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Show r i TV T 1 s ri f u ill 1 1 1 1 1 1 1.1 1 1 n iji 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 ! ii 1 1 1 I L, l I w w s. ej - By Katherine Cecil Thurston A AMUVj UVAUVIVA 1 f 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 It 1 1 1 Ml 1 1 II M 1 1 II 1 1 M I U II (Continued rrom yesterday.) "Yea, 1 tr:,il to coiio-al tne thing when I remored the flog, but 1 was bleeding abominably and I fulled. Then the whole bu.lnens changed. It was I who needed seeing tn. my new friend linmle.l. I who should be looked fitter, and not she. Hhe forgot the ibm In the newer Interest of my wounded finner The maiil. who was practically unhurt, was sent on to engage rooms at the little lit-tle Inn, and h and I followed slowly. "That walk Impressed me. There was an attractive mistlnena of atmosphere at-mosphere In the wsrra night, a sensa-liun sensa-liun mote tliuu aUmclHe tn tiermr made much of by a woman of one's own elaes and country after five earV wandering." He laughed with a touch of Irony. "But I won't take up your lime with detml. You know the progress prog-ress of an ordlnsry love affair. Throw In a few more f!oers and a little more sunshine than Is usuul. a man who Is practically a hermit and a woman who knowa the world by heart, and you have the whole thing. he Inamted on ataylng In Fsntasa-lare Fsntasa-lare for three daya In order to keep my finger bandaged; she ended by staying three weeka In the hope of amushing up my life. "On coming to the hotel she had given no name; and In our first ex-planatlona ex-planatlona to each other she led me to conclude her an unmarried Rlrl. It waa at the end of the three weeks that I learned that she was not a free agent, as I had Innocently Imagined, but pos-aeaaed pos-aeaaed a buaband whom ahe had left 111 with malaria at Florence or Koine. "The newa disconcerted me, and I took no pain, to hide It. After that the iih' matter this morning. If you remember." re-member." liivr waa takiiur off his coat, but stopped in the opcr.nion. This morning?" he said. "Oh. did I? Ild lr' Then, struck by the oppor-tnnlly oppor-tnnlly the words gave him. be turned towards the secretary. "You've got to Ket used to me. tjrecnlntf." he said. "You hJiven't quite grasped me yet. I can see. I'm a man of mood., you know. I'p to the present you've seen my slack side, my Jarred side, but I have unite another when 1 care to yhow It. I'm a sort of Jekyy-and-Hyne nrrair." Again he laughed, and t'.reenlng echoed the sound diffidently. Chileote had evidently discouraged familiarity, fa-miliarity, , Ixidi'r eyed him with abrupt understanding. under-standing. Hi, recognized the loneliness loneli-ness in the aiiaioua, conciliatory manner. man-ner. ' "Y'on're tired." he sold, kindly. "Go to bed. I've got some thinking to do. (Jood night." lie held out his hand. (Ireentng took It. still half distrustful distrust-ful of this freeh side to so complex a man. "Good night, sir," ho said. "Tomorrow, "Tomor-row, If you approve, I shull go on with my notes. 1 hope you will have a restful night. Kor a second Ioder's eyebrows went up, but he recovered himself Instantly. Instant-ly. "Ah. thank.. Greening. " he Bald. "Thank.. 1 think your hope will be fulfilled." He watched the little secretary move softy and apologetically to the door: then he walked to the fire, und, re.tlng his elbows on the tnnntelpbpe. he took hi. fun in hia harwl. I I The act waa quiet:y done. The key fitted the lock smoothly and his fln-gera fln-gera turned It without hesitation, though his heart, usually extremely steady, bej,t siiarply for u second. Th.-hnll Th.