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Show ' ' A I ! r , 41 k , 1 r r1 i 6 1 1i -1 1 - : ' 1M 1ciw'niiv y M crjze ciw'niiv ciwniiv ' mwr ; X 5 ? , 4 | ( mwtcu 0 0o 0rtl o . rtl Frances once5 Shelletj h he11eii e11eii Weet " eg I , . ' . r . . , / c r- r , tf Frru * J d/cv71'iu d cv71'iu cv71iu / .r r w N U sLov/ sLov sLovc - 'Jl- 'Jl Jl 'JlCHAPTER ' ' - - - CHAPTER I I1 I -1- 1 - _ -1- 1 - 1m 1YN - IYN m YN finished nlsbed flnlshed his story . . Ta11ean T\1I T 1I Ta11 T1Iesn Tillcan ' \ [ esn ean , bronzed , he be stood before beforebIg beforebig beforefbig bIg crystal mirror banging over overstone overFttone ? Itone stone fireplace and examined examinedrtin rtin lC'Aln lCAln rc/iln rc iln ' / critically crHlcally . It was a very.eLcbln very .eLcbln eLcbln . 'echin echin ' e : chin , but Bryftwas Bry1fwas Bryri Bryft Bry1f was not in theI thet the11r4t the thet 11r4t [ I t concerned with Ita Its nlcene niccnes-s niccnes s niceness - c ; , t \ was vms was trying to determine whetherI whetherch whetherch whether I \ch ch \ 'rch rch ' , : ch had or hid h'ld hld had ' not nicked nlcked It In InOlteslmalIY Intesimally InA teslmally tesimally . It seemed not Burch BurchII Burchdone BurchIj OlteslmalIY II I done his usual perfect pertect jobbby job jobktSibby ) kt-Sibby kt Sibby ' - bb7 bby , ' bis hIs eyes round and dls dis dlsl dlsted disfed disfeted l ( fed ted , , , dropped Into one of the.p thep the - ' .p p . Morocco armchairs and nnd staredat stared .J J . .Jat at the dusk Its It v was " > is \s s ' \ pouring .fh fh . amoke smohe smoke across the bay , siftingfcngh sifting siftingugh siftingugh ugh the Golden Gate to blot blotthe blotthe blotft the sunset . . . The dilly d'1lty d1lty ' fleet ofng ofrig of ofIng -Ing Ing - ng rig vessels , their sails salls a rowDY rowfly row rowJiy DY fly dark triangles against theing the theIng theIng Jiy Ing face of the sun , slIpped slippedace slippedbnce ace ce more to brave the perils ofasty ofasty of ofrasty rasty asty deep Below the tbe house houseyes housegraves . Tes yes lapped Idly at the whitegentle whitegentle white whitegentle gentle and harmlessby harmlessby harmless harmlessgibby gibby by was not a philosopher pbllosopher , andad andad and andad ad very little l1tt1e Irmglnatlon Im'1glnntton Im1glnntton imagination ' Toy Toy ToA Tohorse To 'Qby'a Qbya ' y A y ) . ' a horse borse was a horse , , usually usuallya usuallyifour usuallyiJRfour a ifour tour legs and a tall tail It n wnssomething wassomething was wns wassomething something something over which kingdomstbe kingdoms kingdomst prinIfes tbe t : , , be lost or " with "lth lth which prln prin prin'mght jnight .mlght mlght 'mght mght ' . [ be rescued re.cued recued : . Wa\ Wa Wa\es Wa es Waes Waxes \ es to toy toy | 1 y Mere "ere ere were " waves , always alw'lYs alwlYs ' wet andchllly and andj'cbllly andchilly & j'cbllly jcbllly chilly ? ' ] . But now ' , as he stared stared'through staredr through 'through ' the wide plate glass glassow gla < ; s sow sdw ow , there w " was "as as as a lool look 1901 . . of post postQ po < ; 1 1In IIf Q . In Inspiration < ; plraUon on his face face , , as If he " ( telling telhng himself that these theses < . ( " ; s , at least , ml miRht might ht sometimes sometimesthe sometimesthe sometimesl ; the shores of China the far farQ , Idangerous | 'dangerous dangerous " ' dangerous shores of or China Cblna , g'lhese glhese ' these theseaes \ va\cs va cs \\a\es a es waxes \ might cislly C'1slty C1slty easlly ' , land 1 I and tender thou though h they no\\ no now nored no noCT \ \ CT 31 ared red , might cislly e\siIy e siIy easily ' \ pulT purr puff andI ands and s < 1 I and lift 11ft themselves to f'lllthunder fallthunder ' fill f'lll flll fall _ thunder arid al1d fury on one of the thent thent theent [ | nt little IUtle \ vessels essels sessels drlt'tln drlttln drifting ' ; no\v no v now novcnely nowenely nowpfenely \ cnely enely past pact ; the sun Life was was'that wasThat wasthat 'that that ' . , Tubby \ aas was as convinced convincedby convincedby convincedhby by put his head down Into bisu bls his blsand hisand and groaned groanedol groanedI groanedtook I ol ok . here , Bryn , " he be slid s11d said In 3egone aegone a 3 aecone > econe egone voice , "you you " can t go gogh gogh goagh gh with It . , I \ won't wont on't ont ' ' let you's you's you ; ' 's s ' final flnaL unaLut " ; ut tit , . tut tut , , " Bryn responded recponded : ; am1'lHe amlalie arnli am1'l am1l amla arnliHe ' He lie pressed a ! bell Jell on the man manCo mane mangee Co e . . Burch , bland and serene sereneed , ) J Jd d the door noiselessly . ( l lrch rch , I am being married this thisDg thisd thisre Dg . " d re was a moment of deadss deadt deadss dead t ss as If even PIe jbe wales v . a \ es had hadIn hadin 3 in their Irresistible Irreslstfble course courseBureh courseBurch coursej&Burch coursejBurch & Bureh Burch swallowed , and said"Indeed saidr said"Indeed said . "Indeed Indeed " , &Ir Ir blr sir & ? Do you wIsh wishprocure wishiprocure r . procure a maidservant , sir'rn sirrn sir ? ' ' n a looked up , startled "A A "Aervant "Aervant " "Aservant Aservant " ervant ? Do \ we e need a maid maidun maidt maidhi un t ? " unas vas as thlnkIn thinking ; of your wife wlte , , sir sir"T sirT . " i iwife wife wlte ? ' Bryn repeated , , hIs hIscomIng hiscoming hiscoming ( comIng sharply to Burch's Burchs Burch'sThen Burch'sThen ' Burch'sI BurchsI Then , . "Ah Ah " . , . , . no She wl11 will wl11e wille willie e coming here " ry good , sir . , What shall Ir Ia I " r < n a looLed lool.ed looked . down at tho the gray grayIth graylth grayylth Ith lth which wbIch . , Tubby bad had Insist Insistwas Insistwas InsistFwas was desecrating the evening eveningnsldered eveningnsidered eveninginsldered nsldered nsidered . "Well Well "Nell Nell " , , shirts and andNothing andL andNothing andi L . Nothing else , except those thosetrousers thoser thosetrousers thosefit r trousers I got so much mudTahoe mudTahoe mud mudTahoe Tahoe " Li RLi Lisir R I , Bir sir . Nothing else ? No Nognnsping guns ? ? t ting Ing tackle ? No golf clubs clubshlne ? ' 1 1g | g . . By the v . way-I way I way ay-I ay I - I am a"englneer aii a a"engineer - " " ii -"engineer "engineer engineer - -"englneer "englneer englneer engineer out ( ) tt it cif work beof be- be be-- beof - - . of the depression . . AnythingDg Anythingng Anything Dg ng g engineer out of or work beof beof be be'of 'of of ' of the depression wouldn'twouldn't wouldn'twouldn't wouldn't wouldnt ' pawnedf [ wouldn't wouldnt ' have bave ' I've Ive ' pawned pawnedh pawnedz f 0 z ; : h drew a noticeable deep , , ' ' ' "Very Very " good , sir . Shall youe you JB youJB e to breakfast breaUastn breaUastnnly ? " Stalnly nly ly . , " I Il . . . " \l l \ I eald said she wasn't wasnt ' coming " fi : * . . , yes , sir . , Lunch ? ' ' | lunch unch . . I shall bo be leaving imly 1m im 1mely -ely ely - 11 ly after breaUast brenhfast breakfast . , and youI you s ; yous prepare dinner until untll ap- ap apately aptely ap-Hitcly ap Hitcly - - - I ately tely a year from tonight . . I Iaway Iaway ] | < away during that time . " : - , sir . And the orders foi for fort foir t 1 r " " " lid wung Iwung swung roundfrom round from the theglas9eiarded theglass theglas9e theglasscarded glas'3 glas3 ' . iarded carded nrded BurcQ Burch thoughtfully thou1htfu11y ; . , , t t"so "so so , . " ' " 80 o , , " he eald said meditatively meditativelyit . 