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Show p- The Girl Who Came Beck e a q By Jack Woodford a a a Copyright W. N. U. Service THE STORY Influenced by loneliness. In Chicago, Lolita Forbes, young and pretty, yields to the importunities impor-tunities of Harvey Torrence, with whom she fancies herself In love. She discovers his true character and leaves him, taking refuse with an acquaintance, Gertrude Watson. Lolita Is accosted by the son of the wealthy owner of the apartments. Fred Watterson He insists on driving her to the store. On the street Torrence 1 waiting, and the two men engage en-gage In a fistic battle in whkh Torrence is killed. Lolita spends a night of misery In a police cell. She appeals to her father, bui he answers that he "never wants to see her again." Next morning the Judge, at the Instigation Insti-gation of a lawyer, a stranger to Loltta, dismisses the case. The lawyer gives her $C00 and an unsigned un-signed note Informing her that college tuition has been paid for a vear. He refuses to give the name of her benefactor. She takes up ehort story writing and meets Mr. Warrill. Lolita write? a short story which Mr. Warrill praises highly. Miss Pringle, a member of- the class, harshly .-ritlcizes it. The story Is sold for $300. Miss Pringle discloses Lolita's real identity. Discouraged, Discour-aged, Lolita decides to give up the struggle and sets out for a cafe. She allows herself to be "picked up" by a youth In an auto, and taken to a rond house. There her escort Insults her. She is rescued by her unknown friend. Returning Return-ing to her room she finds Warrill there. CHAPTER VI Continued -iC- I "There is no telling where Lolita l t orbes may be at th!i hour of the j night. She Is the 0'rl, you remember, jRho was involved in a very disgrace-I disgrace-I ful scrape over the death of a man j named Harvey Torrence not lung ago. j I'm urprh-ed thai v u're so concerned over such a girl, a good-looking chap liki you." lie looked quickly and ; angrily Jov n at her. Suddenly, j standing In the middle of the floor j facing her, he seen f d to realize for ' the first time that he was alone In ! the room with tit Oe turnec as If to go, but she put out a band swiftly and caught hold of Lis arm. "What's your hur.j, Mr. W'urrlll ; you've waitea this lorg, you mlghi as well wait until she comes In?" Lie I turned back again Irresolutely. "And. anyway," she moved closer to him ind smiled up at him archly: "I can't understand why all the concern over Lolita, she's not even good looking." , His figure became suddenly rigid; -he saw little tight lines form about ; his mouth as he looked down at her j disapprovingly. "Miss Forbes," he said slowly, "1 ! Jon't care a whoop what you i sister lias done, and, as a matter of fact, I more or less agree with you that she's riot particularly good looking, but, d n It all, I love the poor little thing us I've nevei love- a woman hcfi re, and If I can ever And her again If Mithlng dreadful's happened to her so that she won't ever come back I'm going to ask he) to mil' y me the moment that I again see her." Lolha topped hack a pace as though he had struck be,, hut she still carried 'in the ma.s(uerade. pouted up i aim: "Don't you think that I'm yr, ttier than my sister?" "You're quite beautiful." "Then wh: " I!u' she could see that her be. uty was as nothing to him compared to his evident worry fin the safely of th other Lolita who was not beautiful. She stepped close to him, put both hmdr) upon bin shoul ders, looked up lit' his eyes: "Mr. Warrill ; I've been oi ling you. Kacli time that you've seen me this evening It's been In a dim UghL 1 nra Lollia Forbes, the girl you've known as Margaret Farrar; I am the .,ne who was inlxe' up In that dread ful affali In the papers; that's why I dyed my hair all that sort of thing wore those awful spectacles and dowdy clothes with the long dresses and high collars." He looked swiftly swift-ly about the room, saw the electric light swllch, strode over and pressed It. flooding the room -vfih light Walking hack to the center of the door, where she awaited him, he looked closely at her and then was Instantly convinced. Ills arms were about her wllhout del.iy. As she fell tils tight embrace It seemed to Lolita that she was melting. A thousand times she had Imagined his arms about her. but In her wildest dreams l had never seemed as goml as It actually felt now. Ills kisses ruined upon her upturned face, her closeil eyes, and dually scMlcd upon her lips with a warm finality that was no delicious that Loiila felt weak nii'l drooped n Utile. Sensing this, he picked her up DH (-icily mm Hii'iii:li she were 11 six e:n nlil chili! win sal ip-un wild her In a large easy chair, cnidllng her 111 his initio t.i'liln IimIciI del lie:,.) lipnl his Kliulll'lel iiihI cried softly. It was all so beautiful. Somehow Some-how he made up for everything that she had missed In life. He sat and held her tightly until she had stopped crying and had pulled a large handkerchief from his pocket and was wiping her eyes upon It. Shyly, hiding her head, afraid to look at him, she spoke softly: "I've loved you from the first moment mo-ment that ever I saw you, that day when Miss Marion Introduced us." "Did you, dear?" He lifted up her head so that he might look Into her eyes. "You poor little thing, I was so afraid that after what happened In class today you had done something some-thing desperate. It was when I got to thinking about that that I realized that I loved you." The words sent a thrill clear down to Lolita's toes; she wriggled ecstatically. ecstat-ically. "How did you feel when you first realized It?" "Oh, I don't know how to describe It I've written the sensation Into a hundred stories, thinking that I knew all about It; but I didn't really, nor have I ever read any one else's story that described It exactly.". "But tell me," she begged, breathless breath-less with the desire to hear. "Oh, let me see. Well, first, 1 felt a sort of chill all over; and then little prickly sensations came on my scalp; and next I was Just breathless breath-less with fright for fear something bad happened to you. I kept seeing 1 IPiwv iten IT KiV .v,vys,M--'v-.