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Show LASH of I IJ CIRCMSTANCE Wlmt Harry Irving Greene JJjAJAuliorQrdsondc of 1.e Wilderness" s - Well Placed Among the Leaders, I Saw the Powerful Haunches of Eagle Boy. i blctes. Hugle calls vibrated In our ears; college yells shattered the air; i the beat of hoofs sounded like the i Ion; roll of drum. Through the wide . entrance to the club grounds we drove Into an arena hanked by 10,000 poo- pie. Already the racing waa on and before ua swept a cloud of preliminary i racers with the jockeys bumped over their necks like so many colored aim-i aim-i lans. Not far away I saw Clare standing upright on her seat, ber fare aglow with excitement and her bead i nodding rapidly as she carried on a i running fire of conversation with a cluster of friends. Her eyes fell upon 1 me and she waved her hand with the i airy grace of a plume; but as she no- tleed my companion her smile grew i thin and vanished as for a moment she surveyed her with a face that was ' absolutely expressionless. Mrs. Dare, i whose attention had been attracted to i my cousin by my waved reply to her salutation, returned Clare's gaie, i smiling faintly. Amusement lurked within her eyes like a reflection deep down In unruffled waters. "My cousin, Miss Wlnton, of whom I have often spoken," I explained I nonchalantly. The one at my side . gave ber attention to the flying racers. I "An exceedingly pretty girl. You are very fond of each other, I be-' be-' lieve," she returned with a slight , rising inflection. I hastened to en-i en-i swer. "In a way, yes. She la a very good and sweet girl and we are the best of . friends. Hut of course that is all." , Through the press nruce came Jamming Jam-ming his way, bis necktie awry from the scuffle and bis face a grin with en- . thuslaam. He bobbed my companion a hurried bow ' and then abouted something to me as a surge of the crowd bore him along. "Last call for prosperity in the betting bet-ting ring," was all that I could catch . of It as, stltl gesticulating, he was , swept away. Mrs. Dace looked after blm. "What did he mean by that?" she demanded. I enlightened her. "Oh, nruce has got a straight tip from a horsey friend of his that Eagle Hoy Is going to win. So I suppose he Is now going to back him to his limit. He would as soon sit down and watch the hands of a clock go around as to see a race unless he had a wager on It." The light of Interest came into her eyes. "And you think what?" she queried, searching my face. I meditated. "To tell the truth I think his horse will win. I know something about the beasts, you know, having been raised on a Kentucky stock farm. The horse Is a wonder, sure enough, and llrure says he has been breaking records by moonlight Then, too, Pettlt, who rides him today, Is a fiend in the saddle. sad-dle. He can lift a horse off his hoofs and carry him around the track between be-tween bis knees as a witch rides a broom. If I waa to bet on the race Eagle Hoy would carry my wealth to-" to-" day." "And the odds?" she mused. "They are ten to one against him at present, but they will go down like a falling rocket when the crowd has once had an opportunity of seeing blm in motion. He Is a Pegasus. He seems to soar rather than run. If they have a horse that can beat blm, that horse can catch birds." I was surprised at the warmth of my own enthusiasm. She opened her purse with a snap and her Angers dived Into Its depths. Presently she drew forth a $500 bill and crumpled It Into my palm. "nruce Is a shrewd fellow and you are a born horseman. I am going to rely upon your combined Judgment. I wish you would go and place this on him for me," was ber announcement. Now, I had always considered that to consent to be an agent for a woman In a gaming gam-ing transaction was rushing In where angels might well fear to tread. I hesitated. "Hut of course I do not know which one will win. It Is difference of Judgment Judg-ment that makes horse racing pos- so. Tou bonded fellows have in b pretty careful of your sporting trans actions." He brightened up again and whispered hoarsely In my ear in stsge fashion: "However, in this In stance you had hotter take a chance; let some friend put It up for you; say some wise relative, for Instance. A hundred or two lost would not damage, you much, and a few thousand gained would be ambrosia and nectar." He winked cunningly. Once more I told him that I could not violate my traditions, and he shrugged his shoulders; and away h went at Eagle Ooy speed himself, doubtless hot on the trail of some ol his particular cronies to whom h could break the glad tidings. Tor when Druce had a chance to do bis friends what be thought was a favor he did not let the grass grow under his feet until he had done It. It wai one of the traits that lay back of hla popularity. Of course I sincerely hoped he would win, but I was alwayi afraid that his recklessness would some day get him Into trouble. The afternoon upon which the race was run will forever remain seared upon my memory. I had been wise enough to put In my order long In advance ad-vance at a fashionable stable, and aj a result my two- heel