Show w w golden dawn da W by peter B kyne by bell service iw CHAPTER XI continued 24 you toil are su so kind doctor eurt burt she said bulu ue ile resumed his passive stroking ol of her forab forehead ead and cheeks checks in a low monotonous tone he commanded her to answer all his bis questions then suddenly llave have you thought of your daughter penol peno ie e of late GrIma Grimace cAf of distress flitted flirted across the beautiful face no distress or bad luck will attend the thinking while you are with me understand I 1 command you tou to think about her to remember her and to answer truthfully all my questions regarding her yes les doctor why did you and ur mr catlin adopt her ne ile wanted a baby and I 1 give him one could you if you had cared to yes tes doctor tier iler tone was very peevish now old was she when you adopted her ber about a month where did you find her aln in the infants shelter in san francisco did you know who her parents were before you had decided to adopt her yes doctor A captain and mrs robert hobert E Illic ni llott itt why did the abandon their baby the captain was killed by the moros and his wife died in this city in childbirth do you remember what branch of the service the llie captain was in lie ile was a captain of cavalry s when you and sir mr catlin adopted fe penelope Delope did you have any written record of her parentage we had a letter from the matron at the infants shelter and we hada had u letter from the doctor who attended mra millot elliot at st dunstano Dun stans hospital and some letters from old neighbors of the elliots elliote Elli why did you get the letters from the old neighbors theodore was concerned about the babas ancestry and was it the best 1 I do not know it satisfied mr gatlin gatlan what has become of all the record pertaining to penelope 1 I burned them why T to keen penelope from getting them then she wonted them did she not yes tes doctor slie he demar tiled them when was this on her eighteenth birthday now how did it happen that she waited until her eighteenth birthday before demanding them up until then she thought she was our own lesli flesh and blood I 1 all ahl I 1 why did you burn these records rather than give then them to penelope 1 I hate bate her when you refused to give ire them to her what happened site she cried and laughed and screamed and attacked me ine she sold said she hated bated me finally she fainted and I 1 had the maid put tier her to bed and lock her ic tier her room did you yon give penelope any information at all at any ume time regarding her parentage there was a hesitation 1 I lied to her I 1 wanted to hurt her bemuse because site she recognize my moral right to half of Then theodores dores estate S sr I 1 told her site she had negro blood in be bar r veins what made you invent such a nor hor tale talc penelope Is a decided hr brunette unette I 1 thought even if she did not believe me my statement would create in her min mind a doubt and a fear that would drive her crazy what happened after that sirs mrs merton in the morning the she was gone ilow how did she go she made a rope of sheets and blank blankets ets allme you seen her since no Is she dead 01 1 I do not know I 1 hope so stephen turned to dan auy any questions mcnamara Namara SIc shook its his head owlishly 1 I 1 can revive most of the record perhaps all of it IL the captains record is IB in thearty th tb earmy flies when he married a notice of it appeared in the army and navy journal with that and what I 1 can get out of the officers who sol tiered with the captain ill get a pretty complete picture 1 resumed his cross exa tolina tion lion DH you yon ever beat Pene penelope lopel did you ever pinch her and slap her and lock her up yes doctor wake the fiend up and send her home mcnamara SIc Namara roared 1 I will as soon as I 1 look tip tier memory ot if I 1 penelope stephen llin replied he impressed upon her the fact that she was not III at all tie ile commanded her very earnestly to forget that she had ever heard of him then ile he awakened her ns as mcnamara mira departed gave her it a long look felt tier her pulse told her she was much improved and handed her some soda mint tablets she departed in a somewhat happier mood well mcnamara demanded when he and stephen found themselves alone again what do you think of that one tor for a hellcat hell cat 1 I do not think dan we merely accept such people as we ne accept sunlight and rainfall do you think see any more of this woman stephen 1 I hope hocq not I 1 hope the hypnotic suggestion I 1 gave her ls is strong enough to overcome her acol acquired niNd instinct for illness were the things she told you illuminating lumina ting very I 1 suspected most of them and she confirmed my suspicion we know now that penelope is of sound ancestry iler father was not a neurotic if lie he been a normal gallant fellow and physically fit he would never have become a captain of cavalry ue he was killed la in action hut but we have arrived at a it starting arting point dan the reason for the mental shock that gave penelope a dissociated personality sona lity 1 I get that at least not quite stephen for some reason best known to themselves tes the gallins gailius kept from reD penelope eiore the fact that she was not their own flesh and blood however while we have definitely established the date of the mental shock and the character of the shock we have also established the caus atlie factors leading up to the shock penelope had a most unhappy childhood from earliest childhood she was the victim of bitter rebellious thoughts then that baseball wrecked her nose this was a mental and physical shock the separation and divorce of the gallins was another terrible shock because she lost catlin and there was nobody to protect her and callins Gat Cat lins death was a severe shock then is she emerged from childhood into maidenhood the knowledge that her nose made her hideous naturally became an obsession with her now dan by this time there was no further