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Show THE MAN I HIGHER UP I By HENRY RUSSEll I MILLtR Copyright, 1910. by Bobbi Mcr. rill Co. And Boh, wondering, paused. For lu the man before hlin he saw, not l'u til-Paul, til-Paul, the tempestuous, the dramatic, the somewhat llorld hut a stranger, a momentarily Inflexible, forceful mnn who Rpoke quietly without rhelorlcnl flouilsh and commuudlnl.v. "Bob," the stranger mild simply, "you and I have never quarreled, iiml l owe you too much to quarrel with you now. But even you must xuy nothing harsh about Mrs. Gilbert. 1 know what she In, n woman Mho Ii.ih suffered. There Isn't a thing lu her history to xhnnie her. And 11 1111111 Muds It hard to tall; of such tittups to another, but I love her, mul If she will have me I shall 1 marry her. rieuc realize that I'm lu earnest lu this. 1 think wed bettor not discuss It any more." lie quietly left the office. "She shan't have you " Rob muttered savagely. 1 CHAPTER XIII. THE UAU.NTI ET. j WHEN Eleanor Sanger was j mart led she was 11 bright, rather highly strung and du-1 cldedly spoiled girl of nine-, teen. Marriage proved a hitter uwnk- ( cnlng. Six months, revealing to her both In their own Intimate relations ' and In what she learned of his other life the weak sensuality of her husband, hus-band, sutllccd to transform her Into n cold, self contained woman of 1111 in Id (lions cynicism slaitllug lu one of her years It was the weakness of the man more than his Immorality that repelled her She herself came of 1111 active, sturdy stock whose virility and power of resistance had not been df-stroyed df-stroyed by generations of self Indulgence. Indul-gence. Her experience dlseoveicd to her the existence of Juherlted Ideals Heretofore dormant In her. In tho up-' parent ltupos-blllty of seeing those Ideals realized In her own life she was j becoming bitter and reckless when tho Incubus on her life was suddenly re-1 moved, two years after her marriage, by the pistol of u Jealous Viennese, When her uncle, reached her he found u stony eyed, ley woman who laughed bitterly at his proffered sym-, pathy, but acquiesced Indifferently In ' whatever he proposed. v Then he atoned In part for his un-wlso un-wlso guldanco of her youth. The management man-agement of his great business Interests he placed In the competent hands of Henry Sanger, Jr., Eleanor's brother, and devoted himself entirely to her. For three years they traveled as her whims dictated. Mr. Sangor, anxiously anxious-ly wntchlng, saw the natural resiliency resilien-cy of youth gradually breaking down her hnrdness of spirit. Selfish she remained, re-mained, ns was the logical result of n lack of definite purpose. In life other than to amuse herself and to forget. Then Mr. Sanger died, leaving the bulk of his fortune to Henry Sanger, 1 Jr.. to Elennor a comparative pittance. I This curtailment of hor Inheritance was nt her request. .V quiet year In Germany. pent studying music, followed, fol-lowed, and then she returned to the Steel City to play her part In the making mak-ing of Kohctl MeAdoo. I.ate lu the afternoon, the day of Bob's talk with Paul concerning her, Mrs. Gilbert at before a luxurious log fire In her own paitleular den. In a box by her side was an armful of roses, which she was uriaiigliig in . hure glass bowl. When the roses were be stowed to her Natlsfactlou she reread the note tbal had aeeouipaiiled them, smiling at some mmi! burnt eprcVcd by the writer t "You poor, romantic boy!" she said j aloud. "One expects every minute that , I your couxersatlou and letters will, I break Into blank verve. I wish- I don't ' I know What I wish," she concluded le-1 le-1 vent fully. "Rut, whatever It Is, It's , fairly certain that I can't have It. Just 1 as 1 thought I had achieved Content I meet two men absolutely out of my I sphere, and the one stirs up the old. uncertain longings, which he c in't satisfy, sat-isfy, mid the other stirs up the old wicked recklessness that 1 hart thought dead foreVer." She sighed Impatiently. A half hour- later she stood by the . window, her eyes mechanically following follow-ing the tlgure of a man walking up the Mroet. When the pedestrian came to 1 the Sanger entrance he turned lu and walked with swift, decided steps to ' ward the