Show irl i IR the 0 B Ni jot tile C c ey service STORY FROM THE START laurie eaurla devon a gay young boung chap somewhat inclined to wild wald neon nean lug has recently lecent ly succeeded an aa a playwright ills ilia wealthy slater barbara who has hafl helped him to succeed has just been married and la Is sote going to japan leaving laurie on his own epstein and bangs tits hlo theatrical partners have promised barbara to keep tin an eye on laurca they scold him for his laziness of luto late 4 and ad lie he retorts that tie he seeks adventure from tits hla window in new yolk lie he sets sees the reflection ot of it A beautiful girl in a mirror in the house opposite from the elevator boy in the girls house laurie learns the girls namo name la Is mayo again tn in the mirrors reflection he sees gees tier her with a revolver and tears fears site she means to commit suicide aul clde ile rushes into her apartment and winning her confidence induces tier her to lunch with him though slie she warns him of danger dancer at lunch she admits there Is a mystery in her life stile she bayis also alao that tier her funds are imbat almost exhausted but refuses flatly lauries La offer of financial help As aa a stranger enters the tha restaurant the girl m utters leiis he has found me upon learning that the men man lias has no claim on her laurie warns the stranger Bt ranKer not to molest the girl whose name laurie learns items la is dorla doris CHAPTER V continued A shaw she answered unwillingly Is it spelled pshaw P s h a w ingrie asked the question with po lito interest then realizing that in tier her preoccupation ahe did not follow this night flight of ills his mercurial spirits lie sobered eolie red its n perfectly good name the ibe conceded hut flat thero there must bo be more of it tile the rest ile he calls himself herbert ransome bliar 11 lauric made a mental note of 0 the namo name 1 I shall cull call him bertle bertie lie he firmly to show you how unimportant lie he really Is by tile way fl sudden mcilory struck him lie ho told nip me your name doris darls ile ho added the annio so simply that lie he seemed to be calling tier her by it A faint shadow cf tier her elusive smile touched her lips 1 I like it dorta repeated dreamily 1 I nm am so BO rind she murmured lie ille ignored the irony in ili tier her torte tone 1 I suppose you have several more ilk ike e our friend bertle bertie but you tell tel I 1 thern them to tie ne if I 1 had and to u use then them every time I 1 spoke to you it might check my inspiration doris will do very nicely doris doris I 1 are you making a song of it yes if n hymn site she looked tit nt him curiously youre a queer boy I 1 cant quite r make ake you out ono one minute youre se etwas und and the next if youre pr pi aed over me picture my mental turmoil over you I 1 oh me with a gesture she con signed herself to the uttermost ends of the universe the taxicab lind had stopped they had reached the studio building without observing the fact the expression on the features of the chauffeur sug aug reeled tint that if they wanted to sit all day they could do it hut but that it would not he be his fits personal choice doris held out tier her hneil goodby good by 11 rhe nhe said gently anti and thank you im really re ally more appreciative than I 1 seem laurales La urles look expressed more surprise than lie he find ever rf really ally expert encee over anything but we bettl rAt batters ratters tie lie cried were going to the hank bank we are not she spoke with sharp decision then relenting st at the expression of fits face she touched the heavy gold abid aniber chain around tier lier neck 1 I 1 can pawn till this she said raid br briefly lefly it seem worth while before hut but ns as ive got to go on I 1 promise you I 1 will do it I 1 will to do it today she bho added hurriedly hur y this afternoon it if you wish it to t valuable I 1 can get enough on it to keep keel me file for a month TU r LI we find that jot job for you sou ho he sug 9 ested brightening agreed with a momentary flash of tier her wonderful smile and you will let me drop in this evening and take you to dinner no thank you hut but again rhe be relented you may come in ili for nil an hour at eight 1 I believe you are a crowned lend murmured laurie Li discontentedly hats i just the way they do in books when I 1 ennie come I 1 suppose I 1 must speak only wt aln t im spoken to and when you stud detoy stand land up fit at nine ill boft know tile alie audience la Is over she bite laughed softly tier her bcd brwn eye ayea shining at him tier her laughter BS different run avy abir other laughter at AC dad I 1 ad per p er sr bee ril bod iy ay olt bh repent re wl lie helped her out of tile the cali cah and escorted tier her into the studio building where lie rang the elevator alevato r bell arid and waited hut flat in liand hand until the car came down when it arrived sam was in it before it stopped lie he had recognized og nihed the waiting pair through tigh the open ironwork of the door to laurie the elevator arid and sams jaw seemed to drop in ur unison ilson the next instent the black boy had rid d lils his habitual expression of in to all human interests dead eyed lie stared blared past the two young things lings ti dead eared ho he ignored their moving lips