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Show GllL in Ik y Elimboth (Jordan WNU Service wxmld Jo htm food. Or, by Jove, he'd Ko rad Louise Ordway ! ' H had promised his new brother-in-law, Bob Warren, to keep an eye on Bob's sister while Warren and Bar-bara Bar-bara were In Japan, and Laurie had kept the promise with religious fidelity fidel-ity and very real pleasure. He Immensely Im-mensely liked and admired Mrs. Ord-way, Ord-way, who seemed, strangely, to be always al-ways at home of lute. He had formed the habit of running In several times a week. Louise not only talked, but. as Laurie expressed It, "she said things." He had spent with her many of the afternoons and evenings Bangs checked up to the cabarets. He glanced at his watch. For an hour he had been impersonating a gentleman engaged In profound meditation, medi-tation, with the sole result that he had decided to go to see Louise. It was quite possible he could enlist her interest In Doris. Now, that was an inspiration ! Perhaps Mrs. Ordway would understand Doris. Every woman, wom-an, he vaguely believed, understood all other women. He smoothed his hair, straightened his tie, and hurried off. He found Mrs. Ordway reclining on a chaise longue before an open fire, in the boudoir in which his sister Barbara had spent so many hours of the past year, playing the invalid to sleep. She wore a superb Mandarin coat, of soft and ravishing tints, and her love for rich colors was reflected in the autumnal au-tumnal tones of her room and even in the vari-colored flames of her driftwood drift-wood fire. To Louise these colors were as definite as mellow trumpet-tones. trumpet-tones. She hud responded to them all her life. She was responding to them, still, now that she lay dying among them. Something In their superb arrogance ar-rogance called for an answering note from her own arrogant soul. She greeted her brother's young brother-in-law with the almost disdainful dis-dainful smile she now turned on everything, but which was softened a little for him. Ignorant of the malady mal-ady that was eating her life away, as bade either understanding or sympathy. sym-pathy. "The .jal problem Is why you ever come." She spoke lightly, but looked at him with genuine affection. Lanria was one of her favorites, her prima favorite, indeed, next to Bob and Barbara. Bar-bara. He smiled at her with tender significance. "You know why I come." "I do," she agreed, "perfectly. I know you're quite capable of flirting with me, too, if I'd let you, you absurd ab-surd boy. Dearie" for a moment or two she was almost serious "why don't you fall In love?" "And this from you?' "Don't be foolish. You know I like your ties," she interpolated kindly. "Hut, really. Isn't there some one?" Laurie turned his profile to her, pulled a lock of hair over his brow, clasped his hands between his knees and posed esthetieally. "Do you know," he sighed, "I begin be-gin to think that, just possibly, perhaps, per-haps, there's a slight chance that there Is!" "Be serious. Tell me about her." "Well, she's a girl." He produced this confidence with ponderous solemnity. sol-emnity. "She lives across the square from me," he added. "Things brighten," commented Louise, Lou-ise, drily, "fio on." "She's mysterious. I don't know who she Is, or anything about her. But I know that she's in trouble." "Of course she Is! I have never known a mysterious maiden that wasn't," commented the woman of the world. "What's her particular variety va-riety of trouble?" Laurie reflected. "That's hard to say," he brought out at last. "But It appears to be mixed up with an offensive person In a crumpled blue suit who answers to the name of Herbert Ransome Shaw. Have you ever heard of him?" Louise wrinkled her fastidious nose. "Never, I'm happy to say. But he doesn't sound atttractlve. However, tell me all about them. There seems a good chance that they may get you into trouble." "That's what she said." "It's the one gleam of intelligence I see in the situation," commented his candid friend. "Is she pretty?" "As lovely in her way as you are. Think you could help her any?" wheedled Laurie. "I doubt it. I'm too selfish to be bothered with girls who are in trouble. trou-ble. I'll tell you who can help her Sonya Orleneff." "Of course!" Laurie beamed at her. "Wonder why I didn't think of that." "Probably because It was so obvious. Sonya is In town, as It happens, stopping stop-ping at the Warwick. She has brought the Infant Samuel to New York to have his adenoids cut out. Samuel made a devastating visit here this morning. He's getting as fat as a little pig, and when he walks he puffs like a worn-out automobile going go-ing up a steep grade. He came up my stairs on 'low,' and I'm sure they heard him on the avenue. I almost offered him a glass of gasolene. But he is a lamb," she added reflectively. Oddly enough, Samuel, late of New York's tenements, was another of her favorites. Laurie was following his own thoughts. Sonya was In town ! Then, however complicated his problem, It was already as good as solved. "My dinner will be up soon," suggested sug-gested Louise. "Are you dining with me 7" He glanced at his watch, reproachfully reproach-fully shook his head at it, and rose. "Three hours of me are all you can have this time. But I'll probably drop around about dawn tomorrow." "Nice boy!" Her hot hand caught his and held It. "Laurie, if if