Show = HER = I INFINITE I VARIETY I I By Brand Whitlock if illustrations by Ray Walters I r f Copright 1W7 by Bubbs McrrUl Co f SYNOPSIS t I Senator Storlcy Vernons visit with his I flnncec WHS Interrupted by n call from his political bos lit the state capltnl Bath regretted It the girl more tlmn he because fho hud arranged to nttenil a dinner tlmt ovcnlng with him Slie snld he yearned for ti national otllce for him On Vernons desk In tho senate he found n red roc accompanied by a plea for BtiffrnRO for women He met the authoress au-thoress pntty 11188 Maria Ureene of Chicago who proposed to convert him Into voting for house resolution No 19 Miss Greene secured Vernons promise to J vote for the suffrage resolution Ho also L iJ Hided her by convincing others He tool I tx liking to the fair suffragette Miss Orceno consulted with the lleutcnantRov ernor Vernon admitted to himself tlmt the rngett hud etlrrcd a strange feeling feel-ing within him He forgot tct red his fiancees letter Vernon made a great speech In favor of suffrage nlded by glances from Miss Orecnc The resolution was made a special order Vernon was enthusiastic on the prospects for the resolution res-olution He was much In Miss Greenes company Vernon neglected thoughts of Amelia Ho took Miss Greene driving and laid out plans for the success of the resolution S reso-lution Vcnions speech caused a great I newspaper sensation He was being neglected neg-lected by Amelia who had not answered his letter Vernon Is tipped oft that his suffrage resolution may not pass As Miss Greene was due the following mornIng morn-Ing ha had no fears Miss Greene arrived ar-rived find breakfasted with Vernon Across the dining room entrenched behind be-hind women opponents of the suffrage resolution he spied Amelia He started toward her She treated him coldly and tho women opponents of suffrage reproved re-proved him for his part Mrs Hodge Lnthrop told Senator Vernon that his ronduct with Miss Greene had been hard upon Amelia CHAPTER XII Continued S if He looked at his watch It was half t past nine the senate would convene at ten tho resolution would not be reached before halfiiast ten at any rate and so he determined to brave 5 Mrs Overman HodgeLathrop again He turned back Into tho lobby there she was hobnobbing with men she S did not pass from group to group after aft-er the manner of any other lobbyistS S but by some coercion he wished he might be master of she drew them unerringly S un-erringly to her side Now she had Braldwood the leader of the house and chairman of the leering committee commit-tee and Porter lhc leader of thQ1Lcn S ate She appeared tobe giving them instructions She had sot her committee on less Important game the ladles wero scattered f scat-tered over the rotunda each talking ton es to-n little set of men When Mrs Over S mar HodgeLathrop saw Vernon cornS S r lng she turned from Uraldwood i and porter and stood awaiting him 1 Strangely enough Draidwood and Porter S < Por-ter stayed whero they were as if she 55 S had put them theie And Vernon reflected re-flected that he had novel known them as doubtless no one else had over known them to do such a thing as I that before Wheres Amelia 1 he asked before she qoulil speak j I have sent her upstairs said I r Mrs Overman HodgeLathrop poor S child Vernon wondered why poor child Its really too bad Mrs Overman HodgeLathrop continued What Is too bad 1 demanded Vernon Ver-non He had grown sulky Mrs Overman HodgeLathroi > o0ked at him pityingly Iorleylrds ld In a vast solemn tone that came slowly up from her ffreot stays I can mako allowances W S S of course I know something of the S nature of man I will admIt that that Greene woman Is remarkably handsome hand-some and of her cleverness there can bo no doubt I donf altogether Mnmo you She paused that Vernon might comprehend com-prehend to the fullest her marvelous magnanimity But at the same time It has been hard on poor little Amelia I saw no other way than to bring her down You must go to her at once S She turned toward Braldwood and Porter still standing where she had left them When you have done Ill see you with reference to this miserable resolution reso-lution but that can wait till we are at tho capitol This other matter comes first of course S She smiled with n fat sweetness And Morley she said order two carriages for us at ten oclock You 1 may drive to the capitol with us J And she went away Vernon ordered tho carriages and InS In-S turning tho whole matter over In his mind he came to tho conclusion that 9 he must deal with these complications I ono at a time Miss Greene as events now had shaped themselves would have to wait until he got over to the State House CHAPTER XIII t Vernon found Amelia In ono of the I hotel parlors seated on a sofa by a window She was resting her chin inC In-C her hand nnd looking down Into Capitol Cap-itol avenue S Amelia he said bending over her What is it 1 Toll mo 5l Ho sat down beside her and sought I I to engage one of tier hands In his own but she withdrew It nod Pressed It with the other and the handkerchief In both to hrr lips and chin Vernon glanced about the respectable parlors maintained In Instant readiness for anybody that might happen along with his llttlo comedy or his little tragedy She continued to look obdurately out of tho window Amelia ho said arent you going to speak to me Tell mo what I have done Still there came no answer Ho flung himself back on the sofa help lesslyWell Well ho said I dont know