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Show BU BBBBl BwASBBTBy'BBi -- BH BBI yiirJt!B BBBW v H-' H PART BB Moral Emblemo. BH Plenso don't Hklp this description of BH Robert Horvoy Unndolph six feet H Btrnlght up mid down, broad of shuul- H dcr and nnrrow of hip, finndy-hulred, H blue-eyed, nose slightly upended and BH wearing n saddlo of faint freckles, H clean shnvon, well Broomed, very cor- H rectly dressed, nnil twenty-six years H old. Let It bo ndded tlmt his eyes H were placed Just far enough apart to BH stamp him forever honest; he had an BBb open and most preiiossesslng coun-BBf coun-BBf BH v At tho moment of tho start of this H rapid yam, he was standing In tho H Van Tclllcrs, library, looking down In H pained and flushed surprlso nt Miss H Mnilgo Van T., who was sitting In n BH huge leathern chair half facing the H fire In the open grate, ono leg very H much under her, tho other waving h BBl withi-nnd-sllk combination of foot and H niiklo In distracting accompaniment to BBl her disturbing speech. BH, "Hobby," said Miss Van T "you arc H darned good-looking; you'ro strong, BH straight, and a gentleman; there are B times when you arc wholly adorable, H hut, nevertheless, I'm not going to BBl tho show with you tonight, or to the H opcrn tomorrow, or anywhere nny BBl .more. There, there, denr boy; you B don't have to sny anything. You have H ono of those faces that Is absolutely H beyond tho aid of a vocal organ. It BBl says everything that Is In your heart B of gold before your brain has time to H III1IWU 14 WUtl. B "Look here, Madge," said the pained H Mr. Randolph: "are you making fun BBs of my fnee or of my brain or of H BBl "My dear," said Miss Vnn T. quite m grnvely, Tm not mnklng fun of you In m , nny way whatsoever. I'm merely tell- BBl Ing you how lovnhlo you arc, so that B '"T you will understand how serious It Is BBl when I say that I've decided not to B love you any more." H "B-but how enn you help ltr stain- B mcrcd Mr. Randolph, his tongue for BBY onco saying tho name thing as his faco BBV nt tho samo time. BBT Miss Vnn T.'s brenst fluttered as m though rising ngnlnst Its mistress to m the defense of Uds disingenuous young BBb man, nnd she was obliged to swervo B her eyes from his and draw a long BBT breath before she answered. B "I can, becauso I will," sho snld, her B face paling. "Oh, Robby, can't you BBY wnko up? Look round you and come B H ' to earth 1 You are bom nnd bred on B Manhattan, yet you've never seen Now . York." BBl "I guess you'ro right." said Robby B thoughtfully. "Look here, Madge: why BBb should I try tb seo Now York, and BB ' why should wo bo talking ash-cans B when I've got you to look nt In one of BBf the most bewitching nnd abbreviated B hits of dress goods that ever revealed BBl a completely ndorablo person? Tell BBf ' me that" H ' "Well," snld Madge, her faco hnrd- BBl enlng, "I will. It's n long story, not In B words but In generations. Tlie Van Bt Telllcrs- have lived In East Ninth B V street slnco tho year one of the Island. BBl Tnnt Is, they used to live here; now BBl ,ncv hardly exist They arc merely an BBl assorted lot of animated corpses that BBl v' crawl out of their tomb periodically to BBf, ,n,Je n strange air, leaning on n rotten BBjj stave called the 'Old Order.' Listen to BBf this, Robby: Tho new New York Is a B , fever, nnd l'vo caught It. I want a Hm rainy-day car, a cnlllng-cnr, nnd a BBl touring car; I want dresses that will BBl stab Mvlth envy the henrt of every BBg ' woman that looks at them; I want my BBT Jowols'to 'run to stzo and quality, and BBf I wnnt-n yacht Just for the papers to Hp- talk jibout, because I hato to rldo In BH ' the smelly things." BBf Bobby's eyes hnd grown rounder BB and wlder.as the list progressed. BBf "Do you think you could get along BBY on n hundred thousand a year?" ho BBp, asked very softly. BBfi "I don't know," she snld slowly. BBl "'ve uecn RlnS ,nt0 ,lle subject BBg rather