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Show I &fC AIR. and AIRS. , ' Y 'Novelized from the Motion Picture Romance ' f I RUPERT V of the same name, jA I II ' . FIFTEENTH INSTALLMENT I SYNOPSIS. I 1 Plerpont Stafford, with his daughter Gloria, Is winter- Incr at Palm Beach. Gloria la a vivacious but willful young1 lady who chafes undor tho restraining hand of a coverness from whom she- repeatedly escapes. Her chll- dish capers causo young Doctor Royco to fall In lovo with her. Becoming lost In the everglades sho falls Into the hands of tho Seminole Indians. Gloria falls In lovo B with her rescuer, Froneau. Five years later sho leaves B school and meets Froneau at the theater; he has forgot- B ten Gloria. Later Froneau persuades her to forgive him. B Gloria's slstcr-In-law, Lois, becomes Intensely Jealous and Doctor Royco discovers In her an ally. Freneau takes leavo of Gloria. Sho sees from her window an at- H tack mado upon him. Royco convinces her that It Is delirium. Later a telegram comes from Freneau. Sho replies but her telegrams are' returned. She sees tho J supposed sulcldo of Freneau In tho paper. Gloria sweara to find tho murderer of her lover. Royco becomes alarmed and tells what he knows of Freneau to Mr. Staf- ford. Together they seek to prevent scandal from en- vcloplng Gloria. Sho accuses them In her mind of con- eplracy against her. Gloria sets about to run down Fre- I neau'a murderer. Royco warns Mulry to tell Gloria noth- lng. Gloria calb on Mulry and thero sees Lois who Is I also worried. Gloria's suspicions aro aroused. Royco endeavors to show her tho difficulty she faces. Gloria 1 coes to David's country homo. She meets Mulry who E flees at once. Gloria Insists on going to Palm Beach. I Again she sees Mulry there. He leaves for tho North. I Sho Is recognized by her one-time captor, the young In- I dlan chief. Ho tell3 her that Royce and not Freneau wa3 1 her rescuer at that time. Gloria attends night court: I Bho sees Mulry there, also tho tramp who attacked I Froneau. But Judge Freeman releases him. She follows I tho tramp when ho leaves the court and falls Into the I hands of hold-up men. She finds heraolf In a low saloon 1 dance hall, and Is selected by one of tho patrons as his I partner. Doctor Royce, however, follows her and when I he attempts a rescuo calls down a riot on their heads. I The hall Is raided and tho crowd, Including Gloria and I Royce, Is arrested and taken before Judgo Freeman. The I newspapers foaturo Gloria's arrest. Reporters surround I the house. Caslmlr arrives with the child Gloria prom- iscd to adopt. Sho orders Royco to take Caslmlr's wife R to tho Stratford home. She follows Trask and lands on a houseboat to hear him accused of Frcneau's murder. I The Murderer at Bay. I Plerpont Stafford cherished his majestic country place principally because It furnished hlin an ample soiltule. Ho could wander about It for hours and never fcneet a soul. If he wanted company, there J way mom for It in the palace and in the formally gardened grounds. And he could look down on the tremendous peace of the Hudson river, admiring its strength as one strong man does another, and complimenting compli-menting it on the efficiency with which it did such a big business "with so little fuss. He asked few persons to visit him, and those few only when the mood moved him. In his everyday 1 life as a man of big affairs he met so many people and was so pointed out when he walked the streets that he acquired a kind of shyness in his hours of leisure. He was touched in a tender spot when he heard that his scapegrace daughter Gloria had invited three guests to make his sacred retreat their more or less permanent home. She had not consulted him and the guests were the last people in the world he would have invited. It was nice enough for Gloria j to take pity on a poor waiter and his forlorn child. ( It was sweet of her to adopt the child. Plerpont had even forgiven her by now for compelling him to hunt employment for the waiter. But then what followed? Gloria Invited tho boy's almost hopelessly invalid mother and the boy and the father to make thera-sedves thera-sedves at home in Plerpon't own sanctuary I That was far more than too much. "This has got to stop, and I'm going to stop it," Plerpont stormed to Doctor Royce, who had, at Gloria's command, transported the three to Pier-pont's Pier-pont's country place. Royce smiled. Plerpont grew more furious. "Oh, I'm not afraid of her just because she is only a child. She's got to obey me and get rid of them." "Tell her so, sir," said Royce, amused at the old man's helpless bluster. B "Oh, I'll tell her l" Plerpont swaggered. "Where is No one knew. Royce suggested that she had prob-ably prob-ably gone to the country place to see her new play-mates. play-mates. So Plerpont motored out with Royce. He -told Royce that he would really have to get rid of the unwelcome guests, if only to prove to Gloria that she was not yet the absolute boss of the family. ; "That victory will be worth going miles to see," ald Royce. They reached the country place, only to find that tJloria had not been seen nor heard of. Her three guests were there, however, installed