Show waw HID A story of today and ond of AH all rayj by GEORGE AGNEW chamberlain IL I 1 copyright by the century company SYNOPSIS 2 alan man wayne Is sent away from red hill his I 1 ome by his uncle J Y as a moral fa a ure clem runs after him in a tangle rt bf short skirts to bid him good by CHAPTER 11 continued it doesn doean t amount to an appoint ment merit juht just a job ob al asi ass stant to wal ton the engineer the contractors are send ng out we re going to put up a bridge somewhere in africa F that a it IL I 1 knew it said the cap tain go ng away want any money the question came like sold sol d shot out of a four alan started colored and sin sailed led all at the S sime line time no 0 o thinks thanks sir he replied I 1 ve got all I 1 need the captain hitched his chair for ward vard placed h a hands bands on his knees leaned forward and glared out on the avenue the landings Lan sings he began 1 1 e a boy rec ree ting a p ece are devils for drink the waynes tor for women don t you ever let em worry you 0 about dr nowadays the doctors call us c in my time it was just plain strong heads for wine 1 I say don t worry about drink there s a safety vahe e in ei deiy cry waynes wayne a gul let but women alan the captain k aued around his bulging eyes you look took out for them As your great f A grandfather giand father used to say to women F lohl ohia per goods sweets flower flowers and kisses and you take it from me k kisses lisses aren t always the cheapest W they sly say god made everything down to I 1 atle apples ind and jersey lightning but when he be made women the devil helped the captain s nervousness dropped from lis 1 is as he deliberately drew out his watch and fob good th ng he ile d d too he added as a pleasing afterthought lie ile leaned back in h b u b chali chaft A complacent look came over h s face alan got up to say good by the captain arose too and clasped the hand alan held out one more th ng he said aid don t forget there s always a aly V ayne to back a dayi e for good or bad there was a suspicion of mols ture in h b s eye as he hurried his guest off back in his room alan found letters sav ai a t ng h in he lie read them and tore them up all but one it waa was from clem she wrote dear alan nance says you are going very tar far away I 1 am sorry it has been raining here very much in the hollows all the bridges are under water I 1 have invented a EL new game it Is called steam boat I 1 play it on old dubbs we go down into the valley and I 1 make him go through the water around the bridges tt he puffs just I 1 ke a steamboat and when he gets out he smokes all over he Is too tat fat I 1 hope you w U come back very boon soon CLEM that even evening clem was thrown into a transport by receiving her first tele tole gram it read lou lou must not play steamboat again it is dangerous alan she tucked it in her bosom and rushed over to the I 1 irs to show it to gerry gerry and AI at x were spend ng the summer nt at the firs where mrs airs lan 8 i g gerry a widowed mother was still nom nally the hostess they had been marr ed tro ta years but people still spoke of alix as gerry s bride ai at d in so go doing stamped her with her t u own seal to strangers they carried the air of a couple about to be mar ned ried at the rational close of a lo 10 long en gagen garment lent no children or thought of children had bad come to turn the channel of life for tilix on gerry marrage marr age sat as an added habit it was beg n u ning ining to look as though he and klix dr eted together not because they were carried by the same currents but be cause they were tied where duller minds would have dubbed gerry the ox 0 alin alan had named bim him the pock rock and alan was right gerry had bad a dign ty beyond mere bulk lie ile had all the powers of resistance none tione of art culaton culat on NN here a pin prick would start an ox it took an up hearal to move gerry an upheaval was on the way but gerry d d not know it it was yet afar off to the lans marriage had al at ways been one of the regular bunc eions of 0 a regulated life part of the general scheme of things gerry was slow ly acal zing that his marriage with alls AUX was wag far from a mere function had little to do with a regular life and was tore fore agn to what he had always consid ered the general scheme of th allx alix had developed de dex eloped quite naturally into a social butterfly gerry d d not picture her as chain lightning playing on ion a rock as alan would have have done but he d d in a vague way feel that tilts of his self were being ch aped aw away ay red hill bored alix ali and she showed it the it first summer mummer after the biar a arlage they had spent abroad now allx AUX thoughts and tall tuned ed con scantly toward europe she even sug rested a fly ng dg tup flip for the fall but 4 gerry refused to be dragged so far ar from golf and his club he stuck dog gedly to red hill till the leaves began to turn and then consented to move wove back to town on their last night at the firs mrs lansing who was complacently aunt jane to aynes and ligons enter tamed red hill as a whole to dinner W ith the arrival of dessert to allx AUX surprise nance said port all around I 1 please aunt jane landings Lan sings N aynes and elfons were heavy drinkers in town but it was a tradition as alix