thoroughly, and n hundred thou- B BQn(1 onld he running It on n pretty Hj't closo margin. Ry the way, Just what H Is your allowance under that crazy H "Ten thousnnd," snld Robby. H '.'W'cU," snld Miss Van T., "there you B nrel ,Tuht cno"fin t0 1:c0P J'ou com m fortahly In debt, and you want to H , marry me on it I It wouldn't be qutto B " fi0 011t ot tltc question If you knew you B wer0 R'nK ,0 1,avo lt; forever, hut you H don't. It may be cut off" B "Any day," snld Hobby promptly. HL "It lsnr likely, after all these years, H but It may." H "Well, there you are!" Miss Van T. Hl repeated herself. "I'm not altogether B n pig, Hobby. Ten thousnnd with you H thrown In Is enough to make any m woman think threo times, hut tho H 'truth Is you hnvo been killed by too B little and too much kindness. If you H hnd never gone on as super for n dls- B appearing heiress, von might have H - Huiountcil to sonu'thlii' by now. In- BbB stead of making you, that money hns hurled you." "You don't know me altogether, Madge." said Hobby. "Do you think I've nover thought things out? When I need to make money, I'll do It. Tho great thing nowadays, It seems to me, Is not to hnvo too much." "Not to have too much I" exclaimed Miss Vnn T., n puzzled frown on her forehead. "Hobby, do you know that you've said something original? No; I won't put It quite ns strong as that blit I will soy that you'vo given birth to an exotic Idea. "But It doesn't niter tilings as far as I am concerned," she continued, almost al-most without n pause. "In fnct, It only simplifies mntters. You'vo signed the warrant. I want loads of money; you're nfrald of having too much. So we'd better turn our bncks on each other and march." Mr. Randolph looked nt her through narrowed eyes. "I suppose," ho said, "you havo picked out tho man with a hundred thousnnd a year?" "Not finally," said Miss Van T., "though they are not bo scarce In this hurly-burly world us your question Implies. Im-plies. After nil, It Isn't tho ensh I'm keen on, but whnt It will bring. If necessary. I'll enrn my own living." "12am your own living 1" exclaimed Mr. Randolph. "Will you plcaso tell mo how you could earn anything?" "Well," snld Miss Van T., "I've had n couplo of offers without even nsk-Ing. nsk-Ing. When I tried to Jow Simon Simon down on this very frock on tho grounds that I was bard up, ho snld, In tho nicest way, that ho would take mo on nt sixty u week auy day during the next llvo years." "And tho other?" nsked Mr. Randolph. Ran-dolph. "The other," snld Miss Vnn T dropping drop-ping her eyes, "wns Bcacher Tremont. Ho wasn't qultosonlce, but ho offered more. Ho Bald ho was looking for n prlvntc sccrctnry, who could name her own price." "During tho next fivo years at your own price," repeated Bobby, his mind dazed but nevertheless going straight to tho kernel of each proposition. "Madge, do you know what you're saying? Do you know tho horrible things you Infer?" Sho moved ono hand Impatiently. "Bobby," sho said, "don't get theatrical. the-atrical. I tell you Now York Is n fever. I've caught It, and I'm not n bit sorry. The cholco between being a Van Tel-ller Tel-ller corpso nnd n fastlsli woman Is easy. Tho seml-declassees of New York, If they play for high enough stakes, hnvo n world of their own that Is worth moving In. Money Is merely an adjunct to It nothing but tho bridge ncross which clover men come to show themselves off nt their un-trammeled un-trammeled best." "Madge," snld Bobby, at onco frightened fright-ened and earnest, "you only hnlf know what you'ro talking about. There Is such n world as you speak of It's tho j 8B mUmfj Z III m,WJkn "It Would Take Me Years to Learn to K.los You Analn." world of Insatiably hungry women. It's brilliant and fascinating for n while, but It breathes a poisoned air, and all Its roads lead down. Every woman that goes Into It with her eyes open has nn Idea that, with her beaut and her brains, &ho can buck tho tiger