but there was fellowship in ili the jocund youth of 0 all three in an instant when laurie stepped back into tile liall hall as the car shot upward tile the eyes of the negro arid and white man hashed flashed a question arid and tin an answer in sams sains you tou done took her out an fed tier her in Ln urles you bet your boots I 1 dudl lid I 1 CHAPTER VI laurie solves a problem laurie walked across the square to ills his own rooms A sudden gloom had fallen upon him ile iio saw himself sitting in his big study gazing remotely tit nt ills hla shoes until it was wag time to dress for the evening tint and his formal call on doris the prospect was not attractive lie ile hoped bangs would bo be at home if so perhaps he could good goad win him into one of the rages in which bang was so picturesque but lie he was not sure of oven even tills this mild diversion rodney C y had been wonderfully sweet tempered the past three days though preoccupied as if in the early stages of creative art laurie half suspected vint he lind begun work on his play the suspicion aroused conflicting emotions of relief and halt jenitis regret why the fellow till they could go at it together lie ile ignored the fact that rendy fil the fellow had waited fix weeks hangs bangs was not tit nt home the square flat topped mahogany desk at which the two young men worked together blinked up fit at laurie with the undimmed luster of a fine piece of furniture on oil which the polisher aloa lind had labored that in morning ornIng without taking the trouble to remove his hat and coat laurie dropped into it a chair and tried to think things out hut but the process of thinking eluded him or rather ills his mini mind shied nt at it as a skittish horse might shy if confronted on off a dark rond road with shapes vaguely familiar yet mysterious frankly lie he make head or tall of this mess doris seemed to be in ills memory reminded liani that such illnesses messes existed ile he had heard aind read of till all sorts of plots find and counter plots in which all types of humans figured ills imagination underscored the memory but someway doris lie ho loved repeat tile the name even to himself dorla doris was not the type that figured lit in such plots also there were other things hard to understand she hud had let herself starve for four lays days though she wore around tier neck a chain that she admitted represented a months support and this fellow herbert Ilan ransome me shaw where the devil did lie he come in A fellow with a 11 name like that and with snaky eyes like his was capable of anything anti and yet young devon had the intolerance of american youth for the things outside tits his personal experience the sort of tiling thing doris was hinting nt at happen here that was nil there was to it what was happening seemed pretty clear the girl wits was or fati fancied cled herself in the power of tin an unscrupulous scamp who abo was using that power for some purpose of ills his own owl if that was it and this thing laurie leurle handsomely admitted really lid did happen sometimes it ou it to bo be fairly easy for an athletic chap clitia of twenty four to put an end to it lie ile recalled the look in shaws projecting eyes eye the snakelike ellke forward thrust of his sleek head and an intense desire seized him to get his fits hands on the fellows throat and choke him 1111 its his eyes stuck out twice as far as they lid did now if that duty then duty would be a delight having reached this edifying point in tits his reflections lie he rose why delay perhaps he could find tile the chap somewhere perhaps the walter waiter nt at the restaurant where they lind had It lunched inched knew where lie he lived hut but no of course not it was not the kind hind of restaurant tits his sort patronized shaw had simply followed him and doris there that was nil all there was waa to it ile he laurie would have to wait for another encounter Ale meantime antime he might run around to the club and box for an hour ile he had been getting n bit out of condition this thili month A hout bout with mcdonald the club auld so do him rood good or by jove hed to go and a aw louise ordway I 1 he had promised his fits new brother inlaw in law dob boh warren to keep an eye on hoag sister while warren and barbara were in japan and laurie had kept the promise with religious fidelity and aery real pleasure ile he I 1 immensely liked and admired mrs ordway who seemed strati strangely gely to he be always tit nt home of late inte ile he hail had formed the habit of running in several times a week louise not only talked but as laurie expressed it sho she said things ile he had find spent with tier her many of the afternoons arid and evenings hangs bangs checked lit up to tile the cabarets ile he glanced danced at tits his watch for tin an hour lie he hall had been impersonating a gentleman gentlemen engaged in profound meditation with the solo sole result that lie ho had decided to go to see louise it wa was s quite possible lie ho could enlist tier her interest in doris now that was tin an inspiration perhaps mrs ordway would understand doris every woman lie he vaguely believed understood till all other women lie ho III his 4 hair straightened tits ills tie and hurried 0 olt ff ile he found mrs airs ordeny reclining on oil a