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Show H PART II Continued. B voice came bnclc to him from fBclose ns though her face hod , Rircssotl to the glass In un effort Hte hlra out. "At tlie corner of ' Brtnue nnd Knst Ninth Btreet." ' H minutes Inter he drew up his I H (he iippolnted spot nnd reached Bjj0 throw open tho door, tint kept Hot on the clutch release, leaving Kara In mesh, that speed ahead. Hhls precautions wore In vain. K opened tho cab door hla coat was seized In ft very determined Hml drawn Inward, catching hla ' Hlo a JluJutsu leverage tlint lef i He Hobson's choice of cither get-1 get-1 Hat and facing his captor or lis-i lis-i H to Ids nrm break, lie chose i H down from his seat quickly. . Kit, Bobby," murmured Miss Van H Randolph attempted no eviiHlon; Haded the lndy to the curb and 1 Hi her gently townrd , her own i Hod up the high steps. "Madge," Hi, "you fought a great light to- Bud when you had won you felt B (or Tremont and surrendered. Kere swept too high on the wavo H best that Is In you. Promise Hit you won't forget tlmt you tod. Promise me tlmt you will . Bind tnUo Tremont, all of htm, I Honor." Hit do you mean? What did irr cried Miss Van T. angrily, WjBtlc face suddenly Hushing. Horn the start of the ride to the Hi heard every word," declnred Hudolph frankly, "and more." Hi morol" repented tho. hard-jHlglrl. hard-jHlglrl. "What do you mean by r She stilt tried to browbeat jHptit remembering one Incredibly Bel's, her eyes fell In the unequal BJtlth Hobby's and nttempted to B Aversion by staring at his gill-BJkp gill-BJkp nnd heavily booted feet. BJct up, Madge. Look at me," Hfcllundolph nnd wulted patient-3 patient-3 first her long lashes Htittercd K(B her lovely eyes swept slowly his face. "Thnt'H It," he con-B con-B as their looks met nnd locked. Bhold that so wo enn't lie." B; should I Ho If you really heard ;BllDg?" asked Miss Van T., and Bdy smiled. Hdge, you little devil," said Mr. B'rh, suppressing an Impulse to fl her, "can you think of what B been doing and laugh?" B. I can, just now," snld Miss i In little gasping phrases that Bun, especially one of Mr. Hnu-H Hnu-H limpid nature, curried only Btaco uluo In words, but which Bf woman would have rend ns B ns tho red-weather signal, B out for showers of tears fol-B fol-B by storm." Bll," said Mr. llnndolph solemnly, Bu really don't realize Just where Bire been, let me tell you. First e" hlgb into clean ulr and you (Tremont with you. You were MfH" or a vision nnd you nuule Bjfe It, too, a mlrnge of those places that ure the altar of the More love. Just n mirage, an n of perfect happiness, wlilch eason tells us we can't over turn Enforced concrete nnd plunt In Buru I'lit which wo must either r hold as n vision or admit that sordid and wingless thing." V Van Telller's eyes fell from Bank gaze. Bomothlng sewmed to B'e within her; she put her arms Bd Mr Randolph's peck, clung " dropped her faco against his W and sobbed, not uolidly, but B who weeps to rest. weld her close to him and went V" fsee set as though to a duty. B lt did you do? Uecnuso be '1. merely hesitated at tho high adoration, you promptly Bd it and dropped plumb W- down like tlint traitor arch- Johnny out of heaven Into tho f bell." Tl" cried Miss Van T., throw- her head and struggling to kerself. "How dare you suy S like that? How dare you be rwny? I .hate you. I don't J"w I ever could have thought Jou. i tcl, uut tt WWI imo arms, and I wish I wan there now." jjoro g0)gt conyyioive "at shook the slim body In Mr. 'Pna cmbroco from twitching w to tired feet. the render be startled by what S "est It will do well to remind "lot this poignant scene was , t three o'clock In the morning n'sh sloop of tho Vnn Telller ;nce In East Ninth street and t the perimeter of tho door-wm door-wm In Itself presented an nl-r nl-r , ne contrndlcllon, In that re-done In red on its face, the .;Ve,come," but was nevertho-'aaiocked nevertho-'aaiocked and chnlncd to tho Iron tl as miw van TclUcr wus sob- blug her heart out nnd Mr. Randolph was standing In the bewilderment of one who knows he has not only taken the wrong turning but placed both his feet