and get away with It. Sho won't look over her shoulder and read the record of an endless losing run on tho black." Miss Van T. Mulled. "I'm alrendy beginning on my re-ward," re-ward," sho said. "You'vo never talked so well before In your life." "It's more than talk," Mild Hobby. Hushing npgrlly. "And tho ways of; uccess that you huve Imagined 1" he' continued. "Voti rend happy stories i to the public taste of mldlnettes show- j room girls, nnd dress-models, nnd per-1 haps you think they mirror the l!f. ' Why, Madge, the tnunts that tho?e girls lllng Indifferently nt virtue nnd nt vice are so vile that they couldn't ! . be repented even among bnlf-deeent men. And tho other way, the private door for the private secretary. That's p road of burned bridges. Kvory man, decent or Indecent, feels n queer sinking of the heart when he hears of n womnn taking It." He looked nt her shrewdly. "And yet you may do It." ho said, half to himself. "If you are ono of the hungry women, God help you, for they all walk blindfolded." "They don't wnlft," snld Madge. Hushing, and her eyes gleaming strangely. "That's Just the point: they rush, whirl, nnd " "And crash," finished Hobby. "That's the very word," snld Madge. "If you'll only keep on the way you'vo started, I'd lows to talk to you nil night." "No chance of that," said Bobby, strnlglit-llpped. "I'm through, and I'm going." He turned townrd the door. "Not without kissing mo good-by, Bobby I" cried Madge. He looked over his shoulder with a polite but Impersonal smile. "I'm not much on kissing strnnge women," ho said lightly. "It would take me years to learn to kiss you again." He left tho room nnd tho house. With his top-hnt pushed bnck on his head, the ends of his muftler flying loose, his overcoat hnlf unbuttoned, he swung up the deserted lower renches of tho Avenue, punctuating his thoughts with the solid rap of his stick on the pnvement. It might bo supposed that he was thinking nnd mourning over tho sudden demlso of the Miss Vnn Telller ho hnd thought he had known for many years, but such wns not tho case. Mr. Randolph wns not built on mourning lines; nt the moment under review, ho wns thinking about himself and the strange fnte that had mndo him n foster-child of fortune. He proceeded pro-ceeded to look bnck ten yenrs. Just n deendo ngo ho had had his ono meeting meet-ing with the young lndy whose disappearance disap-pearance had brought him an unstnblo affluence. It hnd taken plnco on this very avenue and less than forty short blocks nwny. He had renson to remember re-member tho encounter, for It had brought Into sudden conjunction a lovely Persian cut, a lovely wlro-halred terrier, n lovely child, nnd himself. The cat had dashed from n proud front door to cross Forty-something street under the noso of a tuxl-cnb; tho dog had flown In ynpplng pursuit and, In tho net, ynnked his young mistress mis-tress off her pins. 'He, Mr. Randolph, hnd seized ono of her flying feet, hauled her nnd tho terrier hack to safety, and no sooner plnced her upright up-right nnd smoothed down her nbsurdly short skirts than he, she, and especially especial-ly It, tho dog, becamo tho center nnd blrcumferencd 'of an' nnimrtVcu" pfri-wheel. Her unshnken determination to hold to tho leash, whatever happened, brought disaster. The said leash wound threo times round her nnkles nnd those of Mr. Randolph, bringing them both down kerplunk and facing each other. "My, what a bump!" sho hnd cried, In stnrtled tones, nnd then thrown hack her curly head and laughed. It was so that ho remembered her a child of ten or eleven summers nnd no winters, merry as a sunny dny, dark-hnlrod, dark-eyed, pink-cheeked, pnmpered but unspoiled. She hnd risen nnd taken his hnnd, told him her mime, thanked him, ordered n flurried nurso to thnnk him, shnken her finger nt tho terrier, and nald, "Good-by" nnd "Come on, Maggie," all while ho was still, rubbing the scat of his first long trousers. On