what It all means Ive tried to fathom It In the last hour but Its too deep for me I give it up lIe flung out his hands to Illustrate his abandonment God knows ho suddenly exclaimed ex-claimed I was only trying to do something worthy for your sakel Please dont swear Morley Amelia Ame-lia said lip looked up swiftly Well ho began explosively but ho didnt continue lie relapsed Into a moody silence lie stretched his legs out before him In an ungainly attitude with his hands plunged deep In his trousers pockets Then hu knitted his brows and tried to think I suppose he said as If I ho wore thinking aloud that you expect some explanation some apology Oh not at nil she said lightly In the most musical tono sho could command Very well ho said I wouldnt know where to begin If you did Im sure Im not aware of having She began to hum softly to herself as It were some tuneless all Ho remembered re-membered that It was a way she had rii ui S T5 i I Flung Himself Back on the Sofa Helplessly I when sho was angry it was Intended to show the last and utmost personal unconcern ln such circumstances tho tune was apt to be an Improvisation and was never melodious Sometimes It made her easier to deal with sometimes some-times harder lie could never tell I dont exactly see what we are here lor ho ventured stealing a look at her Site had no reply He fidgeted a moment and then began drumming with his fingers on the arm of the sofaPlease Please dont do that she said Ho stopped suddenly If ypu Would be good enough kind enough he bald It sarcastically to indicate to suggest even what I am to doto say Im suro I cant she said You came I presumed you bad something to say to mo Well I have something to say to you Vernon went on Impetuously Why didnt you answer my letters Why have you treated me tills way Thats vhat I want to know lie leaned l toward her lie was conscious con-scious of two emotions two passions struggling within him ono of anger almost hate the other of love and strangely enough they had a striking similarity In their effect upon him He I felt like reproaching yet he knew that was not tho way and he made a des I I potato struggle to conquer himself He tried to look Into her fnco but sho only turned farther away from him Ive spent the most miserable week I ever know doomed to stay here unable I un-able to get away to go to you and with this fight on my hands I You seemed to be having a fairly good time the girl said Now Amelia look here said Vernon I Ver-non lets not act like children any longer lets not have anything so foolish fool-ish and little between us His tone made his words a plea but It plainly had no effect upon her for she did not answer They sat there I then In silence Why didnt you write Vernon demanded de-manded after a little while lie looked at her and sho straightened up and here es flashed Why didnt I write she ex claimed What was 1 to write prays I Were not your letters full of this odious odi-ous Maria Burlaps Greene And HH If that were not enough werent the pa periMull of jou two And that speech oh that speech that Portia and Helen and I fill this cup to one made up ah It was sickening I Site flirted away again Hut darling Vernon cried listen you misunderstood meant all that for you didnt you understand 1 She stirred Didnt you see1 Why dearest 1 thought that when you read tho papers youd bo the proudest girl alive Her lip curled I read the papers she said and then added significantly this once anyway Well you certainly dont Intend to hold mo responsible for what the papers pa-pers say do you S Sho resumed her old attitude her elbow el-bow on tho arm of the sofa her chin In her hand and looked out tho win dow And she began to hum again And then ho pressed on to comedown come-down here and not oven let mo know why you oven called mo Mister Vor non when I came Into tho dining room Yes she exclaimed suddenly wheeling about I saw you come Into tho dining room this morning Her eyes grow dark and flashed Ho regretted on the Instant I saw you she went on I saw you rush up to that Maria Burlaps Greene woman andoh It was horrid > hor-rid Her name Isnt Burlaps dear said Vernon How do you know her name Id like to know She put her hands to her face He saw her tears Amelia he said masterfully If IOU I-OU dont stop that Listen weve got to get down to business She hastily brushed the tears from her eyes She was humming once more nnd tapping the too of her boot on the carpet though sho was not tapping tap-ping It In time to her tune Why did you come down without letting me know Vernon went on but still she was silent You might at least have given me Varnlng abe said with a keen Inflection S Amelia he said and his tono carried 1 car-ried a rebuke Well I dont care sho cried Its till tmeJ You couldnt stay for my dinner but you could come down here andShe 0 She covered her face with her hands and burst suddenly into tears Vernon Ver-non gazed at her In astonishment Why dearesU ho said leaning over and trying to take her In his arms She drew away from him and sobbed Vernon glanced about tho room helplessly lIe pleaded with her but she would not listen neither would she be comforted but continued to sob Vernon fn a mans anguish with a weeping woman stood up I Amelia I Amelia lie bent over her and spoke firmly You must not Listen to mel Wo must go over to Suddenly ho stood erect and Jerked out his watch Heavens he cried Its halfpast tenShe She tried to control herself then and sitting up began to wipe her eyes TO BE CONTINUED |