Show RL 1 r i avo illustrations r nga PI 1 acio t marr il dan blair the 22 year old son of the he fifty million dollar copper king of blaar town mont la Is a guest nt at tho the english home of lady galoway aa Ga loroy loray dans father had been courteous to lord gallrey during his visit to the united states and the courtesy to jo now being returned to tho the young man the youth line has an ideal girl in his hia mind lie ile meeta lily duchess of breakwater a beautiful widow who la is attracted by his hl immense fortune CHAPTER II 11 1 I continued only lady gallrey hesitated disappointed too bad I 1 had bad specially arranged tor for lady grandcourt Grand court to drive over with elleen eileen I 1 thought it would bo be a ripping chanco chance for hor her to sep see dan when at length the duchess had succeeded in getting dan to herself toward tho the end of the day lu in the red room after ton tea said bald so you wont marry a london beauty to auty and rather coldly dan ad answered I 1 why you talk all of you na as it I 1 had bad only to ask any girl of them and ahe would jump down my throat dont try it the duchess duchala answered unless you want to have your mouth lull full I 1 don dan did not reply for a second but i he bo looked at her more seriously conscious of her grace and her good looks she was waa certainly better to look at than the simple girls with their heir big hands small email wits long lone faces and as aa the boy expressed it utter lack of getup get up the duchess shone cut to advantage why dont you talk to me she asked softly you know you would rather talk to me than the others yes yea he said frankly they make me nervous and I 1 dont no he 1 I learn a lot every time we are together learn she bhe repeated not particularly nattered flattered by this what sort fort of things oh about the whole business he be return returned ad vaguely you know what I 1 mean abon she sandwith said with a slight gaslight laugh you mean to say you talk to me tor for educational purposes what a beast ly IV bard bortal tn did not contradict her she t was by y no means eve to him nor was he the raw recruit his simplicity might give one to think lie ho had had his temptations and his way out of them waa vas an easy one for ho he was very slow to stir and back of 0 nil all was his ideal the reality and pow powe his this ideal dan know knew best at momen moments as like these but the duchess of breakwater was the most lovely woman the most dangerous woman that had come I 1 ilia his way ile he liked her dan was well on the way to love the two were alone in the big dark room at their side the small table e from which they had taken their tea together stood with its empty cups and its silver without the day was cold and windy and the sunset throw threw along the panes a red reflection the light fell on the duchess of Bre akwa tor something like a vell veil h a crimson veil slipped over her face and breast sho she leaned toward dan and between them there was no more barrier than the western light ile ho felahis felt fel this hla pulses beat and a tide rising within him she was a delicious emanation fragrant and near and as he be might have gathered a cluster of flowers so in the next second he would have taken her la in his arms but from the other room just then lady gallrey Ga lorey at the piano played a snatch from mandalay striking at once into the tune tude the sound came suddenly told them quickly some one was near and the duchess of breakwater involuntarily moved back and so knocked the small tray jostled it and it fell clattering to the floor 1 I t CHAPTER ill it the Blair blairtown town soloist 4 Blair blairtown town had a population of some 1 eight thousand there was a presby 5 terlan church to lo which dan and hla his t father weri went regularly sitting in the tha y bare pew when the winters storms beat ond and rattled on the anes anes or in the summer cummer sunshine whua the smell at 0 the pews paws and the patia panagia na fans fana and tho the hymn books cane string to them I 1 un ough the heat beat one day there was wa a missionary ser men and for the cirit tane in its ita his hl tory a girl sang a solo eolo in the first presbyterian church dan blair beard it looked up and it made a mark in hia 03 life A girl in a B white dress ss trimmed with blue gentians white cot ton gloves and golden hair was waa the soloist ile he know knew tier her that Is he ha had a nodding acquaintance acquaintance with her it was the girl at the drug storo store who sold soda water and he had asked tier her some hundreds of times for a vanilla or a chocolate but it this vulgar memory that made the little boy listen it was the girls voice standing back of the yellow painted rail above the ministers pulpit above the flies files the red pews and the panama fans fang she sang and she sang into dan beairs blairs soul to speak more truly she made him a soul in that moment she awakened the boy his bis collar felt tight his cheeks grew hot hol he felt his new boots too hard and heavy the autumn season sonson light and charming thoroughly musical it had toured successfully through europe but lon dou was waa its home and its ita popularity was chiefly owing to tho the girl who had bad starred in it letty lane tier her face wits waa on every postal card hand bill cosmetic box and even popular drinks were named for her the alot of the box party was tho the reopening of mandalay and ana the curtain went up tip after the overture toan to an outburst of applause dan blair had never crossed the pond before this memorable visit when ne he had gone straight out to park london theaters and london itself indeed were unexplored by him he had soen seen what there was waa to be seen of the opera in his own country but the brilliant perfect perform ance of a company at the london gaiety he had yet to enjoy the opening scene of Al mandalay andalay Is oriental tho the burst of music and the tinkling of the silvery