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Show rrou T A 13 IT OTP A "D By PvOBERT W. CHAMBERS Author of "The Firing Line," "In Secret," "Tie Fighting Chance," "Tie Danger Hark," "Lorraine," "Cardigan," etc. i ! . I to lot me kiss you enod-b-p . l;ut slifl bru-K-od away. siill'smlH :! promise tlisi-rtion, Jumoa ' voii "What lias totterln aco' iv rto with discretion, Prhu-e v y,lri to retorted impucli.nUv. ki-. l'" h mouth mast of itself bo tl ihs , bestowed on youth by such W,,"1 ye:'.rs as arc yours." Uut the piiniess, thn sirtruHvi,. atlve smile still edgh-j- h, r u, pmv"'- , looked at him out "( dark a, ' ""'l. k humorous eyes, save him h,T h i Kh"r rtrow it with derision, and p, ' stateroom, rlosiiif thu duur , , ''rvl r , ly behind her. 'uher sharp. ( When -Xeeland Rot baok to ti, he took a couple of hours' si" '"''0 being youtifr, lierfeetlv he-ilthv "H ii' haps not umuvustomed to thV h A i I'r-' the owl family, felt pretty well v ' 8 ot I went out to breakfast. 1 hf" h I Over his eoffeo cup lie propped v, newspaper aitamst a carafe- P ' heading on one of the o.lii'm diately attracted his attention 4' :' ROW BETWEEN' SPOUTING 1FN 'f EWIE IWAXraS, FIGHT pROVow ' AND TUKATlilCAl. MAN MiYpi-'-11 IT WITH M.VXY VKXEm! A Woman Said to I'.o the Cause lf Draws a i:is Crowd In pr0m tho llutel Knickerbocker. i Both lion, Badly nattered Cot ; Before tho Police Arrive, ' J Rrenwfasiincr leisurely, ho read , partly humorous, partly (ontemvuiou, '' count of the sordid affair. .UutwiH . ' I sent for all tho morning papers , , ' none of tlicm was Kuhaunah Cavew m ' tioitert at all, nnboJy, apparently havV ' not teed her In the cxvUlne affair Wm i Vonem, lirandes, the latter s wife .15 ' the rhanffcur. m Nor (lid the evenlniT papers iuM ,., ' thiip,' materia: to the account, except say that luandca had been inU'rv..ivrf 1 in his office at the Silhouette theater',!! that he stated that ho had not o,K1"S 1 in any personal encounter wm, mK ' had not seen Max Vonem ln months inj not been near the Hotel KnlckiMKiW.. nnd knew nothing about tho aliiir'i. ! question. ' w He also permitted a dark hint or tin ; to escape him concerning poaslWa auil, . for defamation of character against Ir. responsible newspapers. The accounts ln the various evonliipa tlons agreed, however, that whoa Tutor" viewed, Mr. Itrandes was nuraint; a blacli ' eye and a badly swollen lip. which, ac. ; cording to him, he had acipilrod 'in J ' playful sparring encounter with his bust" " ness manager, Mr. I-tcn.iamln .Stull. And that was all; the big town neither time nor Inclination to iU0, Hrandes or Venom any further; Hi-oadwav completed the story for If own eilin,. ' tion, and, by degrees, arrived at Its own conclusions. Only nobody could discover who was the young girl concerned, ot 1 where she canio from or what niii;iit 1) -her name. And. after a few days, Bum). '. way, also, forgot the matter aniiil u,,. tarnished tinsel and mucous noises of itg own mean and multifarious preoccupa-tions. i . ' CHAPTER XII. A I.IFB UX2; Slio had toel hlrn iier s'ory from beginning begin-ning to end, as far uh tr.:: herself com-prolien'ied com-prolien'ied it. i-lid was !.'ii:g side way .4 now, In trio depths of l laio armchair, h-r cheek cushioned j ri the up.ioislered wings. Her hct, with its cheap bluo enamel pins stu i.ing in tho crown, lay on his desk; her hair, partly loosened, sh.clow--d a young face grown pinched ivilu weariness; weari-ness; and tee reaction lrom shock: vcs aire.idy making her rr.iy e;. i s liea'. y and edging under lids with bluish shadows. IShe had not enine there with ttio intention inten-tion of telling him anything. All she had wanted u as a piare in which to rest, a glass of water, and seirK-l.ody to help h.cr t'nd tho train to 'Inyheid. .She told hlrn this; remained rellcent under hi:; qo.