected hed probably want to thrash him and that would stir up a lot of 0 horrid talk dear me one experience I 1 dont want repeated I 1 wonder if he made court to his first wife in that highhanded high handed love iove me ine or ill beat you to death fashion she laughed when she caught herself scrubbing vigorously with her handkerchief at the place where his lips had touched her cheek she was primitive enough in her instincts to feel a trifle glad of having retaliated in what her training compelled her to con consider sidera a perfectly hoydenish manner mander but she could not deny that it had proved wonderfully effective CHAPTER 11 II 1 I 1 do give and bequeath when jack barrow called again which happened to be that very evening hazel told him simply that she he had bad left harrington bush without entering into any explanation except the general one that she had fourd it impossible to get on with mr bush in her new position and jack being more concerned with her than with her work gave the matter scant consideration this was on a friday the next forenoon hazzi hazel went downtown when she returned a little before eleven the maid of all work was putting the last touches to her room the girl pointed to an oblong package on a chair that came for you a little while ago miss bliss weir she said mr bushs buchs carriage brought it mr buchs bushs carriage hazel echoed ism Yes ro regular swell turnout with a footman in brown livery my you could see the girls peeking pecking all along the square when it stopped at our door it quite flustered the missus 11 the girl lingered a second curiosity writ large on her countenance plainly she wished to discover what miss hazel weir would be getting in a package that was vas delivered in so aristocratic a manner but hazel was in no mood to gratify curiosity she was angry at the presumption of mr andrew bush it was an excellent way of subjecting her to remark she drew hoffher off her gloves and laying aside her hat picked up a 4 newspaper and began to lo read the girl with inith no excuse for lingering reluctant gathered lip up her brown broom rua anil dustpan and departed depart cd when she was gone and not doe till then miss weir investigated the parcel roses hoses two dozen long stemmed lh frances filled the room with their dell delicate cite odor when she removed th the pasteboard cover and set edgewise among the stems she found his card miss weir turned up her small nose 1 I wonder it lie he sends these as a sort of peace offering she snorted 1 I wonder if a few hours bours of reflection has made him realize just how exceedingly caddish lie he acted well sir bach rii ill return your unwelcome gift though they are beautiful flowers and she did forthwith squandering 40 cents on a messenger boy to deliver them to mr push bush at his office she wished hin him to 1 labor abor under no misapprehension as to her attitude le the next nest day adny si sunday inday she spent alth jack barrow on a visit to his 4 ausin in a nearby they parted fis a was their custom at the door it was still early in the evening eight thirty or thereabouts and hazel went in the parlor on the firsa firer floor mrs stout und one of her boarders boarden sat there chatting and at hazels entrance the landlady greeted her with a astar startling ble bitof of news evenin Eve miss weir ave you eard card about mr bush pore gentleman mrs stout was very english mr bush no what about him E R was urt lurt shochin shock kIn ln bad this alft noon mrs stout related out or orse s a back aldin and Is orse ran away with im and fell on am fell all of a cap they say terrible terrible the pore man expected to live Is backs broke they say wat a pity shochin Shock kin ln accident indeed miss weir voiced perfunctory ory sympathy as was expected of her seeing that she was an employee of the firm or had been lately but close upon that she escaped to her own room she I 1 did not relish sitting there discussing mr andrew bush nevertheless she kept thinking of him long after she went to bed she was not at all vindictive and his misfortune the fact fac t it if the report were true that he was facing his end stirred her pity the report of his injury was ve verified rifled in the morning papers by evening it had pretty well passed out of hazels mind she had more pleasant concerns jack barrow dropped in about six thirty to ask it if she wanted to go with him to a concert during the week they were sitting in the parlor by a front window chattering to each other but not so engrossed that they failed to notice a carriage drawn by two splendid grays pull up at the front gate the footman in brown brownl lvery got down and came to the door hazel knew the carriage she had seen mr andrew bush abroad in it many a time she wondered if there was some further annoyance in store for 11 her er and frowned at the prospect she leard heard mrs stout answer the bell in person there was a low mumble of voices then the landlady alip appeared eared in the parlor doorway the footman behind her this Is the lady mrs stout indicated hazel A message for you miss weir person bowed and extended an envelope 1 I was instructed to deliver this to ru in personally he said and lingered as as it he looked for further instructions hazel looked at the envelope she could not understand why under the circumstances any message should come to her through such a medium but there was her name inscribed she glanced up ap mrs stout gazed past the footman with an air of frank anticipation jack also was looking but the landlady caught hazels glance and backed out the door and hazel opened the letter the note was brief and to the point miss weir mr bush being seriously injured and unable to write bids tae me say that he la is very anxious to see sec you lie sends his carriage to convey you here his physicians fear that lie will not survive the night hence ho he begs of you to come very truly ETHEL PL WATSON nurse in waiting the idea 1 of course I 1 wont 1 I 1 I think of such a thing hazel exclaimed just a second she said to the footman i over on the parlor mantel lay jay some sheets of paper paper and envelopes she borrowed a pencil from barrow and pur barrow glanced over the missive 1416 sive and frowned scribbled a brief refusal the footman departed with noth her answer hazel dazel turned to find jaak jack staring his puzzlement what did he be wanta want barrow asked bluntly that was th eBush turnout it you heard about mr M r bush getting hurt you she inquired saw it in the paper why nothing except that ho he is supposed to be dying and lio lie wanted to see me at least well rend read the note hazel answered B barrow arrow glanced over the missive and frowned what do you yon suppose he be wanted you for he asked how should I 1 knowl know hazel evaded seems funny he remarked slowly oh lets forget it hazel came and sat down on the couch by him 1 I 1 dont know of any reason why he should want to see me it was certainly a peculiar request for him to make but no reason why we should lot let it bother us if hes bes really so badly hurt the chances are hes out of his head bead dont scowl at that bit of paper so johnnie boy 11 barrow laughed and kissed her and the