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Show - . The ' = onrth Lovely oweiy , IL Ii _ _ i d ii Y ' . e a < Ily : . TUalR.IE@J1l TUalR.IEJ1l : T , : II . : @ : : B BT i i , o oWNU WNU sorvico ( T The Bobbs b lXerr111 Company m ) . CHAPTER VI-Continued VI Continued VI - Continued VIContinued8 VIContinueda -8- 8 -a- a - 8"So a"So - 8 - "So So " you joined up"l upl ups upf " ' Smif Smlf remarhed remarked remarkedmore , , more Interested Intercsted in this fact fnct than tu in tuMiss inMiss InMiss Miss Mercedes"In Mercedei Mercede Mercedes Mercedei"la "la la "In In " ' 14 , " , " Stone noddtd noddLd nodded "I I " went wentover wentover wentover over at once . . Tlie The only time I cver ever cverleft everleft everleft left Virginia for more thin th'lu thlu than ' a week or ort ortwo ortwo t two " 0 ' I'd Id ' ' been educated cduc'lted cduclted ' in England Englandremember Englandremember Englandremember remember , , and knew a n lot of fellows Iwas Iwas I was useful as a n liaison h31son officer I was wasgoing wasgoing wasgoing going to transfer to our own forces forceswhen forceswhen forceswhen when we tamo tame ame In Somehow I didn dldn t tAfraid tAfraid tAfraid Afraid they'd theyd ' ' think thlnl I was pushing m my mi-telf mi telf ; } - . lelt self fOM\ fOM forward fOMard forssard \ ard , , you I know know"You knowYou now " " ' " ' " " ' "You You 'You were wounded wounded"Stone woundedStone Stone wr wriggled bgle . . "Oh Oh " . , slightly , just justa a scratch Nothing worth mentiontrig mention mentionIng . tng trig . . " "You You " might as " well "ell ell tell me how It Ithappened ithappened Ithappened happened " Smif Smlf pressed him Ineor Ineorably Ine Incxorably . : or orably ably . , , "I'm Im " ' ' ' noted for my tactless per pertJnacIty pertinacity pertinaclty M " M"Oh tJnacIty tinacity "Oh Oh "OIl OIl " , weU-tbere weU tbere well-there well there well , - there was a little httJe chap chapI I was fond of-we of we of - we all w " were "erc erc ere Ir.lSh IrlSh Irish Irishnot . , not too young , , he'd hed ' ' been a Jockey inearly In Inearly early arly life and we all aU thought he'd hed ' ' dyed dyedhis dyedhis dyedhis his hair and lied about his age to get gettn1.en gettaken gettaken tn1.en tn1en taken . on at all Very sporting what whatWell ? Well , some mpn m'n mn men ( ' camp In after a n raid raidSaid raidSaid raidSaid Said they'd theyd ' left him In a shell hen hole holewounded , . wounded He'd Hed ' begged 'cm cm 'em em ' to go on onIt onIt onIt It was useless to tr tr.v trv try . to carry him In"Thlngs In"Things in in"Things " "Things Things "Thlngs Thlngs " hid h'ld hld ' quieted qUleted down , , there therewasn't therewasn't therewasn't therewasnt wasn't wasnt ' ' any dingcr d\nger d nger danger ' \ . , so , be1O being fond of ofhIm ofhim ofhim hIm , as I said , I just wandered o\"er o "er er over o"erto overto overto \ " to see what could be done for him himThat's himThat's himThat's himThats That's Thats ' all nIl there " was ns to it " - ' ' "Except Except 'Bxcept Bxcept " ' that tImt you effected a Ihlson lI'tlson lItlson lI'tlsonwith Ihlsonwith liiisonwith ' with ' i 1 'i ' German bullet or t two " 0 , , " Smlf Smif Smlfsaid Smifsaid Smifsaid said dryly . 'I I ' ' I see Absolutely no dan Ilan danger Ilanger dangcr ger , of course " Then . , with nth a f1'1ch f11ch fiish fli ' ; h of ofInhlitlOn ofintuition ofintuition InhlitlOn intuition , "I I " suppose he give g\\"e g "e e ' \ ' \ " ' vou 'ou ou sou the theemerald theemerald theemerald emerald horseshoe vou you so often wear wear7 ' ' ' "I I " 'I I ' always alwas ; } weir we'lr welr wear ' It , , " " Stone corrected correctedher correctedher correctedher her , , throwln throwing his coat back bacl to displiv displivit di dl < : I)1\v I)1 I1 v I)1vit plivit ) ' \ it it . . Dennis 'Dennis ' ' was killed I.lIled IlIled . the first d'l dl day dayafter divafter ' ' \ " after tint th'lt thlt that ' tliat that he wis W'lS WlS ' back at the thefront thefront