In a beartrup, a thick, heavy, unsympathetic voice arose from the foot of the steps. "Here! Yoimel IJrenk nwny an' come along of mo." Memories of n mischievous bovhond swarmed to Mr. Randolph's mind, recollections rec-ollections of those dnys when, as chief of the .Madison Square gang, his ears had tingled to the cry of "Cheese It, de cop I WVse pinched, fellers 1" A cold sweat eauie out upon his brow; he slowly relaxed his grip on Miss Vnn T.'s person and whispered tremulously tremu-lously to her to keep her nerve but hural him her latchkey. Over his shoulder he said with forced calm, -On what charge, olll-cer?" olll-cer?" "Same old dope." replied the policeman police-man phlegmutlcally; "drunken, disorderly. disor-derly. Come nlong, now, er d'ycr want me to climb them steps ko'h we c'n all roll down together?" During that speech Mr. Randolph made a lucky shot at the keyhole, stealthily turned the lock and opened tho door. "The wuy's clear, Madge," he whispered. "Heat It." "Oh, Is It, Hobby, you dear," rattled Miss Van T. In n stage whisper that could be heard across the street. "I didn't mean It, really, what I said about hating you. Hut I do Iuvo Henchcr. Hobby, and I'll I'll" "For heaven's suke, Madge," grouned Mr. Randolph, hearing sounds as of a bear starting to swarm a tree, "keep all that till New Year's." "I wus Just going to say," continued Miss Van T. breathlessly but with n 'old eye fixed on the cumbrous shad- "Break Away an' Como Along of Me." ow coming up the steps, "that I'll owe It to j ou, Hobby. I'll owe It to you. D'you understand?" "Sure." lied Mr. Randolph as ho pushed her firmly through tho door, then caught Its knob, slammed It shut and turned to meet Nemesis. "Hello, Flnhahartyl" Tho huge pollcemnn stopped his pouderous but sure progression nnd stared long and suspiciously Into Mr. Randolph's face. Finally ho gave n grunt of recognition. "Slim," he snld to himself uloud as though somewhere within his vast bulk there were a separate sep-arate monitor that had to be tipped olt to tho situation, "Slim Hervey." "Sure," suld Mr. Randolph, leading tho way toward his wagon. "Who else did you think It was at this time o' night?" "How did I know," demanded Mr. Flaluihurty gruflly but not unpleasantly unpleasant-ly for him, "ns you hud takcu on deliveries de-liveries o' fancy dress-goods on top o' your regular line?' He breathed heavily nnd allowed his eyes to protrude further than usual us-ual In search of a thought which he sensed In the near distance. "I tell you, Slim," ho finally continued, "I don know what this burg Is a-coinln to. Why, even the street kind used to have n man to tako em home, but this here was n bit o' hlgh-flyln' fluff me, I could Bee tlmt an' they had to give It to a cub I" "Forget It," snld Uobby nervously. "All I says," continued Mr. Flaha- nnriy, is uiuuk uou uuiii u my kuub is murricd to hairy men that can an' does lick tho stullln's outen 'era." "Well, hero wo are," said Mr. Randolph Ran-dolph us ho stooped to turn her over. From hla seat behind the wheel ho began to breathq more easily and leuned out to study the faco of his friend, tho ofllccr, to mako sure Uiat therein was no guile. "Cheer up, Jim," bo said not quite reassured. "Forget 1UM Z h ".' ,t'11 C0,ne nhro bt'"" " "rat time I ever seen a thing like tl.n; i fciie sure give you a tinsle, SUint" PART III. Maid's Adventure. Take a young Kr of about twent) "Who, In her childhood, was pampered of fortune In money, position, good hroedlng, and pets, turn her loos n the world at the age of ten with no prop but a faithful, sickly mid destitute old nurs. kill off the nurse a couple of years later, let tho girl fend for herself as scullery-mald nnd what not through the unlnterest-Ing unlnterest-Ing stage that precedes the sudden bloom of unexpected beauty, give her ii long succession of Jobs secured "on her looks" and lost b. jusc she wouldn't, lend her up to tha crowded ttortol of despair and tho long-drnwn-out surrender; then snntch her suddenly sudden-ly hack fmm destruction, feed her, give her the sole freedom for n night of Mr. Robert Hervey Randolph's com-fortable com-fortable