Show the S of a young and attractive woman coming out of a home for con armed bachelors L SOT u LL CHAPTER I 1 dust in the dull hot dusk of a summer day green touring car swing ng out of the east drive pulled tp smartly trembling at the edge of the fifty ninth street car trad a then more se datel under the d but watchful eye of a mounted member of the traffic squad lurched across the plaza and merged itself in the press of vehicles so ith bound on the avenue its held fo u young men all more or less disguised in dust dus and goggles forward by the side of the grimy and anxious eyed ic sat a fifth in all visible respects tl e counterpart of his companions be neath his and by this I 1 do not mean his goggles but the mask of modem manner which the worldly wear he was and is different he was daniel maitland re fo whom no further introduce intro duct on should be ared after mention of the fact that 1 e was and remains the identical gentleman of means and posit on in the social and financial worlds whose somewhat sober but sincere and whole hearted bartic pation in the wildest of conceivable escapades had earned him the affectionate regard of the younger set together with the sobriquet of mad maitland his companions of the day the fo r in the were in that humor of suad ed et vibrant excitement which Is apt to attend the conci s on of a long hard drive over roads maitland the other hand juddine jud gine him b his preoccupied pose was al readi wean of if not bored by tt e hare bra net enterprise which in it abed on tl e si ur of an idle moment and directly due to a ss ie ma 1 ot his own had brought h m m les or so gh the heat of a bio 1 ng afternoon accompanied by mirits as ardent and ble is his own in search of the dub ous dis tract en afforded by the night s de of the cita As i ck ng its ay with elephantine nicety the motor car down the avenue t deepening arcs apoi fleir bronze columns b bossom ng s ildeni noiselessly into spheres of opalescent ia diance mr ma fiand ceased to respond ceased even to ghe head to the runn ng fire of chaitt lara personal lers onal wh ch amused 1 is listlessly engaged a cigarette he lounged upon tl e glean leather cushions half clos ng h s ees and heartily wished himself tree tor the evening but he blood comm eted to the h i moi of the majority and lacked entire ly the shadow of an excuse to desert in add tion to which he was er too lazy tor the exertion of manu a lie of serviceable texture and so abandoned himself to his fate even though he foresaw with wear ful particularity the pro gramme of the coming hours 10 begin with 30 minutes were to be devoted to a bath and dressing in his rooms this was something not so unpleasant to contemplate it was the afterwards that repelled him D at sherry s the subsequent tour of gardens the aate supper at a cl ib and then prolonged far into the small hours the session around some green covered table in a close room reel ing with the fumes of good tobacco and hot with the fever of gambling abstractedly maitland frowned ter elv sun m ng up beas in a i ui bertone J at this the green car wheeled ab raptly bound a corner below thirty to irth street slid halt a block or more east and came to a tating halt maitland Matt land looking up recognized the en tiance to his apartments and sighed with rel ef for the brief respite from boredom that was to be his he rose negligently shaking off his duster and stepped down to the sidewalk somebody in the car called a warning after him and turn ng for a moment he stood at attention an eye brow raised quizzically cigarette droop ng from a corner of his mouth hat pushed back from his forehead hinds in coat pockets a tall slender sparsely built figure of a man clothed immaculately in flannels when at length he was able to make himself heard good enough he said clearly though aitho it rasing his i CP sherry s in an hour right now behave yourselves mind ou show up on time e er tear returned maitland over his sho il ler witticism vitti cism was flung back at him aiom the retreating car but spent itself ma fiand s atten tion was temporarily ril distracted by thac i nut al to say the least sight or A so and atti active won an coming out of a home for bachelors tle apartment house hai bened to be h s onn property A subs anteal and old fashioned ed flee situated ic the middle of a qu et bleci it con bained but twe roomy and comfortable arites in other words one to a floor and these were without exception ten anted b unman led men of mitt aind s circle and acquaintance the janitor himself a wi lower and a misogynist lived ilone in tle bise meat barring very sped 1 and except onal occasions as one of the bachelors felt called on to agne a tea in partial le cognition ot social obligations foot of woman never crossed its threshold thres rold in th s circumstance indeed v i composed comp used the s agular