Show a a o a r t r Jrrrrrrr v r W5OO5O5 < i A Fruitless Infatuation I t By T W Hanshow 5 S rrrrrrrr l O r v corrrQJrrrrrrr c rrrrrrrrlJ Copyright by Joseph U lIol tea 1ettlfer whose apa had adio depart IIS pUouinloil beforo Uo depart plio his P I ade I ° where ho could no long place r 1 or l enjoy a monopoly first appeared I horizon of lard Clarrlckstons In the London Kwnce at a dance In 1f life Sadie smiled ono of her beau 11110000 000 smiles upon him and a I l IIIotheraltcll Imp of a aged Fettlfcrs 51 for favors received In tin return way of boX aeata secretly impart Intelligence that Ma and Sade I the IIhuntlnB the bargain counters for line 8 and hail come over to see what l Itle I In tho market worth hookln up tjrrickBton was In tho market one Very much In tho market Ik an earldom 500 years old a mort a 01 60000 on his ancestral j a racing stud a yacht and sth unpaid bills to paper a room enough to hold both ge of relative Bat the sudden death a d called tho Pettlfers home before j winning post was even In sight K by a singular coincidence as Lrrlcfcston put It In his letterten t afterward his doctor ordered L to take a sea voyage and over he U In their wake li Miss Pettlfors season abroad not been what might be called lorllng success and the bidders for r long porno and short upper lip re neither so many nor so eager as i could have wished Clarrickston j received with open arms and a a s dinner party hit t In an evil hour Master Tommy tog to return some of the favors t1I hIm abroad as well as to exit I ex-it some of the Institutions of his atrjr had suggested a visit to the lyerected Hippodrome whore La pilllon tho Worlds Greatest and t Beautiful Aerial Artiste was hilly performing her breathstilling tJ Now the whole taco of Clar Ikston had been beauty worshipers the first and most reckless order He haunted tho stage door of the podrome as the Thomas Cat haunt the hiding place of the freshly based codfish but It she over pe forth he saw her not for the men who issued at the close of h performance were young enough face the world unveiled and not i of them bore even the remotest Icmllanco to the object of his wor 4 IP pe e i sat down and wrote a letter sent It to her with a great ch of scarlet carnations and as guS fern asking her out of pity him to wear his flowers If she e not a married woman and to dls a hem If she was And lo when came on for her turn that night I red from head to foot in white t I silver a little cluster of his car lions was pinned upon her shoul lie flew next morning to Tiffanys I I exchanged 100 of the 500 pounds I had brought over with him to lay I ge to the oilmans heiress for a rent of diamonds clear as a sliver lice and sent It to his Inamorata STAGE I ENTRANC II I w rl I 7 II r j I i f I I L i i i J IN Zer l Haunted the Stagedoor jP I lag her If there was any hope for r > to wear it on her person that I01 And behold when he looked t her nextstanding on tho stage I waIling to be hauled up by her EL to itho nlckeed bar above the wind crescent blazed In a broad Hoop of rainbow splendor on thee the-e Band of velvet she always wore ut her throat ace and once only she had gone the length of answering his front fro-nt appeals with a note and that n8h It gifted him up to tho sev ° heaven of human happiness at i lime began nt last to weigh upon spirit after the fashion of a hopo erred Dear Sir that note ran I can toll you how much I appreciate r Kindness the honor you do mo the happy circumstance which brought you Into my life I do know Why I wrlto yoU for I have m er answered a mans notes before I llna way say without boasting that aYe received hundreds of them I not it for care for lnca they have no In mC Or at least they novel m m i until You camo Into my life If would have that interest grow I of You do not seek to know mo tel for a time at least Let mom df mo-m and study myself and some laywhen I am quite lIullo sure It IJ best for us lmth1 will yield tc your wldlws U 01111 SMhrBnd consort to nlcct you Whon that day cOllies however 1 will write and toll you I POI two weeks Clarilclston wore thut letter next his IUHlcllhlrt allll faithfully rand It each night beforE going to hell It was at this orlod he happened to fall foul or a newspaper which gave