-s-tionlng; tlnallv turned her h.aggard face to the chair'nack and refu.:..l to answer. For an hour or mere she remained f)b-s'lnately f)b-s'lnately dumb, motionless exceed fur the Llheonfrollablo trcnlidlng of her body; he orouvht her a glass of water, sat watching watch-ing her at intervals; rose once or twice to pace tho studio, ills well-shaped head l ent, his hands clcesned behind his back, always returning to the corner-chair before be-fore tho uesk to sit there, eyeing her itskancc, waiting for seme decision. Hut it was not the recurrent waves of terror, the ever latent fe;r of Hrnndes, or oven her appalling loneliness that broke her down; it was sheer fatigue nature's merciless third degree under which mental men-tal and physical resolution disintegrated went all to pieees. And when at length she finally succeeded suc-ceeded in reconquering self-possession, she had already stamnicreel out answers to his gently persuasive epiestions had told him enough to start the fuller confession con-fession to which be listened in utter silence. si-lence. And now she had told him everything, an far as she understood the situation. She lay sideways, deep in the armchair, tired, yet vaguely conscious tiiat she was resting mind and body, and that calm voma:i. in'.l oi ir-.'-ore-t ii life. I know si:t-':l '.! r.L- si,::i!;il advict t-:i yuu ho-v to :;, t st-.Ll. a i:i Paris--Pi.-d! You d- n t evcu kiiuv.' French, do ou ." "No." "...t a word?" "N . ... I (Mii't know anvthlng, Mr. Nccl.'.M.i." to hunrh reassuringly. "I F-iuv i: v.-.'.s to bo Jim, not Mister.' Mis-ter.' lw r i -u i t..'!". F-.i: si.e- c:.iy lokcJ at him out of troubled cyo. Pi the p!aro of the pier's headlights th.-y d-. --v.idcd. l.s--::-:.-rs were ciuer-ir.t.' ciuer-ir.t.' the v:, damp ino'-'.ire; poriers. pier officers. ship's 'ii;cr: s. sailors, passed to and Iro as they moved toward Lhe i;,i:ii;wav v. netv , hi the iec:rie glare of U:o iiuni's, Pic ciifil.kc siite of the fci-E-.nic lim-r P-'mrd up. At s k n t of i :'c mo::s' cr sh:p nuo s heart K-un-d, ry.::,:;eJ. ie iped a,:a.n. As she set one s.ecucr f....t on it.e wav such an i:uh-scrilablo sensation f.zed h-r that she caught at Nccland's arm and held to it. aimost iaint with tiie violei.ee of her cmoiaoi. A steward took the sth.case. preceded them down a!-smal and yorc-ous. siair-wavs, siair-wavs, i)irou-ii salons, deep into the dimly dim-ly 'magnificent buWcis of tlte ocean K ant. ih.-ii ;hromrh :ni endless whito corridor cor-ridor twinkling v.-ith lights, to a stateroom, state-room, whero a sicwardtss usliered them lllThere was nobody there; nobody had been there. . , x. "Ho dare not come, whispered Nee-land Nee-land in Kuhanuah's ear. The ui'-l stood m the center of the . stateroom looRin'-r sm-uiiy about her. "Ila.vo you any lCnish and i-rench mone-?" ho asked. "No." "Give me well, pay two hundred dollars, dol-lars, and Til have the purser change It. She went to her suitcase, where u stood on the lounge; he unstran;.cd It for hi.r she found the bier packet tieasun notes and handed them to him "Cooil heavens!" he muttered. this won't do. I'm poms to have the pursei lock them in the safe and ptvc me a receipt re-ceipt Then when vou meet tho Princess Mistchenka tell her what I've done and ask her advice. Will you, -Rue? "Yes. thank vou." "You'll wait here for me, wont you? "Yes." ' So he noted the door number end went away hastilv in search of the Parser, to do what he could in the matter of foreign for-eign monev for the pirl. And on trie upper up-per companionway he met the 1 rincess Misfchenka descending, preceded b porters with her lupgacie. "James!" she exclaimed. "Have you come abroad to elope with me? Otherwise Other-wise what are vou doin.ci on the Lusl-tania Lusl-tania at this very ghastly hour in the morning?" M , . She was smilincj into his face and tier daintilv gloved hand retained his for a moment; then she passed her arm through his. , "Follow the porter," she said, and tell me what brings you here, my pay younp friend. You see, I am wearing the orchids vou sent me. Do you really mean to add yourself to this charming pift?" He told her the story of Ruhannah Carew as briefly as he could; at her stateroom door they paused while he continued con-tinued the storv, the Princess Mistchenka lookinp at him very intently while she listened, and never uttering a word. She was a prcttv woman, not tall, rather below middle srature. perhaps, beautifully proport ioned and perfectly eowned. Hair and eyes were dark as velvet; her skin was old ivory and rose; and aiwavs her lips seemed about to part a little m the faint find provoca te smi'e which lay latent in tho depths of her brown eyes. "Mon Pieu!" she said, "what a his-torv his-torv of woe you are telling me, my friend James! What a tale of innocence nno of deception and outraged trust i-s this