house. Then Eleanor recug nlzed him. "Oh!" she gasped In astonishment and with 11 hint of dismay lu her olce. Phe hastily left the window. There was 11 knock nt the door, and the butler but-ler entered. "Mr MeAdoo to see you, madam." j "Show Mr. MeAdoo Into the library, Thomas," she replied ufter a moment's I hesitation. "And I shall not bo nt j home the lest of the afternoon." Why had Hob come to see Mrs. Gilbert? Gil-bert? Bob himself was trying to answer an-swer tho same question. Blindly ho felt that one of his possessions was threatened it ml that he must light with n woman for supremacy over Paul? The portieres weie parted, and she stood before him Bob realised resentfully resent-fully that here" was a ory beautiful J woman, far more beautiful than either Kathleen I'llim or Mrs. Dunmeade, the only women of liner typo he knew Tor the fraction of a heennrt whllo she paused on the threshold there was the same fencing of glances with which they had met In the theater the adversaries' adver-saries' salute then her eyes softened to an amused gleam. While Bob stood still she went over to him. "I'vo been trying to decide whether wheth-er this Is a pleasant or unpleasant surprise," sur-prise," she smiled quizzically. "Which Is It';" She held out her hand. Bob looked at tho outstretched hand and shook his head coldly. The hand was at once returned to her side. "You persist In the hostile nttltude?" I "Why not? Lot us have no false pretenses. I dislike you; you dislike . mo. If we stick to that It will simplify sim-plify matters." ' "How do you know 1 don't like you?" j The amused gleam In her eyes deepened. deep-ened. "God forbid!" he ejaculated Involuntarily. Involun-tarily. "But," he added grimly, "there's no danger." "Don't be too sure of that," she warned him In gay malice. "You know nothing wins a womau's liking no quickly as resistance. If you're not eiueflii I may end by liking you. That would be a terrible predicament If we're to be enemies." 1 "It would!" "Yes, for )oil," she flushed back, . "Because then I should have to make I I you like me. But don't be nervous, j , I shan't try- You're more Interesting 1 , ns you are." I "I lira relieved." She noted with sur-1 prise that his Ironical bow was easy , and not ungraceful. "Thero have liecn men who feared , to displease me, Mr. MeAdoo." "I'vo no doubt there are such men." And Bob's tone did not convoy n high trlhuto to the class. "But 1 don't happen hap-pen to lie one of them." "Nor am I afraid of you, Mr. MeAdoo." Me-Adoo." she countered "I wlis for one moment that day In the theater. You startled me. having caught mo" "Having caught you In a coutemp-tlblo coutemp-tlblo net," ho Interrupted quietly. "Trying to cast doubt upon tho sincerity sincer-ity of a man who was a total stranger to you." Tho amused jjlcam died out of her eyes. She flushed angrily, "I havo a constitutional nntlpathy for men of jour tyi, Mr. MeAdoo.' "People don't do that sort of tjiliiR merely because of constitutional tin- ttliutliv 1 lisil dun" nutliluir to - you. You had nothing to gain by at- tacking my motives of which you could know nothing or by making Paul Remington discontented with his ndvniiccmeut, as yoil have persisted In doing since The women I know don't do that sort of thing, Even men of my sort, whom you despise" there was a trace of bitterness lu these last words "would call It contemptible." "You an- right," she said quietly. "It was contemptible, nd 1 have been ashamed of myself ever since. I was ashamed when )ou eauglit me at It. I had' no right to do It, no excuse. I apologize." An ugly sneer twisted his mouth as ho replied. "It's easy enough to apologize, apolo-gize, but what good Is It after the mischief mis-chief Is done?" "I hardly expected you to be generous," gener-ous," she answered his sneer gravely. "But now what? You didn't come here merely to convict me of a dishonorable dis-honorable net, I suppose?" "nnrdly I'm a busy man. I suppose sup-pose I came to make 11 useless request re-quest " "What Is the request, or Is It a command?" com-mand?" He looked at her steadily for a minute min-ute befoie he answered. She saw the line of his lips become thinner and the muscles of his Jaw tighten. "To let Paul Remington go." "It see-ns," she replied mockingly, "that