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Show p ,,, Vr-M-'' ' AvrfW o HEARTS AND .MASKS C JAN 0J THE BOX cfiv. Illustrations .G.KrrnvrBT- COPYRIGHT igil by BOBBfl - EKRILL COMPANY i i i, M YN0P8IS. ewa;e Feeclval Algernon Jne, vlrw-- vlrw-- frnkinii a the Mitimrxilltan Oriental l(u CMifuf of New Vork, thlratln for kiimim ta lit CaJru nn a bualneaa trip, tloracw Hrn arrlvea at the hotel In C'atrw with a carefully uanlel humlla. Kraaaaa aella Juno the Imnmia hnly Vhl- ru whlrh ha aitinlU having atolen fraaa a. tiaeha at HaKilail. Jonea meeta Mtw 'llahan and later la Inlnwluoeil In ' VkirlaiM lwita)a by a woman to whom fc tiaut hiawd 1E0 un 1a al Monte I'arln orwe anonOia prevloualy, anil who lurna Hit be few Vurlune'a nmlher. Jonea lakea Mrt Ctie4iya ami Knrtiine lo a Hlo Mm Kurt una ralurna to Jonea tha utumt Borrowed by her mothft Mra. :ttetay aiipvara to ba ana-aged In aoma nrMvTluua enterprise unknown to lha AaucMft- ttyaiuie Intereata Jonea In lha UnUeal Hontama ami Adventure com-ate. com-ate. nnmn whlrh (or a prlna will rravnv auir kind of an alventure tn or-Br. or-Br. Mra. -heleere. her brother. Manr f'aJlahan, Wallaie and Kyanne, aa tha I'ntted Kotnanr and Adventure pninpany, laa a rtakr enler.rlee Involving Jonea. Hruw tnakea known to Mra ( hai1ya hia Intaatton to marry Fortune. Mra. tMMlawya d.rlarea aha will nut permit It. I'Uum ara laid la prevent J. mm Balling for hnme. Ilvanne eleals Jonea' lettere mnd eahle dlapat-hee. Ho wlrra agent In New Voik. In Jonea' nama. that lia la e-eattln? hnimo In Now York lo aoma frtonrta. Maliotned. keeper of tha holy ear pet, la nn Ryannea trail Ryanna feramtaea Fortune that ha will aa that jMHanamlam harm aa a raault nf hla r'utt'haaa tf Ota rut Malmmed a eel a tyaniwt anil nVmande lha Yhlordee rug liraan telle him Jonra haa the rug ami auKKi-ala lha ah.liirlinn nf Ilia Naw York anerrhanl aa a mmni nf am-urlng lla r- urn. Tha rtia? dlaaipeare from Jonra' mum fortune quarrel with her mother la the liiiirr rafuara lo aiplaln hr tnyat-rhHm ai-llona. Koriuna aola a ma-M ma-M piii-wiriln I -i l from Ityanna aak-Ina: aak-Ina: twr to murl tlnt In a arhii1r.1 ptara that avrnlnu. Joiira wnlvra a maaara aaklni him lo mwt Ityann at tha Knallah. Ilnr tha aam vnln( Jnnoa la rarrloil mft Into tha nVarrt hv Maliomnl ami hla , rrMiiill'W afcr a ilraprrata flhl. lla ' aMarovrra that Hvanna anil Koriuna alao m rapttvaa, lha former la hadly hatt-ral and wamnatlooa Ityanna rrnvra ron-N-tMninrM ami tha alcht nf I'nrliina In rarrtWHv ravrala to him lha fart that Mnhnnxvt liilrmla In get vn(anra nn khn tlirmih the lrl Knrtunn ai knowl-nlrt knowl-nlrt l't ha elola tha ruv from Joliea mim. Mw nffara In rlurn ll lo Mahomml If will fr all three of them. Ma-tMmet Ma-tMmet areea lo llleraia I nrtune anil una r the iiien In return for lha rue A rour-te rour-te la ami to t'alro for tha run. hut re lurna with the Information that Mra. i'lielye ami her brother hava aalleil for Kew iirk. r'nrtune aiurna nffereil frea-mi frea-mi w hlrh iWa mil Int hiile her twoi nrn-paalona nrn-paalona 1 1 1 raravan contlniiea Ihe uur-ney uur-ney toward lUeiad. Ityanne lella Jonea that Mra fhedanfa la Ihe moat admit amtiiter nf lh aa, and la overheard by Kwrtune. 1'he ihrea rapllvea are rearueil by ll-nry Aikermann, who la In rhnrae air re r (irt caravan. Mahomed aaraiea. Mra. 'liilwiy dlsrnvera Ihe ahaenra of Kortune and davea for New York taking tha glrl a hehinKtna;a wlih her. Thrnuah furajed leitera Mra, Theilaoya. lha major ami thrlr an-nmiillrea take poaaeaalon of Jonea' New York home. Jonea, Ityanna and Koriuna arrive al Pamax-ua, Ityanna Ity-anna fa Ha In hla reaolutlon lo lead a he!, lir Ufa. 10'anoa aavratly leavaa fur Naw Vorh. f CHAPTER XIXe (Contlnutd.) ' Coorr,) rame In under the limn limit of b(a advrnturc. He had btn upon thm moat difficult errand Imaginable), at teaat from a barhrlor'a point of rfw. rsrrled two hand bum. Ona a Um he dpoalted In Fortuua'a lap. . -8il I open Itr It ftm wlah." "Why ahould I b? I am human; 1 have ilept and llvd (or dnyt In a dwM, and worn my hair down my back for lack of balrp'oi nd comba. 