that day sho hnd been Miss Imo-geno Imo-geno Pamela Thornton, petted darling of tho gods nnd Mr. Brewster Thomson, Thom-son, bnnker nnd widower; two months Inter hnd como Thornton's financial smash nnd, Immedhitely afterward, his spiritual, moral nnd bodily collapse. Everything that had made for life In him having been swept nwny, ho died as n mntter of course, and wns burled. For sole Inherltnnco, little Gcnlo Thornton found herself possessor nnd possessed of one Mnggle O'Rourke, a nurse of lonir standing, of enrnost nnd faithful face, and n monster henrt Imprisoned Im-prisoned In n pitifully thin chest. It had tnken Genlo's great-uncle, Asa Thornton, six more months to forget for-get n qunrrel of sixteen years' standing stand-ing with his nephew, and by thnt tlmo child and nurse had been seeped Into Hint lower world which enn't nfford morning and nfternoon editions nnd Is too busy prnylng for dally bread to look for n rain of mnnna In the dally press. In short, Magglo and her charge, I traced down the ladder of reputable, I disreputable and Impossible lodgings, ' hnd slipped ultimately from sight nnd I the ken of people with nddresscs, nnd, i as a result, Mr. Robert Hervoy Randolph, Ran-dolph, whose relationship to Mr. Asn Thornton Is of no Import whntovor to j this tale of cause and effect, camo Into ten thousnnd n yenr nnd u string tho string being tho possible renppenninco of Miss Imogene Pamela. "Hob," had said old Asa, on tho vorgo of a tardy demise, "I'm not Introducing In-troducing you to n war between conscience con-science and self-Interest. There's no silly story-book test nbout my money; you aro under no obligation to look for Imogene or to shout If you stop on her by nny twist of chnncc. My lawyers law-yers havo nil tho Instructions nocos-sary nocos-sary along thoso linos; they aro tp mnko ovory rensonnblo effort, and If thoy succeed, why, you'ro man enough I to Jook out for yourself. It It imft tfojDE to make a devil of p. Jot of 4I(W 4h6e to mo where tho cash ffott $ long as 1 tile with die with the credit." With thnt Inst sentence, IiIb mind hnd stumbled and wmidered off to memories of his nephew Brewster. Looking bnck from the vnntage of twenty-six yenrs, Randolph caught, for the first time, the full Import of Asa Thornton's fnrewell words to him and to life: "Die with the credit." They held the kernel of the old ninn's cnrpfully measured amend. "Great old topi" murmured Mr. Randolph aloud, nnd hnlf unconsciously unconscious-ly turned to the left nt Forty-second street. Five minutes later he was cnught In the mnelstrom of the Thunksglvlng crowd milling around Times square. Presently he found hlmsetf on the edge of n human sen, banked up to give passage to a honking empty tnxl-cab. tnxl-cab. Here was another question for n suddenly Inquiring mind. Where did taxi-cabs, empty ones, go to In such n hurry? The door of this one wns swinging open, nnd the proof of how Intent the crowd was on Its myriad IndlvldunI goals is evidenced by the fnct that n dozen voices did not Inform In-form the driver thnt the season wns off for fans on wheels. The cnb wns moving more slowly than Mr. Randolph's subconscious mind, which led him to step Into It nnd quietly close the Inviting door. Upon seating himself, he tried to analyze the Impulse thnt hnd lifted him from the curb. He decided that It was not so much the curiosity ns to the destination desti-nation of empty cnbs ns n natural nnd ancient dislike for being pushed and elbowed by people. It wns not long heforo tho cnb, unwittingly un-wittingly loaded for benr, drew up with n flnnl honk nt tho stage-door of tho Crocodile, Immediately came n rasping voice that was vaguely familiar fa-miliar to Mr. Randolph. "Well," It said, "you sure took your own tlmo getting here." The driver, expert In aggravating reimrtce with out words, pressed the bulb of his atrocious horn three times. "Cut It out!" snld the rasping voice. "There Isn't nny