Show m f BURT 7Jy FREDERICK JOHN BURT11UPIIAM UPHAM ADAMS JdotO Tb Kidnapped Millionaires Colonel Monroes Doctrine Utc rfltlGIIT 1WJAD All rights COPTHKIllT < I1 liT ADUtS reserved id g a Ji pDICB UIUy AD A J DllEXEL BlllllLIC n m J8 m J Jt1iN J < tom = > ow fe otUt PTEft XXXI Continued cjj accepted tho Invitation For after Mr Hawkins had ian menu zo spoken between John Ord was t drord I James Ulnko I I Each I was spy h isd thoughts but John broke Oil Jith his M t ftfatwi Miss Garden expected to en Is i Itiri t I quietly r 1 he j asked iistj trT to find out tonight said n Ii Skins his partner lull In the t t MY f head has been so full if bull that Ive thought of nothing ViCr Bat Ill know all about It John I meet you and Hawkins at t 0 I perhaps Jessie or rather It In CanjenIs back now Who Lu I Ill This Is your lucky day old tool Tr and all Kinds of things may tooiNi I JJj before midnight Wouldnt Its It-s IIi t ILt llf I went up to the Bishop II-i rand found her there Of courso h Idnt say a word to spoil the sur n have planned Wolh I must ° jiopo Ill havo good news u f EU when I see you later of Ljlntbo evening Blake rang tho bt fdftlo < Bishop mansion and was i l j by General Carden of jj a pleasure General Carden n der you this check which rep sip mil four share of tho profits iihe lusy a word of thanks to me for heare 1 tot deserve any credit Is Miss are L at home and may I see her i moment ail e will 1 bb delighted to seo you the fl call her theml general disappeared and James ml j Jar back In his chair with his e c tied on the portrait of Jessie s In led heard the faInt rustle of a gar onl itud turned to seo Jessie Cardon ke entered tho room A tender glowed In her brown eyes but wl fens something wistful In tho CtJ L a blending of happiness root roo-old Jit land root pity The oyes dropped t-Ie Imoment as they mot his frank Ieel1 i tat her voice was clear and i I tw < c C t There III nu mystery about t it snlll In Jessie her eyes flashing with anger Mr Morris saw fit to take advantage of papa bankruptcy wind gave lllm possession of our Boston residence This portrait hUng on its walls and ho doubtless had a copy mmlo from it This Is consistent with other acts from which u < have suffered at his hands I The portieres parted and Edith Hancock entered the loom Her ores I rested first on Illnkn and then on I Jessie Pardon this intrusion she said I am looking for a book and did not know that any one was hero You are to bo congratulated Mr Blake doubly congratulated There was a tremor In the voice but a proud flash of tho lovely eyes as Edith bowed slightly and brushing the portieres aside left the room Dont go Edith cried Jesso There was no response and Jessie was too wise to follow her fair cousin cous-in For somo moments no words were spoken I am going to tell you the story of that portrait said Jessie Tho crimson crim-son touched her cheeks and a light such as Blake had never seen was In her eyes Do yon remember what you said last night You said that It seemed as If we had been friends for years and the same thought has occurred lo me Im going to presume pre-sume on that occult friendship and tell you a secret That portrait belongs be-longs to John Burt John Burt The John Burt I know as a boy What do you mean Jessie Jes-sie She opened an album and handed It to him On one page was tho faded duplicate of tho pnotograph from which had been painted tho portrait por-trait ho had been so often in John Burls study room In San Francisco Opposite It was a photograph of John Burt The album opened naturally to ma fir iej i a = rw J r till ihl iIII = wie 1 rte r t to hctsrt katJt es he 5azedinto her fete l I t as sho offered her hand and J ou i have made this tho happiest Itl tor lives Mr Blake I a pot another word Interrupted I i Blake You must not thank 1 i 1 Rease dont Jessie Its tho nor I ask e r note not-e parted lips and questioning r Mere eloquent with surprise er p use I dont want you to ho releasing tho little hand fjheart beat fast as ho gazed Into face but in that moment ho 11 d the final victory and only tho ling pain of wounded passion re d ed I than a day had passed since d resolved to surrender all hope i th 9 lovo of Jessie Cardon Why I he done so James Blake could d leswer that question Ho had b cahnl y weighed his chances of s against those of failure s a flash It dawned upon him he could notthat ho must not loyal to John Burt Ho did not V It outIt was told to him l In C voiceless h has wordless language r no name or key ou must not Imagine ho said Tour father is under the slight obligations to mo On tho con our firm is Indebted to him clock which ho held was tho key e tuatlou Without It I dOne yo could 1 notling Wo havo simply 3 able to verify tho generals con ace In e its value and ho Is tho ono I dont congratulated believe on tho outcome ed Jesslo a word you Say a arden lllShlng Im stupId about theso Wall street 1 for as You milfIno < It It had not