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Show BORROWED HUSBANDS I MILDRED K. BARBOUR il By MILDRED K. BARBOUK , I I LXXXVI Tin: TRIBUTE OF A . ; i I TLIAR. H 'Copyright. 1921. By The Wheeler H Syndicate. H Nancy came away from the simple ' I , .r. monies w hich onsigncd I'leur- L' rite's body to thr- dnt with a feelln FMM of utter relief of which she. was VH ashamed. WL I Throughput the ordeal she had been Ml J conscious only of a desire to get nwr M Ir wan not alone because laat rites HH are always painful, even those pro- j iounced over sn absolute stranger. B she struggled valiantly to feci sad. II fM Boemed Irreverent to attend the core- fWM mony with only two emotions: aver- H and curiosity. tB'II That there was no one In the little H gathering to shed real tear for H Kleurctte, was in itself bo naiheti HH that Nancy found herself almost sum- if mooing a bit of moisture to her eyes ' ffl at the thought. To stimulate this EH artificial emotion, she recalled the HQH Kle.urefto she had first seen bcautl- HSV ful, copper-haired. extravagantly- WmM clad, who hud walked with the air of J an empress down the aisle of the Bf'A smart restaurant, the cynosure of ad- Kefl i.ilrlng masculine eyes Krv Following this she brought to mind U the still, broken, mud-sialned figure E-fl which Dr. TangwAll had lifted from nfl the wrecked car, its gay motor veil KB trailing soddenly, like the wings of a H crushed butterfly RfS There am another vision of EB Flourette tossing feverishly In the Hfl sunny bed-chamber of the LAiigTvoll FBm country house, her beautiful huir die-1 9 ordered, her relaxed features betray-1 v ing the "m senesu of the soul which fMm dwelt that luperh body. I, And the last picture WMW mutflfd sob from the youngster Fleurette had employed as her errand KS girl drew N:inc's attention uTS There was actually someone who Kjfl cried for Fleurette E9 On an Impulse Nancy reached an Ha-'! impulsive hand to the glr a caiso- mine. crimson-lipped little creature in cheap adaptation of an extravagant Paris mode. The girl looked up at her. tears cutting cut-ting great furrows through the cosmetics cos-metics on her cheeks. "I ain't got no more Job than a rabbit"' rab-bit"' she whispered traglcall. "'; it's fierce her dyin- and all." Nancy experienced an hyaterii ai desire de-sire to laugh, nnd controlled herself onlv by herculean effort-She effort-She glanced at Edith, white, silent and motionless as a marble angel over a mausoleum, and wondered what -he could he thinking, or if she thought at ell. When the ceremonies were over at last Nancv stepped again into the sunlight She drew a deep breath ol the keen lake air. and, slipping her arm through Edith's, said quickly: "Dismiss the cur Edle. Cefs walk horn. I'll scream If 1 don't " But Edith eaded hei . and murmuring murmur-ing something about "having several things to .attend to." slipped iwej Nancy stood hesitantly in the door-I door-I way, drawing her furs closer against the lake breeze. While 6he waited. several girls passed by, former employes of Fleurette Fleur-ette They were chattering tn subdued sub-dued tones, but Nancv caught the words "movie" and "meet Jim ut the drug store." She was reflecting how smll a rip pic Death makes in the great pool of life, when the Utile girl with the cal-somlne cal-somlne face came out alone. The gene roue application of her handkerchief to ii t-r eyes had reduced her complexion to the state of a badly-done water color. She looked at Nancy a little resent -fully i but her confidence was won by the latter's quick smile. "You're one of Flossle'u swoll friends, ain't you? Did you notice he didn't show up?" For the first time Nancy realized that Dr. Lanjovell had not put In an I ppnra nee. |