4 4t t haTB have forgottenrlellMor forgotten rlellMor IcllMortake el1 Mor- Mor Morake - f ftake ake take a spanner , will wlll yon you , and andthe andthe anc ; .111 111 . .111uneven the paInt-l1Ot paInt l1Ot paint-riot riot paint - not all aU of ot it it , . but butunevcn buluneven unevcn uneven portions-from portions from portions - from the theTeU theTell thB ( . Tell TeU him to take a chisel chiselve chiseljifJ chlseilTe jifJ ve deepTell It some nice deer deep deeris --is is - - . Tell him to make It look lookr looliar r I might have bought bougl1t for fororty fororty to : Cortytwo orty two dollars doUara and flft fifty fiftym ; om m a bankrupt gangster . , Uiash He Heash HeA Heash A ) ash up the fenders tenders , and If Iffurther Iffurther 1B further occurs to him . . , . " fo : ; Bellaire Dellaire , slr1 sir ? The DCW new DCWmotor1 newii ncvmotor ii . ; motor1 motor ? The black car ? ' of f i those thinfcs thln.s thlns thinks ! , . ; , " ' Bryn said sali + - v 'V V v'V ' ttood 8tood stood up . II nis llI.s llIs is . eyes rectcd rested rectcdch's restedeh's restcirch's restcirchs ; ch's chs eh's ehs ' agitated countenance countenancea . _ _ i q qs a s deep breath breath.gt breathgt . . s all , " Bryn said crisply . 4 4I I 'Yes Yes ' Yes , sir , " Burch muttered de despondently de- de despondently despondently - - spondently , and went out . Tubby was wac ; starln staring ' it 1t at Bryn Br , ) n "Any Any "AnybocIv "Anybody " "Anybody Anybody " bocIv body would think thlnl . you were In 1n love lovewith lovewith lovewith with the girl , . " he said"Would said said"Would "Would Would dVould " they ? How nice It Itsounds Itsounds Itsounds sounds so much better . So much muchmore muchmore muchmore more romintic rom1ntic romantic and Idyllic To be beIn bein beIn In love with ones one s bride Instead of ofmarryIng ofmarrying ofmarrying marryIng her for her ber moneyIoney money . " "Money Money \Ioney Ioney " : \ l 1 I " Tubby said bitterly ' , Money I ' ' He shook his head mIs mIserably ms mserably miserably ( erably "You're Youre " ' making some kind kindof kindof kindof of a damned fool out of yourself yourselfBrj , Br Bryn , ) n You re letting some gang pull pulla a fast one on you that's thats ' ' what whatyou whatyou whatyou you re doing Do you think for a aminute aminute aminute minute that that girl doesn doesnt t knowuho know knowwho who \ ho you are arc ? ' 'She She ' Slie doesn't doesnt ' , , " Brvn Br\'n Br 'n n Bryn ' \ said calmly calmlyTubby calmlyTubby calmlyTubby Tubby snorted "That's Thats " ' a brIght brIghtremarh brightremark brightremark remarh remark . , Isn lsn t It ? Very bright . . Now NowIf , If I ask you , how In God Gods s nnme name nnmecould namecould namecould could an anybody body on the Pacific Paclfic co\st co st coast costhelp coasthelp coisthelp ' \ help having seen your ugly mug In Inthe inthe Inthe the papers , how could anybody "ho ho who "hocan whocan " whocan can read help knowing about Jame James JamesWeldon JamesWeldon I Weldon Shipley Brynlldson Bryntldson Third Third'and Thirdind , 1nd 'and and ' ' his speed boats and his ele eIe- eIe eIeI eIephant ele- ele elephant elephant - - phant tusks tusl.s tusls . and his se\en se en seen seven se\ se \ en cars and andhis andhis andhis I his polo ponies ? ' I , ' I Im m sure she can read . , " Bryn re repIled replied repiled pIled plied , unruffled unrumed "The The " first tlrst time I Isaw Isaw Isaw saw her she was reading o\er o er oxer \ a lot lotof lotof lotof of legal documents up In Hoiworthy Hol Holworth Holworthy worth worthy s office " Tubby eyed him for a long mo moment momeat moment I ment meat . . Then he said gustlly gustily , ' Looh Look Loohhere Lookhere Lookhere here , . Bnn Bryn nr n Did ! It t ever occur to I 11 Il Ild d lr l lr r fl . r r rr r t I I I's 's s ' L I , If If.Y . .Y Y N Nrrr.f rrr.f rrrf . "Did Did " It Ever Occur to You That ThatTed ThatTed ThatTed Ted Holworthy Might Be Engl Engi Englneerlng Engineering EngIneering neerlng neering This Beautiful Mix up ? " you that Ted Holworthy hlm himself himselfmight himselfmight < ; eIt eItmight might be engineering this beautl beauy beautllul beauyful beautitul lul ful mix up ? Did It1 It ? " * , ' I can't cant ' say that It did " "All All " this tilking talking hlkln ; hes he s been doing doingnbout doingabout doingabout nbout about her . What did he be tell you youabout youabout youabout about her for In the first place ? Ob Oh ObI , I know he lIe sild s1id said ! It Itas t " \\as as "as was \ \ an