charm tl h u had foi its occupants th quality which insured the a priva and a qu et independence ahm obi ibus to its many ani its fack of many colv i lences and lux ines wh ch have of late g own to bp so rea crded a feces ties it boasted foi instance 10 garage no asten n those upon it d s electric 1 ng s never went it of nights because nevel been installed no arabi bound hall boy lo 10 blaed in dr upon the stoop and took too intimate and personal an interest in the ten ants the indal tants in br ef were free to come an go according to te d chates of the consciences uns per b neigh borai women jall unhindered by parasitic corpse menials not in personal employ wherefore was maitland astonished and the more so because of the season at ny other season of the he id readily have accounted for the phenomenon that now tell under hi observation on the hy s that the woman was somebody s sister or s in or aunt but at present that e la nation was untenable maitland ban 1 ened to know that not one of the oth er n en was in new york barri is hemsi n his own presence there thin entirely unforeseen eo lous he men 1 con the liba barnes who occupied the alist flat was traveling on the con conkling of the third had left a fortnight since to join a yachting party on the mediterranean bannister and will es of the fourth and fifth poors respectively were in newport and buenos alres odd concluded maitland Malt land so it was she had just closed the d or one thought and now stood poised as it in momentary indecision on the low stoop glancing toward fifth avenue the while she bumb ed with a refractory button at the wrist of a long white kid glove blurred tho agh it was by the darkling twilight and a thin veil her face yet conveyed an impress on of prettiness an am enhanced by caret il groom ing from her hat a small affair something green with a supers trac ture of gray ostrich feathers to the tips of her russet shoes including a wall ing sk rt and bolero of shimmer ing gray silk she was distinctly mirt ind interesting he had benl observant eyes had maitland Matt land tor all his detached pose you are to understand that he corn pi el ended all these points in the flick eang of an instant for the incident wa in two seconds in one the lady s hes was resolved in an oti er sl e had passed down the steps and wept by maitland without div ng him a glance without even the trem bl ng of an eyelash and he had a v cw of her 1 ack as she moved swiftly away toward the avenue perplexed 1 he 1 angered upon the stoop until she had turned the corner after wh ch he let himself in with a latch key and dismissing the affa te from 1 Is thoughts or pre tending to do so ascended the single fl of stairs to his flat S heavy feet were to be heard clumping up the basement steab and sing that the ji was coming to light the hall the yo ing man bated leining over the balls hib guess proving correct he called down ohagan Is that oua th saints preserve pre sarve us but gae me th listher ma t and sor 0 hagan paused in the gloom below his face illuminated by the flame of a wax taper in his ga slighter I 1 m dining in town to night gan and dropped around to diess Is anybody else at homec divver a sor th house do be qu et s anny tomb then who was that lady 0 hagan leddy sora in unbounded amaze ment yes impatiently A young worn an left the house just as I 1 was corn in n who was shea an I 1 th ye must be dr amin sor davvie a female ray to ye has been in this house for manny an manny th wake sor 1 but I 1 tell you belike someway aist into the debbe to tie her shoe sor and ye thought oh very well maitland rel n q the inquisition as unprofitable w aling to concede 0 hagan s theory a reasonable one the more readily since he himself could by no means have sworn that the woman had actually come out through the door such had merely been his impression honest enough but founded on circum stan bial evidence when i re through 0 hagan he told the irishman you may come and slave me and lay out my things if yau will very good sor in wan minute but 0 hagan s conception of the passage of time was a tho vague his one m nute had lengthened nto ten before he appeared to wait upon his employer now and again in the absence of the regular man 0 hagan would at and one or another of the tenants in the capacity of substitute valet as in the present instance when maitland having left his hosts root without troubling even to notify his body ant that he would not return that night called upon th janitor to under study the more tra ned employ e wh ch 0 hagan could be counted ui on to do very acceptably now with patience unruffled s nee he was nothing keen for the evening s enjoyment maitland made profit of the in er al to wander through his lighting the gas here and there and noting that all was as it bould ie as it had been left ave hat every a tide of furniture and or