necessity Decess ity for concealing the facts of the childs birth catlin dead had left his entire estate in trust tu to penelope and on her eighteenth birthday she was free to do as slie she pleased she could leave her hellcat hell cat of an adopted mother now she carried her own check book the knowledge that she was not flesh and blood of the be loved gatlin came as a terrible shock and with it of course came other terrifying speculations store more piling on of the inferiority complex mcnamara interrupted and she cracked under it then she made up her mind to forget forger mrs gatlin and she did A clear case of auto hypnosis dan now youie got to run down the record 0 of f our penelope and that of her parents she must ha have re it and it must be proof of the most convincing character because such proof Is necessary if we are to restore to her her mental tranquility well said dan ill be back presently with the girls record and then out of the darkness into the sunlight mac well the next one I 1 find in the darkness will stay there the chief growled the absence of the capable lanny was WaSa a constant reminder to destephen dr stephen burt of his sole experiment to date in a case of dual personality lie ile yearned with an alert scientific yearning to get to work on penelope catlin and when dan daa mcnamara appeared at ar the office adne one day he saw by the satisfied smirk on the mcnamara countenance that all had gone well let me see the documents stephen demanded mcnamara handed over the pile of papers well youve done your full duty an and haa have kept the pollee police of various cities busy for a few days said stephen what do you hear from lanny shell be home next week the skin graft on the girls nose was a complete success and liow how does the girl feel about the situation s now nowr ashes crazy about her new nose and spends hours examining it la in a band mirror stephen smiled naturally she would lanny says the girls been her real self more than halt half the time since that first look she would be and now im going to add to tier her happiness by sending her this record which I 1 shall supplement with a report of my own on her case shell study lt it and in this convincing proof that she ehe Is not what mrs mra merton told hershe her she was shell probably get well these cases are simple dan all you yon have to do Is to discover the cause and remove it IL nature does the rest she will have no more rebellious thoughts because the despot can do her no further harm her black moods of depression will nor come again she Is organically and mentally sound the product of a sound ancestry on both sides of her family but she knows she was an inmate of san quentin Quent ln shell remember she was a thief slie he will of course feel great shame when fully restored to her normal personality sona lity in tier her other personality with her acquired instincts of morality and convention smothered in her sub conscious mind she had bad of course courm no sense ot of remorse or shame I 1 think that when I 1 have explained this to her she will understand Irl nl lust just what her mental condition was and her fear that the world will discover her sorry record will I 1 feel certain be alleviated by her knowledge hill it 11 would be impossible tor for anybody who knew her as saddle nosed nance celden belden to recognize her as good looking penelope catlin all ive got to say young fella nad the admiring mcnamara Mc Kamara declared Is that youre one h 1 of a smart man I 1 some two weeks later lanny walked in on stephen well he declared acidly youve certainly taken your time about geating back on the job youre looking mighty particular lanny happy stevie dear I 1 never knew there was such complete happiness in the N world orld wheres penelope one gone back to paris on a new passport well well vell well stephen chided her ber tell me things stevie ashes as lovely as a slay may morning and the operation A phenomenal success of course lanny added site she could never dever stand a sock on the nose just what la Is she going to do in paris close out her apartment and dismiss tier her servants and coming back to san francisco lanny nodded how do you stand miss ordway as your sour office nurse stephen rather well im sorry to say ashes very competent and much more tactful than you and do you want me back darling Dg she queried there you go fishing for a comell compliment of course I 1 do but it necessary you could come in once a week not for a great many weeks ste stee ie ile he glanced up at her sharply how come lanny dannys face was the color of an old rose im going to have a baby she whispered and then stephen burt burr stood up and took dear old lanny in his strong young youn arms and hug hugged ed her at last she was nas going to have her little slice of life 1 or of course lanny said presently be the babas godfather god father lie nodded of course three months passed to stephen burt remarkable by reason of the he fact that sirs mrs rudolph merton did not call upon him at last to satisfy his curiosity lie he telephoned rudolph merton merlon to ask him how his wife was 1 I dont know merton replied complacently ashes gone dead no such luck ashes gone to southern california to join a new religious sect A colony on uie the fringe of the san bernardino desert with a prophet in command and what are you doing about it mr merton merion stephen asked im subsidizing the prophet so hell stay in bu business bubines sines ten months longer mrs merton has deserted me thank io spends hours examining it in a hand mirror god cod but she has to be away a year before I 1 can secure a divorce on the grounds of desertion the prophet comes high but I 1 can afford to pay for my iny fancies 1 I gather from your manner that youre not broken hearted such sorrow as I 1 feel now would be delirious delight compared with what id feel it if she ehe decided to come back to me 1 I congratulate you mr merton merron goodby good by and good luck to you you ton deserve it IL TO BE BB CONTINUED |