Mi MeAdoo In spite of Ills boasted boast-ed friendship cares nothing for the Impplw-si nf bis friend." "You won't understand," be said at . List hIowH. "when I explain It You're right when )ou say I care nothing for his happiness -at least whnt you mean by the word You don't mean happiness, happi-ness, Mrs Ollbert. You mean to glut thenppctltp, In yield to the mating Instinct, In-stinct, to follow the lines of least re- I slstauce Only the ery sluing can . afford happluc-ts as on mean It. To 11 weak man that sort of happiness means crippling his nut 11111 1 foice. enslaving himself to outside lntltionc There Is only one tine happiness, the co tent that conies from being a real, original force. The mnn who wnu'd be this, Mrs. (illbert. must own and control himself absolutely. For Paul Remington's Reming-ton's greater tine happiness I do care." "But what about meV" "He Is nothing to )oli." I "As you mean It, no Just now But I for the fiituie. why not? You never I I can tell Mr. Remington Is talented. I He Is magnetic. 1 like hlm better than I I like most men. It Is quite possible I that I shall In time develop a deeper I Interest lu him. And, besides, Mr. I MeAdoo, your opposition gives hlm n new value. Did you forget to consld- I er when jou came to ask me to send : hlm awn) what about lny happiness?" She concluded her question with a ( mnlle. i "Mrs (illbert, your happiness did j not. does not, enter Into my cnlcula- ' lions at till." Winter's early dusk was falling out- I side, louilug only the llrellght to light the room, She was ery beautiful as ' the soft glow fell upon her face. ( "We'ie 11 good deal alike, you and I. You have taken everything you want. 1 I've been given everything except tho things that count most. We're both I verj selllsh. You make tho excuso I that you have to be Hellish to icallzo 1 ryinir ambitions, I have the excuse ' j that life hasn't treated inn very kind- I ! ly, and neither excuse Is valid, I sus- j pei t You're not a slave to conscience, , I and 1 -well, I'm afraid I'll never let I conscience stand between me and hap- I , pluess You have few friends. I've ' had plenty to admire mo because I'm , I not bad to look at and can turn tx wit- 1 ty phrase occasionally. But none has I over tared for me because none saw lu me those womanly qualities which , are so much liner than beauty or wit. Paul Remington seems to till both our ' wants He Is your one friend. He cares for me because he thinks I pos- , Bess qualities r don't possess, hut ' which In1 he makes we want to ac- ' quire I'm not lu love with hlm, but 1 I'd like to be. He seems iny only hope of escape from becoming the . most pltlabta of creatures b lonely, I cynical, sclilsb, loveless woman. 1 wonder why 1 tell, you this?" She leaned forward abruptly. "What are we going to do about It?" "That Is what I came to find out" "No; you came to tell me what I must do. You put tho Issue squarely. One of us must retire In the other's 1 favor, That amounts to a challenge doesn't It? It's too bad we have this dlsllle to contend with. Your natural state Is fighting, and 1 suppose jou don't mind one tight more. But 1 I don't want to tight for my happiness .or possible happiness, especially when I run the risk of losing It altogether. I Wo both run that risk, Don't )ou think" there was the faintest twinklu ' in her eyes "don't you think It would j be wise, don't you think It would be good politics, to Ignore our dislike and 'share the spoils?" I "No. I think I should luie dohe 1 better to let you die In the nilbs" "I don't uiideistHiid wh)" Tor un Instant the luxurious, iliellt library faded away from her sight. 6ho Btood amid tho grime and roar of tbo mills. Sbo felt herself caught In an Iron grasp which dragged her toward to-ward death. Then a strong hand solicit soli-cit her, nnd she stood before n hot eyed young giant "Is It possible? Yes, you are the man who saved me In the mills. It Is hard to realize Ho was an uncouth, un-grammatical un-grammatical young rulllan, us I ro-member, ro-member, while you you nro an educated"- She hesitated. "An educated rumon," ho concluded dryly. Sho regarded him with a new respect, a respect which Bob, remembering the girl who had tlouted hlm ns of a lower order of creation, rnwmliui To Be Continued. |