Show The Fourth Lovely Lady By THERESE BENSON Service Bernice 9 The Th Dobb Dobbs Merrill Company CHAPTER Continued IX-Continued IX Continued 13 13 ged her good I I should put that In the past pl ct tense Monsieur el I trod had no doubt that she re Mr Ir Mavers Mayers Ia er s tender feel feelIngs feelings feelIngs Ings when hen he sit holding her hand handIn handin hamIn In my odice o the other diy day Molding Holding her why hind hind why wa was he h holding her hand hy 1 hy by did she let him hold her ber hand hand- hand lou certainly cant cm n t blame your wife Ire for Cor taking nil an or of fired fend her pointed out with wIlh wIlhen en entire tire gravity gra It But she knows s knows stopped In mid career reer Ignored this She wanted something more sub substantial thin nn an ting admission that might be open to various arlous Interpret Thera lher Is no denying that you hl hale e been led to place pl yourself In Ina ina Ira a dubious position she said brick brickly bri kIv ly 11 Plainly you vou are the poor cat who ho Is to pull the chestnuts out of the fire and singe your paws while the monkey mikes m oil oft with the prIze Pray how do you figure that out Madame s is a matter of ot fact It is 15 1 pl epo s vanity his spot pots pot w wis s is touched Consider the situation dispassionately Monsieur and I am sate SUle Sou ou will ill change your our mind lou loudly announce your 5 our affair with s I helps You leave lea 3 your our home which Is a technical desertion or of your our wife I may point out out Sh She demands demand money from Miss Phelps as a sll e for a broken brohen heart row 1 r whether hether the case ca ce e Is settled In court or out of it who ho gets the mone money our lour wife wife and and her lawyer lawver lot you ou rot lot a n cent goes Into your hinds ou 1 ou have ha no claim on a pen penny penny ny fly of or It Itou lou ou must appreciate that point And with Ith the money se secured secured secured cured what hat happens The prett pretty lady moves mores on to Reno neno and another mate whether hether Meyer l or Pulaski can matter little to you TOU lou lou do not understand every ery everything everything thing Once this Is over 0 er I shall sha 11 of er feet a reconciliation with my wife Ire 1 hen Immediately both of or you ou would be arrested for blackmail assured him which Is a criminal offence Monsieur Ma Ia beuse for some time hid been gl glowing 0 Ing Increasingly unhappy Many memories had been heen ened tint th t corroborated what he heard ills Uis temper which hid been rose to a boll when again Stone add added d his word Altogether ther 3 vou ou are elected the goit t The room was wis smell but the theartist artist begin began to pace rapidly up and down the contract contracted d space and to mutter to himself I am to be the goat am nm I I am to lose all and gain nothing nothing nothing- lie He paused paus d In front ot of and pointed an accusing finger at her But you Madame 1 you trifle with Ith me lou know that there will be no cut cult The rich fa father father ther and mother of ot Mademoiselle they will ill never ne permit thit she should hould figure In the th nasty little pie pic picture ture papers Can t you see that that has noth nothIng nothing nothIng Ing to do with it so fir as your our In Interests interests are concerned I assure you that my advice to Mr Ir and Mr Mrs I helps would be to force the case Into the open open-ghe open gl e e It the widest Id st publicity possible Miss Phelps would lose nothing by pUblicIty But you would cut a ridiculous fit fig figure figure ure You would be laughed out ot of court the threat of or ridicule was as even more painful to Monsieur than the threat of ot prison Moreover er went on lessl I I made It plain to you be before before before fore that even esen e en It money mone were ere tobe to tobe tobe be paid against my advice Ice you stood no chinco of ot band handling ling any ot of it what hat hat about mv nic wife s share I 1 It said eald Stone Just about that time you iou OU wouldn t have any wife If It would be Heno for tor her herand herand herand and then proba probable bl Hollywood This struck fire Did he SlY say so blazed 0 o no that was for me Mayer Maver Ia er promised to get et me on oo the films In n lust just so soon as we tie e got this money and Stone c glances I gue guess s th it lt spills the beans beane my good chap Stone Clone told him Th There re art an two of ot us here to sw swear ar to what hat you said It Its Ith b prison for tor all allot ot of you If It we prosecute But Mrs Irs Mason Mison promised that you would never do that the man protested we Ill it 1 sinking Into u a chair and clasping his held heed In n his hands hand There was as an e a change of or glances lances between his visitors mt drew along Ii a long breath and came cune to i 1 sudden udden resolution If you tell us the whole plan from the beginning she slid 1111 I I Imay Imay may find a way ny of or escape for youAt you youAt youAt At present toll vou ou seem to be In a ter rilde hole Arp Ar Mil Mal euse cuse retched rc the same conclusion had for he finally began belan to speak In a 11 flit tt voice which showed more r even than his abandonment of ot all bluster tb lh lint U he felt himself to beat be beat bat at their mercy The rhe whole hole thing