knew that on red hill they dropped it all but the old captain it was as though amid the scones of their childhood they became chi ch children illren iren and just as a french man of the old school will rill not light a c garette in the presence of his father so they would not take a drink for drinks drink s sake on red hill so alix looked on interestedly as the old butler set glasses and started the port when it had gone the round nance stood up and with her hands on the tables edge leaned toward them all for a V ayne she was very fair As they looked at her the color swept ovel her bare neck its wave reached her temples and edmed to stir tl e clustering tendrils of her hiir h clr her ees ekes were grave and bright with moisture iier her I 1 ps were tremulous AN e drink to alan she said today la Is alan a birthday she bat sat down they all raised their glasses little clem had bad no wine she put a th n hand on gerry a arm please gerry please gerry held down h s glass clematis dipped in the tip of her little finger and as they all drank gravely earned carried the drop of wine to her lips As judge healey gray haired but erect walked up the avenue h a keen glance felt fell on gerry lansing standing across the street before an art deal er or s window gerry a eyes were tas fas bened on a picture that he had long had bad in in m nd for a certain nook in the I 1 arary of the town house it was the second anniversary of his wedding and though it was already late in the afternoon gerry had not yet chosen his gift for alix AUX he ile turned from the picture with a last long look and a shrug and passed on to a palatial jewelers farther up the street for many years judge healey had been foster father to red III hill la in gen eral oral and to gerry in particular with almost womanly antu t on he read what was in gerry s in nd before the picture and acting on impulse the judge crossed the street and bought bough tit it while the judge was still in the p c ture shop gerry came out of the jew elers and started briskly for home he had purchased a pendant of bril I 1 ants extravagant for his purse but yet saved to good taste by a simple originality in design he wa ted until the d hour and then slipped his gift into allx AUX hand as they walled wall ed down the stairs to gether she stopped beneath the hall ball light I 1 can cant t wait dear I 1 simply can t she snapped open the cise case oh she gasped how dear how perfectly dear you old sweetheart she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him twice trice then she flew away to the drawing room in search of mrs lansing and the judge the sole guests to the little anniversary dinner gerry straightened his tie and followed alls AUX tongue was r api ppl ng rig her whole body was ras rippling with excitement and pleasure she dangled her treas ure before their eyes she laid it against her warm neck and ran to a mirror the I 1 in her eyes matched the halt t in the stones the judge took the jewel and laid it in the palm of his strong hand it looked in dan ger of be ng crushed A beautiful thing gerry he be said and well cho sen some poet jeweler dreamed that twining design and set the stones while the dew was still on the grass after dinner the jour four gathered in the library but they were hardly seat sent ed when alix AUX sprang up her glance had followed gerry s startled gaze he was star ng at the coveted picture I 1 he had been looking at in the gallery that afternoon it hung in the n che ebe in which his thoughts had placed it alix AUX took her stand before it she glanced inquiringly at the others mrs lansing nodded at the judge allx alix I 1 turned back to the picture and gravity stole into her face tl TI en she faced tb judge w th a sm sin ie le we live she sa d in a ph listine age don t we re but I 1 ve never let any phil stin still sm sin drive pictures from their r place in the heart I 1 pictures in art gallenes she shrug shrugged ed her pret ty shoulders I 1 have not been trained up to them to me they are mount ed butter fl es in a museum cut flow ers crowded at the florists but this picture and that nook they have ratted for each other you see the picture nestling down for a long rest and it seems a small thing and then it catches your eye and holds it and you see that it is a little door that opens on a wide world it has slipped into the room and become a part of 0 life A strange stillness followed on allx alix words to the judge and to gerry it was as though the picture had opeus I 1 a window to her mind then she closed the window come gerry she said turning make your bow to the judge and bark gerry was excited though he be did not slow sl ow it you have dressed my thoughts in words I 1 cant can t equal he said and strolled out on to the little veranda at the back of the house he wanted to be alone for a moment and th over th s flash of light that bad had followed a dark day for the first time in a ion long while allx alix had revealed her self he lie did not begrudge the judge his triumph he ile knew instinctively that coming from him instead of from the judge the picture would not have struck that intimate spark the nest next day gerry gave his consent to alix plan for a flying tr p abroad but nith rith a reservation the reserva t on was that she should join some party and leave him behind