| Show nn i Is Ts Dying f for or r a G Good d Long Chat fell With Mr Brown Brwn The Mystery Man 1 No 1110 Mr Mir Brown r Serial attractive young paid an a App AP r 1 Day th the emergenCY relief In InI I arker with at the risk of losing her Sob Job t O for or off tc e p g e r meet At bow wO indifference difference Concerning concerning Bill m 11 1 to mystery man ot of f Charity Charty the be h. h believe and n nd ber her a SQuare ff ah a i. paid worker worker worker-a a kind of b 1 to detective be checking frauds and ce delinquents el n Bill l is at dOW lla when be April makes k a fear fear- er tile tte S E the insubordinates in inT behalf of Je plea t out o of W sympathy P U y with th the Pr pro pro- J cut p II t Feeling she he ha hu gone rone too far JI away Bill Hill Brown meets her herI p I u. u her ber to upper On Bill n U Jer ber for time the next next day to talk So to to t talk a lot 10 CHAPTER THREE Gwenn Harding and Noel AndrewS Andrews Andrews An An- volunteers at the Van Elden drews Memorial were y young ung persons of ot toe the class Jerome King referred to toas as Junior L L ei e g u timers part f and d preferred not to handle The TheVan Van San Elden a privately supported I organization had to use volunteer labor Jabor to such an e extent ent that coarser clients had been known to prefer refer reler to it as as the Young Ladies Ladies' I Boarding School That sandy mouse of ot an Andrews girl now now now- I the theone one with the big innocent brown brown eyes behind shell rims rims rims- probably labored conscientiously er enough ough during her short hours The Themore Themore j 9 more decorative Miss Harding Bill Harding-Bill Bill grinned remembering what Miss 1 Sally Candler had said that t Gwenn 1 i dabbled at the bureau because her herM herf f M father a trustee wanted to be sure I that for some part of the day at atI I j least she was out of trouble i Why J Why Mr Brown 1 Gwenn's gaze passed over three i p patient eyed tient-e tient ed Italian women and a messenger boy to rest appraisingly on Ion Bills Bill's tall figure Here Noel take take the desk she called Come Comet on into my room Bill Brown Im I'm t. t dying ding for a chatAs chat As Gwenn slid her long slim legs behind her desk in the cramped little office and Bill took the cliff cli- cli i ff ent's Sent's chair their heads nearly touched over the silver case caseI I the she fished from a drawer I I Smoke Mr Mystery Man 1 Gwenn coaxed Tell me the latest do Were We're all so thrilled here I tl think ink its it's simply swell of you getting getting getting get get- ting these filthy fraud cases checked up t l What do you know about my work vork 1 rt Brown frowned over his f Both he lle and King had agreed that investigations into clients client's misdoings misdoings mis- mis 5 doings as well as certain personal matters might better remain secret secret se- se cret as long as possible Was Selby Selby Selby Sel Sel- by Harding his lawyer lawyer and and Gwen's father the father the type of man who gossips with his women folk Bill wondered Certainly as executor executor executor ex ex- to the late William Brown Senior of ot New York Washington T Tuxedo i do and other r residences Hard Hard- log Mg knew more more of Juniors Bill B aff affairs af- af f fairs rs than h he cared to have published pub at present The lawyer had met imet Bill Junier Juniet only recently but buthe Abe he he knew Bill Seniors Senior's d directions knew that the philanthropist weakened by sudden illness and unable un un- abl able to decide on the division of ot the thel l large rge sums he wished to will to the charities of his native state had bequeathed bequeathed bequeathed be be- that responsibility to his ton son It was Harding who had introduced introduced introduced intro intro- Jerome King head of the Fairmount Relief as a man who J c could uld give practical advice Only f. f Jay the the old slave driver driver Bill Bil I trailed would have conceived the then n notion tion of bringing the heir to the ther Brown r w 1 estate to Fairmount and putting him actually to work there It was vas the quickest way of gaining the practical experience in social work Bills Bill's father wished him to acquire Jay said He was also Bill knew honestly determined no noto not notto notto to grub at a good thing He wanted want want- ed to give Bill time also to show an inexperienced ignorant young philanthropist the sadder side o of I Ithe the the picture Bill must know the I local pr problems and resources Bill Bil must go on the fraud fraud checking checking project that project that would show him the danger of giving money too freely Bill must be placed on the payroll as a junior clerk though called a special investigator He must keep regular hours have his Cadillac