came about sim simply ply enough I met Mrs Irs Mason Inson fIrst when ben she was ns worl wort ing ng with n a char charIty Ity organization for the aid ad of ot my poor nation after aCter the tile war She be- be became became came Interested In my portraits and volunteered to help me find com coin i missions If It I paid her a percentage At first I did well ell then hard times struck the country and luxuries s were cut off oft Ono One day we were talk talking tallIng Ing about where here all the money had gone one Mrs Mison said she had cousins who ho had bad millions and quite In je jest t we e worked out i 1 plan to get from Crom them an amount tiny they would d never miss 1 l Is a sharp law yes er and at first he lie refused to hive anything to do with Ith it Inter I Trude tall cd ed to him and antl he con consented seated seated- Tint Thit was when hen he saw sa that the they d be secure It if t they the turned it t from Crom pure blackmail into a n case where here the wife He actually believed that she was wronged and demanded demand demanded ed legal release from her husband 1 as consequence 1 I cried Stone I Iwas was right lou are elect elected elected ed the goat gont Stone had dra drawn dran n his up 1111 to toi ti i 1 little table tible and taking a fountain pen from his pocket was wis lS writing busily on a sheet of ot drawing paper The The thing tiling for you to do the artist is to go back bach to your wife Ire at once Tell T 11 her you found out that she was as being headed head headed ed for prison not for Hollywood by her friends Mayor layer and I fell rell her you ve ye saved sned her by tal tak lag Ing all the blame blime on yourself Stone was wis waving his finished product In the air to dry the ml but put It back bick on the table and an handed his to ow l ow It if von vou 11 read w whit hat t I cc C I written rItten and sign it he took tool up his role Ili write v rite you out an order for tor the miniature you re v working on and a large portrait or of o Madame Sil S tou as well ell which is to be done In Inthe Inthe the style of or another miniature miniature- This had been no part of ot theIr careful plan and Swat protested Of Ot course doesn t de deserve deserve deserve serve my gay leniency from us liS Stone ignored d her Interruption and ent enton on sternly It happens that I Ice e seen work of or his Ills that pleases me and whit Int I went nt is a really lifelike portrait of ot my gf lou II 11 pose po e for It I suppose you ha hale hae e no objection to tint thit one done one edged meekly only hel en knows when hen I IIi II find nd time to sit I d sug suggest est some of the hours you waste wiste on Doctor manton Stone said They left leCt gathering his few belongings together preparatory to going home 1 hat about Mrs Irs Mason Mison Stone asked as they tIley the walked nay away n ay from the house l thing about her slid el Her IIer claws s are clipped Besides I know v that Pam has hid rather a bid jolt to her Ideals In another case this year and I mean to spare her this hick reminds who me-who did you know well Ie be besides besides Sides Captain Mlles Miles among the men who came cime over o for Cintra s wedding w ed edding ding CHAPTER XA X As A S Tim Tile summer r wore orp awa awa away grew gre weary wear of ot her cb chosen chosen- sen occupation Again Agan and agan again she made acknowledgment ment to herself herselt that It t fell far short ot of furnishing the human Interest and the thrills she had hoped for tor and confidently expected e Me Meanwhile 11 andI I her family and acquaintances sere ere drifting back to the city First to arrive e his cure corn com completed were Here ere Charles and Susan Su Phelps and Pam at once told her mother all that she herself herselt knew or of orthe the predicament from which had extricated her Susan was the earliest of ot s visitors the next da and kissed ed her friend fen fervently with Ith tears In her eyes There are no words to tell you our gratitude she chol It would have hasp broken our hearts to come back and find Pam altered In any Wl In our circumstances its It s not easy to bring up a girl and keep heep her the simple straightforward rd child chillI I lam am his has always ays been I thin think she Is as ao good an excuse for our ex as a fine painting or any other masterpiece I don t know knon how ho howe we would have ha met this menace had we v c e been here I fear tear we would have fallen Into a panic That Thais s II hat v-hat the hoped for tor said grimly They thought an Immediate settlement Mire cure ure Why 1111 dl J lola Catola Mason tike take the child to such a n person for lessons t Susan who was no fool lI peered ered up at mt through her Oxfords She he ma may mai hive thought him hm a good teacher returned but butche t the she a avoided Susans s piercing little gra gray eyes eves ees He lies s really n a talented Idiot Idlor lIe He has painted an e ly Iy distinguished portrait of ot me for or Stone Stone- Stone tone tone- And Ancl who ho may y Stone be Susan Inquire J amazed by by have e I never heard of ot him before t-ed t This was a n ques question quo I lion tion she was as to parry am and It carried the conversation convers safely r away awl awi from Carola Carols Mason Stone Slone Is a n cousin of ours our I Ive se e grown ro ron n