that you relate to me! AHons! Vite! Pet us find this poor, abandoned infont this unhappy un-happy victim of your sex's woll-known duplicity!" "She Isn't a victim, you know," ho explained. "I sen. Only almost a victim. Yes? Where Is this child, then?" "May I bring her to you, Princess?" "Put of course! Pring her. I am not afraid so far to look any woman In the face at 5 o'clock in tho morning." And the threatened smile flashed out ln her fresh, pretty face. When he camo bflck with Pate Cnrew, the Princess Mistchenka was conferring with her maid and with her stewardess. She turned to look at Rue as Neeland came up continued to scrutinize her intent in-tent ly while he was present I ng her. There ensued a brief silence; the princess prin-cess glanced at Noel and, then her dark eyes returned directly to the young girl before her, and she held out her hand, smilingly: "Miss Carew I believe T know exactly what your voice Is going to be like. I think I have heard, in America, such a 1 voice once or twice. Speak to me and prove me risht." Ruo blushed: "What am I to say?" she asked naivelv. "I knew I was right," exclaimed tiie Princess Mistchenka gaily. "Como into my stateroom and let each one of us discover dis-cover how agreeable, is the other. Shall we. my dear child?" When Net-land returned from a visit to tho purser with a pocket full of Prltish and French gold and silver for Ruhannah, he knocked at tho stateroom door of the Princess Mistchenka. That lively personage opened it, came out Into the corridor holding the door partly closed behind her. "She's almost dead with fatigue and grief. I undressed her myself. She's in my bed. She has been crying-." "Poor little thing," said Neeland. "Yes." "Here's her money," he said, a little awkwardly. The princess opened her wrist bag and he dumped In the shining torrent. "Shall I call good-bye to her?' he asked. "You may fro in, James." They entered together; and ho was startled to see how young she seemed there on tho pillows how pitifully Immature Imma-ture the childish throat, the tear-flushed face lying in its mass of chestnut hair. "Good-bye, Hue," he said, still awkward, awk-ward, offering his hand. Slowly she held out one slim hand from the covers. "Good voyage, pood luck," he said. "I wish you would write a line to mo." "r will." ilicn " He smiled; released her hand. "Thank you for for all you have done,'' she said. "I shall not forget." Something choked him slightly; he forced a laugh: "Come back a famous painter, Rue. Keep your head clear and your heart full of courage. And let me know how you're getting on, won't you?" "Yes. Good-bye." So ha went out, and at the door exchanged ex-changed adieux with the smiling princess. "Do you like her a little?" he whispered. whis-pered. "I do, my friend. Also I like you. I am old enough to say it safely, am I not?" "If you think so," he said, a funny llt-l llt-l tie laugh in his eyes, "you are old enough was gradually rossesslng the one, and the nerve: of the other wc.-e growing quiet. j Listlessly her gray eyes wandered a-oorid t;;y big studio, where shadowy and : y.; r a rifely beautiful but Incomprehensible j things met her gaze, like iridescent, in- j u'-finir.e oiijcL.'is s-en In dreams. ! Thes radiantly unreal splendors wre , only Ne-'land's rejected academy pictures pic-tures and Mudies; a f;v cheap Japanese hangings, cheaper Nippon porcelains, end s-'veraf shaky, broken-down antiques picked nrj for a song here and there. All t :.e trash and truck and dust and junk : ctiaa-aceristic of the conventional artist's i habitation were there. I Put to Paihannah this studio embodied l all the wonders and beauties of that ! magic temple to which, from her earliest memory, her very soul had aspired the temple of the unknown God of Art. Vaguely she endeavored to realize that she was now Inside one of Its myriad sanctuaries ; that hero under her very tired and youthful eyes stood one of its countless altars: that here, also, near by, sat one of those blessed acolytes who aided ln the mysteries of its wondrous service. "Ruhannah." he said, "are you calm enough to let me tell you what I think about this matter?" "Yes. I am feeling better." "Good work ! There's no occasion for panic. What you need is a cool head and a clear mind." 