hurry now." It wns Incredible, reasoned Mr. Randolph Ran-dolph with himself, thnt anyone should forget tlmt voice once henrd, nnd he wns right. He remembered It. It wns the voice of Mr. Duke Benmcr, whom he hnd had the distinct pleasure of blackballing for one club In college nnd three In town. Mr. Reamer, to his honest lftind, wns the best 11 Ing ex-nmple ex-nmple of animated slime In tnllor-mnde tnllor-mnde clothes. Mr. B. was not nlone; Mr. Rnndolph could Just sec his companion through the slant of the hnlf-rnlsed window-glass, window-glass, nnd even thnt distorted glimpse wits very close to n vision. The girl wns young, beautiful, and troubled. Her cheeks were thin nnd pnle, her parted lips aqulvcr; her chin was ntrcmble. Of course she wns very cheaply but neatly clothed. "Muke1up, your mind," snld the rnsjv lnir voice. "Ride with me'or wnlk the Btreets by yourself, and don't forget thnt there's no Job behind you. You've snld good-by to that door for good." The girl's wan face went through that contortion which says, "I won't cry," nnd doesn't, thereby achieving a pity beyond the meed of teurs. The quivering of her lips, the trembling of her chin grew more pronounced only to steady down as she swept up stricken strick-en and Imploring eyes to the faco of tho unseen man. "Oh, Duke," she begged, "promise promise you'll be always good to me." "Of course, little one," snld the rnBp-Ing rnBp-Ing voice, promptly nnd much relieved, promising lightly to pay on demand, In full for n soul delivered In advance. "You'll never regret It, believe me." The girl tore her doubting eyes from his fnce nnd stepped townrd the cab. Mr. Randolph mnde himself exceeding ex-ceeding sranll In the corner nenrest the curb. An unseen agent opened the door; the girl slipped In nnd turned to seat herself; her escort mude to follow. Then did Mr. Randolph suddenly lean forwurd and proceed to push in the fncq of Mr. Reamer with his open hand nnd the full weight of his shoulder. shoul-der. Thnt astonished scion of n once gentlemanly house reeled backward nnd sat down on the pavement kerplunk. ker-plunk. "My, whnt ft bump I" spoke n keen young voice over Mr. Randolph's 1 "My, What a Bump!" shoulder, but he wns too occupied to take note of It nt the time. He leaned far out so that tho driver could get the full effect of his modish top-hat top-hat nnd spoke cryptic words. "Ten dollnrs' worth of the park," Is what be snld. The driver welcomed the sudden apparition with a friendly grin, honked defiantly three times, and threw In trie clutch. They were off, nnd trailing nfter them enme such n string of blnsphemous utternuccs as made Mr. Rnndolph wince. The girl wns Inughlng. No longer dlil her eyes search for a gleam they thought they had lost forever. It wns there within them, come hack to rollick rol-lick In her pupils nnd spill Itself In reckless spending. "Oh! Oh! Whnt a bumpl" she gasped. "Funny, wasn't It?" said Mr. Randolph Ran-dolph weakly. "Awfully," said the girl. Thereupon fell a long silence. The cnb cut ncross the trnfllc, reached the Avenue, nnd eventunlly tho dark pnrk before Mr. Randolph found anything further to sny. "Funny, wasn't ltr he remarked. The girl cast him n stnrtled look. "Why," hc gurgled, "that's whnt you snld before." "So I did," snld Mr. Rnndolph, frowning thoughtfully. "So I did. By the wny. what's your nnme?" The girl cnught her breath and swallowed her laughter. "Vlvlcnnc Vlvlerre," she snld, after a pause. "How awful!" commented Mr. Randolph. Ran-dolph. "One of those deliberate alliterations al-literations thnt go with the bnck row of the chorus." "Front row," Vlvlenne defended promptly, but unsmiling. Her lips twitched down at the corners. "At least, It wns front row." "I know," snld Mr. Randolph. "You've been fired. I heard whnt Reamer suld to you. How long have you known thnt snake?" "Not very long," she answered. "He got me on, nnd I suppose he got me off." She drew n long brenth