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Show li, , emtet Clatif r M l Jan Payson is given the lead in the Devon Arms floor show when Paul Harris, Har-ris, the hotel manager, finds out that the rich William Anthony Deverest knows her; he thinks Deveresfs Interest will bring patronage. But the show is not a success and Paul blames Jan because Deverest did not bring his friends. Jan does not want to tell Paul what she thinks is the truth that she does not know Deverest for she thinks Deverest is his own chauffeur, Tony Williams. He does not dare tell her the truth, for she has told him she hates Deverest because of his wealth. Unknown to Jan, Deverest makes arrangements to pay for an operation oper-ation that may restore her invalid sister, Dora, to health. CHAPTER V Jan stood mute as he went on: "The Devon Arms must take good care of its most important guests I" He clapped his hands as a gesture to his housekeeper and her aides to follow him, and left the room. "I am going to find out what this all means I" thought Jan, a little later. She found Paul in his office still looking pleased with himself. "I came to thank you again for the beautiful way you fixed up our rooms," Jan began. "Think nothing of It," said the manager. "We have been very happy hap-py to have you girls here, Jan, and we hope you have enjoyed your stay as much as we have." "Goodness!" thought Jan, "that sounds as if he expected us to be going soon." More bewildered than ever, she tried again. "I really don't know how to thank you, Mr. Harris, and I know Dora will be more than delighted. de-lighted. She thinks that apartment, you know, is absolutely the most beautiful place in the whole world." "Well" Paul cleared his throat "I am very glad to hear that-very that-very glad. I hope both of you, Jan, will always keep a warm spot in your heart for the Devon Arms." That farewell note again! Jan decided de-cided on a sudden attack. "Where does Mr. Deverest come In on this?" she inquired as casually casu-ally as if they had been discussing that gentleman just the moment before. "What a bright little lady we are," said Paul, smiling. "Mr. Deverest Dev-erest bound me to secrecy." Instantly Jan knew that in order to find out anything at all she must pretend to have information she did not possess. "Of course there's no secret, really, real-ly, except in his own imagination." Paul looted relieved. He had wondered if he had not made a mistake mis-take in rousing Jan's suspicions, but of course the girl knew what was actually at the bottom of it all. No girl smart enough to get herself engaged en-gaged to a man like Tony Deverest could be really in the dark about his Christmas eve "surprise" for her. "Well, since you do know the facts," Paul told her, "I see no harm in giving you a hint that ought to make the surprise even more enjoyable en-joyable for you. Mr. Deverest is planning to announce his engagement engage-ment with a magnificent party here, at the Devon Arms, on Christmas eve. He is having the whole supper sup-per room made into a Christmas scene, with the biggest tree in town and all the trimmings. "You'd like a new dress for the party, wouldn't you, Jan? I know you haven't been getting enough money due to unfortunate circumstances circum-stances to splurge on a new party dress, so as a Christmas present I have arranged with Mary Elizabeth Eliza-beth Howard for an engagement dress for you, and she's expecting you to call tomorrow morning for a fitting appointment." "That's sweet of you, Paul," said Jan unsteadily. "I ventured to hope that you would have dinner at my home," Brad Curtis said. "My mother is particularly anxious to meet you; I've talked about you two girls a lot." "Do you live with your mother?" said Jan, simply because she felt she had to say something. Dr. Curtis Cur-tis was helping her into her wrap. "That's right. She's very old, hardly stirs out of the big top-heavy house in which she went housekeeping housekeep-ing when she was first married. I live there because it pleases her, and because I like it myself." He spoke to the chauffeur. 