-hnll loomed ina.elve and sombre, lie- spile the modernity of electric lie lit a. , It was dsrkly and expensively. decorat- ; ed In black and brown; a frlese of wrought bronse, representini peacock. with out.presd tall., ornamented the walls; the banisters were of heavy Iron work, and the somewhat formidable formid-able fireplace was of the same dnh metal. Loder looked about him. then advanced, ad-vanced, hia heart again beating quickly quick-ly aa hla hand touched the cold ban-l.ter ban-l.ter snd he began his ascent of the slalra. Hut at each atep his confidence confi-dence strengthened, his feet burnt more firm, until, at the head of the "talrs. aa If to disprove his a.suiance. his pul.es played him false once more, this time to a more serious tune. Krom the farther end of a well-lighted corridor cor-ridor a maid was coming atral.hl In his direction. For one short second all things acemed to whls about him; the certainty cer-tainty of detection overpowered his mind. The indisputable knowledge that he was John loder and no other, de.pite all armor of effrontery and drea. so dominated him that all other considerations shrank before it. It warned but one word, one simple word of denunciation, nd the whole scheme wss shattered. In the dismay of the moment, he almost wished that the word might be spoken and the suspense sus-pense ended. Rot lh mnl.l - ' 1 1 end cam abruptly. In. her eyes 1 had become a fool with minoiH claaa principled; princi-pled; In my eyea But there la no need for that. Hhe left Bantanalra the same nlsht" In a great confusion of trunks and hat boxes; and next morning morn-ing 1 stmpped on my unnpwick and turned my fare to the south." "And women don't count ever after?" Chileote amilrd, beguiled out of him elf. Loder laughed. 'That's what I've been trying to convey. One bitten, twice any!'' He Inushed atjaln and lipped the two rings over his. finger with an air of finality. "Now, nhall 1 man? This 1 ths latchkey?" drew a key from tiie pocket of Chtlrote's evening clothe. "When get to Oronvenor .Square 1 atn to ind your house, go straight In, mount the si aim, and there on my rtuht Hind will b the door of your 1 mean tny own private rooma. 1 think I've got tt all by heart. I f"l Inspired; I feel that I can'i go wronn." He hnnuVd the two remaining rings to Chileote and picked up ths overcoat. "I'll eth-k on tin 1 get a wire," he said. 'Then I'll corns bark and we'll ivvrre again." He slipped on the coat and moved back towards the table ; Now that the Uet-lsiva' moment - had come. It emarroed hi in. Hcaroeiy knowing how to bring It to an end,, he held out his hand. Chileote took a, paling a little, j "'Twill be all rlffht: ha Raid, with a; sudden return of nervouenesa. "'Twi: be all right! And l'vw made It plain about about the remuneration? A I For a spnee he stood absolutely I quift, then his handtf dropped to his j aides and he turned slowly round.' In I that ahort space he had balanced; things and found his bearings. The nlitcht nervousness shown In his brusque sentences and overconfident manner faded out, and he faced facts steadily. With th return of his calmness he took u long survf y (f the room. His glance brightened Hppretiati vely as It triivnled from the walls lined with well hound booka to the lamps modulated to the proper light; from the lamps to the d-nk fitted with every requirement. require-ment. Nothing was larking. All he had once possessed, all he had since dreamed of, was here, but on a greater great-er scale. To enjoy the luxuries of life a man mut go long without them. Loder had lived severely so severely that until three weeks ago he had believed be-lieved himself exempt from the temptations temp-tations of humanity. Then the voice of the world had spoken, and within him another voire had answered, with a tone so clamorous and Insistent that . It had outcried his surprised and In-I In-I credulous wonder at its existence and its claims. That had been the voice of suppressed ambitum; and now as he stood In the new atmosphere a newer new-er voice lifted its-If. The Joy of material ma-terial things rose suddenly, overhal anring the last remnant of the philosophy phil-osophy he had reared. He jaw all things In a fresh Msrht the soft carpets, car-pets, thf soft lichts, tha numberless pleasant, unnecessary thlnrs that color the passing landscape and oil the a-haaolsl r,f 1 1 fa TKl- ... - . ..... and bo Incredible, was tha silence that l.oder moved onward, too. Ha came within a yard of her, and still she did not speak; then, as he passed her, she drew back respectfully against the wall. The at ruin, so antonlfhlngly short, had been Immense, but with Its slackening slack-ening cam a strong reaction. The expected ex-pected humiliation seethed suddenly to a desire to dare fate. I'auatng quit kly, he turned and called the woman back. The spot where he had haltod wna vividly bright, the celling light being directly above his head; and as ahe came towards him he raised his fate deiibeiately and waited. Hhe looked at him without surprise or Interest. "Yes. sir?" ahe said. "is your mistress In?" he asked. He could think of no other question, but It served his purpose as a lest of her Voire. Still the woman showed no surprise. "She's not In, sir," she answered. "Uut shn's expected tn half an hour.'