chalso longue before an open ire fire in tho the boudoir in which tits his sister barbara had spent so BO many hours of the past year playing placing the invalid to steep bleed she wore a superb mandarin coat of soft und ravishing tints and tier lier love for rich colors was reflected in the autumnal tones of her room and even in the varl colored names flames of tier her driftwood fire to louise these colors colora were as definite as mellow trumpet tones stio site had find responded to them all tier life she was responding bothern to them thern still now that she lay dying among them something in their superb arrogance fro called for an all answering note from tier her own arrogant soul site sho greeted tier her brothers othera br young brother ln in law with the almost disdainful dalti ful smile she now turned on everything hut but which was softened a little for litin him ignorant of the malady that was eating tier her life away as 41 ho he found mrs ordway reclining on a chaise tongue longue before an open fire indeed fill all tier her friends were ignorant of it save barbara and her doctors laurie delighted in tile the picture slit she made ile he showed his delight dell glit ns as lie he dropped into a chair by tier her side they fell nt at once into the casual banter that characterized intercourse 1 I wonder why I 1 ever leave here he mused aloud as the clock struck six ile he had been stud studying sing with a slight shock the changes that had taken place in tho few lays since lie had seen been her for the first time the suspicion crossed his fits mind that slit she might be seriously tit throughout their talk he had observed things trifles perhaps but significant which if they had occurred before had escaped him susanne mrs Ord ways maid though modestly in the background was rarely out of sight and a white capped nurse till taw tin an occasional find and illusive vision in the hulls hells blew in and out of the like a breeze bringing liquids in ili glasses which the patient obediently swallowed baurle tits his attention once caught took it ali nil in but his face gave gae no hint of ills his new knowledge and the eyes of louise still met his with the challenge they turned on oil every one these days a challenge that definitely for bade either understanding or sym ayio rothy PC thy the at al ir la is why you ever come she spoke lightly but looked tit nt him with genuine affection laurie was one of her favorites her primat favorite indeed next to bob and arr barn lie ile smiled led at tier her with tender significance you know why I 1 come 1 I do she agreed perfectly I 1 know youre quite capable of flirting with me too if id lot let you you absurd boy dearle dearie for a moment or two site lie avns almost serious iphy why dont you fall in love and this from you dont be foolish you yon know I 1 like alk your ties she interpolated kindly hut really there some soine une title baurle turned his fits profile to ier pulled a lock of linar over tits brow clasped tits ills hands between hla his knees and posed esthetically do you know lio lie sighed 1 I begin to think flint just possibly perhaps theres a slight light chance that there Is hi V ile he serious tell me file about tier her well ashes a girl lie ile produced tills this confidence with ponderous solemnity ellin ity silo she lives alvea across tile the square from tile me he willed added brighten commented lou tori go on sties mysterious I 1 dont know who she Is or anything about her but I 1 know that sties in n trouble of course she Is I 1 I 1 have never known a mysterious maiden that commented the woman of the world her particular variety of trouble laurie reflected hard to say he be bro brought tight 0 out ut at last rut but tt it appears to be b mixed up with tin an offensive person in a crumpled blue suit who answers to the name naine of herbert It Il ansome shaw have alave you ever heard of him louise wrinkled her fastidious nose 1 never im happy to say but lie he sound flo however wever tell me file all about them there seeing a good chance that they may get you into trouble T I 1 bats what she sold bold its tile the one gleam of intelligence I 1 see in the situation commented tits ills candid friend Is slie she pretty As lovely in ili her way as you are think you could help tier her tiny any wheedled pilled lauble 1 I doubt it im too selfish to be bothered girls who arp in trou brou hie ble ill tell you who can help hell tier her sonya Orl Or eneff of course I 1 laurie beamed at tier her wonder why I 1 till think ilk of that probably because it was so obvious sonya la Is in town as it happens stopping fit at the warwick site she has ahna brought the infant samuel to new york to have ills his adenoids aden cut out sal samue nuel made a devastating visit here this morning ties getting as fat fig as a little pig and when lie he walks he puffs like a worn out automobile going up tip a steep grade ite he came up my stairs on low and im sure ti they toy livard hoard litin him on the avenue I 1 almost offered him a glass of casolene ga solene nut he Is 19 n lamb she added reflectively oddly enough Sa samuel ninel lato into of new yorks tenements was another of her favorites laurie was waa following his own thoughts sonya was in town 1 then however complicated his fits problem |