'Stop at the corner, Charles. I want to get some flowers." When he came back he handed Jan a transparent box containing a spray of bittersweet berries, red and gold against evergreens. "How lovely with this dress!" Jan took out the unusual corsage and fastened it at her waist. "Lovely with your eyes and hair," Brad said gravely. "More red than your hair, less golden than your eyes." When the meal was over the old lady suggested coffee In the library for Jan and Brad. She never drank coffee herself, she explained, and would go to her own room at once. Jan waited until Brad had escorted escort-ed his mother to her room and called her maid to make her comfortable com-fortable for the night. He returned to the dining room and drew Jan's arm through his, and they went into tho library. Here only one lnmp had been switched on, and the light of a coal flro behind the bars of on old-fashioned grate seemed very bright. Brad rose and crossed the space that lay between them. "Come over here," he said, drawing her to her feet. "You belong here," Brad began again after a while. "You should have the things that I can give you. "I'm thirty-five years old and you're twenty? That's fifteen years between us. Could you learn to love a man fifteen years older than yourself? Will you give me a chance to teach you to love- me?" "Perhaps," said Brad gently, "I ought first to ask you, Is there anyone any-one else, Jan?" "No," whispered Jan. "For a little while I thought you and Tony er Williams " "No," said Jan, firmly this time. "That didn't mean anything." "Then you'll try to love me?" "Oh, Doctor Curtis, I do love you!" Impulsively Jan rose and threw her arms around his neck. He disengaged them after a moment mo-ment and held both her hands in his. "That's not quite the way I meant," he told her softly. Then, "We'll leave it at that, shall we? And now I'll take you home. -I'm flying up to Vermont in the morning; morn-ing; I've got a camp at a place called Moose River. "Brad, I do wish you a happy Christmas!" said Jan. It was December 23rd. Jan was expecting Tony to ring up any moment mo-ment now. With such an excuse as this Christmas eve party he would surely make an attempt to see her againl She was due at Mary Elizabeth Howard's at eleven this morning. She presented herself dutifully. Mary Elizabeth herself came in to supervise this last fitting as Jan did as they directed her before the big w&k mm Am mmis fpf v8 dfc LM fPi "That's not quite the way I meant," he told her softly. mirrors. She watched her image advance and retreat in their depths. "Turn again." Obedient to Mary Elizabeth's commands Jan moved this way and that, stood still at the turns, pacing slowly in a wide circle cir-cle around the beautiful modern salon. sa-lon. "I will never, never wear this dress!" Jan had made her decision. Right here, with the fitting in progress. Up to now she had had no idea what she would do. As the time for the Deverest Christmas party drew near she had seemed to be ' under a spell. When the fitting was finally over to Miss Howard's complimentary satisfaction, Jan went to see Dora. Jan lingered at the hospital with Dora as long as she could. Dora was looking forward to Christmas as a child might. She wondered if that "nice Tony Williams" really meant to give her a present. "Oh, I'm sure he docs!" Jan exclaimed. And she hoped that in spite of what had happened Tony would not forget for-get her little- sister. "I'll bet that he's paging Santa Claus this minute," she told her with conviction. They had agreed that it would be best for Jan to bring over to the hospital all the wrapped-up presents pres-ents from tho hotel. Jan would be very busy on Christmas eve with Mr. Devcrcst's parly and would not have lime to come to the hospital. hos-pital. Dora promised solemnly that she would not open a single present pres-ent until Christmas day, and Jan listened, her heart n little heavy at the thought that Dora would have to spend this Christmas day alone. "Going away?" There was Mrs. Talbot coming out of her room just as Jan was passing her door. She would run into Mrs. Talbot, thought Jan, annoyed. Not that It mattered mat-tered nt all, but there was no use in broadcasting things before you were ready. "No. I was just taking Uin It 1 1 to see Dora." She couldn't think of anything better on the spur of the moment. "Humph!" said Mrs. Talbot. It was only after they had left the city far behind that Jan noticed no-ticed how much snow was on the ground. Here, in the open country coun-try that lay in increasingly long stretches between the small towns, snow had drifted on the fields