| Show 1 4 I 1 I 1 ca U 7 0 0 ar 3 rox v AA FM 11 a T aw P A AS N I 1 T I 1 T V T surgeons tell hugh whitaker that six months Is his E life limit peter stark intimate friend finds him stunned by the news and arranges to take tale whitaker on a long south sea yacht trip the sick man sneaks off to a country hotel intending to kill hill himself but surprises a young girl in the act of drinking poison bhe she Is mary ladislas love starved daughter of a new lork plutocrat de seated by the man with whom she planned clandestine marriage to save her good nime n ime Nv whitaker hitaker marries the g 1 knowing knoring that six months is his limit gives her money and puts her on a train for home lie ile runs plump into stark hunting him months later the yacht burns aisea at sea all hands d debut e but whitaker who rho is reported lost A delicate operation restores his health and after five prosperous years in aus aralia he returns to new york one a back from the de id I 1 we find him in this installment talking with his old law partner drummond about the prospects of finding that little g rl wife A beautiful actress enters tl e story 00 4 CHAPTER IV cont aued would you know ber her if you saw her I 1 don dont t know whitaker taher frowned with annoyance she ashes s six years older well but what was she like drummond pursued curiously whitaker shook his head its it s not easy to remember matter of fact I 1 don t believe I 1 ever got one good square look at her it was ras twilight in the hotel when hen I 1 found her we re sat talking in absolute darkness to ward the end even in the ministers minister s study there was only a green shaded lamp on the table and on the train well we me were both too much worked up I 1 fancy to pay much attention to deta Is blonde or brune I 1 swear I 1 don t know she wore one of those funny knitted caps tight down over her hair all the time drummond laughed quietly I 1 don t feel in a joking humor whitaker said roughly it s a serious matter and wants serious treat ment what else have we got to mull over overt drummond shrugged suavely there s enough to keep us busy for several hours he said for instance there s my stewardship your which my care of your property you left a good deal of money and securities lying round loose 3 ou know naturally I 1 felt obliged to look after em there was ras no telling when widow whitaker might walk la in and demind an account ing I 1 presume we re might as well run over the account though it is gett ng late half past four W hitaker informed him consulting 1 lis is watch take too long for to day some other time drummond s reply was as postponed by the office boy who ho popped in on the heels of a light knock mr maxs outside he announced 0 the deuce the exclamation seemed to escape drummond s I 1 ps in voluntarily he ile tightened them an as though regretting the lapse of self control and glanced hurriedly askance to see if whitaker had no I 1 im in busy he added a trace sullenly tell him I 1 ve gone out but he s got mp the boy protested and besides I 1 told him you was in you needa t fob him off on my ac count whitaker interposed we can finish our confab later monday londay lk any time its time for me to be getting up uptown town anyway it isn t that drummond explained doggedly only the mans man s a bore and it isn t jules allix whitaker ex not little jules max who rho used to stage manage our amateur shows that s the man drummond ad bitted with rith plain reluctance then have him in by all means I 1 want to say howdy hordy to him it if nothing more and then III clear out and leave you to his troubles drummond laughed a trifle sourly max has developed into a heavy w eight entrepreneur you know meaning theatrical manager then why not say so but I 1 might ve guessed bed hed drift into something of the sort A moment later whitaker was vig porously pumping the unresisting in deed eed the apparently boneless hand of jules max the hat that had made hammerstein famous max had ampro straight crown flat brim and immaculate gloss bodily beneath it his face was small of feature and fat A pince nez sheltered his near sighted eyes his short round little body was invariably by day dressed in a dark gray morning coat white R bite edged v waist alst coat assertively striped trousers and patent leather shoes with white spats he ile had a pason for lemon colored g gloves 0 ves of thinnest kid and slender r i alacca walking sticks his dignity nas as an awful thing as ingrained as his strut he ile reasserted reas I 1 the dignity now with a lerk jerk of his maltreated hand read 0 A 0 austed his glasses and resumed his stare either he observed youre you re hugh whitaker come to life or a deuced out rage both if you like you sound like both complained the little man anyway you were drowned in the philippines or some where long ago and I 1 never w waste wiste iste time on a dead one drummond he ile turned to the lawyer with a vastly businesslike business like air no you don t whitaker insisted putting himself between the two men I 1 admit thit that youre you re a great man sou 3 on might at least admit that I 1 im in a live one 1 I mollified smile moderated the small in man an s manner that s a bar gain he said extending a pale yel low paw I 1 in glad to see you again hugh when did you recrudesce an hour ago drummond answered for him blew in here as large as life and twice as important lies iles been running a gold farm out in new gume i what do you know about thit its it s very interesting mix con ceded you ve asked him of course he demanded dem of drummond ng toward ard whitaker drummond flushed slightly no chance he said I 1 was ras on the point of doing it when you butted in what s thise inquired whitaker max delivered himself of a st ertling ling bit of information lie ile s going to get married whitaker stared drummond not really drummond acknowledged his guilt brazenly next week in tact fact but why you say anything about abou