| Show 8 E R IAL A L S STORY tol y THE GIRL fro M IS TOWN by MARIE VAN VORST illustrations by M C G KETTNER af pf 1 ii 11 11 i i la 14 i i i aej 1610 1910 by the 23 SYNOPSIS dan blair tho the 22 year old son on of the fifty million dollar copper king of blair I 1 town 0 w n mont la is a kuest guest fit at tho the english fi home ot of lady galoney Oa Ga lorey dawn dans fattier father had be been courto courteous ous to lord giloroy luring during i his v visit loft to the united states and th the courtesy la is now being returned to th the oung man the youth has an ideal girl in n hla his mind he meets lily duchess of breakwater a beautiful w widow w who la in attracted by hla his immense fortune fortuna and ta balies 1 le 8 a liking to her er when dan was waa a boy a girl pang a solo at a church and h he e h had never forgotten gotten her tho oa ga loreva lore or ev vB 8 lily and pan dan attend a london londo n th theater en ter where one letty lane la Is the tar ster ran dan recognizes her as the girl from hla h Is town and going tiet behind tind the sceney intro himself and she ehe remembers him I 1 ile ho learns that prince la Is i suitor till tor and escort to letty lord oa ga lorey and a friend named ruggles deter mine to protect the westerner from lily and other fortune hunters huntera young blair blaar boea goes to see eee lily he ha can talk of nothing but tit letty and this fingers angers the duchess the westerner onda and letty III from hard work hut but she recovers and ruggles and dan invite her to supper she asks dan to build it a home for disappointed theatrical people dan visits lily for the time forgetting lotty and later announces hla his engagement to the duchess letty refu refuses to sing for on an entertain ment fiven seby by lily gallrey tells dan that all a I 1 lily cares carea for Is his money anti and it la disclosed that lie and the duches have been mutually in love for years letty sings at an aristocratic function dan escorting tier her home dan confronts gallrey and lily together later ho he informs letty that his engagement with lily Is broken asks aska the singer to marry him and they bacomo engaged rif ri f CHAPTER ruggles Rugg tea offer ile ho felt as nohe he waited tor for her in that flower filled room for she had bad recovered from her distaste tor for flowers as he glanced at the photographs of women like herself in costumes more or less frank more or less vulgar he felt as though he wanted to knock down the walls and let in a big view of the west of montana of the hills bills with such a setting ho be thought he could better talk with tho the lady whom he be had bad come to see ruggles held an unlighted cigar between his fingers and goose gooseflesh flesh rose all over him hla his glasses bothered him lie he got them bright enough though he ha polished them half it dozen times on his silk handkerchief his clothes felt too large lie he jeemes to have shrunken lie ho moist ened ned his lips cleared his throat tried to remember what kind of fellow he had been at dans age at dans age he bo was selling a suspender patent on the road supporting his mother and his bla sisters bard work and few temptations IA tat ions he was too tired and too poor miss lano lang kept him waiting ten and thor their ette hours to her guest he weh afraid every minute that datt dad would come in the thoughts thought he be had gathered together the plan of lotion action disarranged itself in hla his mind every time he thought of the atress aT tresa he forget his bis vision of her on the stage or at the carlton where she had bad sat eat opposite them and bewitched them both when she came into the sitting room at length he started so violently that he be knocked over a vase of flowers the water trickling all over the tha table down on to the floor she had dazzled him before the footlights charmed him at dinner and it was singular to think that he this dignified quiet creature 1 looked in ballet clothes and in a dinner dress whose frankness had bad made him catch his breath it was a third woman who stood before ruggles now ile ho had to take her into consideration she had expected him saw hirr him by appointment she had not climbed to her starry position without having acquired a knowledge of men and 11 ll was the secret of tier her success site she showed it in the dress in which she received her visitor she wore a short walking skirt of heavy serge a simple shirtwaist belted around a sailor hat on her beautiful little head she was and unpainted very pale and very sweet it if had not been for the marks of fatigue under her eyes she would not have looked more than eighteen on her left hand a single diamond clear as water caught the refracted light how de do glad you are back again she gave him a big chair and sat down before him smiling leaning her elbows on her knees she sank her face upon her hands and looked at him not coquettishly in the least but as a child might have looked from her small feet to her golden head she was utterly charming made himself think of dan MEE ilsa lane spoke slowly nodding toward him in her he r languid voice its no use mr air ruggles nn use Il holding her face between her hands her eyes gray as winters seas and as profound she looked at him intently then in a flash site she changed her poi aaion and instantly transformed trane formed her i character lie he saw raw that she was a woman not ar an eighteen year old girt girl lul but a woman clover clever poised witty understanding der standing and that she might have been twenty years older than the boy im sorry you spoke so eo quick he be said eald 1 1 I knew she ebe interrupted just w aliat hat you wanted to say from the start 1 I help it could IT I 1 I 1 know knew you would want to pome come and seo see me about it it any use I 1 know just what you are going to say no ma maam am h ho returned 1 I dont dant believe you do bright as aa you are ruggles gazed thoughtfully at the cold end of his unlighted cigar it was a comfort to him to hold bold it and to look at it although not for anything in n the world would he have asked to light it dans