1 am aura that It la a vary nice nightgown night-gown M Iughtr OTrearoa hr. Ha laughd, too; not becauaa th altua-tlon altua-tlon appi-alad to him aa laughable, but because there waa eomethlng, an Indefinable aometbtng, in that laughter laugh-ter of here that made him wonderfully happy. "Mr. Jonea ..." "George." be Interrupted determinedly. deter-minedly. "Brother George. It waa very kind and thoughtful of you . Not one man In a tbouaand would have thought of of . , . halr-plnaP More laughter. laugh-ter. "1 didn't think of them; It waa tha clerk." "He ..." "flhe." "Well, then, aha will achieve great thlnga," lightly, though her heart waa full. Tactfully be reached over and awepl up the money. "Shall I arer be able to repay youT aha aald. "Yea. by letting me be your brother; broth-er; by not deciding the future till we land In Naplea; by letting me keep In touch with you, whatever your ultimate ulti-mate decision may be. That Isn't much. Will you promise that!" "Yes." They spoke no more of Ryanne. It waa aa though he bad dropped out of their lives completely. To a certain cer-tain extent be had. They were to meet him again, however, In the last act of thla whimsical drama, which had drawn them both out of the commonplace common-place and dropped them for a full apln upon the whirligig of life. In due time they arrived at Alexandria. Alexan-dria. There they found the great transatlantic liner, homeward bound. ltyartne would beat them Into New York by ten daya. lie had picked up a boat of the P. & O. line at I'ort Bald, sailing without atop to Marseilles. From there to Cherbourg waa a trifling tri-fling Journey. George knew the captain, and the captain not only knew George, but had known George's father before hlra. The young man went to the heart of the matter at once; and when he had finished hla remarkable tale, the captain lowered hla cigar. "And all thla happened In the year 1909 1910! If any one but you. Mr Jonea, bad told me this, I'd have sent him ashore aa a lunatic. You have reported Itf "What good would It do? We are out of It, and that'a enough. More, we do not want any one to know what we've been through. If the newa- r'ortune's room. This settled. Fortune went down to the cavernoue entrance to bid George good night. They were both diffident and ahy, now that the great problem waa aolved. George was pusxlcd aa to what to do In bidding her good night, and Fortune wondered If he would kiss her right here, before all these horrid cab drivers. "I ahall call for you at nine." he said. "We've got to do some shopping." shop-ping." A tinkle of laughter. "Theae ready-made suits are beginning begin-ning to look like the deuce." "Do you -twaya think of everything?" every-thing?" "Well, what I don't remember, the clerk will," alyly. "Till recently I believe be-lieve I never thought of anything. I must be off. It's too cold down here for you." H offtred bis hand nervously. nerv-ously. She gave her'a freely. He looked Into her aiarvelous eyes for a moment mo-ment Then he turned the palm upward up-ward and klswed It, lightly and loverly; lover-ly; and she drew It across his face, over his eyes, till It left In departing a caress upon his forehead. He atood up, breathing quickly, but not more so than she. A little tableau. Then he jammed bla battered fedora upon his head and strode up the Torso. He dared not turn. Had he done so, he must have gone back and taken her In his arms. She followed him with brave eyes; she saw him suddenly veer across the street and pause at the parapet. It was then that she became be-came conscious of the keenness of the nlght-wlnd. Hhe went In. Somehow, Some-how, all eartb'a puzzles had that night been solved. George lighted a cigar, doubtless the most costly weed to be found In all Naples thnt night. The Intermittent Intermit-tent glowing of the end faintly outlined out-lined his face. Far away across the shimmering bay rose Capri In a kind of magic, amethystine transparency. A light or two twinkled where Sorrento Sorren-to lay. His gaze roved the half-circle, and finally rested upon the grim dark ash-heap, Vesuvius. IWuty, beauty everywhere; beauty in the sky. beauty upon earth, In bis heart and mind. He waa twenty-eight, and all these wonderful won-derful thlnga had happened In a little more than so many days! "God's In his heaven. All's right with the world!" He flung the half-finished cigar Into the air, careless aa to where It fell, or that In falling it might set Nsples on fire. It struck a roof somewhere below; a splutter of sparks, and all waa dark again. "I shall come." All through his dreams that night he heard It. "I shall come." Next morning he notified the captain cap-tain to retain their cabins. After that they proceeded to storm the shops. els. These were pretty, and, being models, quite Inexpensive. Once, George was forced to remain outside in the carriage. It was In front of the lingerie shop. He