thefront front He'd Hed ' left the pin with the thepriest thepriest thepriest priest " with "Ith Ith OJ of ciders ders to turn It 0\ 0 os over 0er \ er to tome tome tome me if l ! he went " west "est est It hid h\d h d ' \ been pre pre- presented pre- pre presented presented - - sented to him after he won a gre'1t gre1t great gre'1trace greatrace greitrace ' race by great riding , and nnd he prIzed prizedit It above everything e\"erytliing e "erytliing erytliing \ " " A silence fell fellbe1 fellbetween fellbetween be1\\ be1 be1een between \ \ een them , each e'lch elch etch ' traveling traehng , far on ontrams ontrains ontrains trams trains of thought arou aroused < : ed by whit wh\t wh t ' \ had hadtranspired hadtranspired hadtranspired hadtranspired"You transpired transpired"You "You You " hive h'l\"e h'l hl "e e have ' ' \ " friends over there , , " Smlf Smlt Smlfnld Smltsaid Smifslid nld said at last . . "Has Has " it never occurred occurredto to you to go bick b'lck blck b'tck btck ' ' to them ? ' Stone set his jaw stubbornly stubbornlv "I'm Im "I'mnn "I'man "I'man Iman " ' ' nn an Amerlcin AmerIc1n Amerlc'tn Amerlctn ' I made up my mind all allVIrgmia allVirginia allVirginia VIrgmia Virginia couldn't couldnt ' ' freeze me out , , and andby andby andby by G-d G d - G - d , , I don't dont ' ' mean to let them I 1 " " There wis W\5 W 5 w'ts wts ' \ ' ' p'lcsion plcsion p'tcsion ptcsion pi ' ' : < ; sion In the st'ltement stltement statement st'ltementand statementand stitementand ' and , sensing senmg $ the spirit spmt tint th'1t th1t that ' hid h'ld hld ' c\r c r cir crrled cirsled cirried ' \ rled sled him himn through years of ostracism ostracismSmif o ostracismSmif < : lraClsm lraClsmSmlf Smlf Smif recognized its it ' \ ' is \s s 'is finil fin'll finll final ' At once onceshe onceshe onceshe she dropped the subject ' ind 'lnd lnd reverted revertedto to the topic of \ Miss 1\I1SS 1 I1SS 'Uercedes'Did Mercedes'Did ' Mercedes 'Uercedes Uercedes Mercedes'Did ' 'Did Did ' ) Mercy Iercy nurse you ; } vou OU ' ' ' 'Ira Ira , ' I Im m ' ilive 'lUve lUve alive , , " wis w\s w s ' \ Stone Stones s liconic hconlc laconic 'In In ' inswer in inswer _ swer . Then ' ' iftcr 1fter 'after after a minute he took tool the thematter thematter thematter matter up agalD'She again agalD 'She She ' She wasn't wasnt ' ' a n full fun fledged nurse , , a afact afact afact fact which doubtless doubtle doubUe ' = s s\\ s son sived sed ' \ \ ed some < : ome mor\ mor more moror moreor moreor ( \ or less valuable lives hves I onv only ] saw sa\v sa v \ her heroccasionally heroccasionally occasionally in the South She had a as ay aflirtation s \ y . flIrtatIOn at every e\"ery e "ery ery ' \ " cot and " wheel heel chaIr chairAfter chairAfter , . After the armistice in Pins P'lrIS PlrIS Paris ' Ae she < he began beganto beganto beganto to cling a little ; but her Intentions Intentionsweren't intentionsweren't Intentionsweren't Intentionswerent weren't werent ' ' really reallv serious until untll she grew grewfat grewfat grewfat fat . . , . A fit ht f'it ' man is the most hor horrlble horrible horrible rlble rible sight In the world worlJ ] , but to my mymind mymind mymind mind a fat woman runs him prett\ prett pretty prettclose prettyclose prcttvclose \ . close So ' I'm Im ' counting countmg on you ; ou to save saveme saveme saveme me from licr her , , Smif Srnif " "And And " she is counting on me to sac save sacyou saveyou saveyou , you for her , " Smif Smlf pointed pomted out outIivI . "hv hv "hvI " ' " Miv MivI \IivI IivI \ I ask how I am to reconcile my duty dutyto dutyto - to both clients cheuts ? After all , 1\ 1 Ive 1e Ine \ e taken takenber takenher takenher ber her money and 1\ 1 ' I've Ive 1e Ie ' \ % e not taken ta.en taen ] . yours yoursPerhaps 5 ours oursPerhaps oursPerhaps Perhaps the best wiy W'ly Wly way ' out of the dim (11111 11111 dimculty (11111culty ( dimculty culty would ssould \ ould be to throw"ou throw ' \ " vou \"ou "ou ou you over 0er