subject was dropped forthwith lat later c r the they Y we went nt out for a short walk in an hour or so barrow left for home promising to have the concert tickets for thursday night hazel took the note out of her belt and read it again when she reached her room why by should he want to see her she wondered at the mans persistence he had insulted her tic qc cording to her view of it doubly insulted her with threats and an enforced caress perhaps he merely wanted to beg her pardon she had heard of men doing such things in their last moments but she could not conceive of mr andrew bush being sorry for anything he did and so slie she could not grasp the reason for that eleventh hour summons but she could see that a repetition of such incidents might put her in a queer light other folk might begin to wonder and inquire why mr andrew bush took such an interest in her ber a mere stenographer well she told herself she did not care so long as jack barrows cars were not assailed by talk she smiled at that for she could picture the reception any scandal peddler would get from him the next nest days papers contained the obituary of M mr andrew bush he had died shortly after midnight and despite the fact that she held no grudge hazel felt a sense of relief ile he was powerless to annoy or persecute her and she could not escape the conviction that he would have attempted both had he lived she had now been idle a matter of days nearly three yet T to elapse before her wedding edding it seemed scarcely worth while to look for another position she bad enough money saved to do everything slie she wanted to do it was not so much lack of money the need to earn as the monotony of idleness that irked her she had acquired the habit of work and that is a thing not lightly shaken off but during that day she gathered together the different granville papers and went care carefully fally over the want columns knowing the town as she did she was enabled to eliminate the unlikely undesirable places thus by evening she was armed with a list of firms and individuals requiring a stenographer and in the morning she sallied forth her hei quest ended with the first place she sought sou glit the fact of two years service with the biggest firm in granville was ample recommendation in addition to which the office manager it developed in their conversation lind known her father in years gone by so before ten miss bliss hazel weir was entered on the pay roll of a fur iture manufacturing house it was not a permanent position one of their girls had been taken ill and was likely to take up her duties again in six weeks or two months but that suited hazel all the better she could put in the time usefully and have a breathing in spell before her wedding three days went by hazel attended the concert with jack the evening of the day mr andrew bush received ostentatious burial at ten the next morning the telephone te Il ephone girl called her he someone wants you on the phone miss bliss weir she said hazel took up the dangling receiver hello that you hazel she recognized the voice halt half guessing lt it would be he since no one but jack barbow barrow would be likely to rl ring ng lier her up surely it sound like me mave you seen the morning pa pc P V yo go what look lem cm over particularly the gip Gy gynette fette ette 11 rattle of a receiver slummed back on its hook without evon a 11 god byll by from ittin him struck her like ilke a slap in the face shim she hung up slowly arid and went back to her work nover since birg meeting and thay nod nad nit not bleen exempt from lovers quarrels had tack barrow ever koyi to her like that even through th rough the te td aglione ap lione the resentful note in his voice grated on her and mystified IDY stifled her she S he wag chained ch to her ber work which despite her agitation she managed to wade through without any radical errors until noon the to one intermission gave bea be opportunity to to hirry up the street and buy a gazette ette then instead of going icorn h ome to her luncheon she entered the nearest acari st res 4 caurant tau rant she wanted a chance to read more than food she did not unfold the paper until she aas seated A column li heading on the front page caught her eye the caption read andrew bush leaves money to stenographer no and under it the subhead wealthy manufacturer makes peculiar bequest to miss bliss raazel weir the story ran a full column and had to do with his interment there was a great deal of matter anent the principal cipal beneficiaries but that which formed the basis of the heading was a codicil appended to the will a few hours before his ahls death in which he did give and bequeath to hazel weir until lately in my employ the sum of five thousand dollars in reparation for any wrong I 1 may have done her hazel stared at the sheet and her face burned she could understand now why jack barrow had hung bung up his receiver with a slam she could picture him reading that article and 11 it watched for jack from a window that commanded the street gritting britting grit ting his teeth her hands clenched till the knuckles stood white under the smooth skin and then quite abruptly she got up and left the restaurant even while a waiter hurried to take her order it if she had been a man find and versed in profanity she could have cursed andrew bush till his soul shuddered on its journey through gh infinite space being a woman she wished only a quiet place to cry CHAPTER ill an explanation demanded hazels pride came to her rescue be for she was halfway half way home instinctively c she had turned to that refuge where she could lock herself in her own room and cry her protest against it all but she had done no wrong nothing of 0 which 0 ru o be ashamed and when the first of the news article wore off she threw up her head and refused to 10 consider what the world at large might think so she went back to the office at one and took up her work long before evening she sensed that others had re read ad the gazette not that anyone mentioned it but sundry curious glances made her painfully aware of the fact she had just reached the first landing of her boarding house when she heard the telephone bell and a second or two later the landlady called oh miss bliss beirl telephone barrows voice hailed her over the line ill be out by seven said he we had better take a walk we cant talk in fit the parlor therell probably ably be a lot of old tabbies there out of sheer curiosity all right hazel agreed and hung up she dressed herself unconsciously the truly feminine asserted its dominance the woman anxious to please and propitiate her lover slie site put on a dainty summer dress rearranged her hair powdered away all trace of the tears that insisted insist pd on coming as soon as she reached the sanctuary of her own room and then she watched for jack from a window that commanded the street appeared at last she went down to meet him before he rang the bell just behind him came bl a tall man in a gray sull suit this individual turned in at the gate bestowing a nod upon barrow and a alreen leea glance at her as he passed grinoli GrIn cli from the times barrow muttered sourly come on lets get away |