put away each receipt. re-ceipt. Just like a husband upon hla honeymoon. Later, receipts would mean aa much, but from a different angle of vision. He bought ao many violets that the carriage looked aa though it were ready for the flower carnival. He laughingly disregarded her protests. It was the Song of Songs. "My shopping Is done," ahe said at last, dropping the bundles upon the carriage floor. "Now, It Is your turn." "You have forgotten a warm steamer-cloak." he reminded her. "So I have!" Thla overalgbt was easily remedied; and then George sooRht the tailor shops for ready-made clothes. He had more difficulty than Fortune; ready-made ready-made suits were not the easiest things to find tn Naplea. Uy noon, however, he hod acquired a Scotch woolen for day wear and a fairly decent dinner suit, along with other necessities. "Well, I say!" he murmured, struck by a revealing thought. "Have you forgotten anything?" "No. On the contrary, I've Just remembered re-membered something. I've got all I need or want In my ateamer-trunk; and till thla minute I never once thought of It." How they laughed! Indeed, so high were their spirits that they would have laughed at any Inconsequent thing. They lunched at the Gam-brlnus, Gam-brlnus, and George mysteriously bought up all the pennies from the hunchback tobacco vendor. Later, as they bowled along the aea-front. George created a small riot by flinging fling-ing pennlea to small boys and whining beggara. At five they went aboard tha ship, which was to leave at aundown. Borne hours shead of scheduled time. The captain himself welcomed them aa they climbed the awaylng ladder. There were a hundred first-class passengers pas-sengers for the final voyage. The two, however, still sat at the right and left of the captain; but the table waa filled, and tbey maintained a guarded prattle. Every one at once assumed that they were a bridal couple, and watched them with tolerant amusement. amuse-ment. The captain had considerately considerate-ly left their namea off the passenger list aa published for the benefit of the passengers and the saloon-sitting. So they moved In a sort of mystery which rough w eather prerented being solved. One night, when the sea lay calm and the air waa caressingly mild, George and Fortune had gone forward and were leaning over the atarboard-rail atarboard-rail where It meets and Jolna the for ward beam-rail. They were watching for the occasional flicker of phosphor- o'clock that evening, with only a handful of passengers for the trip to Nsples. George had wired from Ia-mascus Ia-mascus to Cairo to have his luggage aent on, and he aaw it put aboard himself. him-self. Without letting Fortune know, he had also telegraphed the hotel to forward whatever she bad left; but the return wire Informed him that Mra. Chedsoye hsd taken everything. They were leaning against the atarboard atar-board rail, watching the slowly converging con-verging lights of the harbor. Fortune had borrowed a cloak from her stewardess stew-ardess and George wore the mufti of tha flratofficer. The captain bad offered of-fered bis, but George bsd declined He would have been lost In Its ample folds. "I can not understand why they made no effort to And you," he mused. "It doesn't seem quite human." "Don't you understand? It Is simple. sim-ple. My mother believes that Horace and I ran away together. If not that, I ran away myself, aa I that day threatened to do. In either case, she saw nothing could be done In trying to And out where I had gone. Terhaps ahe knowa exactly what did happen. Doubtless she has sent on my things to Mentone, which, of course, I shall never see again. No. not I can not go back there. I have known the misery of suspense long enough." She lowered her hesd to the rail. He came quite near to her. Hla arms went out toward her, only to drop down. He must wait. It waa very bard.. Hut nothing prevented bis putting forth a hand to press hers reassuringly, re-assuringly, and saying: "Don't do that. Fortune. It makes my heart ache to ee a woman cry." "I am not crying." came In muffled tonea. "I am only aad, and tired, tired." "Everything will come out all tight In the end," he encouraged. "Of course you are tired. What woman wouldn't be, having gone through what you have? Here; let's sit in the steamer-chairs till the buglo blows tor dinner. din-ner. I'm a bit fagged out myself." Tbey lay back In the chairs, and no longer cared to talk. The lights twinkled, twin-kled, but fainter and fainter, till at last only