OCR Text |
Show la m Making Good in Love and Business -1 .A before they could sell ma out. I never thought" "That's Just it. You never think of telling me anything till It's all over, i No, Jack, that won't do. I've thought ' it over. Tou can't arford roses or i anything else, till your debts are paid " I "Betty, pleaae listen: I aald, "I'll t earn a lot of money and I'll pay " j 'Yes, I know," she Interrupted, "and j then you'll forget to tell me of some other thing you've done that will apoll I our plana. No, Jack, you've forgotten I right along that I'm your fiancee and ! that you promised to treat me as your partner. Please don't Interrupt I'm ( soon finished. You're launching lntt a new line. It will take all your at-i at-i tentlon. The wedding had better be I postponed. We can " ! 8he got no further, her g-ase wan- - dered from my face and dropped to t I her handa that gripped each other In 1 ; her lap. "If that's all you think of me. ! cried, stung to madness by her words, ; "perhaps we'd better call it off alto, j get her." "Perhaps, she aald bitterly. "Have it your own way." I said, an4 left without further argumentand Betty lei me go, - 1 was hurt to the quick. I walked acroea the street to the edge of tne A hill and stood looking off, thtnklnr angrily how unfair Hetty'd brn. J had made a fool of myself by tV"Ct speculations, I knew. Hut I d only done what do sens of other men have don in their time. The thought that rankled and wouldn't down waa that now when I needed her help moat when aa she aald, I was launched on a new venture Betty wasn't willing to stand by mi'. It waa all right when I had mony. I reflected with all the bUterneaa there waa In me. Hut now that my money was gone rr affections were cooling. "Well, If that's the sort cf girl Rett la," I found myself whispering througt. set teeth, "I should be glad, not aad. to have found it out before I heard the voice of Betty's mother calllnr my name: . "Jack! Jack!" What had happened? I turned and ran for the house. (To be continued.) 1 gotten, to tell Betty that I owed the $600. She. whom I had sworn to treat a my partner, had had to learn It from the lips of a sneering creditor! What must she think! How can I explain? CHAPTER 12. " "Have It Yeur Own Way. I I shall never forget that walk home I through the moonlight with Betty. lyovers though we were, on a night 1 that seemed made for lovers, only al-9 al-9 lenca and coldness walked with us. To my repeated solicitations aa to r how she was feeling. Betty answered: 1 "Please don't talk. Jack, my head hurte." I didn't dare say anything about the flowers. They were gone, and each 1 step I took there waa more firmly ! ' borne In upon me the realisation that 1 Charley King's sneering remark about i the 1500 I owed his firm was the cause ! of Betty's headache. j Yet. perversely, what worried ma j more at the moment even than that Betty should have learned of thla debt from another, was the suspicion that ' Betty could be Jealous of anyone. So ' 1 attempted to explain my dances with : Miss Vail. But Hetty cut me short. "Please, please. Jack, not tonight" j I let tt go at that, and we walked : to her home in silence. ' 8he left me abruptly at the door with: "Thanks for aeelng ma home. That hurt. I wasn't used to sar-cam sar-cam from Betty. The next morning I tried several tlmea to speak with Betty on the phone, but the operator said she was huy they know my voice at the office. In ennseuqence, I put In rather a bad day of It. Dinner waa hardly over when I railed on Betty. She waa waiting for me In the living room. -How's the head?' I asked, trying to appear cheerful. "My headache's quite gone," ahe answered an-swered coldly. "Please sit down. Jack, I want to have a talk with you." "If it's about that $500 I owe Bar ron A King," I said, "I can explain that easily enough " "No doubt!" she answered, evenly, "you're getting to be quite adept at explaining since vou left the bank. I flt nettled. There was something in Betty's tone and in the way she mentioned the bank that irritated me. Bur I said nothing aa she continued: "It isn't whether you owe $500. or 1 $50O0; Jack. The loss of what we ', what you, had was bad enough. You realise that, don't you?" ! I nodded, not