nnd turned nppenllng eyes to Rnndolph. "Plense." she said, "don't let's mm nbout him. I want so to be hnppy for n few minutes. I love the pnrk nt night with Its border of lights. Lot's piny n gnme." "'A game?" snld Randolph doubtfully. doubt-fully. "Yes. We'll guess which Is Ccntrnl Pnrk West nnd which Is One nundred nnd Tenth street nnd which Is the uve-nue. uve-nue. It Is not ns ensy ns you think nfter you'vo been going round a while. I'm feeling d-dlzzy a-alrendy." "You are 1" exclaimed Mr. Randolph. "Well, let me tell you It Isn't from buzzing round n two-mile circuit Whnt did you hnvo for dinner?" Miss Vlvlenne shut her lips tight. "Won't you plcaso piny my gamer' she asked faintly. Mr. Rnndolph frowned ns though considering the subject very seriously, but the mntter thnt held his nttentlon wns not tho proposed gucsslng-mntch. That would not have been fair nor amusing, us tho deadlights of his own very eomfortn'blo apartment blinked nt him every time they enme to Fifty-ninth Fifty-ninth street. He wns Justifying to himself n very questionable move. Ho wished to feed this strny damsel and, nt the same time, tnlk to her with a purpose. He could not see himself doing It In n cnbnret, nnd every hotel supper room had alrendy become one of those things. He enme to a decision and spoke. "I'll tnke n hnnd In your gnme, nil right, but not Just ns you think. Do you would you trust me?" Immediately tho girl was on her guard. She looked Into his face and rend It. "I would never hnvo thought of not trusting you If you hndn't nsked thnt old, old trnp question," Bhe said gravely. "Forget that I asked It," snld Mr. Randolph promptly, nnd lenned out to give tho driver his nddress. A thin-lipped thin-lipped nnd weary scorn wns still on thnt Individual's face when he drew up before Mr. Randolph's abode and honked three times derisively to the world In general ns seen from tho front of n tnxl. "Wnlt," said Mr. Randolph to tho Jehu, ns he handed out the girl. She paused with one foot hnlf-wny to tho curb, but that single word directing nnythlng ns expensive ns a taxi to stand by renssured her. Rnndolph preceded hpr to show the way nnd turn on lights. Ho never looked back to seo If she followed, and this Implied trust In herself seemed to drag her after him up the single flight of stairs that led to his rooms. "Old-fashioned but cozy," ho said, ns he applied a lntch-koy nnd opened n door thnt gave directly on n lnrge square sitting room. "I hate elevators In n plnce you cnll home." In nn open grnto wns n dying wood fire. He proceeded to poke nnd feed It nt once, sny Ing over his shoulder: "Sit down anywhere, will you?" Fnclng the fire wns a deep and much worn lenthern couch, with n pedestal nt each end carrying shaded lamps. They were the only ones ho had lighted light-ed and their glow was so subdued that It blended with thnt of the Are without fighting It. Tho girl chose to sent herself her-self stiffly In a comer of this couch. Mr. Rnndolph looked nt her rigid pose with marked dlsnpprovnl, but snld nothing. Having rejuvenated the fire till It leaped merrily to nn attack on tho fresh backlog, ho left tho room and wns nhsent for a considerable time. When ho returned, It wns to plnce u small table before his guest, nnd then ho fetched n tray well loaded load-ed with those things which grace In perpetuity n healthy bachelor's larder. He drew up a chair for himself and, with un Inviting nod, started to eat n great deal and verj rapidly. "Get In on the lunch while there's time," he admonished. "I warn you there's nothing more In tho house," Tho girl gave him n grateful look and proceeded to fill herself with the most sustaining food within reach. She did not fall to note thnt there K was nothing to drink but water. When W they could eat no more, Mr. Randolph K removed the tnhle, nnd then seated himself In tho opposite corner of the couch. W "You don't seem to be at case here,'' ' K he snld presently. "If