the pale line between the sky and the sea remained. She turned her bead and looked sharply at htm. He was sound asleep. "Poor boy I" ahe murmured aoflly. "How care-worn!" There was aomethlng grotesque In the maak of desert tan and abaven akin. How pstlent he hsd been through It all. and how kind and gentle to berl She remembered now or seeing blm that night In Cairo, and of remarking how young and fresh he seemed In comparison to the men she knew and bad met. And she must leave him, to go Into the world and Aght her own battles. If God bad but given to her a brother like thlst Hut brother ha never could be, no, not even In the pleasant sense of adoption. She did not want pity. ... To think of bis getting those things for her In Damascus! . . . Pity sug Rested that ahe waa weak and helpless, help-less, whereas she knew tbst she was both patient and strong. . . . Whst did she want? She glanced up and down the deck. It waa totally deserted desert-ed save for them. Then, "clad In the beauty of a thousand atars," she leaned over and down and brushed his hand with ber Hps. And George slept on. Only the blare of the bugle brought him back to mundane mun-dane affaire. He waa hungry, and he announced the fact with gusto. They would dine well that night. The captain cap-tain placed Fortune at bla right and George at bla left, and broached a bottle bot-tle of fine old Johannlsberger. And the three of them had coffee In the smoking room. If the other passengers passen-gers bsd any curiosity, they did not manifest It openly. I'pon finding that they had no real need of ataylng over In Naples, the captain urged that they take the return re-turn voyage with blm. He saw more thsn either of the young people, with those blue Teutonic eyea of his. George promised to let him know within with-in a dosen hours of the sailing. Certainly Cer-tainly Fortune would decide one way or the other within that time. Iloth bad seen the Vesuvlan bay many ttmea, with never f tiling love and Interest. Tbey sailed across the bay In the bright clearness of tbe morning "You are going back with me." George announced In a tone which Inferred In-ferred that nothing more waa to be aald upon the subject. Hut, for all hla confidence, there waa a great ni heavy fear upon his heart aa be aaked for mail at the tittle Incloaure al Cook'a. tn the Gallerla Ylttorta. Thar waa a cable; nothing more. "Now, Fortune ..." "Have I ever given yon peralaalot to rail nvs by that name?" -Wty ..." "Have ir "No." Then ! give yov that pennies tot ; now." "What do you frighten a man like that for?" he cried. "What 1 waa going go-ing to aay . . . " "Fortune." "What I was going to say, Fortune, waa this: Here la the cable from Mortimer. Mor-timer. I'm not going to open It till after dinner tonight We'll go up to tha Hertollnl to dine. You II atay there for tbe night, while I put up at the Diistol, which Is only a little waya up the Corso. I'm not going to ask you a question till coffee. Then well thrash out tha subject till there Isn't a grain left." She made no protest.. Secretly ahe waa pleased to be bullied like thla. It proved that among all these swarming peoples there waa one tntereated In her welfare. Put she knew In her heart what she was going to say when the proper time came. She did not wish to spoil his dinner. She waa also going to put ber courage to its supreme su-preme test; borrow a hundred pounds, and bravely promise to pay him back. If ahe failed to pay It, It would be because be-cause ahe was desd. For she could not survive a comparison between herself and her mother. Here In Naples she might find something, an opportunity. She spoke French and Italian fluently; and In this crowded season of the year It would not be difficult dif-ficult to And a situation as a maid or companion. So long aa she could earn a little honestly, she was not afraid. She waa desperately resolved. Such a dinner! Long would ahe remember re-member it; and longer, still, how little either of them ate of it! She knew enough about these things to appreciate appreci-ate It. It must have cost a pretty penny. She smiled, she laughed, ahe Jested; and always a battle to dam the uprising tears. The dining room waa Ailed; women in beautiful evening gowns and men tn sober black. But tbe. two young people were oblivloua. Their fellow-diners, fellow-diners, however, bent more than one glance In their direction. Ill fitting clothes, to be sure, but It waa observed ob-served that they ate to tbe manner born. The girl waa beautiful