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Show SOUTH CACHE COURIER, HYRUM, UTAH gimiiniinimiimiinminmnnmniHHiii HARRIET and the PIPER light She did not refuse him her hand when he came to the tea table, or her eyes, and there was friendliness, or the semblance of It In the voice with which Ehe said his name. That he was waiting, perhaps as fearfully as she, for his cue, was evidenced by the quick relief with which he echoed the Kathleen Norris Illustrations by Irwin Myers Harriet had shaken back her mane of hair, had hammered furious fists together up on the dark balcony. It wasnt fair It wasnt fair just now, when 6he was so secure and happy! She had flung her arms across the railing, and burled her hot face on them, and had wept desperate and angry tears Into the silken and golden tangle that shone dully In the star- ; old 111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 Copyright by Kathlem Nonia ROYAL BLONDIN Harriet Field, twenty-eigyears old, and beautiful, is the social secretary of the flirtatious Mrs. Isabelle Carter, at Richard Carters Crownlands, Synopsis. ht r home, and governess of seventeen-yea' old Nina Carter. Ward, twenty-fou- r years old and Impressionable, fancies himself in love with his mothers attractive secretary. Mrs. Carters latest "affair" Is with young Anthony Pope, and the youth Is taking It very seriously. Presiding over the teacups this summer afternoon, Harriet Is profoundly disturbed by the arrival of a visitor. Royal Blondln. Next day, at a tea party In the city, Blondln makes himself agreeable to Nina, and leaves a deep Impression on the unsophisticated girl. CHAPTER III. Royal Blondln went straight from UNlna to the tea table, which was deserted now. Harriet saw him coming, and she knew what hour had come. She stood up ns he reached her, and they measured each other narrowly, with unsmiling eyes. There was reason for her paleness today, and for the faint violet shadows about her beautiful eyes. Harriet had Jain awake deep Into the night, toss-lin- g She had always and feverish. thought that he must come back; for iyears the fear had haunted her at (every street crossing, at every ring Of 'Lindas doorbell. At first It had been but a shivering apprehension of his claims, an anticipation of what he might expect or want from her. Then camo a saner time, when she told herself .that, she was nn independent human being as well as he, that she might meet his argument with argument, and his threat with threat But for the past year or two her 'lessening thoughts of him had taken new form. Harriet had hoped that 'when they met again she might be In a position to punish Royal Blondln, to look down at him from heights that even his audacity might not scale. That time, she told herself In the fever of the night, had not yet come. (Her pitiful achievements, her beauty, jher French and Spanish, her sober book reading, and her little affecta-,tlon- s of fine linen and careful speech, iall seemed to crumple to nothing. She eeemed again to be the furious, help Harriet of less, seventeen-year-ol- d the Watertown days, her armor Ineffectual against that suave and presence. She had forced herself to unbind the wrappings, to look at the old wound. She had gone In spirit to that old, shabby parlor to which Linda and Fred had carried Josephines crib late every night, and where sheet music bad cascaded from the upright piano. he saw, with the young husband and girl of fifwife, a fiery, tumble-hea- d teen or sixteen, who helped with her sister's cooking and housework, - who adored the baby, who planned a future on the stage, or as a great painter, or as a great writer the means mattered not so much that theend was jrame and wealth and happiness for al-Im- self-confide- nt Harriet Fred had brought Royal Blondln In ito supper one night, and Royal had laughed with the others at the spirited little waitress who delivered herself of tremendous decisions while she came end went with plates, and forgot to take off her checked blue apron when he finally slipped Into her place. The man had been a derelict then, as now. But he was nine years older than Harriet Field. He had had the same delightful voice, the same penetrating eyes. He had brought poetry, music, art. Into the sordid little parlor of the Watertown apartment; he had helped Harriet to tame and house those soaring ambitions. She felt again those kisses that had waked the Httle-glheart Into passionate womanhood ; she shut her eyes and pressed her hand tight against them. So young so happy so confident I plunging headlong into that searing blackness. And now Royal Blondln was back Again, and she was not ready for him. She could not score now. But he could hurt her Irreparably If he would. Isabelle was an Indifferent' mother, and to Incorrigible flirt, but At the" first word, at the first hint ah, there would be no arguing, no weighing of the old blame and responsibility If there was the faintest doad of doubt, that would be enough I rl 1 familiarity. Harriet! I find you again. Ive these people ; youll not be sorry if we occasionally meet? In this casual way no, we can stand that! she agreed. The fears of the night rose like mist, melted away. It was bad enough, but it was not what her