Show ibar from the comedy of the same name cy illustrated rupert from 0 lh ply produced by acry W sofai KU by co SYNOPSIS aleut harry mallory la ordered to the philippines lie and marjoree Marj orle newton decide to elope but wreck of taxicab pre vents their seelus minister on the way to the train transcontinental train Is tak ini on passengers porter hoe a lively time with an and ira lathrop a yankee business man the malopera have an time katung to the train little jimmie wellington bound for to beet a divorce boards train in maudlin condition later mrs jimmie appears she Is also bound for with lame object likewise mrs bammy comb I 1 alter blames mrs jimmie tor her marital trouble classmates of mal korv decorate bridal berth and mrs temple start on a vacation they decide to cut looe and removes evidence ot his calling CHAPTER VIII A mixed pickle mrs whitcomb had almost blushed when she had murmured to lieuten ant hudson I 1 should think the young couple would have preferred a stateroom and mr hudson had flinched a lit tie as he explained yes of course we tried to get it but it was gone it was during the excitement over the decoration of the bridal section ahat the stateroom tenants slipped in unobserved first came a fluttering woman whose youthful beauty bad a certain hue of experience saddening and wi sering the porter brought her in from the station platform led her to the staterooms state rooms concave door and passed in with her luggage cut she lingered without a peri at the gate of paradise when the porter re turned to bow her in she slivered nd hesitated and then demanded ob porter are ou sure there s nobody else in therea the porter chuc ailed but humored her panic I 1 ain t seen nobody shall I 1 look ander the seata to his dismay she nodded her head violently he rolled his eyes in won clerment fler ment but returned to the state acom made a pretense of examination ind came back with a face full of re insurance iss urance norn they a nobody here take a airall size bur glar 0 o squeeze unda that bald erth no m nobody there oh the gasp was so equivocal that he node bold to ask Is you pleased or disappointed the mysterious young woman was much agitated to rebuke the impe lence she merely sighed gh por cr I 1 m so anxious im not now he muttered for ahe banded him a coin porter hav eyou seen anybody on oard that looks suspicious looks suspicious to me ulessy but what was you expecting especial ob porter have you seen anybody hat looks like a detective in dis alse ulse well they s one man looks s if he disguised as a balloon but I 1 don t believe no hound well it you see anybody thit looks ake a detective and he asks for drosdick mrs mrs fosdick you tell him am not en board and she gave him another coin cassum said uie porter linger ing willingly on such fertile soil 11 tell him mrs fosdick done give me her boni she on bode yes and if a woman should ask you what kind of a woman the hideous kind that men call handsome han deome ob ain t they hideous them hand gome women well if such a woman ailts for mrs fosdick she s my husband s first wife but of course that interest you norn desm t it she comes telf her tell her obi what shall we tell her the porter rubbed bis thick skull lemme might say you 1 tell you what well tell her well tell her you took the train for now york and it she runs mighty fast she can juat about ketch it line fine and ehe rewarded his genius with another coin and porter he had not budged porter it a very handsome man with ayee and a soulful smile ask for ore him off the train I 1 oh no no that s my husband my present husband you may let him in now Is it all perfectly clear porter ob cassum clear as ibus guaranteed she entered the stateroom leaving the porter alone aitu ula lem he tried to work it out tn a gel ge l nuell e mumble lemme bee W is s i Y aw rf i if our present bus banas absent gits on fiode as a handsome hideous woman I 1 m to throw him her off the train and let her him come in oh ou may rely on me he bowed and held out his hand but she was gone lie shur lied on into the car he had hardly left the little space before the stateroom when hand some man with luscious eyes but without any smile at all came slink ing along the corridor and tapped cautiously on the door silence alone answered him at first then when he had rapped again he beard a mut fled go away im not in he put his lips close and softly called edith at this sesame the door opened a trifle but fyhen he tried to enter a band thrust him back and a voice again warned him off you husn t come in but im your husband that s just why you husn t come in the door opened a little wider to give him a view ol 01 a down cast beauty moaning oh arthur I 1 m so afraid afraid he sniffed with your husband here the trouble arthur what if your former wife should find us to getherk but she and I 1 are divorced in some states yes but other states don t acknowledge the divorce that former wile of yours Is a fiend to pursue us this wa ashes no worse than bour former husband lies pursuing us too my divorce was as good as yours my dear es and no better tha angas looking on might have from the ready tempers ot the newly married and not entirely un married twain that their new alliance promised to be as exciting as their previous esta tesi perhaps the man subtly felt the presence of those eter nal eavesdroppers for he tried to end the love duel in ahe corridor with an appeasing caress and a tender ap peal but let s not start our honey moon with a quarrel his partial fe returned the caress and tried to explain I 1 m not guar with ou dear heart but with the horrid divorce laws why oh why did we ever interfere with