Show tp its no use talking about her any more Z 1 OVIE awit w 11 LOM f W AN D y HORNBLOW y illustration BY RAY WALTER 09 BY G W p IL LL COMPANY F SYNOPSIS L howard jeffries bankers son under the evil influence of robert underwood derood Un fellow student at yale leads a life of 0 dis ll ol pation marries the daughter of a gam bler aho vho ho died in prison and la Is disowned by his father he ile Is out of work and in desperate sperate straits underwood who had ance been engaged to howard howards s stepmother alicia Is apparently in prosper BUS ous circumstances taking advantage of his intimacy with alcia al cla he becomes a eort gort of soc al highwayman discovering T 1 9 his true character al alcia cla denies him the t h e house houge he lie sends ler 1 er a note threatening suicide art dealers for whom thorn he acted aa as commiss commis commissioner oner demand an accounting he cannot make good howard calls at his apartments in an intoxicated condi condl tion to request a loan of t tf to enable hin to take up a b siness proposition anderu underwood tells him I 1 e ie is in debt up to his eyes howard drinks himself into a maudlin condition and goes to sleep on a alvan divan A caller Is announced and under wood draws a screen around the drunken sleeper al ailcia cla enters she demands a promise from underwood that he be w 11 II not take his life he ile refuses unless sl she he will lenew her patronage this she refuses and bakes akes her leave underwood kills himself the report of the pistol awa kens howard honard he lie finds underwood dead his predicament he attempts to flee and Is met by underwood s valet howard Is turned over to hie the police capt clinton notorious tor for his b brutal treatment 0 of f prisoners puts put s howard tl rough the third degree and finally gets an alleged confession from the hara harassed sed man annie howard s M ife if e declares her belief in her husband husbands s innocence and bays says she will clear him she calls 0 jeffrow br sr he ile refuses to help unless the she will consent to a dl di orce to sie howard sl e consents but when ahen sl e finds that the elder jeffries does not intend to stand by his son except financially she scorns his help annie appeals to judge brewster brew ater attorney for jeffel jeffries es sr to take howard a case cafe he ile dec I 1 nes ann anne e haunts Brew brewster office CHAPTER XIV continued you mean about about the underwood case caseb alicia nodded yes mr jeffries is terribly upset As if the coming trial and all the rest ol 01 the scandal were not enough but now we have to face something even worse something that affects me even more than my hubband really 1 I m frantic about it what s happened nowa asked the lawyer calmly that woman Is going on the stage that s all she snapped hm said the lawyer calmly just think she cried the name mrs howard jeffries my name paraded before the public at a time when everything should be done to keep it out of the papers this woman Is going to flaunt herself on the stage she fanned herself indignantly while the lawyer rapped his desk ab with a paper cutter alicia went on you know I 1 have never met the woman what Is she liked I 1 under stand she s been bothering you to take the case of that worthless hus band of hers do you know she had the impertinence to come to our house and ask mr jeffries to help thema I 1 asked my husband to describe her but all I 1 could get from him was that she was impertinent and impossible she hesitated a moment then she added Is she as pretty as her pic tures in the papera paper youve you ve seen her of course coursed judge brewster frowned yes he replied she comes here every day regularly she literally coi noels me to see her and refuses to go till I 1 ve told her I 1 haven t changed my decision about taking her case what insolence exclaimed alicia I 1 should think that you would have her lier put out of the office the lawyer was silent and toyed somewhat nervously with the paper cutter as if not quite decided as to what response to make he ile coughed and fussed with the papers on the desk why don t you have her put out of the officer she repeated the judge looked up there was an expression in his face that might have been interpreted as one of an rio boyance yance as if he rather resented this intres on into his business affairs but mrs jeffries sr was too tin a client to quarrel with so he merely sa d frankly mrs jeffries Jeff rles if it were not for the fact that mr air jeffries has exacted from me a promise not to take up this case I 1 should be tempted to consider the matter in the first place you know I 1 always liked how ard I 1 saw a good deal of him before your marriage to mr air jeffries he was always a wild unmanageable boy weak in character b bit it he had many lovable traits I 1 am v very ery sorry indeed to see him in such a terrible position it was hard for me to real ize it and I 1 should never have believed bk him guilty had he not con can fessel to the crime yes she assented it is an aw ful thing and a terrible blow to his father of course he has had noth ing to do with howard tor for months As you know he be turned him out of doors long ago but the disgrace Is none the less overwhelming the lawyer looked out of the win dow and drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair suddenly wheeling round and facing his client he said you know this girl he married is no ordinary woman oh ohl she exclaimed sarcastically she has succeeded in arousing your sympathy the judge bowed coldly no he replied I 1 would hardly say that but she has aroused my curiosity she is a very peculiar girl evidently a creature of impulse and determination I 1 certainly feel sorry for her her hel position Is a very pain tul full one she has been married only a few months and now her husband has to face the most awful accusation n that can be brought against a man she is plucky in spite of it all and is moving heaven and earth in howard a defense she believes herself to be in some measure responsible for his mis fortune apart from that the case interests me from a purely profession al point of view there are several strange features connected with the case sometimes in spite of howard s confession I 1 don dont t believe he be corn com that crime alicia changed color and shirting shifting uneasily on her chair scrutinized the lawyers face what was behind that calm inscrutable maska what theory had he one newspaper had suggested suicide she in herself come forward and declare that rob ert underwood had threatened to take his own life but how could she face the scandal which such a course would involve 7 she would have to admit visiting underwood s rooms at midnight alone that surely would ruin her in the eyes not only of her husband but of the whole world it if this sacrifice of her good name were necessary to save an innocent mans life perhaps she might summon up ud enough courage to make it but all she was by no means sure her self that underwood had suicide howard hoard had confessed why should she jeopardize her good name uselessly 9 no repeated the judge shaking his head there theres s something strange in the whole whale affair I 1 don dont t believe howard had any hand in it but he confessed exclaimed alicia the judge shook his head tl TI at s nothing he said there have been many instances of untrue confessions A famous affair of the kind was the boom boorn case in vermont two brothers confessed having hilfer their brother inlaw in law and described bow how they destroyed the body yet some time afterward the murdered man turned up alive and well the object of the confession of chirse arse was to turn the verdict from murder to manslaughter the circumstantial evidence against them having been so strong in the days of witchcraft the unfortunate women accused tec used of being witches were often urged by rel relatives atnes to confess as being the way of escape open to them ann foster at salem in 1692 confessed that she was a witch she said the devil appeared to her in the shape of a bird and that she attended a meet ing of witches at salem village she was not insane but the horror of the accusation brought against her had been too much for a weak mind flo howard wards s confession may possibly be due to some such influence I 1 hope tor for his poor father fathers s sake said alicia that you may be right and that he may be proved innocent but everything Is overwhelmingly against him I 1 think you are the only one in new york to express such a doubt don t forget his wife remarked the judge dryly no she replied I 1 really feel sorry for the girl myself will you give hersome money if it I 1 the lawyer shook his head she wont take it I 1 Itri tried edit it she wants me to defend her husband I 1 tried to bribe her to go to some other lawyer but it work well something ought to be done to stop her annoying us exel exclaimed timed alicia indignantly mr jeffrees jeff ries rles suf fers terribly I 1 can hear him pacing up and down the library till three or four in the morning poor man he suffers so and be he won t let one sympathize with bim him he wont won t let me mention his son s name I 1 feel we ought to do something try and persuade him to let me see this girl and you are his friend as well as his legal adviser judge brewster bowed your husband Is a very old friend mrs jeffrees Jeff rles I 1 can cant t disregard his entirely there was a knock at the door ot at th the e office come in called the judge the door opened and the head clerk entered ushering in howard jeffries Jeff rles sr the banker still aristocratic and dignified but looking tired and careworn advanced into the room and shook hands with the judge who greeted him with a cord il smile there was no response on the bank ers er s face querulously he demanded brewster what s that woman doing out there again it its s not the first time I 1 ve met her in this office alicia looked up eagerly Is she out there nowa she cried what right has she he to come herel chats her objects went on the banker the lawyer shrugged his shoulders the same old thing he replied she wants me to take her case the banker frowned didn dian t you tell her it was imps that makes no difference laughed the judge she comes just the same I 1 ve sent her away a dozen times what am I 1 to do if she in fists on comingo we can cant t have her arrested she doesn doean t break the furni ture or beat the office boy she sim ply sits and waits have you told her that I 1 object to her coming herec demanded the banker haughtily I 1 have replied the judge calmly but she has overruled your object tion with a covert irdle he add ed you