apartment and what will sho do? The answer Is easy, she will find tho bath and turn on the hot wnter. Tlmt was the very first thing that -Miss Imogene' l'nmelu Thornton did after she had finished spying from the window on the movements of what she supposed wns Mr. Randolph and whnr, In reality, was Mr. Patrick O'Reilly In Mr. Randolph's best top-bat, top-bat, best suit of evening clothes nnd overcoat, best gray silk mulller. prlco twenty-two dollars, nnd best patent-leather patent-leather shoes the InBt n very tight fit which mnde the revamped gentleman's gentle-man's gait a cross between that of u chicken on n hot stove and a druuk on his reluctant way home. Kven the unsuspecting Miss Thornton Thorn-ton was puzzled by that halting loco-motion loco-motion In connection with uhnt she knew of air. Randolph, but she added It, two and two, with tho mysterious twenty minutes spent by tlint gentleman gentle-man nnd tho driver In the recesses of the cab, apparently to settle n difference differ-ence In Ideas as to the value of n siting taxi, and decided that poor Mr. Randolph must have Issued from the Interview In a semi-crippled stute. She herself was too excited to lot pity altogether absorb her. Without wuitlng for either the tortured wayfarer way-farer or the tuxl to get quite out ol sight, she dropped tho window curtain and turned to possess herself of her world of comfort for a night. A starved Instinct led her straight to the luxuriously appointed bathroom. As previously Intlmuted, she turned on the, hot wn.'er and clasped her hands ecstatically na she watched Its crystalline surge and Imnglned she could smell the opalescent steam. Hut not for long was she Inactive. Having surrendered to circumstance to tho extent of promising to-stay Mn the Hat until ten the following morning, morn-ing, she decided to do the Job wholeheartedly, whole-heartedly, for Imogene I'nmeln was one of those lucky nnd fated young women who can never give themselves by halves. If happiness so much as showed Its nose, It was her nature to tackle blindly for its waist and go to the Hint for the Immediate present. Consequently, let not her modesty be misjudged when .It Is relnted that, In the short time It took to fill the hath, she accomplished the following: Rooted nut Mr. Randolph's best silk pujnmns, found tils softest bathrobe, filled a hot-water bottle and slipped It far down between tho too cold linen sheets of bis big bed. Continuing nt this rate of achievement, It may be Imagined that In ten minutes more the young lady, having bathed, was curb'd up nnd sound .asleep. Not on your life I .. Item: It took her twenty-one irtln-1 utes by the clock to scrub out' the memory of the scabby zinc bathtubs of many years. Item: Twenty more minutes to wash her hair. Item: Half nn hour more to scrub her underwear under-wear nud stockings. Assorted items: Various pauses during which, she shamelessly looked at herself In k full-length., full-length., mirror of such puru redacting qualities ns had not crossed bet path since England was n pup. After that, a long, entrancing Item, called "drying "dry-ing her hair." Did you blame her, three lines back, In your heart for her frequent Inspections Inspec-tions of self In the mirror? If you did, look at her now I Mr. Randolph's bathrobe Is billowed at her waist and tied tight to keep' It from trailing ou the lloor; for almost u like rcnion, Its sleeves are rolled up above her elbows. It Is open In u V at the neck, showing the adolescent curve of u virginal but much excited bosom, With n woolly towel In both hands, she plants herself before the staid old looking-glass and gives It such a treat as It has never before savored In Its sixty-two years of service to tho Randolph Ran-dolph family. Rub, rub, rub with tho towel. Her checks grow pink nnd pinker, her eyes round and rounder. They twinkle and smile, nnd once, when sho mado a little face ut herself, her-self, thoy laughed out loud. Her bnlr slowly wnkes from Its stringy dampness damp-ness until It, too, bursts Into n sort of light and curly merriment. Pamela puffs out her cheeks and blows at Its reflection. CTO IJE CONTINUED.) |