inflamed and fantastic apprehension had made It He was no revengeful villain, after alt He did not mean to harm her. Ive been everywhere, he said, anI made two swering her question. trips to China from San Francisco, was Interested In Chinese antiques. Then I went into a Persian rug thing, with a dealer. We handled rugs; I went all over the Union. After that, four years ago, I went to Persia and India, and met some English people, and went with them to London. Then I came back here, as a sort of press agent to a Swaml who wanted to be Introduced In America, and after he left I rather took up his work, Yogi and Interpretive reading, Chitra and Shojo you dont know them?" She shook her head, sufficiently at ease now even to smile In faint derision. And whats the future in It, Roy? Now that the black dread was laid, she could almost like him. The present Is extremely profitable, he said dryly, "and I suppose there might be well, say a marriage In It, some day A rich widow? Harriet suggested, simply. Or a little girl with a fortune, like this little Carter girl, he added, lightly. Harriet gave him a swift look. "Dont talk nonsense! Ninas only, a child ! Shes almost eighteen, Isnt she? The girl walked swiftly on for a full minute. You werent quite a child at eighteen, he reminded her. The color flooded her transparent dusky skin. I was! she Thats exactlyT-wh- at But talk to Nina, If you said dryly. dont believe me! Everything that Is school-girland romantic and undevelis Nina. She is absolutely inexoped, perienced; shes what I called her, a child Its preposterous !" I suppose, the man drawled, that that Is a question for the young lady, and her parents, and myself to decide." Harriet bit her lip. This was utterly unexpected. Into her calculations, up been waiting all thl3 time to find you I Id heard Ward speak of Miss Field, of course! But It never meant you. to me. Ive been thinking of you all night. Ive been thinking, too, she said, simply. Its, after six, Blondln said with a glance about. We cant talk here. Can you get away? Can we go somewhere? Without another word she deserted her seat, pinned on her bat, and picked up her gloves. Theres a very quiet back road straight down to Crownlands," she We might walk. said, considering. Anything!" he assented, briefly. Guided by Harriet, who was famIHar with the pface, they slipped through the hallway, and out a side door. They had no sooner gained silence and solitude than the man began deliberately: Harriet, I have not thought of anything else since I came upon you yesterday, after all these years. I want you to tell me that you you arent angry with me. You knew you knew how desperately I tried to find you, Harriet? What a hell I went through? If she had steeled herself against the possibility of his shaking her, she failed herself now. It was with an involuntary and bitter little laugh that she said: "You had no monopoly of that, Roy." But you ran away from me! he When I went to find accused, her. you, they told me the Davenports had moved away. Wont you believe that I- felt terrible that I walked the streets, Harriet, praying praying ! that I might catch a glimpse of you. It was the uppermost thought for years how many years? Seven? More than eight, she corrected, In a somewhat lifeless voice. I was eighteen. My one thought, my one hope, when I last saw you, in Lindas house," she went on, with sudden passion, was that I would never see yon again! But Im glad to hear you say this, Roy, she added. In a gentler tone. Im glad you felt sorry. Our going away was a mere chance. Fred Davenport was offered a position on a Brooklyn paper, and we all moved from Watertown to Brooklyn. I was grateful for It; I only wanted to disappear! Linda stood by me, her children saved my life. I was a nurserymaid for a year or two I never saw anybody or went anywhere! I look back, Harriet said, talking more to herself than to him, and walking swiftly along In the golden sunset that streamed across the old back road, and I wonder I didnt go stark, staring mad! Dont think about It, he urged, with concern. No ; Ill not think about It Royal, dont think that all my feeling was for myself. I thought of you, too. I A Rich Widow? Harriet Suggested, missed you. Truly, I missed what you Simply. had given my life!" to this point, she had taken only Royal A dark flush came to the mans face, Blondln and herself. If his words covand when he spoke.lt was with an ered any truth, then the matter did bqnest shame and gratitude In his not stop there. Nina was Involved, voice that would have surprised the and with Nina, Ward and Ninas women who had only known him In father and Isabelle his later years. The complications were endless; her You are generous, Harriet, be heart sickened before them. And yet, You were always the most the conviction that Royal dared not said. generous girl In the world ! betray ber had been flooding Harriet's More stirred than she wished to heart with exquisite reassurance durshow herself, Harriet walked on, and ing this past half hour. She was safe ; there was a silence. her life at Crownlands took on a new Linda and Fred made it hard for and wonderful beauty with that knowledge. And if she was fit to continue you? he asked. Oh, no ! They