'She said, without stirring from where she lay resting her cheek on the chair-back: chair-back: "My mind has become quite clear again." "That's fine! Well, then, I think the thing for you to do is " He took out his watch, ex?.mlned It, replaced It "Good Lord!" he said. "It Is 3 o'clock!" She watched him, but offered no comment. com-ment. He went to the telephone, called the New York central sta tlon, got general gen-eral information, Inquired concernnig tra ins, hung up, and came hack to the desk where he had been sitting. "The first train out leaves at 6:03," he said. "I think you'd better go into my bedroom and lie down. I'm not tired; I'll call you in time, and I'll get a taxi and take you to your train. -Does that suit you, Ruhannah?" She shook her head slightly. "Why not?" ho asked. "I've been thinking. I can't go back." "Can't go back! Why not?" "I can't." "You mean you'd feel too deeply humiliated?" hu-miliated?" "I wasn't thinking of my own dlsgTace. I was thinking of my mother and father." There was no trace of emotion in her voice; she stated the fact calmly. "T can't go back to Brookholiow, It's ended. I couldn't bear to let them know what has happened to me." "What did you think of doing?" he asked uneasily. "I must thing of mother I must keep my disgrace from touching them spare thf m the sorrow humiliation " Her j voice became tremulous, but she turned : around and at up in her chair, meeting his gaze squarely. "T fiat's as far as I i have thought," she said. I poth remained silent for a long while. I j Then Puhannah looked up from her a:o j : preoccupation: j "I toUt you I had three thousand dol- I I lars. Why can't I educate myself in art ! ! with that? Why can't I learn how to t support myself by art?" I "Where?" "Here." "Yes. But what are you going to say to your parents when you write? They ; suppose you are on your way to Paris." I She nodded, looking at him thoughtfully. thought-fully. "By the way," he added, "is your trunk I on board the Lusitania?" "Y'es." "That won't do! Have you the check for It?" "Y'es, in my purse.'' "We've pot to get that trunk ocf the ship," he said. "There's only ono sure : way. I'd better go down now, to tho pier, j Where's your steamer ticket?" ! "I I have both tickets and both checks , in my bag. He let me have the p-plea- suro of carrying them " Again her ' voice broko childishly, but the threatened emotion was strangled and resolutely I choked back. I "Give me the tickets and checks," he said. "I'll go down to the dock now." She drew out the papers, sat holding them for a few moments without relinquishing relin-quishing them. Then she raised her eyes to his, and a bright flush stained her face: "Why should I not go to Paris by myself?" my-self?" she demanded. "You mean now? On this ship?" "Y'es. Why not? I have enough money to go there and study, haven't I?" "Yes. But " "Why not!" she repeated foverlshly, her gray eyes sparkling. "I have three thousand thou-sand dollars; I can't go back to Prook-hollow Prook-hollow and disgrace them. What does it matter where I go?" "It would be all right," he said, "If you'd ever had any experience " "Experience! What do you call what I've had today!" She exclaimed excitedly. excited-ly. "To lose in a single day my mother, my home to go through in this city what I have gone through what I am going through now is not that enough experience? experi-ence? Isn't it?" He said: "You've had a rotten awakening, Rue a perfectly devilish experience. Only you've never traveled alone " Suddenly Sud-denly it occurred to him that his lively friend, the Princess Mistchenka, was sailing sail-ing on the Lusitania; and he reminded silent, uncertain, looking with vague misgivings mis-givings at this girl in the armchair opposite; oppo-site; this thin, unformed, inexperienced child who had attained neither mental nor physical maturity. "I think," he said at length, "that I told you I had a friend sailing on the Lusitania tomorrow. She remembered and nodded. "But wait a moment," he added. "How da you know that this this fellow , Brandes will not attempt to sail on her, also " Something checked him, for in the girl's golden-gray eyes he saw a flame glimmer; something almost terrible came into the child's still gaze, and slowiy died out like tho afterglow of lightning. And Neeland knew that in her soul something had been born under his very eyes the first emotion of