tn a melancholy way, and the young man was well bred and pleasant of feature, though oddly burned. CoBVe. George produced tbe cable. It was still sealed. "You read It first," he aald, passing It acrosa the table. Her handa shook as she ripped tbe sealed flap and opened the message. She read. Her eyea gathered danger ously. "Be careful!" he warned. "You've been brave ao long; be brave a little longer." "I did not know that there lived such good and kindly men. Ob, thank him, thank him a thousand times for me. Read if And she no longer cared If any saw her tears. "Bring ber home, and God bless you both. MORTIMER." "I knew It!" he cried exultantly. "He and my father were the finest two men In the world. The sky Is all clear now." "Ia Itr sadly "Oh. I do not wish to pain you. but It la charity; and i am too proud." "You refuae?" He could not believe It "Yea. Dut when things grow dark, and the day turna bitter, I ahall aU ays remember those words. I can Bee no other way. I must fight ll out alone." Love makes a man dumb or eloquent; elo-quent; and as George saw all bis treasured dreams fading swiftly, eloquence elo-quence became bla buckler in thia battle bat-tle of love unspoken and pride In arms. Each time he paused for breath, ahe shook ber head slowly. The diners were leaving In twos and fours, and presently they were all alone. Servants were cUsrlng up the tables; there waa a clatter of dishes and a tread of hurrying feet. Tbey noted It not "Well, one more plea!" And he swept aside bis self-imposed restrictions. restric-tions. "Will you come for my sake? Because I am lonely and want you? Will you come for my sake?" This time her had did not move. "Is It pity?" she whispered. "Pity!" His handa grlpnrd ths linen and the coffee-cups rattled. "No! it Is cot pity. Because you were lone-1 lone-1 ly. because you hsd no one to turn to, ' 1 could not In honor tell you. But now ' I do. Fortune, will you come for my sake, because I love you and want you always and always?" "I shall come." i , I CHAPTER XX. March Hares. 1 George, In that masterful way wblct 1 waa not wholly acquired, but which K4 been a latency till the eptsodlt Journey George paid for tbe dinner i called tbe bead waiter and thanked him for tbe attention given It and lak a generous tip upon tbe cover. Fron tbe dining-room the two young people outwardly calm but Inwardly fllle I wttb the Great Tumult, went to tbt mCa gel's b area a and arranged foi They ttormed the Shops; Irresponsible Children, Both of Them. everything WIN Come Out All Right In the End." Me Encouraged. They were like March bares; Irresponsible Irrespon-sible children, both of them. What did propriety matter? What meaning bad circumspection? They two were all alone; tbe rest of the world didn't i count. It never had counted to either, i of them. Certainly they should have : gone to a parsonage; Mra. Grundy . would prudently have eugrested It I Tbe trivialities of convention, bow-I bow-I ever, bad no place at that moment In i their little Eden. Tbey were a law nn-. nn-. to themselves I Into twenty ehope they went; mo-l mo-l dlate after modiste wss Interviewed: r aad Fsrtune at leng found two mod escence. Their shoulders touched, and Georges band Uy protect In gly over hers. To be eoNTtxrcn He Hadn't tha Heart te Do It i Grouchy Patron Goodnesa. tnant i Why don't you rid thla place of files? There must be a million of them! Restaurant Proprietor 8orry, sir, but I csn't Kind of a sentiment, you see. The money that gave me my atari here rame aa a prlte la a con-'test con-'test In which I swatted 3.C4I more files tkaa as a e real eotnretl'.or! Tuck. Re noted bla embarrassment, and ber tin med Ik te curiosity waa not to be eVttleU. She slipped the catch and looked Inside. There were combs and brushes, soap and tooth-powder and talc. manicure eet. a parr of soft fxj!i atipprs. and . . She flaarrf up quickly. The faintest rose wose ender ber cheeks. It waa droll; It eaa pathetically funny. She would b gen worlds to bsvw blza sn v-leg 'he purchaaea. m $; not .off ended?" .be atam- , - 1 1 papers got bold of It, there would be no living " "You leave It to me," said the big-hearted big-hearted German. "From here to Naplea Na-plea ahe shall be aa mine own daughter. daugh-ter. You have not told me all?" "No; only what I bad of necessity to tell "Well. you know best I shall da my share to make ber feel at home. Etie Is as pretty aa a flower." To this Oeorge agreed, but not verbally. ver-bally. Tbe steatEer weighed anchor at ail |