- In half uti hour? AH right! That's all 1 wanted." With a movement of iecilon LsOder walked back to the siair-head. turned to the right, and op. -tied the door of Chllcote's rooms. The-iloor opened on a ahort, wide passage; on one side stood the study, tin the other the bed. bath and dressing dress-ing rooms. With a blind sense of knowledge and unfamlliarlty. bred of mueh description on Chllcote's part, he put his hand on the study door und. i still exulted by the unvn of his first, success, turned the handle. j I Inside the room there was fire light and lamp light and a studious air of! made nutnlfeat. The choice bindings of on i books, the quiet harmnnv of one's ut rounallnss. the gratifying deference nf one's dependent. thesi were the visible, the outward sitns. the things he hsd forgntten. C'rijMsing the room Slowly, he lifted and lokfd-at the different papers on the desk. They had a substantial feel-tng. feel-tng. an Importance, an air of value. They were like the solemn keys to so many vexed problems. H.'.hle the papers pa-pers were a heap. of letters neatly ar-tanice.l ar-tanice.l and aa et un"pened. He turned them over one by one. They were aH thick, and Inlet-eating to look at. He smiled ss he recalled his own scanty mail: envelopes long nd buiky or narrow and tbln unwelcome manuscripts man-uscripts or very welcome checks. Having Hav-ing sorted the letters, he hesitated. It was his tak to open them, but he had never In his life opened an envelope addressed to another man. . (Continued tomorrow.) hundred a week be idea all expanses-" Loder smiled again. "My pay? Oh yea, you're made It clear ns day. Khali ; we ay good -night now?" "Yea. (rood-night." Tiiere was a at range, dlntant note in Chilcote'o voice, but the other din not pretend to hear It. lie presaed the hand he was holding, thouiih the cold dampness of It repelled him. "tlood-nicht." he aald agstn. "Good -night. They stood for a rrtornent. awkward ly looking at each other, then Laoder quietly disengaged his hand, croaeed j the room and jafld through the door. Chileote, left standing alone In the) middle of the room. listened while th ; last sound of th others footsteps wss audible on th unrarpeted stairs; then, with a furtive, hurried gesture, he caught up th green-shaded lamp ana paeed in. 5 lxder's bedroom. Villa To all men come portentous momenta. mo-menta. Ulff.vu't moments, triumphant moments. L.oder had had his examples of all three, but no moment In bit career ever equaled In strangeness ot sensation that In which, dresoed in sn other man's clothes, he fitted the latchkey for the firet time Into the door i of the othr nl.tn's houe. , I peace. The realization nf this and a I slow Incrfdullty at Chllcote's vol tin- I tuiy renunciation were his first im-j presstons; then hla attention wus needed for more Imminent things. As h -entered, the new secretary was returning a volume to its place on the twok shelve. At sight of him. he pushed It hastily into position and turned around. "I was making a few notes on the political position of Khorasan." he said, glancing with ellfcht apprehenslvi.eps at the others face. He waa a small, shy man. with iVw snrisl attainments i but cn extraordinary amount of ljirn-in! ljirn-in! the antithesis of the alert Itless-ington. Itless-ington. whom he had replaced. Loder bore his scrutiny without flinching. Indeed. It struck him suddenly sud-denly that there waa a fund of interest, inter-est, almost of excitement, in the encountering en-countering of each new pair of eyes. At the thought he moved forward to the desk. "Thank you. Greening." hs aatd. "A very useful bit of work." The secretary glanced up. slightly puxxied. His endurance had been severely se-verely taxed In the fourteen days that be hHd fiild his new post. "I'm glad you think . s'r. he said, hesitatingly. 'You rather povh-pt-ohed i |