were angels. But of there, Ninas companion, Isabelle's course In their eyes, and mine, too confidante, guide and judge for the whole household, could she with any I was marked." Silence. Royal Blopdln gave her a logic warn them against this man? He had her trapped, and she saw It. glance full of distress. and compunction. But he did not speak, and It To threaten his standing was to wreck her own. was Harriet who ended the pause. Her eyes looked beyond him darkly ; of a little what girl Well, thats eighteen may do with her life!" she the girl was young and innocent, I have been a fool I have greedy for flattery, eager to live. What said. chance had little Nina Carter against made a wreck of mine! You are the most, beautiful woman charm like his experience like his? "I may never be asked to the house In the world," Royal Blondln said, you are established here, after tomorrow night, said Blondln. steadily, they all adore you I Why do you say She wont be here tomorrow night This may be the beginning and end of that your life Is a wreck? of am the I Professor it All I ask is that If I am made weldaughter Field, said Harriet, and at twenty-seve- n come here, on my own merits, you The mere fact that . I am the paid companion of wont interfere Mrs. Richard Carters daughter! Oh, youre living here, doesnt mean that well I was happy enough to have Che you have the moral responsibility of opportunity. What of yourself? Where the family on your shoulders, does it? No-have you been?" Harriet admitted, in a But he was not quite ready to drop troubled tone. the personal note. "Of course not! Yon live your life, Harriet, now that we have met, and I flilne. Is there anything wrong well be friends? My life now Is among about that? y 1 1 o, iou snow you would never look I evening of reading. Well she w at that girl except for her money, see Linda on Saturday, anil have s4 Roy! she burst out day with her and the children. tnd Nor would anyone else! he amend. that meant always a complete chan? and a shifted ed, suavely. viewpoint even when Harriet gave a distressed laugh. frequently happened, Linda took I You and Cornel I never saw each older-sisterl- privilege of y other until this week, Blondln urged. Thats the whole story." Before she answered, the girl looked beyond him at the splendid stables and lawns of Crownlands. It never lost its charm for her, her castle of dreams ; she had longed to be part of just such a household all her life ! Now she actually was part of it, and what Mary Putnam had hinted was ' true. If her own fleeting suspicion only a few evenings ago was true ; then she might some day really belong to Crownlands, In good earnest! Harriet made her choice. the scolding. When Harriet had chaperoned Ni. and Amy to the Friday afternoon mat. inee, and had duly deposited Amy aft erward In the Hawkes mansion, and had escorted Nina to her grandinotfr. ers apartment, she was free to direct Hansen to drive her to the Jerev tube, and to spend a hot, uncomfort-I- f able hour In a stream of homeoinr commuters, on the way to Lindat house. She mounted the three cement steps from the sidewalk level, and the four shabby and peeling wooden ones that rose to the porch. On this hot afternoon the front door wag open, and Harriet stepped Into the odorous gloom of the hall, and let the screen door bang lightly behind her. Immediately, In the open archway into the parlor, a girl of fifteen a pretty girl with blue eyes and brown hair, a shabby tut fresh little shirtwaist belted by a shabby but clean white skirt, and & napkla dangling from her hand. Oh, Mother Its Aunt Harriet ! Oh, you darling ! Harriet, laughing, went from the childs wild embrace Into the arms of Linda herself, a tall, broadly built, woman with none of pleasant-face- d Harriets own unusual beauty, but with a family resemblance to her younger sister nevertheless. Well, you sweet good child! she said warmly. Fred heres Harriet Well, my dear, isnt It fortunate that we were late! Wed hardly commenced ! The remaining members of the family now streamed forth: Fred Davenport, a thin, rather gray man of fifty, with an intelligent face, a worried forehead, and kindly eyes; Julia, a blonde beauty of twelve; Nammy, & fat, sweet boy of five, with a bib on; with and Pip, a serious black hair and faded blue overalls. Fred was a newspaper man, one of the submerged many, underpaid, overworked, unheard, yet vaguely gratified through all the long years by the feeling that his groove was not quite the groove of the office, the teller's desk, or the traveling salesmans beat Here in the little suburban town his opinions gained some little weight from the fact that he had been t years with a New York evening pape. Mrs. Davenport was interested in erythlng her sister had to say; knew the Carters, and even some of their closest friends, by name, and asked all sorts of questions about them. Later In the evening Fred was at the piano. It was a poor piano, and he was a poor player who smoked his old pipe while he painstakingly Songs Withfingered Mendelssohns out Words or the score of The Geisha. But Linda loved him. He will putter away there, perfectly content, for an hour," she told Harriet. And at ten youll see him starting to get Josephine. They're