outfit was about as neat as could be found anywhere. As I drove up to Mrs. Dace's with tha silver mounted harness glittering in the sun and the cob arching his neck and tapping the boulevard with his polished hoofs as daintily as a dancing dan-cing girl, I experienced much the same sensations aa does a schoolboy on the first day of hta long vacation when life as a well nigh endless primrose prim-rose way stretches before him in a vista glorious to contemplate. I waa at the full tide of youth and hope. Charged to the full with health and vitality, desperately In love with and half accepted by one whom I thoroughly thor-oughly believed to be the most beautiful beau-tiful woman in the world, I ahook my fist defiantly In the teeth of the grinning grin-ning specter of my lack of money. And realizing my domination for the day the specter cringed and fled before be-fore me. The great migration of the day was In full movement. Automobiles were whizzing past honking like flights of wild geese. Victorias and traps, drags anJ tallyhos streamed behind them in an endless procession. It was life teeming and exultant. Tha world was on parade dressed in Its best clothes and with Its pockets lined with money, and right royally did It proclaim the (net, Its headache of the morrow an unt nought of thing. Mrs. Dace came down In a creation I hnd never soon before, but which fairly made me gasp with delight. I shall make no attempt to describe it, but the general Impression It gave me was of fleecy clouds In which were blended delicate and changeful rainbow rain-bow tints that came and flitted like summer shadows. She seemed rather to float than walk, and when I gave Tier my hand at the curb and she arose from It to the high seat with the lightness light-ness of a feather, I could scarcely be lieve that she was made of warm, firm flesh. The aggressiveness of ber beauty beau-ty challenged nearly every eye that we passed, the men craning their beads for a longer look, the women searching her enviously. In my pride of ber and the enthusiasm of the moment mo-ment I whispered In her ear that she was the most beautiful woman In all the world and that I loved her dearer than my own life. My reward was a smile and a flash of her wonderful eyes. "I am glad you think so. Tom, even though of course you are wrong. 'And it is sweet of you to be so devoted to me. I am really very happy to bo with you." My fingers tightened about the reins and my teeth clenched. In my heart I swore that she should become mine though the heavens fell. We turned Into the crush where the converging boulevards emptied their streams Into the rolling sea of ve- ' SYNOPSIS. Ahnar Halllday, s mlaerly millionaire, la found gagged, bound and Ineenalble In Ma room. Ma safe rifled and Hu missing miss-ing Tha thread of the story la taken up by hla nephew Tom. Living In tha ae.me touae ara otliar relative; rerkleae Iiruoe Kalllday and pretty Clara Wlnton. Hrure, who la a (Kind broker, haa bean trying to raiae HO.Ono In put through a deal and ava hlmeelf from financial ruin. Ha baa Applied to hla mlaerly unrla and to others for tha loan but haa been refuead. Tom eende for William t-elu an old-tlma frlrrd connected with a detective agency, In r-'atlng tha atory Tom reverte to hla acquaintance with a Mra. Kara, a wealthy widow, whoee huelneee agent la Klohard Mackay, a boodler and political boaa. Tom la jealous of Markay and la deeply In lova with Mra lace. Hruce Halllday warns him to ahun her as an advanturesa. CHAPTER VI. (Continued.) "I.st night I happened to be passing pass-ing this place. I bad no Intention of pylng upon you I never dishonored you by such acts but fate ordained that I should be Just In time to see you alight with Richard Mackay. The door of the lower entrance remained open for a few seconds after you bad entered. I saw your scene with him before you entered the elevator." Never In my Ufa had I seen such a change coma ovc a human countenance counte-nance as swept hers at my words. The color fled In a flash and her cheeks became ashy gray. Into her eyes the Instant before so soft there leaped the glitter of a leopardess as she gathers herself for the leap. Tense and seeming to crouch, I saw the loopardesa in every outline of her curved body. Then as suddenly sha relaxed; the glitter faded and the beat of anger gave way to the coldness cold-ness of scorn. Sha stepped buckward with a mocking bw. "You honor nut greatly, my dear sir, and I ensure you that I shall never forget It. Yesterday you told me that I was an angel exalted above your hope; today I am a fallen thing beneath be-neath your contempt. And all be-rause be-rause of a miserable occurrence like I hat! And you would have left me with no opportunity to explain my guiltlessness had I not forced you to grant me thnt right." "Your guiltlessness!" I returned as Icily. "I have charged you with no guilt beyond treachery to mo. You told me that no other man made love to you,' and I bellevod you. You bad told me that Mackey was merely your financial agent, and I pinned my heart upon your tmked word. You have ... crucified It. Yet I could forgive you J" were It not