for a long stay. Bj The butler was so horrified at having a waiter's fam- B lly to wait on that he offered his notice. Bj Plerpont decided to evict the waiter's family and B save the butler. He would do it at once, before B Gloria got home. He stalked forth like a constable B with a writ of eviction. Hj The boy Stas caught sight of him and ran and B flung his arms about his neck and began to tell him Hj of the wonders of his own country place, of trees B and flowers and birds and animals commonplace B iJcsss to Plerpont, but miracles to the boy from the B tsms. Gdsimlr had gathered an armload of flowers tow kls t&cfc wife, and he was aglow with the feeling BEB gn &ba was 'better already. B PlerpOBft ted. a great deal of Gloria's Impulsive- B SOB wad & srVat deal of her abounding tenderness. B He lost hi tamper in flashes, but his charity burned B mbBtuSUj find--' deeply, and now Stas had won his B ' heart. H Could not unclasp that child's arms. In B fact, be lifted Stas to his arm and held him there fl jffcllo keloid the butler he could leave without no B tic tf did not like the guests of the house. Also B Slctpout told Royco that he must take particular fl Cre of Caslmlr's wife. Royce laughed at the old B man's complete collapse and said : B "It's a pity Gloria isn't here to see you. I wonder where on earth she is." B '.'She's somewhere she oughtn't to" be, that's sure," B Plerpont growled, as he stared at his section of tho fl .: Hudson, where, fighting against the current, a little fl 1 tug was visible, towing an old canal barge loaded to BBj i the water line. Then he added: "She's probably on that barge now, adopting tho bargeman's family." B j He could imagine nothing more extravagantly lm- BB possible to say than that. And yet, the truth kept B ;l pace with his extravagance. For Gloria was Indeed B even then on board just such a barge being towed ' i upstream by just such a tug. Only Gloria was not B adopting the bargeman's family. She was being adopted by it. Sho was a prisoner and her life was B in pawn. Gloria's curiosity a3 to one problem was solved, j " She had found out that her vision of Freneau's mur- BBI der was not a delirium. She had seen the assassin BBI v and heard him accused by his own daughter. One trouble with satisfying curiosity is that every curl- oslty satisfied opens up new curiosities. Gloria now was frantic to know why Gideon Trask killed Fre- ueau and how Trasks' daughter was Involved in the BBBBBBBta crime. Next, she was curious to know how she was to escape with her knowledge, once she had It When Trask heard Gloria's voice over his shoulder shoul-der accusing him of the crime he was denying, ho whirled as If an angel would had spoken with the voice of conscience. An angel would have been hardly more surprising than tho look of Gloria on the .stairway of the barge. Trask had no idea of Gloria's Identity. He could not imagine who sho was, whence sho had como, or why she accused him. He stood transfixed a moment, mo-ment, then moved toward her with menace. Gloria retreated up the steps, but he leaped at her arid dragged her down and seized her by the throat, as he had seized Freneau. Sho tried to scream, but she could not mako a sound. Nell attempted to restrain her father, but he turned on her with terror and wrath: "If she gets away, I go to the chair." Ho might havo throttled her then and there, but there was a jolt, tho barge shook as the towllno dragged It away, and down the hatchway came tho voice of Trask's helper, Jed. Trask hurled Gloria against the way and warned her that If she made a sound It would be her last. Ho would wring her neck and throw her into tho river. Gloria cowered in utter dread of him and remembered re-membered the fate of her poor lover, whose body tho same stream had received and kept for days. When Trask stamped up the cabin stairs and banged the hatchway down Gloria studied the girl. Eliu Luu been beautiful, and still was pretty but too sad. Just now she was too angry. Nell had been fighting against her father till this unknown woman appeared from nowhere. Now Nell was all for her father against the world. Gloria spoke to her, questioned her about Freneau. Fre-neau. Nell did not answer at all, only In grumbling monosyllables. Gloria tried to bribe Nell to let her escape. Gloria offered larger and larger sums till Nell would have been dazzled if she had been convinced. con-vinced. At last she spoke: "Say, who do you think you are? The Dime Savings Sav-ings bank? -And who do you think I am? I ain't on mmdMm 1 Jed Went Over With a Crash and Gloria Sidled Up the Stairs. 2 Gloria's Arguments Were Pokes With the Poker. 3 There Was a Hissing Sound. Trask Shuddered. 