great chums she thinks theres no one in the world like Daddy Harriets thoughts had wandered. Hows David? Lovely,, He always comes to us for Sunday dinner, Linda said. And he always asks for you! she added, with some signflcance. David Davenport, Freds somewhat heavy and plodding brother, a successful Brooklyn dentist, had never made any secret of his feeling for the beautiful Har. . riet. I like David ! Harriet said, In answer to some faint Indication of reproach In her sisters tone. But Immediately afterward she added, In a lower voice: "Ward Carter has had Royal Blondln at the house tblJ I "Very well, she said, briefly, Tun derstand you. I turn In here, Good- night! Just a second! he said, detaining ber. You wont hurt me with any of them, Ward or the girl, or the father?" The girls lips curled with distaste. she said tonelessly. In another second she was gone. He saw the slender figure, In its green gown, disappear at a turning of the ivied wall. She paused for no backward glance of farewell. .But Royal Blondin was satisfied. "No, CHAPTER IV. Again Harriet fled through the quiet house as If pursued by furies, and again reached her room with white cheeks and a heart. Nina was not there. She crossed to the window, and stood there with her hands clasped on her chest, and her breath coming and going stormily. she whispered, Oh, lies clever! half aloud. Hes clever! He never made a threat. He never made a threat of any kind ! He knew that he had me he knew that he had me Just where he wanted me! And what he does here. In making his way with this family, doesnt concern me! Nina is old enough to decide for herself.' Nina had been experiencing what were among the pleasantest hours of her life. A school friend, Amy Hawkes, who was romance personified, under a plain and demure exterior, had observed Ninas long conversation with Royal Blondin, and had found an arch allusion to it so well received by Nina that she had followed up that line of conversation, ever since. Amy was to sleep with Nina, and Harriet realized, as she superintended their fluttered dressing, that she, Harriet, would be obliged to go to their door five times, between eleven and one oclock that night, and tell them that they must stop talking. There was a modest knock at the door, and Rosa came In with a box. She smiled, and put It on Harriets desk. For me?the girl said, smiling In answer, and with some surprise. Rosa nodded, and went her way, and Harriet went to the box. It was not large, a florists box of dark green cardboard; Harriet untied the raffia string, and investigated the mass of silky tissue paper. Inside was an orchid. She opened the accompanying envelope, and found Wards card. On the back he had written, Just a little worried because hes afraid youre cross at him Harriet stood perfectly still, the orchid in one hand, the card crushed in the other. Ward Carter had sent orchids, no doubt, to other girls. But Harriet Carter had never had an orchid before from a man. She put the card into her little desk, and the orchid Into a slender crystal vase. Then she went back to advise Amy and Nina as to .gold beads and the arrangement of hair. But a little later, when she was in the big housekeepers pantry, where several maids were busy with manlpula tlons of olives and Ice and grapefruit. Ward came out and found her, soberly busy In her old checked silk. Why didnt you wear It? Wear It you bad, extravagant child ! Ill wear It to town tomorrow. No ; but he sank his tone to one of enjoyable confidences but were you mad at me? You looked so glum fast-beatin- g ! last-minu- te at breakfast. It! Well, you had nothing to do with she assured him. In her voice. And it was the first orbig-sister- ly chid I ever had, and I loved you for it! It was with something like pain and Impatience In his tone that Ward said sum-m- I 1 d, ! week I If W Lindas rocker stopped as shock. There was an electric silence. When she spoke again it was with awe and incredulity and something like terror In her tone. I" Royal Blondln! Hes In England He wns, Harriet said, dryly. "He been In New York for two years now. Linda shuddered. I know I remember! she said In a whisper. And she added fervently. I hoped he was dead!" You love me and I love yoU iint that all that matter? gruffly : Yes, you do! You like me about as much as you like Nina or Granny ! I like you sh! Just a little better than I do Granny! Harriet confided. Dont spoil your dinner with olives, Ward I Dont muss that theres a dear ! Dinners announced, by the way. Its quarter past eight Im going! he grumbled, discontentedly. At any rate, I love the orchid! Harriet said, soothingly. He was laughing, too, as he disappeared, but something In his face was vaguely troubling to her none the less, and she remembered It now and then with a little compunction during her quiet (TO BE CONTINUED.) i I er Betrothed Couplet Branded. W In New Guinea the betrothed man branded on the back with charcoa , the womans mask of engagement nev actually cut into ier skin and Is allowed to vanish completely. Is Good. "Provocation In an examination a schoolboy a this definition: Holy matrimony a divine Institution for the provocation of mankind. , What we have to learn to do learn by dolng-Arlst- otl |