knowing Just what waa coming next. "I we had counted on that to start our home. The point Is, you're n debt and you never told me a word about It. I had to hesr that from strangers." "But. Betty.l I protested. It. all happened hap-pened at the same time. The market UuU $500 waa extra margins 1 owed j CHAPTER 11, Betty Learns ef JacV'e Indebtedness. "That's the best one-step I've had In a year! I'm so glad I've three more with you!" Miss Vail, a pert little) chatterbox In a most daring gown, "stood smiling , up at me. 1 had escorted Betty to her club dance, and In the coat room Billy Vail had nailed me and hud booked me for four dances with his cousin from the West. I had put my name down, not I must confess without aome misgivings misgiv-ings aa to what Betty might aay, but Vail is manager of the big tire company com-pany and I'd been to see him a couple of times on business so how could 1 refuse? To my relief, I'd found . Cousin a passable dance partner only ahe Insisted In-sisted upon chattering all the time the music waa playing, and if there's one thing I detest. It's that. Bealdea, I'd looked forward to dancing danc-ing most of the time with Betty, but by the tlrne t -qL. away from Vail. I found that nVtty's card was almost filled there' were only two dances left for me. I was peeved and aald an. "Really. Jack." she smiled archly, "you were long In finding me, I waa afraid I'd be a wall flower! Aa though Betty could be a wall flower anywhere! Flushed and excited, ex-cited, she danced off with her first partner, and I thought that I'd never seen her look prettier. Hhe was wearing the flowers I'd sent her1 pale pink roses that set off the ; daintiness of her white and silver gown flowers, by the way, which had earned me a kiss and a dear scolding on extravagance. But to me nothing Is ah extravagance that makea Betty happy. Yet before the evening was over I had occasion to wish those same flowers flow-ers at the bottom of the ocean. Mies Vail and I had just finished our third dance and she'd expressed a desire for some punch from the big bowl in the corner when the shock came. There wss quite a crowd around the U table, and I'd just handed Mlaa Vail her glass when 1 heard a girl's voice behind me saying: "Wonderful bunch of rosea Betty Ray a wearing. Jack Sargent sent them. 1 suppose. Wonder where he got the mney!' I reddened to the ears as the answer came: "From the Interest on the $600 he owes me, I guss!" It waa Charley King and his sister who were discusuing my affairs. I couldn't help a glance over my shoulder, and there even nearer the speakers than 1 there stood Betty, a glass half raised to her Hps. Hhe. too. had heard Her free went white, and I aaw her gulp, aa she handed the glass back to the man she was with, untouched. Just then the music struck up and I had to seek my next partner. I forget for-get now who It was. I even forget whether the number was a one-step or a trot. I waa thinking of the scene at the table and of Betty's face. When the music stopped I made my excuses rather abruptly and went to look for Betty. I found her ith Tom Cherry. Torn hates dancea but get a drasaed to 'em I by his sisters. He a an awfully good ! sort and a great pal. I "Betty's got a headache. Jack, so 1 we sat It out." he grinned, rising to leave aa I came up. I took It as a Joke, of courae. knowing know-ing Tom e weakness, but the next minute min-ute Betty said: "I wish you'd take me home, t feel miserable." I looked at her for a moment. Was she really 111. or waa this a pose? "Of course, dear, I said, "if you're 111, but 8he Went white to the Hps:. "1 can go alone If you won't take me. You have still another dance with the fascinating Miss Vail. 1 belle be-lle ve. I looked at Betty in amaxement. Then I noticed for the first time that my beautiful roses were gone from her waist. "tier your things on." I aald In -the heat of rising anger. "I'll meet you here in a minute. I hurried to the coatrvm wondering wonder-ing if Jealousy had caused that end-; den headache and thla inconvenient demand tu be taken home. I found myself raging at the situation. And, then like a daah of Icy water there flooded the realisation that I ha4 for- ; gotten, yea actually and honestly for- |