-,V.?i 3 "There Is No Telling Where Lolita Forbes May Ee at This Hour of the Night." you as you looked after that Pringle person told on you and I Just ached all ver for you, but then, a II that doesn't half describe It. It was .ill Just too wonderful for words, that's all there ' to It." "And you don't care about all that stuff thnt was In the newspapers?" "Not a bit" "Not even If I were to tell you that part of It was really true?" "Certainly not; do you think for one minute that I svi uld permit myself my-self to hold anything against any girl, knowing what a devil of o proposition propo-sition life Is, as every .v.-lter who studies It nt close qunrters must. Anyone with an ounce of perception can see that there Isn't a modicum of Intentional vicious badness In you The fact that you made one mistake doesn't make any difference at all. In fact, II makes me want to love and protect you all the more. And. besides, be-sides, I don't believe In all of the 'moral' rights and wrongs that so many people so glibly talk shout. I'm not so sure that I nm wise enough to calmly point to one thing and say 'that Is wrung' while another thing Is right. I'eople who nre so sure about 'rights' and 'wrongs' make me supremely sick." "I'.nt suppose 1 were to fell you that even tonight I had no more moral courage than deliberately to start out to nilshehave because things had gone wrong? I'm afraid I'm not as good as you think I nm. The fact of the matter Is I let a sheik pick me up and take me out to a roadhoiise nnd kiss me that Is. 1 let him take tne out there. I didn't really let him kiss me; tie helped himself In spite of all I could do. but I got nway from him In time for which fact no credit Is due myself." He looked a llltle thoughtfully at her for a second, but waved this aside too after I moment, not even stopping to comment upon It ns he bent to kiss her again und again. For a long time they sat without a word ns he hugged her closely to him Suddenly, however, a terrific fear look hold of Lolita. Loving him with alt her heart she realized that already she wns again at the crossrouds where one plain sign po'uted to the right and the other to the wrong. He had salt, nothing, but somehow a subtle clinnge had come over him, and over her. It was almost like a presence In the room. A consciousness of peril, delicious seeming, yet. Lolita l.i ew, fraught with portent. She rose and stood before Mm, eyes averted. When her words came they were almost a whisper. "You had better go now." lie rose and stood before her, taking tak-ing both of her hands. "Must I?" "Yes, you you must ; at once, too, please." "But yor told me you loved me?" "I do." "Then?" "You must go at once." He caught her in his arms and, bending he. back, rained kisses rpoD her throat, her cheeks and Anally her lips. "No, no, no, no," she said, pushing him from her, "I want you to go p. ease." Almost violently she pushed him from her. Without another word he turned toward the door; but, at t:.e door he stopped, turned around smiled warmly. "Little angel," he said, "don't let yourself think that there's anything bad about yon; I was testing you deliberately. de-liberately. You're true blue. If you hadn't asked me to go, It would have broken my heart. I couldn't have stopped loving you; but It would have been different ; not half so beautiful as It Is now." With that he opened the door and was gone. For a long time she stood In the middle of the floor -feeling his kisses still upon her, his warm arms about her. Then she sat down before a little enamel dressing table and started removing re-moving her clothing. Presently she drew on a pair of silk pajamas and slid In between cool covers. She sighed nnd hugged her pillow and all at once It came to her that she had somehow changed for the better. How was II that she had ordered him to go though every ounce of her physical being be-ing wished him to stay. It was somehow some-how wonderful because It proved con cluslvely that she was not as she had a little let herself gradually think she was. A feeling of happy triumph shot through her. For the first time since Harvey Torrence had come Into bei life she felt good, clean, as thougt she were really going to be able to live up to her highest Ideals In spite ol every thing. CHAPTER VII. The following morning Lolita woki up to find It raining heavily. Ordi nnrily a gray, rainy morning like thli one would have made her feel Infinite ly sad and blue, but this morning Itl effect was Just the opposite. She en-Joyed en-Joyed the steady sound of the rait against the window, even thought that the Intermittent "woooooo" of the fog horn ut the river's mouth, which sin could faintly hear even though she wns a long way from It. was friendly and beautiful. Mentally she went nt over the events of the night before and again, so real that she blushed she could feel Nardil's warm armi around her, feel his lips upon her own She wondered how soon he would cnK her up. Perhaps he would come around or send (lowers. How perfectly de Melons It was to know that one wai cared for, wanted by somebody, pnrtle ularly by the one body In all of tin whole wide world that one most wanted want-ed to he cared for by I Presently there was a knock at the door. "Who Is It?" Lolita called out cheer fully. "It's me," came back the voice of tilt landlady. "Come In," Lolita called back. The door opened and Mrs. Hardy en tercd. She was a good-natured, happy-go-lucky soul. She had had two bus hands, both of whom had died, but slit was firmly convinced lhnt1he best hus bund she had ever had would, ulmosi any day, show up and carry her off ti an Ivory tower. She advanced and sin down upon the edge of the bed am handed Lolita a long envelope will her name printed upon IL Lolita tort It open and a check for ninety dollart was revealed. "Hot dog I" commented Mrs. Hardy "Sold another story. You're going t be a big writer some day like Mnrj Roberts Itlneliart, or Fanny Hurst (ice I wish I had your ability I" "I should think with your expert ence, that you could write ten llme belter glories than I," remarket! Lolita "That sure was a swell fellow callcil here to see you lust night," Mrs. Howard How-ard began enviously. (TO on coNTiNuicn.t |