oser 0\ 0 \ er " "Too Too " late , " Stone asserted ascerted assertetl ; "It's Its " ' ' 1m im 1mposslbe impossible Impossible posslbe possible ] now no\v no v \ to forget ' I'm Im ' your COUSID cousin COUSIDIn cousinIn cousinIn In Virginli Ylrglni'l Ylrglnil Vlrginli ' , , . blood counts , vou von know knowYou knowYou knowYou You can't cant ' throOer throw thro\\ thro \ \ over O\er O er oser a rclltivc re1\h\e re1 h e relative ' \ ' \ Be Besides Beslde"i Besldei - - sides slde < : " , , ' is 'IS a problem I m much more In interesting Interesting terestlng teresting thin tb'ln tbln ' she can possibly pocslbly ; be beShe's beShe's beShe's beShes She's Shes ' ' onlfat onlv onl\ onl only \ " fat ' I'm Im rm ' morbid ' ind 'lnd lnd intro introspectlve introspective introspective spectlve spective and nnd obstinate and a lot of ofi ofother ofother i ' other thln things s 111 I11 I 11 tell ' you 'ou ou on about liter hter " "I1ot I1ot " ot much later , , if I m to preser\"e preser "e e preserve preser"ethe preservethe preservethe \ " the 10\ 10 1 lovely 10ely ovely \ ely name unsmirched unsmlrched , , " s\ld s ld slid sldSml1 slidSmif slidSmif ' \ Sml1 Smif ' . , , her e eyes 05 es steahn stealing to the clock ; , ' ' but shouldn't shouldnt ' ' I add a bit of a n humbu humbug humbugto to the lI list < ; t you're youre ; ou\e ou e ou'vo ouvo ' \ "l\en "l l en riven ; " ? , ivcn \ me ? ' ' I'm Im ' not notsure notsure notsure sure sure"ou \ " vou \"ou "ou ou von don't dont ' like 111.e 111e . Miss Mi Ml < : ; s Mercedes Mercedesmore Mercedesmore Merccdesmore more than you'd youd ' Invo h\fe h fe hire ' \ me thlnlOU think thlnl\ thlnl \ : \OU OU sou v \ on do " Stone made a wrv wry face and shook shookhi shookhis shookhis hi his e ; head"Xot head"Not head head"Not "Xothlle "Not Not "Xot Xot " \ while \\hlle hlle she's shes ' ' < ; so 0 fat , " he slid s'lld slld siid ' de dccislvcly , / " clsl\"ely clsl "ely ely cislvely ' \ " . 'Good Good ' rl r/ght r ght right / IIt " "Good Good " night , " Snuf Snllt Smif echoed , but al alre'l.dy already alreidy re'l.dy rel.dy reldy ready ' . the door wis W'lS WlS was ' shut bet\\ bet between beteen \ een thelnShe themShe them theln themShe She resetted rese'1ted rese1ted reseited ' her herself < : el ! to smol smoke e a .1 1 . finalcigarette fln'll flnll final fln'llclgarette flmlcigarette ' clgarette cigarette , , turning the pages pag-es pag es - of i 1 ' mag'1 mag1 magi mag'111ne magivine magi7lne ' 11ne vine and tryin trying to tcir te'lr telr teir ' lier her mind 1 " . 'u u ' iwayfrom " say sayfrom ay ayfrom from Stone Stoue Kesbit Necblt Nesbit ; and nnd the posltlon position posltlonhe positionhe positionho he had miintained ID'llntamed IDllntamed milnlarned ' BO so stubbornly for foryears _ - . . - years It \ was seas as a useless uelcss ' ) attemptSo attemptSo attempt attemptSo So far as ae ; the situitlon sltU'lUon sltUlUon situation ' In Vliginla Vliginlawent Vh Vhglniawent glnla glnlawent went , , ; she che \ wis \ 'l l ' i ' " : ' " : sure iurc she could clear it itup itup Itup up if . , she be \ were sere \ ere on 011 the spot She h prom promtsed promIsed promised tsed Ised herself she slle \ would oud ] mike m\le m le ' \ , hort short shortwork < ; shortwork hort"ork "ork ork work " of it ht oucc once she \ was \ as at Lo\ Lo Lovelyloi Loelylc'l Lovelylea LovelyloiAs LovelyleaAs \ elylc'l elylcl elylc'lAs ' As regards re6ards Miss Mercedes , . she h'1d h1d hid hidstated h'1dstated hidEtatcd ' stated the cise c\se c se case ' \ quite qlJlte fr.lnl.1to frjnklv fr.lnl.1\ frlnl.1 fr.lnl.1 frlnl1 frankly . . \ to Stone Stoneand Stoneand > * and , , after ncter all , , wouldn't wouldnt woullJn't woullJnt ' ' such a m'lr mlr mir m'lrrlage mirriage mirriagc ' rlage riage be the best bet ' ) thing for all nn con concerned concerneti concorned cerned cerneti ? Mcrci Mercy Ierc had struck strucle her ns as nssl1ly assilly assilly sl1ly silly and < ; sentimental enUmental , qualities qualltle which whichmight