tit it you d t give me an opening be s des to welcome a deserter from the great bevona Is enough to drive all other thoughts from a man s m nd there s to be a supper in honor of the circumstances at the beaux arts tonight supplemented max you 11 come of course be there and furthermore be waiting at the church a week reek hence or Rhe whenever neNer its to come off and now I 1 v ant to congratulate you whit aker held drummond s hand in one of those long hard grips that mean much between men but mostly I 1 want rant to congratulate her who Is she sara law said drummond with pride in his quick color and the lift of his chin ahe greatest living actress on the 4 english speaking stage stige max mix an bounced preen ng ug himself importantly my own discovery of course iv ive e heard but I 1 have been out of touch with rith such things whitaker apologized when shall I 1 see her in honor of her retirement max answered fussing with a gardenia on his lapel she retires from the stage finally and forever she says when the curtain falls tonight then I 1 ive ve got to be in the theater tonight if that s the case said whit a aker I 1 er fraid you wont won t get in though drummond doubted darkly every thing in the house for this final week R was as sold out a month ago even the speculators are cleaned out tut the manager reproved him loftily hugh is going to see sara law act for the last time from my personal box aren arent t 3 vou ou hugh you bet I 1 am ami I 1 whitaker asserted with conviction then come along max caught him by the arm and started for the d door so long drummond CHAPTER V curtain nothing would satisfy max but that whitaker should dine with him he ile consented to drop him at the ritz carl cirl ton in order that he might dress only on the condition that whitaker would meet him at seven in the white room dt at the knickerbocker f just mention my name to the head waiter valter he said w ith magnificence or if I 1 m there first you cant can t help see ing me everybody knows knors my table 1 J the little one in the southeast carnen SI short ot james jamesl 1 tie tl e latter phrase ras w as mas s way of ordering the driver to move on the caf cat sniped ted resentfully then pulled smoothly and swiftly away arty mas max waved i jaunty farewell with a lemon colored hand over the balk back of the ton neau tiler went up to his room in a reflective mood in which the theatrical man hid little alace since his arrival in new aorl he had fallen into tha habit of seeking the view from his window when rhen in meditative humor A view of ten thousand roofs inex bly enchanting somewhere perhaps in that welter of steel and stone as eternal and as restless as the sea was the woman whitaker hid married working out her lonely des tiny A haphazard biscuit tossed from his window might fall upon the very roof that sheltered her he might search for a hundred years and never cross her path a he ile wondered the possibility that she might have married a second time did not disturb his pulse by the least fraction of a beat he ile even contemplated the chance that she might be dead with normal equanimity fortunate that he didn dian t love lovelier her more fortunate still that he loved no one else incontinently he wrote and dis patched a long extravagant cible cablegram gram to mrs pettit to tn care of the american embassy ue doubting that she would immediately answer when eventually he strode into the white room max was already II lashed hed at the famous little table in the southeast corner whitaker was ras con of turning heads and guarded comment as he took his place opposite the little fat man make alake you famous in a night max assured him importantly don t hap pen to need any notoriety do you no thanks dine with me here three nights hand han running drunning and they 11 let you into the syndicate dy ny the back door with out even asking your name P T A As s one grand little motto my boy P T A pays to advertise paste that in your hat look me over he requested abruptly leaning leining back I 1 guess I 1 im in some giddy young buck what whitaker reviewed the striking ef feet max had created by encasing his brief neck and double chin in an old fashioned high collar and black silk stock beneath which his important hes going to get married chest was protected by an elaborately frilled shirt decorated with black pearl studs his ills waist was ras strapped in by a i pique waistcoat alst coat edged with black and there was a distinctly perceptible invisible stripe in the material of his evening coat and trousers dressed like a fool max summed ap up the ensemble before his guest could speak would you believe bellene that de could gnaw at the vitals vital of any one ne as wonderfully arrayed I 1 would not whitaker asserted let im down donn in the mouth because this Is saras sara s last appearance max motioned the waiter to remove he the debris of a course ive I 1 v e got itin it in my knob that she s my mascot if she leaves me my luck goes with her I 1 made her all right but she made me too oo 00 and it sprains my sense of good business to break up a pacing combi nation like that nonsense whitaker conten contended deil warmly if I 1 im in not mistaken you were telling me this afternoon that rou von stand next to belasco as a prodoc ing manager the losa loss of one star isn t going to rob you of that prestige Is it you never can tell the little man contended on tended darl ly I 1 t bet ta 1 arty cents my next production would turn urn out a hit I 1 ve had several close c ills with nith sura sara ashes she s threatened to buck chuck the stage often before this but very every time something happened to dike her change her mind I 1 v ve e got a lunch hunch maybe something will happen his this time too if it does I 1 m won on t want any ny partners part nerg how much in informal format on do you wager that max is in a position to give wh taker if he were e of a rn m nd to do so TO BE CONTINUED |