for the fact that this man Is married and has a family and you are well aware of It. I leave the question ques-tion of your guiltlessness towards bis wife to your own conscience." Her bosom heaved and her bands tightened. "Listen," she said in a voice hard as steel. "You shall bear ma out now, for there ara things that you must know. Not that I care for your opinion, and not that I care to retain even your friendship after this, but because It Is my duty to myself and to Mr. Mackay, who aeenis at least to respect me. I had told you much of my affairs, but not everything, every-thing, Mr. Mackay made certain Investments In-vestments for my husband, and It was that fact principally that brought me back from thn Orient. He has been kind enough now that I am alone In tha world to protect them for me and give me tha benefit of his Judgment and experience that I might not have to exist on tha charity of ft lend. That makes It necessnry that I should sometimes some-times see blm. As to what the world says about me, I do not care the snap of my linger, for It has always maligned ma-ligned me and I do not even taka the pain to deny what It may say. As for that 'scene In the hall,' as your highness high-ness seems pleased to designate It, I have only to say this. I wss taken 111 last night at a late luncheon at which tie happened to be present with others, oth-ers, and he hurried me home in his car. I was very faint when we arrived ar-rived heru and he supported me with his ami across the walk and Into the building. Hefore the i levator came down I must have lost consciousness for a moment, for when I regained my senses ha was holding me In his arms to prevent my falling and bending bend-ing over me as be asked uie what he could do for me. In a moment I bad recovered my strength and requested him to release) nie, which he Immediately Immedi-ately did. lla escorted me as far as my door and left me there at my request re-quest after I had assured him that Janet would do all that was necessary for me. Mr. Mackay did no morn than any other gentleman would have done under tha circumstances " The pride of her poise was magnificent magnifi-cent and the cold dignity of her tones that of an outraged empress. Never before bad sha seemed so beautiful, so pure, so womanly. And groping for something, no matter how slight, upon which to once more fasten my faith in her. my Jealousy and black suspicions once more fled before her j bearing and explanation, and in their place love and belief came surging back. The terrible smothering weight within ma waa lifted and I could have cried aloud In tha blesscdnesi of my relief. I fell upon my knees befora her as I brokenly begged her forgiveness; forgive-ness; clutrhlr.g her convulsively by tha band and pleading my heart out that ahe ba merciful. She listened In silence to my appeals until they were exhausted and than told me I must 1ee. "I do not know what to say to you." be returned aa I stood before her In abject penitence. "That you have hurt my pride more than it was ever hurt before perhaps you may appreciate. appre-ciate. I scarcely know what to think of a love so ready to defame Its object ob-ject and so willing to condemn It unheard. un-heard. Certainly I could never go through a scene such as this again. If our acquaintance Is to continue aa befora, be-fora, you must have unquestioning faith In me. Should you ever doubt me again I should despise you." "I never shall. I have learned my lesson and it will never be forgotten. May I hope to be restored?" I begged humbly. She turned her face away. "That I cannot say now. I have been hurt and It will take time for the wound to heal. Still, In a measure I am not without appreciation of your feelings, for If I lacked that appreciation apprecia-tion I should have commanded you to leave me permanently before this. Neither do I think I blame you aa much as some women might. Flut at least my day has bean spoiled and I do not care to leave the house. Also, I wish to be alone. You may call me up In a week if you wish, and I will tell you at the end of that time how I feel about ft. I do not now know whether I can bring myself to a total forgiveness forgive-ness or not, and if I find I cannot I shall so Inform you. Out I am going to try." I would have given years of my life to have taken her In my arms in a final appeal, and must have made some motion that caused her to fear such an act, for she stepped backward back-ward quickly. "Please leave me now. I will send you the keys by a messenger mes-senger when I have recovered myself sufficiently to make a search for them." I obeyed her Instantly, humbly. hum-bly. "I shall ba hopelessly miserable until un-til the week has passed, and can only pray that you be merciful." I Importuned Impor-tuned from the entrance. Sha nodded her understanding and I closed the door between us upon my second banishment. ban-ishment. I did not receive my keys, however, until the next day. "Janet had mislaid mis-laid them," said the note, and nothing moro. CHAPTER VII. I have now come to tha period Immediately Im-mediately preceding the running of the Derby, and upon tha events of