maturity bursting burst-ing from the chrysalis the flaming consciousness con-sciousness of outrage, and the first, fierce assumption of womanhood to recent it. She had lost her color now; her gray eyes still remained fixed on his, but the golden tinge had left them. "I don't know why you shouldn't go," he said abruptly. "I am going." "All right! And if he has the nerve to go If he bothers you appeal to the captain." She nodded absently. "But I don't believe he'll try to sail. I don't believe he'd dare, mixed up as he is in a dirty mess. He's afraid of the law, I tell you. That's why he denied marrying you. It meant bigamy to admit it. Anyway, I don't think a fake ceremony cere-mony like that is binding; I mean that it isn't even real enough to put him in jail. Which means that you're not married, mar-ried, Rue." "Does it?" "I think so. Ask a lawyer, anyway. There may be steps to take I don't know. All the same do you really want to go to France and study art? Do you really mean to sail on this ship?" "Yes." "You feel confidence In yourself? You feel sure of yourself?" "Yes." "You've got the backbone to see it through?" "Yes. It's got to be done." "All right, if you feel that way." He made no move, however, but sat there watching her. After a while he looked at his watch again: "I'm going to ring up a taxi," he said. "You might as well go on board and get some sleep. What time does she sail?" "At 5:30. I believe." "Well, we haven't so very long, then. There's my bedroom if you want to fix up." She rose wearily. When she emerged from his room with her hat and gloves on, the taxicab was audible in the street below. Together they descended the dark stairway stair-way up which she had toiled with trembling trem-bling knees. He carried her suitcase, aided aid-ed her into the taxi. "Cunard Line," he said briefly, and entered the cab. Already in the darkness of early morning morn-ing the ci ty was awake; workmen were abroad; lighted tramcars passed with passengers; pas-sengers; great wains, trucks, and country wagons moved slowly toward markets and ferries. He had begun to tell her almost Immediately Im-mediately all that he knew about Paris, the life there in the students' quarters, methods of living economically, what to seek and what to avoid a homily rather hurried and condensed, as they sped toward the pier. She seemed to be listening; he could not be sure that she understood or that her mind was fixed at all on v.-hat he was say i ng. H ven wh i le snea k i n g, n u m -berless objections to her going occurred to him, but as he had no better alternatives alter-natives to suggest he did not voice them. In his heart ho really believed she ought to go back to Brookholiow. It was perfectly evident she would not consent to go there. As for her remaining in New York, perhaps the reasons for her going to Paris were as good. He was utterly ut-terly unable to judge; he only knew that she ought to have the protection of experience, ex-perience, and that was lacking. "I'm going to remain on board with you," he said, "until she sails. I'm going go-ing to try to find my very good friend, the Princess Mitychenka, and have you meet her. She has been very kind to me, and I shall ask her to keep an eye on you while you are crossing, and to give you a lot of good advice." "A princess," said Hue. in a tired, discouraged dis-couraged voice, "is not very likely to pay any attention to me, I think." "She's one of those Kussian or Cau-cas;an Cau-cas;an princesses. You know they don't rank very high. She told me herself. She's great fun full of life nnd wit and intelligence and wide experience. She knows n lot about everything and everybody. every-body. She's been everywhere, traveled all over the globe." "I don't think." repeated Ttue, "that she would care f(r me at all." "Yes. she would. S lie's young and warm-hearted and human. Beetles, she's interested in ar" knows a lot about it even paints very well herself." "yhe must be wonderful." "No she's just a regular woman. It v.-as because she was in t .'rested in a rt that she came to the League, and 1 was introduced to her. Thn t is how I ra.mo to know her. She comes s o m e t i m es t o my studio." "Yes, but you are already an artist, and an Interesting man " "Oh, P.ue. I'm jiu't her-irming. She's kind, that's all an energetic, intelligent |