them he nade a brave effort with we ended two unhappy marriages balth to make one happy one but I 1 mso unhappy arthur and so afraid he seemed a trifle afraid himself and ata gaze as askance as he urged but the train will start soon edith and then we shall be safe mys fosdick had a genius for in venting unpleasant possibilities but what it your former wife or my for mer husband should nave a detective on board A detectives poof he snapped his fingers in bravado you are with your hubband hua band aren t you in illinois yes she admitted very dolefully but when we come to iowa I 1 m a bigamist and when we come to nebraska you re a biga mist and when we come to wyoming were not married at all it was certainly a tangled web they had woven but a ray of light shot through it into his bewildered soul but were all right in utah come dearest lie took her by the elbow to escort her into their sanctuary but still she hung back on one condition arthur that you leave me as soon as we cross the iowa state line and not come back till we get to utah member lle the iowa state line ob all right he smiled and see ing the porter beckoned him close and asked with careless indifference oh porter what time do we reach the slate line two fifty live in the dawning sah two fifty alve a m the wretch exclaimed two fifty ave a m bassah the porter repeated and wondered why this excerpt from the timetable time table should exert such a dramatic effect on the luscious eyed fosdick he bad small time to meditate the puzzle for the train was about to be launched upon its voyage he went out to the platform and watched a couple making that way As their only luggage was a dog basket he supposed that they were simply come to bid some of his passengers good bye no tips were to be expected from such transients so he allowed them to help themselves up the steps mallory and his marjoree Marj orle had tried to kiss the farewell or farewells halt a dozen times but she could not let him go at the gate she asked the guard to let her through and beauta was bribe enough again and again she and mallory paused he wanted to take her back to the taxicab but she would not be so dismissed she must spend the lust available second with him go as far as the steps of the car she said when they were ar rived there two porters a sleeping car conductor and several smoking terera profaned me tryst so she whispered that she would come aboard for the corridor would be a quiet lane for the last and now that he hacher actually on the train mallory s whole soul revolted against letting her go jhb vision of her standing on the plat form sad eyed and lorn while the train swept him off into space was unendurable he shut bis eyes against it but it glowed the lids and then temptation whispered him tta old why not while it wae working in his like a yeast he was buying to that we should owe au AWS it a a LJ in iiii I 1 my f our to an aib s break down out the anguish u her loneliness crept one little complaint if you had really wanted ou d have hid two taxicabs oh how can you say thata I 1 had tho license bought and the minister waiting lies waiting yet and the ring edere s the ring lie fished it out of his waistcoat pock et and held it before her as a golden amulet A lot of good it does now bald Mar lorle you won t even wait over till the next train I 1 ve told you a thousand times my love he protested desperately it I 1 don t catch the transport be court if this train is late am lost if you really loved me you d come along with me her very eyes gasped at this astounding toun ding proposal why harry mallory you know it e impossible like a sort ot benevolent satan he laid the ground tor his abduction you 11 leave me then to spend three years without you out among those manila women she shook her headen terror at this vision it would be too horrible for words to have you marry one of those mahogany airena he held out the apple better come along then dut how can I 1 were not marled he answered airily oh im sure there e a minister on board gut it would be too awful to be married with all the passengers gawk ing no I 1 face it good bae honey she turned away bt he caught her arm don t you love me to distraction wait tor you too three years Is a long wait dut wait it you will with such devotion be could not tamper it was too beautiful to risk or endanger or besmirch with any danger of scandal he gave up hie fantastic project and gathered her in to his arms crowded her into his very soul as he vowed wait tor you forever and ever and ever her arms adept around his neck and she gave herself up as an exile from happiness a prisoner of a far off love good bye my husband tobe to be goodbye my wife thata as to nave been and will be maybe goodbye good bye goodbye good bye I 1 must go yes you must one last kiss one more one long last kiss and there entwined ent wired in each others arms with lips wedded and eyelids clinched they clung together forget ting everything past future or present love e anguish made them blind mute and deaf they did not hear the conductor crying his all aboard down the long wall of the train they did not hear the tar oft kall of the bell they did not hear the porters banging the rev walter temple vestibules vesti bules shut they did not feel the floor sliding out with them and the porter found them eu gulfee gulfed in one embrace swaying and swaying and no more aware of the increasing rush of the train than we other passengers on the earth express are aware of its speed through the ether routes on its ancient schedule 4 the porter stood with his box step in his hand and blinked and won dered and they did not even know they were TO BE CONTINUED |