know we can t use force mr jeffries Jeff rles shrugged his shoulders impatiently I 1 ou can certainly use moral force he said sald what do you mean by moral force demanded demand kd the lawyer mr jeffries Jeff rles threw up his hands as if utterly disgusted with the whole business almost angrily he an moral force is moral force I 1 mean persuasion of course good god why cant can t peo ie understand these things as I 1 do doa the judge said nothing but turned to examine some papers on an his desk he ile hardly liked the inference that he could not see things as plainly as other people but what was the use of getting irritated 7 9 he ile couldn coulden t at af ford to quarrel with one of his best clients alicia alita looked at her husband acx loosly laying her hand on his arm she said soothingly perhaps if I 1 were to see her mr jeffries turned angrily how can you think of such a things I 1 can t permit my wife to come in contact with a woman of that character judge brewster who was vas listening in spite of the tact fact that he was seem angly engrossed engi ossed in his papers pursed his lips oh come he said with a forced laugh she s not as bad as all that I 1 in sure she isn t said alicia em she must be amenable to reason the banker s wife was not alt ogeth er bad excessive vanity and ach mh alon had steeled her heart and stifled impulses that were naturally good but otherwise she was not wholly de void of feeling she was really sorry for this poor little woman who was fighting so bravely to save her bus hus band no doubt she had inveigled howard into marrying her but she alicia had no right to sit in judg ment on her tor for that it if the girl had been ambitious to marry ab above I 1 er in what way was she more guilty than she herself had been in marry ing a man she lid not love simply imply tor for his wealth and social position besides alicia was herself sorely troubled her conscience told her that a word from her might set the whole matter right she might be able to prove that underwood corn earn bitted suicide she knew she Y was as a coward and worse than a coward becaj se she dare not speak that word the more she saw her bus hus band s anger the less courage she had to do it in any case she argued to herself howard had confessed if it he be shot Unde underwood mood there was no sui sul cide so why should she incriminate herself 7 9 but there was no reason why she should not show some sympathy for the poor girl who after all was only doing what any good wife should do aloud she repeated see the girl and talk to her she must listen to reason reason exploded the banker angrily how can you expect reason from a woman who hounds us dogs our footsteps tries to compel us to take her upa up 9 judge brewster who had apparent ly paid no attention to the banker bankers s remarks now turned around hesi ta tingly he said I 1 think iou ou do her an injustice jeffries Jeff rles she comes every day in the hope that your feelings toward your son have changed she wishes to give color to the belief that his fa lawyers are championing his cause bhe was honest enough to tell me so you know her movements are closely watched by the newspapers and she takes good care to let the reporters think that she comes here to discuss with me the details of her husband s defense the banker shifted impatiently on his cliar cha r contemptuously he said the ne new shapers which I 1 read don t give her the slightest attention II 11 tl ey did I 1 should refuse to read them with glowing irritation he went on its no use talking about her any more what are we going to do about this latest scandal 9 this worn wom an is going on the stage to be ex habited all over the country and she proposes to use the family name thele is nothing to prevent her said the lawyer dryly the banker jumped to his feet and exclaimed angrily there must be I 1 good god brew ter surely you can obtain an tion restraining her from using the family name you must do something what do you advise I 1 advise patience replied the judge calmly but mr jeffries Jeff rles had no patience he was a man who wis was not accas tomed to have his wishes thwarted he did not understand wader stand chy there should be the slightest difficulty in carrying out his instructions any one can advise patience he exclaimed hotly but that s not doing anything banging the desk angrily with his fist he exclaimed I 1 want ant something done judge Br brewster euster looked up at his client with surprise the judge never lost his temper even in the most acrimonious wrangles in the court room he was always the suave pol dished gentleman there was a shade of reproach in his tone as he replied come come don t lose your tern tem per III do what I 1 can but there Is nothing to be done in the way you suggest the most I 1 can do ia Is to remain loyal to you although to be quite candid I 1 confess it goes against the grain to keep my iny hands off this case As I 1 told your our wife jfe there are certain features about it which inter est me keenly I 1 feel that you are wrong to IMO no brewster interrupted mr jeffries explosively I 1 in right I 1 ira I 1 in right tiou iou know it but you wont admit it the lawyer shrugged his shoulders should erg and turned to his desk again lacon icalla he said well I 1 won t algae the matter with you you refus |