that day I must dwell with some particularity par-ticularity for the reason that they form a very Important part of this narrative. Mrs. Dace waa to go with me. After torturing me by a week of silence si-lence and suspense, I bad been received back first upon probation, and soon later, mora or less unconditionally. uncondi-tionally. It would do no good to go Into tha details of our readjustment of our former relations. There are some things which may ba expressed by cold Ink, but you have to sea the human hu-man countenance with its lightning play of expression, and hear tha human hu-man voice In all Its wondrous Inflections Inflec-tions In order to form a correct mental picture of certain scenes. Hut on the whole her restoration of me was both womanly and gracious. I came to her a kneeling and penitent sufferer; she touched me upon the forehead and I arose healed. My spirits revived Instantly In-stantly In the sunshine of her forgiveness forgive-ness and I renewed my worship. The race was to he tha out-of doors social as well as sporting event of the season. I was an admirer of the beautiful. beau-tiful. Next to a beautiful woman, a thoroughbred horse appealed to ma as the most perfect of tha world's creatures. And although I had never bet upon them, I had kept myself well pouted upon their performances through the medium of the press. Hruee, however, wss an enthusiast. Coming In contact as he did with many of the niorv prominent horse owners and turfmen, ha generally had a store of mora or less reliable Inside In-side Information as to both the runners run-ners hnd the Imps who rod them. Consequently I wss not surprised when upon the second day before tha great race was to be run he came to me In a atata of whispering excitement. excite-ment. "Say, old man. I have got the best thing tliBt Is ever going to happen In this world, and of course I want you to be In on It. I wouldn't trade. It for Aladdin's lamp. You know that Eng! Hoy horse that wft have been watching for the last rr? Well, he has developed Into a slmon pure world beater. 1 got this on the dead Q. T. from his ovtner who would break bis arm to do me a favor. That borsa Is smashing all records by moonlight, and even the rallblrds haven't g onto on-to It yet. u4 is going to run aw sy from that bunch llkt a l.iromotlve leaves a mud turtle. And the odds will be long against blm. I am going to plunge, and adilsa you to do the same. Hut if you (fare breath It I'll poison you." I was not startled. As a matter of fact for some time past I had had my eyes on this great son of lilacs Eagla as much the best horse of the lot; therefore the news of his midnight performances merely corroborated my own Judgment. I answered la an off band manner: "I rather look to see him win myself. my-self. Hut you know I do not bet and therefore cannot take advantage of the opportunity. Hut I thank you Just the same for the Information." Hruce s countenance fell. "That's tha fair sex I had always regarded as ominous, and before ber quietness I now sat wretchedly. CHAPTER VIII. I know of few things more uncomfortable uncom-fortable than for a man to pose before be-fore the woman he loves In the garb of a snge, and being suddenly unveiled un-veiled to realize that he stands revealed re-vealed to her as a naked fool. That I , had been asinine enough to air my opinions to her as a self-styled expert upon such an Impossible proposition as tha winner of a horse race gulled nia to the marrow. My humiliation was all the more complete for the reason that In this, the first financial transaction In which I had advised her, sho had coma to grief. No one knew better than I the unforgivable-ness unforgivable-ness of my offense. Man may lead woman astray In lova and be wept over through the darkness of many a night; he may counsel her out of her hope of a hereafter and yet die with her arms around his neck; ba may separate her from tha world and still reign as ber king, but when ha separates her from her pocket-book he becomes a rascal or a clown In her eyes. Just how Mrs. Dace made ma know that I had lost caste In her favor waa not a thing that could ba analyzed, but In soma mysterious way she saw to It that I knew It. Perhaps It waa by the almost Imperceptlblo arching of ber eyebrows when I chanced to express my views upon some matter; perhaps It was In tha occult way some women have of making mak-ing you uncomfortable when they wish you to be so without dlprernable physical manifestations on their part, and perhaps it was partially due to my own sensitiveness upon the subject. sub-ject. More than likely it was a compound com-pound of the three. He that as It may, I became almost timid In her presence; pres-ence; and knowing that this would never do, grow desperate. I had never believed that a man could retain a woman's love unless he could command com-mand her respect as to his mentality, and I, therefore, determined to reinstate rein-state myself to my former position at any cost Clearly the only way I could do this would be to reimburse her for her loss In so delicate a manner man-ner that she could neither take offense nor refuse. I pondered