Cadilla roadster replaced by one of th the worn well-worn county cars To save sav him from annoyance and undue influence In in- fluence Jay suggested that no on one onen in n Fairmount with the exception of t Harding and if necessary th the Van Eldens should know that Bill Brown relief worker and Mr WilHam William William Wil Wil- liam Ham Brown sportsman traveler millionaire were one and the same man To all this the young man agreed willingly enough Though he scarcely realized it Bill was tired of ot idleness He was sick of being run after by a string of avid society women tainted by a rich richman's richman's richman's mans man's suspicion of new acquaint acquaint- ances Bill found himself forgetting forgetting forgetting forget forget- ting sailing salling yachts and sunny seas now that he had glimpsed poverty and degradation such as he had hadnot hadnot hadnot not dreamed existed in a town like Fairmount Already Bill was dis- dis heartened It was only Jays Jay's example example ex- ex ample mple Jays Jay's sporting challenge that hat held him to his job the job the only real eal job he had ever tackled Gwenn Hardings Harding's chatter roused Brown from his abstraction I know enow lots about your work A little littlebird I bird ird told me Did you know April Day had lost her job 1 Yes Brown was busy with his He le had no notion of ot revealing that he IB had just come from a session with Jerome King on that subject Pinky Bliss phoned me from the he E ERA R A Gwenn ran on Pinky says ays there all quite sunk about it over ver there but not surprised Of Of ot course ourse the authorities put it nicely They said Aprils April's dismissal had nothing to do with her speaking at the protest meeting Its It's just that hat economy obliges dropping a worker on Mr Kings King's staff and April is the latest comer Too bad but as Sally Candler says April should hould have known better Bill snubbed out his and rose ose Now may I see Miss Cander Candler Cand Cand- ler er please You may not The old cats cat's home with a cold or else this little mousie wouldn't be enjoying a nice smoke moke with you Gwenn puffed luxuriously Be nice nce to me big boy soy and maybe Ill I'll give you a aquart aquart aquart quart of milk or a bag of coal I might Gwenn's liquid eyes were soft and alluring her sleek black blackhead blackhead blackhead head almost touched Bills Bill's shoulder shoulder shoulder der I might even go out to lunch if it I were asked Dont tell me its it's lunch time already Bill consulted his watch in n affected horror Take you up on that date another day Miss Harding Harding- You might say Gwen All right Gwenn but look here who's in authority after Miss Candler Sallys just the paid executive Alixe Van Elden Gwen Elden Gwen admitted it unwillingly is is head of the whole shebang now her mother has given up coming to the bu bu- bu- bu reau Alixe is here this morning but she's awfully busy Alixes Alixe's somewhat colorless personality personality personality per per- had puzzled Bill To Jerome King he had blown off steam the matter with Ithe the Van Elden girl Why does she keep herself in the background background background back back- ground let herself be tyrannized over That elderly mother of ot hers with the soulful looks and lavender laven- laven der lace and lace and manners and mouth like a steel trap what trap what if the old lady does run half the charities in town Does she have to be kowtowed to like the goddess of ot ofa ota a heathen tribe Alixe deserve what she gets Jerome Jerom shrugged for putting up with that sort of ot thing Bill dropped the subject A few days later he blamed himself for tactlessness hearing the story Miss Candler had to tell Taking tea with the lady one day in her little flat above the bookshop the talk strayed from philanthropy to personalities personalities personalities per per- Bill encouraging Miss Sallys Sally's weakness for a gossip In Fairmount when one chatted of local families the Van Eldens invariably in invariably invariably in- in variably came first on the list and Alixe only daughter of ot the house was both beloved and pitied by Miss Sally I can see her now just 18 and making her debut at her first big party She wasn't a pretty girl not girl not even then in her lace and pearls and roses roses big and sweet and wholesome looking her fine eyes too grave for her years Some one brought Jerome King to be introduced introduced-a a stranger in ir town He was older than the boys Alixe had grown up with more serious more distinguished I sup sup- pose Anyway they fell in love that day Poor things Their romance romance romance ro ro- ro- ro mance didn't last long when Mrs Van Elden found out about Jays Jay's prospects or the lack of them Continued on the Following Page I I |