quite fond of him and andI 1 I mean you OU to meet him soon lie e didn t reilly want ant a picture of or me meso meso so stop looking ible things at me It happens that he h li is 19 a miniature of or an nn ancestor which certainly Is remarkably lit e a me and lie he decided to have a life liCe siz size 2 copy of ot It made mide Knowing I could trust him I had hall asked him to help hel 1 me out In tt it t affair of or Pim s and tints that s how v he lie came camo In with Monsieur said gald Susan and that wis 3 ill For the time that closed the th had devoted de more titan thin a little to what hat she was wis to do with her business She hardly saw 7 how v the slie could 11 live e In and continue her work in r Mw lork Passionately she chin told herself that tha she che could not give up irginia She Shi was s not called upon to allow her business to rule her out of ot all the happiness she slie had looked forward to at Io el lel when hen her duty to was wis done In her mind she tried to build up satisfactory corn com promises none of which was con convincing Once at nt home she knew V too v well ell that she would be so nh rib b d by her Interest In the place and the people that thit she would have nothing left for her enterprise In li v ew York Strangely enough it was her first tint that freed her lier and It was w wasa a case cae very similar to the one that lead led her to think of ot making her herself elt of ot use uce In just that way wiy The patient p came to her from Dr Henry Ills name mme was Alfred Comyn Com n He the was wis lS a year or twO younger lounger than he she neither handsome some nor the re reverse erse alone In the world tall thin precise In la dress dres and deportment Interested In noth nothIng nothing lug Ing not even een es e en In hi his own 0 n 5 symptoms which rarely fall fail all to rouse i pissing In the human being hid h set about finding t lm a hobb hobby Jades old masters master Chinese porcelains stamps Americana all THE THI STORY FROM THE BEGINNING Following the Ibe wedding ol of her h nice nice Cintra Matilda Smith Lovely Sm r F young eat and nd physically tho h weight eat et c t ol of the tho lh tour lour our Lovely utere r fads herself In la decidedly c a ces She has haa b made plans for lor or the future which she bo h refuses refu to divulge to her ber i s st steno The Lovely estate eil te in an It is I owned by Soo a brother B II Lee but Lut he be h is ia i 1 1 viol vine In Ch le Ie 1 wh wb le I the th tb estate estat Is I rented r to Q a Mr S Sa SOl she bo th establishes tou Nesb t i a dearest dul w wish b Is b to Q own gyn i As At A Madame Mad herself he a as a SIster Shier of lb the Rich A consultant Sm 1 f hAS LA a cleat cl cI eat who desires desire to ti evade do th the loveri lie he e pursuit S o of on extraordinary stout tout lady Miss Martha a a alo V sh h nto n nI O pu as I SI her lo John lost lover Mercedes r d dO She tells I Ie IS S that t to o of her excess S weight I h has ny fly adv sn sev her ber to d det tit et I she has baa reduced d Mercy proposes that should try the tho cure and d the results result are I Mercy rcy will follow her r example For Fora a generous lee fee Sm I f consents Johnny d a identity Id and Is h b U ms-U by Ly Sm f lIS as Johnstone Nub Nesb Ne b t She also aho Lw place Mercy rcy as a th the owner of o an estate I I Circumstances Circumstance mado made Nub Nesb t the tho th lessee I of ol Unused Unus-d to VIr VIrg Virg g nia s a way ways he be thoughtlessly ViOlates th the tho convent on one and nd Is b condemned by his n neigh ith bore bora as not a gentleman II Lorraine Lovel Lovely also bo an ancestress of Sm f 1 was Nesb t e Teat great Accord rig nil to one h he end art are cousins Pamela Phelps youthful lend fa lend of Sm f 1 becomes ej the th tb threatened d victim of ol a II Imf hog plot Sma Sm I a reducing course give promise ol of splendid result r Nesbit takes lakes an apartment in N New York III real r-ol name namo I Is Rockwell but for lor or fAmIly reasons realon be b took the tb lb name ram nam of Nesb t faro lowly ly Stone v He lie ro rOe roee c at nt once to the hilt bilt wIth what almost amounted to eagerness although all nIl he said was as III take tabe It myself TO m self The rhe t nc day Comyn called her heron heron on the telephone lIe He must cee see her herIt herIt It was as imperati e e She give him himan an un appointment and she slie had c ly Iy greeted him before he lie asked her herto herto to marr marry maro to him him to marr marry marri him at once This proposal came as a shod shock to her bu business nc s contacts were wen ere so co to her Afterward A a rd she reproached herself herselt for hiving been so positive e In her refusal It I she had hall left him some glimmer or of hope the outcome might have bave been different He lIe went ent directly back bach to his hi apartment rang for his mm n to tale take talethe tak the kitten and shot himself through the heart hid telephoned Doctor ew bold at once on Alfred Com Coming Comyns n s do- do worried over the possible result or of her refusal Of or course coure cour c you iou ou couldn t him he slid s I understand your our position perfectly Im I'm hopeful this will v be precisely the jolt lout he needs to make male a normal normil mm n of or him He lie arrived at the apartment too |