father and mo were chums we went through pretty much together and I 1 know how he felt on an most points ile he was a man of few words but I 1 know he counted on me to stand by the boy ruggles was so chivalrous that hta his role at present cost him keen discomfort A ludy judy like you he ha said gently knows a great deal more about how things are done than either cither dan or me we aint tenderfeet tender feet in the west not by a long shot but we see so few of a certain kind of picture shows that when they do co come m e round likely to make us lose our mindal you know jour yourself self it a circus in a town fifty miles from axall a railroad road drives the people crazy now dans a little like the boy with his hie eyes on the hole in the tent he would commit murder to get ins inside ide andlee and see that show he nodded and smiled to her as though bo be expected her to follow his bis crude simile now I 1 have seen you a lot 1 W 51 dans father and ma were chums or of times and she help reminding him not of your own accord mr ruggles well I 1 dont know he slowly admitted Lal I always ways felt I 1 had bad my mon eya ays worth and the night you ate with us ua at the carlton I 1 understood pretty well bow the hoy boy with hla his eyes at the tent hole would feel but he tapped his broad chest with the band that held the cigar between the first and second fingers 1 I know just what kind of a heart youve got for I 1 waited at the stage door and I 1 know you dont get all the applause inside the gaiety theater goodness she murmured they make an awful fuss about nothing now he be continued leaning forward a trifle toward her languid half interested figure 1 I just want you to think of him as a little boy hes i only twenty two he knows nothing of the world the money you give to the poor come so hard bard perhaps as this will its a big sacrifice but I 1 want you to let the boy go she smiled slightly found her handkerchief which was tucked up the cutt cuff of her blouse pressed the little bit of linen to her lips as though to steady them then she asked abruptly what has he be said to you lordt ruggles groaned said to mel my dear young lady he Is much too rude to speak dan sort of breathes and snorts around like a lunatic lie he was dangling around that duchess when I 1 was here before but she scare me any and letty lane now smiling at him relieved rel loved by his bis break from a more intense tone asked now you are seared scared well ruggles drawled 1 I 1 was pretty sure that woman care anything tor for the boy are you her kind it was the best stroke he be had made she almost sprang up from her chair heavens she ehe exclaimed 1 I guess im nott her face bushed 1 11 I had bad rather see sea a son con of mine dead than married to a woman like that he said bald why mr ruggles Hu ggles she che exclaimed passionately addressing him with I 1 in n terest for or the first time what Nihat do you know about me met T what what you have seen been mo me dance and head beard me sing I 1 and ho he interrupted Interrupt od her ten times and you are ara a bulls dancer and a bully singer but you tl do other things than danco dance and sing there la Is not a man living that would want to have his mother dress drees that way sho she controlled a smile never mind that peoples opinions are arc very different about that sort of thing you have seen mo me at dinner with your boy as you call him and you cant say that I 1 did anything but ask him to help the poor I 1 led dan on I 1 have tried to show chow him just what you are making roe me go through now if she acted well and danced well it was hard for her to talk she was waa w a evidently under strong emotion and it 16 needed her control not to burst into tears and lose her chance of course I 1 know the things you have heard of course I 1 know what la is said cald about rne me and she stopped ruggles press her any further he be ask aak herff her it the things were true looking at her as he did watching her as he old there was in him a feeling so new so ED troubling that he be found himself more anxious to protect her than to bring her to justice there are worse far worse women than I 1 am mr ruggles Rug glea I 1 will never do dan any harm here her visitor leaned forward and put one of his big hando lightly over one of hers patted it a moment and sald said 1 I want you to do a deal better than that she had bad picked up a photograph off the table a pretty picture of herself in mandalay and timed it nervously between her fingan as she said eald with irritation 1 I been in cie ca theatrical world not to guess at tila lile worried father act mr huggler Hug glea I 1 told you I 1 knew just what you mere fore going to say eay Wron gl he repeated the business to is old enough perli pei laps aps lots lota of good jobs are old but t I 1 3 la Is a little different lie he took the turning picture and laid it on the table ac ara quietly possessed himself of jhc thc small cold hands bands beairs blairs solitaire shone up to him ruggles looked ant letty lane eyes ile he la Is only wo we it aint fair it aint fair he cad id count the times he has been becu on a lirk I 1 irk I 1 guess he even been to re iff I 1 eastern college lie he Is ID no tool too bug bet hes bes darned simple she smiled faintly tl I 1 mans mana face near her own was waa very i aiple indeed 1 you have seed seen ao 80 mu L I 1 he be urged so many fellows aft yo have been such a queen I 1 dare ear bay I 1 tu could got get any man you wanted I 1 ve e repeated most any man 1 I have never seen r tr T one like dan just so he be aint yon kind that to Is what I 1 am trying to f fl you she witha withdrew row her hard hand irom rom hla his violently I 1 there you are arc arow lie ho Is my kind lie he la Is what I 1 ills 1110 w and he h 0 Is what I 1 want to be like A wave of red dyed k r face and in a tone more passion 1 than she had ever used to her I 1 lw tr ir she said to ruggles 1 I love him 1 I love alint her words sent something acle a sword through the older manti heart he said gently dont say f ja li he a d dont ont know what love means y m v p TO HE I 1 1 D |