you think you'll 1 be more comfortnble, we can go down V and sit In tlie cab. I want to talk to you." ft The girl considered gravely for a K moment; then her fnce broke Into a m rippling smile that swept up and set- I tied In her eyes. She reached for a I- cushion, put It nt her back, tucked one I im ' - "Now Talk," She Said. j foot under lierseir, nna wnvca me other In tho sume fashion as had Miss t Van Telller earlier In the evening. "Now talk," she snld. "Do you like mo?" nsked Mr. Rnndolph. Rnn-dolph. She nodded her head. "You're not nfrnld to be heror She shook denial. "Have you ever been In a man's room before?" She looked him straight In the eyes and made no other sign. It was Mr. Randolph's' turn to flush. "Then," he said, "if you like me and If you're not afraid, please begin at the Btnrt and tell me nil nbout It" The girl's eyes fell and sought the fire. Her fnce slowly paled to the shade of her somber thoughts. Sho wns no longer pretty ; she wns bcnutl-ful, bcnutl-ful, with a revealing transparency that made her seem unfleshed, a disembodied disem-bodied spirit of sincerity and truth, Indubltnbly pure. "I hnd a nurse once," sho said, In a low voice, "and a wire-haired terrier, n ohmv.ilnir nnil n (Inrllntr. His nnme was Sport." She raised solemn eyes to Randolph's face as though measuring measur-ing his powers of understanding. "My nurse died nnd then, one dny, I hnd to sell Sport; I wasn't old enough to sell myself." She stopped speaking with nn unmistakable un-mistakable flnnllty. Rnndolph was overwhelmed by the flood of Information Informa-tion that this slip of a girl hnd pneked Into two-score words. A llfc-story In four lines nnd n revelntlon of the heart thrown In for good measure 1 Over nnd nbovo thnt, he had to reckon with the confirmation of n suspicion which had been slowly establishing Itself It-self In his mind thnt he had met her before, that not for the first time this night had those soft lips, curved for merry words, cried, "My, what a bumpl" within his hearing. So ninny considerations pressed to his Immediate nttentlon Uint ho - awoke to the actual present too lato to stem tho tide of tears tlmt suddenly sudden-ly rose to the girl's eyes. "Oh," sho sobbed, "what is to become be-come of me? I was so happy here, If you hndn't made me think 1" If anything has been said In the course of these pages to give the Impression Im-pression that Mr. Rundolpli was modeled mod-eled after Joseph or hewn out of Ice or packed with probity to the exclusion exclu-sion of red blood, forget It At the sight of those tears, he slid tho length of the couch to first bnse, fielded the girl In his amis, switched her round so that she lay across his knees, drew her fnce ngnlnst his shoulder, and rocked her gently. "You poor kiddle," he said softly, "what a devil of a time you've had! But believe me when I tell you It's all over. This Is the nlgbt that starts your old happy sun Into the blue sky again. Don't worry." She stopped crying and looked up Into the honest faco so close to her own, puzzling as to how Just those words could have come from It; but the world hnd tnught her n hnrd lesson les-son In varying standnrds. She drew a long quivering sigh. "If you could only wnlt until I love you, body nnd soul," she breathed. "What on enrth do you mean?" asked Mr, Randolph. "Why, then It wouldn't be so bad so ugly." . "I don't get you," remarked RoberMk nervey. l' "A man told me Just n little while ngo that he wns mnklng a cntnlogue of reasons why women give themselves," them-selves," sho continued. "Ho had eleven already, mid yet ho was one of the nicest men l'vo met. He talked to me as though he were showing me a way that I must travel alone." "Really?" snld Mr. Randolph, stiffening stif-fening perceptibly. "Tho lowest reason of nil was for cold ensh," she went on, as though he had not spoken. "Then came the glitter glit-ter of precious stones, and, ufter that Bilk underwear." A |