I should send for you suddenly sometime some-time you'd come and stand by?" All the gaiety was wiped from his face. His brilliant black eyes,, oddly softened, looked into her haughty blue ones with sudden understanding. "You bet I will ! Any time, anything! any-thing! You'll remember that? Send for me as if I were Bob. Perhaps you've forgotten It," he added, more lightly, "but I happen to be your younger brother." For a moment her face twisted. The mask of her arrogunce fell from It. Fate Is about to turn a trick, but Laurie is too practical and hard-headed to worry over "mysteries." I (TO BE CONTINUED.) :-xx-xx-:-x-xxxxxxxx ill i He Found Mrs. Ordway Reclining on ' a Chaise Longue Before an Open Fire. STORY FROM THE START Laurie Devon, a gay young chap somewhat Inclined to wlld-ness, wlld-ness, has recently succeeded as a playwrig-ht. His wealthy sister sis-ter Barbara, who has helped him to succeed, has Just been married mar-ried and is going to Japan, leav-; leav-; Ing Laurie on his own. Epstein and Bangs, his theatrical part-' part-' ners, have promised Barbara to keep an eye "on Laurie. They Bcold him for his laziness of late, and he retorts that he seeks adventure. ad-venture. .From his window In New Yoi k he sees the reflection of a beautiful girl in a mirror in the house opposite. From the elevator boy In the girl's house Laurie learns the girl's name is Mayo. Again In the mirror's reflection re-flection he sees her with a revolver re-volver and fears she means to commit suicide. He rushes Into her apartment, and, winning her confidence, Induces her to lunch with him, though she warns him of danger. At lunch she admits there Is a mystery In her life. She says also that her funds are almost exhausted, but refuses flatly Laurles' offer of financial help. As a stranger enters the restaurant, the girl mutters "He has found me." Upon learning that the man has no claim on her, Laurie warns the stranger not to molest the girl, whose name, Laurie learns, 'Is Doris. CHAPTER V Continued "Shaw," she answered, unwillingly. . "Is it spelled P-s-h-a-w?" Laurie asked the question with polite po-lite interest. Then, realizing that In her preoccupation she did not follow this flight of his mercurial spirits, he sobered. "It's a perfectly good name," he conceded, "but there must be more of it. What's the rest?" "He calls himself Herbert Ransome Shaw." Laurie made a mental note of the name. ' "I shall call him Bertie," he firmly announced, "to show you how unimportant unim-portant he really Is. By the way" a sudden memory struck him "he told me your name Doris." He added the name so simply that he seemed to be calling her by it. A faint shadow of her elusive smile touched her lips. "I like it Doris," Laurie repeated, dreamily. "I am so glad," she murmured. He ignored the irony In her tone. "I suppose you have several more, like our friend Bertie, but you needn't tell them to me. If I had to use them every time I spoke to you, it might check my Inspiration. Doris will do very nicely. Doris, Doris!" I "Are you making a song of It ?" j, "Yes, a hymn." She looked at him curiously. "You're a queer boy. I can't quite make you out. One minute you're serious, se-rious, and the next " "If you're puzzled over me, picture my mental turmoil over you." "Oh me?" With a gesture she consigned con-signed herself to the uttermost ends of the universe. The taxlcab had stopped. They had reached the sludlo building without observing the fact.- The expression on the features of the chauffeur suggested sug-gested that if they wanted to sit all day they could do It, but that It would not be his personal choice. Doris held out her hand. "Crood-by," she said gently. "And thank you. I'm really more appreciative appre-ciative than I seem." Laurie's look expressed more surprise sur-prise thau he had ever really experienced experi-enced over anything. "But we haven't settled matters!" he cried. "We're going to the bank " "We are not." She spoke with sharp decision. Then, relenting at the expression of his face, she touched the heavy gold-and-ainber chain around her neck. "I can pawn this," she said briefly. "It didn't seem worth while before, but as I've got to go on. I promise you I will do It. I will do It today." she added hurriedly, "this afternoon. If you wish. It Is valuable. I can get enough on It to keep me for a month." "Till we find that Job for you," he suggested, brightening. She agreed, with a momentary flash of her wonderful smile. "And you will let me drop in this evening and take you to dinner?" "No, thank you. But " again she relented "you may come in for an hour at eight." "1 believe you are a crowned head." murmured Laurie. discontentedly "That's just the way they do In books. When I come I suppose I must speak-only speak-only when I'm spoken to. And when you suddenly stand up at nine, I'll know the audience is over." She laughed softly, her red brown eyes shining at him. Her laughter was different from any other laughter he had ever beard. -U-nod-uy" sht repen'e-' He helped her out of the cab and escorted her Into the studio building, where he rang the elevator bell and waited, hat in hand, until the car came down. When it arrived Sam was In It. Before it stopped he had recognized rec-ognized the waiting pair through the open Ironwork of the door. To Laurie, the elevator and Sam's Jaw seemed to drop in unison. The next instant the