4 Gloria Heard Footsteps on the Deck. 5 Suddenly Whipped the. Cloth Over Her Head. 6 Sho Seized a Dish Towel and Gagged Him. auction. If your father had all the money you're makln' up he has, do you think you could buy my father with it? No!" Gloria liked her better for that, but she was .nono the less determined to escape if she could. She talked no more. But she thought harder than ever before. Nell went on getting her father's supper, at the little stove, clattering the pans and jabbing the fire with the-poker angrily. Gloria had often steamed up the Hudson, on her father's yacht. This was her first voyage ,on a -canal barge. The place was extremely unlike her father's yacht, but tho savor of tho frying pan made Gloria democratically hungry. When Trask came back, however, his cold eyes took her appetite away. But not his own. Sho watched him wolf his food ; sho felt that he was half Insane, a relentless fanatic on a wild crusade. His eyes kept rolling in her direction. He found her so mysterious that he was half afraid of her. He remembered the loneliness of that winter night by the Soldiers' and Sailors' monument. He remembered remem-bered the appearance of Freneau alone and no other human being in view. His very hands remembered the death grasp they took on Freneau's throat. He smiled. That -was one good deed, at least, he told himself. But he could not Imagine how this girl could havo seen him. How could he guess that sho had sat at her wIudov' with binoculars to her eyes and watched the whole tragcdyjHe began to grow superstitious. Gloria was apparently able to perform miracles. Slip wore the invisible cloak. Perhaps sha would leave, as mystically as she had come. Finally he grew brave enough to shout out at herj "Who are you? What was Freneau to you?" Gloria knew that anyone who blusters is likely t4 be weak, so she answered coldly: "Never mind whc I am. The main thing is, who are yon and jvnat wad Freneau to you?" The very name Freneau seemed to madden Tr-asK. He emitted a loud yelp of hate and derision and left the table, ne moved toward Gloria, but changed his mind or deferred his purpose and went up the stairs, closing the hatch and fastening it above. There was nothing reassuring In his last look at Gloria. Nell was clearing up the table when she saw that Gloria was faint with hunger or terror. She offered Gloria the remnant of the supper. Gloria was glad to got It. Sho ate liko another pauper. She felt that she would need what strength she would acquire. Her wits were dancing as she tried to think out a means of escape. She could not fight Nell and her father and tho big man, too. She could not overcome over-come them with force, and she had no weapon but her five wits, and they had never been trained to such problems. She was as helpless before them as sho had been when she was a little lG-year-old filly at Palm Beach and her governess had given her a problem in algebra (a-b)x(a-b)-? . She had stared at that riddle rid-dle as she stared at this one. Doctor Royce had happened along then and smiled at the easy task. He could probably solve this problem, prob-lem, too, but ho was not here. She was alone and the solution dcpended'solely on her. Sho thought and thought while Nell cleared the table. She offered to help Nell and was permitted to aid in the work. When the last dish was removed to tho wash basin Gloria and Nell took opposite ends of the coarse tablecloth. When it was folded twice the two girls began to bring the two ends together, as people do who are folding tablecloths. Nell stopped short at the proper moment; Gloria went toward her. Tho solution camo to her in a flash. Instead of putting the two ends of the tablecloth table-cloth in Nell's fingers, she suddeuly whipped tho cloth over her head, brought it down around her elbows and, after a furious struggle, forced Nell back into a chair and knotted the tablecloth corners under the arms. She snatched a pair of dish towels from the wall and tied Nell's feet to the legs of the Wg. chair. Nell fought like a mad woman in a strait WS jacket, but the knots held. wtfl Gloria was out of breath, but she was proud as vfL Punch over her victory. She stood up panting and exclaimed: "Well!" ftffji So far so good. But there was still Trask to settle Ipj with, and Jed, also. She had not tablecloths enough ?E for all three, and she doubted if she could hoodwink j those giants in the same way. 1 y Another scheme occurred to her. She had noticed k i Nell poking up the fire in the little stove. Now Nell ; j was quieting down and it was safe to leave her. ,4 She ran to the stove, lifted the lid and sec thd ' i poker In the red coals. It was a grand Idea,nnd Bho was tremendously enthusiastic. But the poker was ! not. It was In no hurry whatever. They say that a f. watched poker never glows. Gloria heard somebody !! working at the hatch before the poker had attained 1 1 as much blush as a hardened sinner feels on his cheek i at a little mistake. j She heard Trask's footstep. Sho could see his feet ; on tho stairway. She stared at the poker and whls-t pered : "Hurry up." The poker was in no hurry. 1 ; Trask paused to call Jed, then he began to come; ' ; down the stairway. Gloria was stupefied to see how, ! much there was of him. His face appeared last of all and it appalled her. Ho carried a rope in his hand. ' j U Trask did not see Gloria at first. But he caught 1 1 sight of the animated bolster in the rocking chair: j F and it frightened him. He stared back. But a muf- fled shriek came from tho depths. "Pa ! Pa ! It's me I ? She did it!" Trask understood that the witch woman had per- J formed another of her feats and ho was sure that he was under the voodoo. Then he saw Gloria sUnd- . jj ing by tho stove. She looked so small and so timid that he regained courage. He roared at Gloria and ' i moved toward Nell. Gloria cried: "Stand back!" ii Trask was so astonished by her impudence that ; he laughed. "Why, you llttlo fluffy pullet, I'll tie you up ancl ) f drop you In the river !" , "Oh, you will?" said Gloria. f She snatched the poker from tho fire. Trask! 