Interest Interest- InterestIng interesting Interesting - ing case , but that was Just to get getyou getyou getyou you listening . . " "Didn't Didnt " ' ' you think It was an Interesting In Interestlng Intercsting terestlng teresting case , lubbi Zubby ubb P ? " ' "Well Well " Nell , , If It was a case , yes Cer Certalnly Certhinly Ccrtalnly talnly thinly . , Of Ot course . I thought myself my my- myself myself - , self It Lt was Interesting But you no- no notIce notice no notice - - , tice I didn't didnt ' get all wrought up upabout upabout upabout about It and start han hanging lng around aroundto aroundto aroundto to get a look at the girl . , and even evenIf evenIf evenf If I had I wouldn't wouldnt ' even dream of ofstepping ofstepping ofstepping stepping Into a game like this &nd nd and &ndmarr andmarrying & andmarrying marr marrying , ) Ing her myself . " "Neither Neither " did I ; . , " Bryn said "I I "Inever "Inever " "Inever Inever " never dreamed dreclmed of such a u thing ButI But Butas I \ was \\as as curious . , 111 III admit that . . You Youhaven't Youhaven't Youhaven't Youhavent haven't havent ' any curiosity because you youhaven't youhaven't youhaven't youhavent haven't havent ' got any nny Imagination . . . It If Ityou Ifyou Ifyou you bad had , you'd youd ' ' ha\e ha e hate \ been hangln hanging hangingaround bangingaround ; around , too You'd Youd ' ha ha\e ha e ha'e hae \ , ' e v . wintcd wanted 1nted ' to to100L tolook tolook 100L look . at the man In the case , . when whenhe whenhe whenhe he arr1\ arr1 arrived arr1cd arrrsed \ cd for this wedding to a agirl agirl agirl girl he bed lied d ne\ ne nc\er nc er neer never \ er seen , and then whenyou when whenou you ou saw the min m'1n m1n map ' you youd d certaInly certaInlyhave certainlyhave certainlyhave have wanted to get a look lool . at the thegirl thegirl thegirl girl , and v . when ben you siw S1W sasv the girlBryn girl . . . " Bryn paused . , , lubby tubby ubby looked lookedat lookedat lookedat at him curiously , but Bryn coughed coughedand coughedand coughedand . and vent went \ ent on Immediately . "Whenyou "When When "Whenyou Whenyou " you saw the girl you would "ould ould , " most mostassuredly mostassuredly mostassuredly assuredly have wanted to know ho\ ho how hoIt howIt lionIt \ ' . It \ was as all going to come out out . . She . . . . well , . , .she she . wasn't wasnt ' his type . , Tub " "You're Youre " ' saying just what I've Ive I'vebeen ' I'vebeen Ivebeen ' been trying to Bay say , , " Tubby cried cried"Holworthy's cried"Holworthy'fl criedHolworthyfl "Holworthy's Holworthys " " ' been working worL.lng worLlng . on your yourimagination Imagination yourImagination . . . He De knows what you're youre you'rem.c you'relike you'relike yourelike ' m.c mc like . . . . Well , It's Its ' Buccceded succeeded . Every Everything's Everything's Everythings very verything's thing's things planYou're planYoure ' gone according to plan planYou're You're Youre ' roped . . . Tonight Tonhht : you're youre ' ' go Ing lag goIng golag to marry this girl Jlrl : that you'veonly youveonly you"c youc you're youre you"conly you'reonly ' " only seen three times times , , , a B girl you yoidon't yoidont youdon't don't dont ' really reaHy know a B dam darn thing thingabout thingabout thingabout about , . just because she has some somekind gomekind 1.1nd 11nd kind . of cock eoch and bull story about abouthaving abouthaving abouthaTing having to get married before her hertwenty hertwenty heitwenty twenty first birthday and nnd the man manshe's manshe's manshe's manshes she's shes ' supposed to marry doesn't doesnt doesn'thappen doesn'thappen doesn'thappen doesnthappen ' happen to take her fancy Of or course courseho courseho courseho ho wouldn't wouldnt ' ' take her fancy tancy witliyou wltl with withyou . you around . . Certainly he ' ' . wouldn't wouldnt wouldn'tThat's \ wouldn'tThat's wouldntThats oudn.t oudnt oudn.tThat's ] That's Thats ' what It's Its ' ' all about about , , you |