temple bells and the effect of an extremely blue sea made dan sit up na as ho he put it the theatrical picture was so perfect that he be lifted his head pushed nis chair back to enjoy ile he was thus close to the duchess with invigorating young enthusiasm the boy drew in his bla breath and waited to bo be amused and to hear the tunes he already knew before the orchestra began to charm hla his ear car on landing at plymouth dan bad been keen to feel that he was really stepping into the world and at park he had been dally daily hourly seeing life the youngest of the household his youth nev nevertheless rt beless was not taken into consideration by any of them no one had treated him like V 7 0 Q 0 74 UVA I 1 he liked her dan was well on the way to love she made him want to cry thase were the physical sensations the material part of the awakening the rest went on deeply inside or of dan she broko broke his bis heart then she healed it she made him want to cry like a gial alf 1 then she wiped his bis tears r t the little boy settled back and gre grew w more comfortable and listened and what she sang sane was prom from Green Grein lands ley icy mountains prom t rom indias andias coral stra ands before the hymn reached its end he was a calm boy again and the hymn took up its pictures and became like an illustrated book of travels and he wanted to see those pea green peaks of greenland to float upon the icebergs to them and see sea the dawn I 1 break on tho the polar seas as the explorers e do ile he should aln alle north pole some day then he canid wanted to go to an african jungle where the tiger tiger shining bright should lash flash his stripes before his bis e eyes besl dan would gather wreaths of coral from the stra ands and give them to the girl with the yellow hair when he and his father came out together from the church dan chose the street that tle soda fountain drug store and peeped in it was dark and cool ca 0 1 and behind the counter the drug c clrk rk mixed the summer drinks dranka and the drug clerk mixed them from that time ever afterward tor for the girl with the yellow hair never showed up in blair town again she went awall away in th the Corl CorAl room VIA A mandalay had run I 1 at tb thi cauty cla toty the neason caann before and agilia opened a junior jle he had bad gone neck to nock with their pace as far as he liked furnished them fresh ainu amusement and been their diversion in all hla his rare uns unspoiled polled youth blair blaar had been suddenly dropped down in an effete if t set that had whirled about him and one by one out of the inner circle had called him to io jon join them and one by one with all of them hem dan dam haa baa whirled lord gallrey had talked to olin him frankly as plainly us as if f dan had been his own father and found much of the old mans common sense in his finn blond head lady malorey had colne coine to him in a moment of great anxiety and no one ona but her young guest know knew how bow badly she needed help lie he had further made it known to the lady that ho he was not in market that she could not have him tor for any of her girls and as for the abo duchess of breakwater well he bo bad whirled alth her until his bla head swam lie had ad grown years scars older olar at di the park in the few weeks of his visit but now for the first time as the music of mandalay struck upon his ears like fike a ripple of distant seas ho he felt like the boy who had left Blair blairtown town to came come abroad lie ho had spent the aril molt part of tho the day in london with a man who had come over to seo see him from america dan attended to his business affairs and the people who know knew said eaid that he be had a keen head mr joshua ruggles haggles his fathers best friend whom dan this afternoon had left to go to his room at the carlton had put hla his arm with affection through the boys dont look as though it were jiny any too healthy down to the place youre visiting at dan plumbing all right and the boy flushing slightly had said dont you fret josh ill look after ray my health all right theres nothing like mountain air returned turned ro the westerner these old fogs stick in my nostrils feel as though I 1 could smell london clean down to my mr feet from the corner of the box dan looked hard at the stage at the fresh brilliant costumes and the lovely chorus girls gosh he thought to himself they are the prettiest ever dove gray eyes of irish blue mouths like rodest roses I 1 leaning forward a little toward the duchess he whispered there one who 1961 a winner I 1 never struck such a box of dry goods goodal I 1 the duchess smiled on dan with good humor his naive pleasure was was delightful it was like taking vv a child to r a pantomime she was wearing hla 1319 flowers and displaying a jewel that he be had found and bought for her and which she had not hesitated to accept she watched his eager face and his pleasure unaffected and keen she could not believe that this young man was master of ten million pounds when letty lane appeared bar beard a light rustle like rain through the auditorium a murmur and the house rose there was a well bred calling from the stalls a call from the pit and generous applause letty lane letty latty lane and as though she were royalty abere there was a fluttering of handkerchiefs like flags mhd young fellow with the others stood in the bark back of the box his bis hands bands in his pockets looking at the stage there a girl in the chorus as pretty as this prima donna letty lane came on in mandalay in the first act in the dress of a fashionable princess she was modish and worldly for the only time in the play she ehe was modern and conventional and whatever breeding she might hive hav e been able to claim frow from whatever class she was born as she stood there in her beautiful gown she was grace itself and charm she was distinctly a star and showed tier her appreciation of her audiences admiration TO BE CONTINUED |