seemed to be sadly in want of a tl oro gh dusting in the end he 1 up in the room that served him a study and lounge the drawing room of the flat as planned in the for gotten architect s scheme a large and well 1 gated apartment overlooking the treet here paus ng beneath the chan lei er he 1001 ed abai t him for a coment debern detern ang that as else he e all things were in older but ra with d s i din tl e atmosphere heavy stale nd opre she u a fiand moved over the aia aws and tl rew then open g sh of warm a r hum d and redo eat of the streets invaded the room oae 1 er with the roar of traffic from ts near bv aate ies maitland rested ibous on the sill and leaned out star ing absently into the night for by now it was quite dark without con cero he realized that he would be late at dinner no matter he would as willingly miss it altogether for the time being he was absorbed in vain speculations about an unknown worn an whose sole claim upon his conald aeration lay in a certain but immaterial glamour of mystery had she or had she not been in the housed and it the true answer were in the tive to what end upon what errand his eyes focused insensibly upon a void 0 darkness beneath him night made visible by street lamps and he found himself suddenly and acutely sensible of the wonder and mystery of the city the city whose secret life ran fluent upon the hot hard pave ments below whose voice throbbed sibilant vague strident inarticulate upon the night air the city of which he was a part equally with the girl in gray whom he had never before seen and in all dihel 1 waa never to see again tho agh the two of them were to work out the destinies within the bounds of manhattan island and yet it would be strange said maitland Malt land thoughtfully it he shook his head smil ng two shall be born quoted mad maitland Malt land sent mentally two shall be born the whole wide world A piano organ having maliciously aneal ed up beneath his window drove him indoors with a crash of metallic melody As he dropped the curtains his eye was arrested by a gleam of white on hia desk a letter i laced there doubt less by 0 hagan in maitland Malt land s ab senco at the same time a splashing and gurgi ng of water from the diorec tion ot the bathroom informed him trat the janitor valet was even then pre aring his bath but that could wait 1 maitland Malt land took up the envelope and tore the flap remarking the name and address of his lawyer in its upper left hand corner untold ng the inclosure h read a date a week old and two lines requesting him to communicate with his legai adviser upon a matter of preising preb sing moment bother said maitland what the did ens he pulled up short eyes lighting that s so yo i know he argued ba merman will be delighted and and even business Is better than rush ing round town and pretending to en joy yourself when it s hotter than the seven brass hinges of hell and you can t think of anything else do it he stepped quickly to the corner 0 the room stood the telephone upon a small side table sat down and receder to ear gave central a num her in another moment he vas in communication with his attorney s res idenie Is mr bannerman ina I 1 would like to why mr Bannerman 1 how do you doa you re 1001 ing per cent bet ter bad mad word naughty maitland Malt land of course been out of town and just got your note yo ir beastly penchant tor econ omy it s not stamped I 1 presume you sent it round by hand of the future president of the united states you now employ as office boy and 0 hagan dian didn t forward it tor that reason important eha I 1 m only in tor the n 1 en come and d ne with me at the primard al put the others off good enough in an hour then good by hanging up the receiver maitland waited a few moments ere again put ting it to hia ear this time he called up sherry s asked for the head waiter ard requested that person to be kind enough to mal e his excuses to mr arossy and party he maitland waa detained upon a matter of moment but would endeavor to join them at a later hour then with a satisfied smile he turned away with purpose to dispose of bannerman s note baths leady sor 0 hagan s announcement tell upon heedless ears ma fiand remained mo ti onless before the desk transfixed with amazement bith s read sor imperatively ma fiand slightly ve well in a minute 0 hagan yet for some t me he did not move vly the heavy brows contracted over ir tent eyes as he strove to ale it out at length his lips moved noiselessly am I 1 awaked was the question he p it his consciousness wondering he bent forward and drew the tip of one forefinger aaros the b ack polished wood of the writing bed it left a dark heal 1 ne nd beside clearly defined in the heavy laer of dust waa the silhouette of a hand a woman s hand small delicate stal ably feminine of contour well declared maitland I 1 am banned TO bb continued |