1 laughed at It Sho hit the table with It and sparks jj flew. She rubbed It on the wooden top of the table ; and smoke arose. There was a hissing sound. Trask i shuddered. Gloria jabbed at him with her red-hot -1 sword. He could feel the searing pain of it before t it reached hlra. When It arrived where ho was he ; j was not there. Gloria was a trifle conceited over; . i her success. i And now, what next? She saw the rope in his! f hand. He had brought it to tie her with. The next 3 r Idea came. She gloated a trifle. j 'Tou thought you would tie me up, did you? Well, I you can just tie yourself up !" i Trask could hardly believe that anyone would ha" cruel enough to Inflict such an insulting injurj-. But j Gloria's arguments were pokes with the poker. j If Trask had been more intelligent and less con- i fused, and had known how, ho might have tied him- self up as the cabinet tricksters do so that he could . if slip out easily. But this was beyond him at the. ' ij time, and Gloria was vigilant. She made him fasten the rope around a stanch ? ion, then knot It about one wrist, then pass It around , jjj him till he looked like a package of Gloria's own '" tying. The last knots she attended to herself. She ; j set the poker on a plate within easy reach, and knot- 1 5 ted, and knotted, and knotted. Trask gnashed his teeth with rage, but he could not budge. He yelled ; f, just once, then sho seized a dish towel, whirled it Cj into a roll and gagged" him so that he could not even ' gnash his teeth. ; "; fi Gloria heard footsteps along the deck overhead. ' Probably Jed was coming down. The poker was : ; cold. There was no time for reheating it. Some- S' f thing must be done at once. She put out the lamp ; j that Nell had lighted, she set at tho foot of the stairs a wicker rocker, she laid It on Its side, and : fell back to await developments. I i Jed came down the stairs In the dark. As he left I rj the last step he put his foot in the wicker rocker .j Jj as in a trap. Jed went on over with a crash that shook the barge. He was yelling that ho was being jf jr bitten to death by a wildcat, when Gloria sidled post h ,y hlra, ran up the stairs and out on deck. She closed " the hatch, fastened it and voted herself three cheers. fJ She looked about her now and saw that she was j I in the middle of the Hudson river and a great dls ; j U tanco from either shore. The view was magnificent ; 3 in the gloaming, but she had had enough of It and ; q the hateful tug was furrowing the water and drag- , ; $ glng the barge farther and farther north. She saw the tiller of the barge flopping Idly, and i it occurred to her that if she could get free from the r. In, tug she could steer the barge to shore herself. Souie j lfl whero below was her father's home. Stas and his , $ father and mother would be waiting for her. Per- haps her own father was alarmed. It was tlmo foi: i ;,tJ her to go home. She would take her prisoners back ( (Jj to her father and deliver them to whatever punish- M ""n H t poornoi r! " ' ' .'III iio liuu ucvei- ottered a cunul barge, but she ima ll ned that it would be about tho Rnm ni a motor i 111 joiit In general principles. jL She was delighted' with the seli.:m. ouo w;cc II forward and saw the big hawser connecting the JM barge with the tug. The hawser sagged in tho mid- jJB 'die and cut tho water. The tug was buckled down 1 to Its work, churning up a noisy wake. , I They would havo had a good laugh if they bad seen Gloria trying to untio tho knots In that hawser; re with her llttlo hands. 1 ' ll When a parcel came home from a shop Gloria r.N It ways tried to untie it, then always went for the IjU scissors. So now, when sho saw that she could not I $ quite unknot the hawser, she looked for tho shears, - She found an ax on deck and attacked the big rope, 1, She hit everything but the( hawser, and when sh hit that at last it was like hitting a huge rubbe ; band. The ax bounced out of her hands and just escaped falling into the river. Sho picked It up and, p m chopped at tho hawser where it was wound. Ever I ih third or fourth blow hit tho cable and severed a f j.. strands. And finally tho rope gave and flew. Th barge quivered at Its release from tho tension, an j tho tug, suddenly unhitched from Its load, jumped 1 forward and sent the crew sprawling. J J) Gloria ran to the tiller to steer her prize homej J She was greatly disappointed when sho heard th j pr yells from the tug and saw that the pilot already ,jl?lt was making ready to recapture the barge as soo tya as he could take In tho hawser. Also she coM JW faintly hear the bowls of her vablred and confuse tJB prisoners. If the lug men came aboard and release BE them, what would become of Gloria? Gloria woq Jg dered. .(TO BE CONTINUED.) Jpfj m |