and mountains. For a moment Jan's heart quailed at the thought of her destination, a wintry mountain region re-gion that she had never seen. But Brad would be there, she told herself her-self resolutely. And Brad would be glad to see her. She would marry Brad as soon as he wished. Of that much she was certain. Beyond that she did not think at all. Brad would be able to tell her what to do about Dora; perhaps he would want her to live with them the Curtis house was big enough. "Why, it's snowing!" Jan almost spoke aloud as she noticed that the landscape, which she had scarcely seen for many miles, was blurred by a drifting veil of snowflakes. It had been dark outside the warm, lighted world within the bus, for a long while, it seemed to Jan, when they finally stopped in a fair-sized fair-sized town. Paul Harris was often perturbed, but he -was rarely upset. And of all the occasions when he was upset, up-set, there had been few when he was as worried as he was at ten o'clock of the morning of December Decem-ber twenty-fourth. The chambermaid chamber-maid assigned to the rooms on Jan's floor had come straight to him very properly, too with a note she had found pinned to Jan's pillow. The bed had not been slept in, the maid .reported. Paul read the note, holding it with fingers that quivered quiv-ered slightly as he absorbed the contents. "To whom it may concern," he read, "don't worry about me. When I get back I'll explain everything. Jan Payson." Paul thanked the chambermaid and sent her on her way. Then he rang the Deverest residence, found out from the butler where Tony was likely to be at the moment and finally located him. "I'll be over," said Tony, hanging hang-ing up while Paul was still speaking. speak-ing. The next half hour was a nightmare night-mare to Paul. "No, I haven't any idea where she could have gone. No, I didn't say anything to hurt her feelings. That note there, Mr. Deverest, was the first inkling I had that she wasn't here." "Maybe Dora knows where she went." "That's an idea," said Paul, brightening. "I'll go around to the hospital and ask her." "Don't frighten her," said Tony from the doorway. He was on his way upstairs to hunt for clues. "Frighten Dora!" exclaimed Paul. "Really, Mr. Deverest!" Tony meanwhile had reached the Payson apartment and had been admitted by the chambermaid. No, the girl told him in answer to his questions, she hadn't seen Miss Pay-son Pay-son yesterday at all. She had done the rooms as usual and left. Then when she came in again this morning, morn-ing, there was that note. Had he seen it? Tony had. He got rid of the maid and after staring helplessly help-lessly around, wondering where he could begin looking for some' hint, he began pacing aimlessly up and down the sitting room. Then he became aware that someone was standing in the open door of the sitting room. He looked up. What a sour-faced old woman! "Good morning," he said shortly. "Good morning," said the visitor, even more shortly. "Is Miss Pay-son Pay-son in?" "No, Miss Mrs. I didn't catch the name" "I didn't give the name, but it's Mrs. Talbot, if you're interested. I thought that girl was up to something, some-thing, the way she went sneaking down the hall with that cat! Maggie, the chambermaid, said she hadn't been home all night." Tony ignored the last. But what did she soy about the cat? Here was what he was looking fori "That's right. The kitten is gone," he said. "Whore could she have been going with it?" "She said," Mrs. Talbot stressed the word lo indicate her disbelief, "that she was taking the kitten to see Dora. Fine hospital that permits per-mits cats in a sick room!" "Excuse me," said Tony, leaving leav-ing tho room so quickly that Mrs. Talbot had all she could do to get out of his way. Tony reached the hospital just in time to meet Paul Harris coming down tho corridor from Dora's room. "What did she say?" Tony asked breathlessly. "Nothing, " said Paul, "except that Jan brought all her presents over yesterday and put thorn away In a drawer to be opened on Christmas Christ-mas morning. She doesn't expect Jan today. She thinks she's getting get-ting ready for the party tonight and is too busy to rome over here." "Mrs. Talbot says Jan !md On-kitten On-kitten with her, and that she was taking it to Dora. Did yoo see li u-niind the room anywhere'.1" (TO IUC CONTINUlfiD) |