judge healey heard of this arrange ment merit only when it wag was on the po nt of being put into effect in fact he be was only just in time at the steamer to wave good by to alls alix leaning over the rail with her high color moist red I 1 ps and big excited eyes mak mal ng play under a golden crown of hair an I 1 over a huge armful of roses alls AUX presented a picture not easily forgot ten the judge turned to gerry she ought not to be going without you my boy oh its it s all right said gerry light ly IY she s well chaperoned its it s a big party you know cut but dur ng the weeks that followed the judge saw it was not all right gerry had less and less time for golf and more and more for whiskeys and sodas the judge was troubled and felt a sort of relief when from far away alan wayne cropped into h b s at af fairs and gave him something else to th about when angus mcdale of mcdale and mcdale called without appointment the judge I 1 new at once that he was going to hear cometh ng about alan lucky to find you in puffed me dale it isn t business exactly or I 1 d have phoned I 1 was just pissing passing by well lwell what Is it asked the judge offering 11 s visitor a fresh cigar it s this that boy alan wayne sort of of yours isn t he les in a way yes said the ju julge igo slowly frowning what has alan done now its like this said mcdale six months ago we sent mr wayne out on contract as assistant to walton wal ton no sooner got on the ground than he fell sick he ile put wayne in charge and then he died now this Is the po nt mr air wayne seems to have pro himself to walton s pay he lie had the cheek check to draw his own as well he wont be here tor for weel s but his accounts came in today I 1 want to VIP W 11 a lUtEel sl what has alan done now know if you see pity reason why we t have that money back to say the least the judge s face cleared dian t he tell you why he drew walton s pay not a R ord said he d explain ac counts when he got here but that sort of thing takes a lot of explaining well said the judge I 1 can tell you IVal alton tons s pay went to his widow through me I 1 ve been do ng some puzzling on this case already now will you tell me how alan got the money without drawing on you oh there was plenty of money ly IY ing around the job cost ten per cent les less s than N alton a estimate it if he d come back wed han have e hauled him over the coals tor for the blunder there was the usual reserve for work in inac cess ble regions and then the people we d d the job for pi pa d ten days bonus for finish ng that much ahead of contract conti act t me the judge mused was tl e iob job satisfactory to the people out there he ailed ed yes it was said mcdale bluntly most satisfactory but there was a funny thing there too they wrote that while they did not approve of mr nir wayne s time saving methods the finished work had their absolute ac cep tance the judge was silent for a moment you want my advice yes not tor for our own sake but for wayne a well said the judge I 1 in going to give it to you for your sake when you stumble across a boy than can cut ten per cent off the working and time estimates of an old hand like walton nalton you bind him to you with a long con tract at any salary he wants and just one thing more when alan wayne steals a cent from you or fifty thousand dollars you come to me and pay it mcdale s eyes narrowed and he puffed nervously at his cigar lie ile got up to take his leave judge he be said your head Is on right and your heart 9 in the right place as well I 1 begin to see that widow business wayne sized us up for a hard headed beaded firm when it comes to paying out what we don t have to and we are it wasn gasn t law buthe was right walton s work was done just as if he bed d been alive even a scotchman can see that lou ion needa t worry A man that you 11 back for fifty thousand is good enough for mcdale I 1 it was klix that discovered alan as the clenic steamed slowly down the solent he ile was ras already comfortably established in bis his chair with a small pile of fiction bes de him she paused before bhe she approached him uan man had always interested her alls allx had bad thought of him heretofore as a modern exquisite subject to slavic fits that in times past had bad led lea him into more than one barbarous esca esea now in london she had by chance heard things of him that forced her to readjustment of her estimate in six months alan had turned himself into a mystery NN well ell she said coming up behind him how are you alan turned his head bead slowly and then threw off his rugs and sprang to his feet the sky Is clear he said where did you drop from ills his eyes meas ared her she was ravishing in a fur toque and coat which had yet to re belve their baptism of import duty oh said alix my presence Is humdrum just the usual returning from six weeks abroad but you you come from the haunts of wild beasts and from all accounts you have been one been one onel from all accounts ex claimed alan a puzzled frown on his face just what do you mean they started walking I 1 meant that even in africa one can t hide from pic cadelly in piccadilly you are already known not as mr air alan wayne a new lork social satellite but as a whirlwind in shirt sleeves ten per cent wayne in short she looked at him with teasing she could |