whichmight whichmight might appeil appe'll appell appeal ' to some men ' is 'lS lS feminine femininenud feminineand feminineand nud and afTcctIomte nffectlon'1te nffectlon1te affecthonite ' Plainly no woman womanwas wominwas om'1n om1n om'1n"as ' "as as was " fitted fltted to judge judg < i s v \ hat a man loohed looked loohedfOl lookedfoi lookedfoi fOl foi In a n "ifeProh'lhly wifeProlr " wife "ife ife wifePrnbilily Prolr Prnbilily Proh'lhly Prohlhly ' hly all tint tll\t tll t that ' \ Stone wintcd w'lnted wlnted wanted ' "as as was "asth wasthat " wastint th that ' \ t &Le Le bLe ske & should br106 brin bran , , ; prpssuie prpssUl c on I Mercy to induce indule her to reduce until untilshe untilshe untilshe she was a more normal size stze . . Thnt That Thntmuch Thatmuch Thatmuch much , , she was pretty certain certala she could couldmanage couldmanage couldmanage manage to accomplish ; ; gl giving gt'cing gtcing ' lng no guar guar- guarantee guar-intee guar intee - . 'In In antee ' tee howO\ howO howos however howOer \ er that Mercy Merty would con conUnue continue continue Unue tinue svlphlike svlphlIhe after marriage . . . " "After After " one has won a race , . plainly plainlythere plainlythere plainlythere there is no Incentive to keep on run runnlng running running nlng ning , , " SmI Smif ! rcnnrke4 rem'lrle remlrle remirke4 ' { to herself " is "lS lS as she sheswItched sheswitched sheswitched swItched off the lights andHth and , , \ with \Hth Hth a awIde awide awide wIde yawn , went bungly b\1nglY b 1nglY bungiy \ to bedroreseelng bedroreseeing bed bedForeseeing Foreseeing roreseelng roreseeing tha thai ' sho she would be con conUnually contlnually continually Unually tlnually subject to interruption from fromMISS fromMiss fromMiss MISS Mercedes unless mC'lcm mClcm mcisuies me'tcuies metcuies ' ' ; es "ere ere were "eretalen weretaken " weretaken talen taken , to prov prove to her that she hid h\d h d ' \ not notbought notbought notbought bought all nIl Madame Saitou's Saitous Saltou's Saltous ' ' time , , to toher toher toher her greit gre\t gre t great ' \ di ( disgust llcgust < ; gust . , Smif Smlf promptlv promptly promptlvch'lrged promptlycharged promptlychirged ch'lrged chlrged charged ' that tl1lt : lady for a n vl&It vlIt vlblt visit & she mnde made mndeIn madein madein In the f forenoon renoon to inquire mqUlre the r result resultof resultof ( < ; ult ultof of the call at Doctor Blanton's Blantons mnnton's mnntons ' office office.Whil officeWhil . . Wbllp While . she was lingering Iin6erln linering , , , Smif Smlf an answered answered answered swered the telcplione telephone , , to hear Stone's Stones Stone'svoIce Stone'svoice Stone'svoice Stonesvoice ' ' voIce He had , it de\ de developed deeloped \ eloped , , receh recelsed recehcda recelseda er } a messa message e from Lo\ Lo Lovelylei Loelyle'l I.ovelylei Iovelylei . \ elyle'l elylel ' Voltairewas Voltaire Voltairewas Voltairewas was ill HI It was necessary for him to tota1.e totake totake ta1.e ta1e take , . the tIle first train tralD No telling when whenhe whenhe whenhe he " would "ould ould be back He had to torush torush torush rush . . . . . , . , . He hung up and so did didSmIf didSmif didSmif SmIf . Involuntarily Involl1ntarl1y her eyes sought soughtMiss soughtMiss soughtMiss Miss Mercedes ' face , who , being slue shrewd shrewdin shrew " d din din in her own way , interpreted the glance glancerIghtly glancerightly glancerightly rIghtly . That 'That ' was Johnny talking to you 5011.Don't 5011.Dont 5011Dont Ol ] . . Don't Dont ' ' bother to fib to me , , I ] know now It Itwas itwas Itwas was I could see you making mahlng up your yourmind yourmind yourmind mind " whether bether to tell me or not . " Smif Smlt liughed hugbed laughed , attempting no deni'll"I denial"I denlil deni'll denill denial denlil"I ' "I I " was doing dOlDg e exactly eactly ' . : acty ] that , , " she sbe aCe ac- ac aCekno.led acknowledged ac acknowledged - kno\.led kno.led kno .led led |