over the matter mat-ter for about ten days and determined to take a plunge, sink or swim. I transferred what -money I had in the savings bank to my overdrawn checking check-ing account. I had been watching the steady rise of a certain stork upon the exchange for some months with secret rovetous-ness. rovetous-ness. It pertained to a vast system of underground railways which were to honeycomb the depths beneath tha city. The franchise had been wcured through political sorceries, and the capital to float tha enterprise was being be-ing raised by public Investment. As steadily as the mercury mounts tinder a summer sun the stock bad advanced point by point from a merely nominal sum until It bad reached thirty rents on the dollar. Tho more 1 pondered upon the yearly Increasing value of such a system as tha overhead streets became more congested, tha more I became convinced that public rumor would be verified and that tha stork would soon ba at par. Without confiding con-fiding In any one except my broker, and binding him to secrecy, I margined mar-gined a considerable quantity of Hand watched Its dally rise with a heart that mounted as steadily as my fortunes. for-tunes. A week later I strolled over to see Mrs. Ince. (TO BE CONTINt'KD slble, you understand." I warned her. She tightened my fingers about the money, thrusting my hand from her Imperiously. "I have said that I am going to rely re-ly upon your Judgment. At ten to one, should I win, I will have made $5,000. Do you wish me to go myself? If not, you had best hurry." For the first time really chilled by doubt and feeling my convictions ooze, I continued to protest. "Hut ha may be pocketed, he may foul another horse, he may be left at the post anything may hnppen In the race to make him lose." She looked at me steadily, silently, I thought almost contemptuously, con-temptuously, and without more words I pocketed the bill. Through the crush of the betting ring I fought my way, placed my money in the hands of a perspiring man who stood upon a stool and came back to her warm and crumpled. Already the Derby racers had galloped the course In their preliminary pre-liminary warming up and were now chafing before the flag. I gave bar the ticket for her wager and resumed my seat In a throbbing bush. Then came a roar like the crash of surf and thunderous wave of sound boomed across the field and -was echoed back by the distant walla. In a compact bunch and stretching themselves them-selves like greyhounds tha horses swept past us. For an Instant I felt a sensation of giddiness and closed my eyes; then opening them once more riveted them on tha field as It circled cir-cled the course with tha speed of hawks. Well placed among the leaders lead-ers I saw tha powerful haunches of Eagle Hoy working with the smooth power of pistons as they steadily drove blm into the foremost rank. With a roar of hoofs they turned the last curve and came Into the stretch, while the sea of humanity rising upon tiptoe burst Into full tongue. Mrs. Dace was upon her feet and watching them with parted Hps. I sat beside her with parched lips, my knees shaking. Then from out of the bunch a black borse that shone Ilka a polished pol-ished shoe forged a yard at a bound, and putting a good length between himself and bis nearest follower, led the wsy homeward In a burst of speed that was truly magnificent Pettlt was fairly lifting him from his feet, his whip flicking, stinging him on like a venomous yellow striped wasp. I fiercely clutched my companion's arm. "Eagle Hoy wlns,"I roared In her ear. Then as In a nightmare I saw the happening of an evil thing. A dozen yards from the wire and when two more leaps would have brought him victory, there rame a stumble that sent the great black one crashing to the ground, while) over him his nearest near-est rival hurtled as a Jumper clears a fence. From the vast crowd there arose first a cry, shrill and explosive, followed by an Instant of silence and then a raging tumult. I heard an involuntary in-voluntary xclamatlon from tha lips of the woman at my side and turned to her with the cold perspiration bursting from my forehead. Her Hps were tightly compressed nnd sha was (tiling fixedly at the fallen horse as he artise with difficulty. The Jtxkey was alresdy limping about and the mnb surging upon the trsck. "I guess that race Is settled for all time," sha said quietly as she snapped her pocket-book shut. "I suppose we might as well be going." Her fare resumed re-sumed Its plaridity. but she turned It away from me. Half dared by the suddenness sud-denness of the catastrophe my hand hought hers In a sympathetic squeeie. She did not respond. I whipped through the crush recklessly reck-lessly in my chagrin and b.tternes. SSU-r.fly cursing my folly I drove ber homewsrd with but a perfunctory attempt at conciliation. Even to tht she did not reply, and I decided thnt I had better remain tpiiet until she had recovered her equilibrium. I had never teen a woman whom I corsij rred a good losr, and thre was tta' in her detncimi- row whl-h warred me to caution Fince on the part ;f ' la My Heart I Store That She Should Eecore Mine. |