black boy had resumed his habitual expression of Indifference In-difference to all human Interests. Dead-eyed, he stared past the two young things. Dead-eared, he ignored their moving lips. But there was fellowship fel-lowship In the Jocund youth of all three. In an Instant when Laurie stepped back into the hall as the car shot upward, the eyes of the negro and white man flashed a question and an answer: In Sam's: "You done took her out an' fed her?" In Laurie's: "You bet your boots I did!" CHAPTER VI Laurie Solves a Problem Laurie walked across the square to his own rooms. A sudden gloom had fallen upon him. He saw himself sitting sit-ting in his study, gazing remotely at his shoes, until it was time to dress for the evening and his formal call on Doris. The prospect was not attractive. He hoped Bangs would be at home. If so, perhaps he could goad him Into one of the rages In which Bangs was so picturesque ; but he was not sure of even this mild diversion. Rodney had been wonderfully sweet-tempered the past three days, though preoccupied, preoccu-pied, as If In the early stages of creative cre-ative art. Laurie half suspected that he had begun work on his play. The suspicion aroused conflicting emotions emo-tions of relief and half-jealous regret. Why couldn't the fellow wait till they could go at it together? He Ignored the fact that already the fellow had waited six weeks. Bangs was not at home. The square, flat-topped mahogany desk at which the two young men worked together blinked up at Laurie with the un-dlmmed un-dlmmed luster of a fine piece of furniture fur-niture on which the polisher alons had labored that morning. Without taking the trouble to remove his hat and coat, Laurie dropped into a chair and tried to think things out. But the process of thinking eluded him, or, rather, his mind shied at it as a skit: tish horse might shy If confronted on a dark road with shapes vaguely familiar fa-miliar yet mysterious. Frankly, he couldn't make head or tail of this mess Doris seemed to be In. His memory reminded nim that such "messes" existed. He had heard and read of all sorts of plots and counter-plots, In which all types of humans hu-mans figured. His Imagination underscored under-scored the memory. But, someway, Doris he loved to repeat the name even to himself someway Doris was not the type that figured in such plots. Also, there were other things hard to understand. She had let herself starve for four days, though she wore around her neck a chain that she admitted ad-mitted represented a month's support. And tills fellow, Herbert Ransome Shaw where the devil did he come in? A fellow with a name like that and with snaky eyes like his was capable capa-ble of anything. And yet Young Devon had the Intolerance of American youth for the things outside out-side his personal experience. The sort of thing Doris wag hinting at didn't happen here; that was all there was to It. What was happening seemed pretty clear. The girl was, or fancied herself, In the power of an unscrupulous un-scrupulous scamp who was using that power for some purpose of his own. if that was It and this thing. Laurie handsomely admitted, really did happen hap-pen sometimes it ought to be fairly easy for an athletic chap of twenty-four twenty-four to put an end to It. He recalled the look in Shaw's projecting eyes, the snakelike forward thrust of his sleek head ; and an Intense desire seized him to get his hands on the fellow's throat and choke him till his eyes stuck out twice as far as they did now. If that Mere duty, then duty would he a deligbt. Having reached this edifying point in his reflections, he rose. Why delay? de-lay? I'erhnps he could find the chap somewhere. IVrhaps the waiter at the restaurant where they had lunched knew where he lived. But, no. of course not. It was not the kind of restaurant his sort patronized. Shaw had simply followed him and Doris there; that was all there was to it. He, Laurie, would have to wait for another encounter. Meantime he might run around to the club and box for an hour. He had been getting n bit out of condition this month. A bout with McDonald, the club tralcar, Indeed all her friends were ignorant of it, save Barbara and her doctors, Laurie delighted in the picture she made. He showed his delight as he dropped into a chair by her side. They fell at once Into the casual banter ban-ter that characterized their Intercourse. Inter-course. "I wonder why I ever leave here?" he mused aloud, as the clock struck six. He had been studying with a slight shock the changes that had taken place In the few days since he had seen her. For the first time the suspicion crossed his mind that she might be seriously ill. Throughout their talk he had observed things, trifles, perhaps, but significant, which, If they had occurred before, had escaped es-caped him. Susanne, Mrs. Ordway's maid, though modestly In the background, was rarely out of sight; and a white-capped white-capped nurse, till now an occasional and illusive vision In the halls, blew in and out of the sickroom like a breeze, bringing liquids in glasses, which the patient obediently swallowed. Laurie, his attention once caught, took it all in. But his face gave no hint of his new knowledge, and the eye3 of Louise still met his with the challenge chal-lenge they turned on every one these days a challenge that definitely for- xxxX':-x-x-X'x-xx-:-x-mx- |