laded you Mr Morris would have pap out of all his proPQrtv dIaaking of thog MorrIs reminds mo of saId Dlat which has often puzzled I about Pliinglng the subject tint portrait Tho of first I eVer art Arthur Morris I nw Dertralt always In Ills > library room Itt tell It-t you Why me Some time l 1 f Ortralt rortraitt III Mr Morris > room Jlssle h > te 11 cheeks till color mounting llr Blake Surety you are jest Iti S probably a copy though ho roe Ho sal tho orIginal replied aka Ift ou had It painted tedlllihi tO Berlin i him IInd that y OU pro here t saw Tho first tlmo proI lelllalkablc this ono and thought colncldeIlCo t these pages sure proof that certain white fingers had sought them out many many times It was only a week before ho went away said Jessie softly that these pictures were taken It was a glorious glori-ous day in autumn and our horses had galloped miles and miles Near tho bay shoro In Hlngham we saw n traveling photographer and I suggested sug-gested that wo have our pictures taken We each gave the other one and I have mine yet We And ho has his yet said Blake a faroff look In his eyes He has How do you know Mr Blake Have you Of courso he has It Ill wager dear old John has never parted with that little gift Excuse my Interruption Interrup-tion Jessie Im greatly Interested You spoke as If you know said Jessie her heart beating wildly Tho last day I saw him ho spoke of you Wo sailed out to Black Reef and we talked of many things John said ho was going to California and wondered won-dered If you were there and It ho would seo you That seems ages ago but Its only flvo years And then we sailed back to the grovo and ho quarreled with Arthur Morris You have heard the story That night wo patted anti ft thousand times I havo heard tho hoofs of his horse as he galloped away in the darkness She paused but Slake with his eyes on tho portrait said nothing When you told mo that you were John Burts friend I liked you sho said In a voice which thrilled his very being Yon have been all that ho said In your favor and many times more 1 would that It wore In my power to repay you Mr make You hnvo at your command everything every-thing which money can furnish and I and my prayer for your happiness lIe took her hand and Impulsively pressed It to his lips You have made me very very happy hap-py ho said rising 10 his feet as she tenderly withdrew her hand I should like to tell you something which which but I must not tell It Somo day you will know mo better Will you promise not to bo angry with mo then Will you promise Jessie Angry with you I am sure I shall never he angry with you That Is your promise That Is my promise Ho laughed gaily an she repeated wards his lips quivered and I tho w rds but suspiciously in his eyes glistened a moment tII was tht cnrol es hippy Blake chatting lightly on trivial sub ITlS I I mart keep an engagement hd aid looking at his watch A frlond of mine is here from California and Im I to take i dinner with him Hes a rasa good fellow rich handsome I I tultlvauodand and everything which u good follow should bo Id llko to Introduce him May I call with him tomorrow evening Any friend of yours Is welcome especially a paragon with such bewildering be-wildering attractions laughed Jessie Jes-sie Goodbye until tomorrow oven lag CHAPTER XXXII Through the HeartH Heart-H lacked several minutes of the hour fixed for dinner when Blake strolled through the hotel safe and thence Into the lobby The babble of voices the gesticulations and tho nervous energy which pervaded tho atmosphere were not In harmony with Blnl < os feelings Jessie was afraid I was going to say something tonight and so sho told mo that sho loved John ho mused throwing afay n halfsmoked cigar Dear old John I Lucky old John hello whats tho row That sounds like Morris I suppose lies drunk If ho had a spark of decency hed bo with his father Hero ho I comes Morris pushed his way through tho crowd and was followed by young Kingsley Not until ho was within a few feet of Blake did he recognize his rival Though anxious to avoid I a meeting Blake scorned to retreat or to turn his back Morris stopped squarely In front of him His lips parted with a sneer and his fingers toyed with a small walking stick Blako leaned careless Iy against a marble column his eyes Axed or tho man who confronted him lad Blake been in a Western mining min-ing camp his fingers would havo reached for tho feel of a gun but In a metropolitan hotel ho had no pcnso of danger The Incident was trivial but disagreeable Lend mo a thousand Blake demanded de-manded Morris A whisper passed around tho room and many turned to watch these two men whoso names had filled tho pub He prints of the day Certainly said Blake a strange smile llghtjng up his handsome faco Is a thousand enough Morris 7 Blake took a wallet from his Inner pocket and handed Morris a bill And a match ordered Morris advancing ad-vancing a step nearer To be continued |