a glowing account flowlK of un abnor fanny largo Sunday gathering at Coney Island whoicntncconling to the leportei pretty nearly every body of note In tho show business was as usual present and this put an Idea Into his head He dressed himself In his Bond street best and flew to Coney by spc claHychartcred 1 trolley If She was there ho caught no glimpse of her however but that did not deter him from going again the next day and the next and the next after that un ill another week hud gone and Despair sat once more upon the heartstone of his Hopes Hy this time lie nau Become convinced con-vinced that search for her In this particular section of the universe was as unlikely to produce the desired result re-sult as watching tho stage door of the Hippodrome had boon and ho had Just made up his mind to abandon the field when something happened which sent a sort of electrical shock zigzagging zig-zagging up and down his spinal column col-umn It was merely the passing of a young womana very gaudilydressed stridentvoiced young woman who In endeavoring to get by him in the crowd and join some other gaudily dressed young women who had gone on In advance had managed to catch the lace flounce of her parasol In the prongs of his jeweled scarf pin And it was here that Clarrickston received the shock For In tho fraction frac-tion of time her hands had been busy tugging at tho lace ho had seen sparkling on her wrist the Indentlcal jeweled bracelet he had sent to La Papilllon In the early days of his infatuation in-fatuation Clarrickston waited until she was near the door and then walked forward for-ward and met her Well Ive run you down you see said Clarrickston severely I hopo i you know young woman that Its a criminal offense to be found In possession pos-session of stolen property I didnt steal anything x Ill know more about that when I have confronted you with the person to whom I gave the bracelet you are wearing and heard from her whether she has lost It or not She hasnt lost It I tell ycr She lent It to meshe always lends It to mo Ill believe that when I hear her say so I tell yer she wont see yer Now let It go at that Look here she said laying a shaking hand in Clarrlckstons sleeve Shes In there now a gettln ready for her turn I know for Id ought to been hero half an hour ago to help with her clothes Now If I go agln orders and take you behind and let you speak to her will you take your solemn oath not to say I stole the things and not to prosecute nor noth In Will yer Clarrickston thought of nothing cared for nothing but tho chance to speak with Her the one Her In all the world for himand let his hand slide from the womans shoulder Yes ho said eagerly Yes I will willHer hand closed tighter on his sleeve she half led half raced him along the pavement and In through the stage entrance and thence by lit by dusty stairs and winding ways dlmlybnrnlng wire hnoded gas jets to a room beneath the stage The door was closed She pushed It open and drew Clarrirkston In The lights were burning bright enough here All round the room hung Clanlckston now knew the costumes by heart and at the far end where a hung on a peg light hair wig of long fellow of two or three a young U be and twenty was shaving himself u prepped up on the fore a little mirror dressing raorn shelf The mirror lellcfted tho face ot the as she rnlered and the man catching woman a glimpse of It drew the and sang out along his jaw cheerily razor Hello leg What the dickens dick-ens kept ycr forwaid He was Clitrrlclislon Ing pinched for wearln goln to have me though a bracelet Jimmyas that whars aint got a right to wear whaj woman husband If he lets her to her gave tho nar The shaver turned across row room keg me said tag push This English mug ho Geo its the i been ort to Clncln sale 1nd wed a week Well I guess you nat next that your temperament petO know mont but anti now If mine ever ann of Ivo the this hltchln snap kind fnren our whole away 11 brenl your derstancl1 lie more nothing Clarrlclltlln said jn J door and went quietly Iy opened tho away Is 1907 He Is 1906 this That was the anti her grace nlllrket still DllcheRs 111 the at 1 < has OInghllrst hired ale ancestral SlIlIe poUlfer for bill residence halls as a winter former nnrsn |