Show an with three A alree names STORY FROM THE START 4 brandon aft h ea roans y writ or r has ha bough t a newspaper p r in bannister as part of 0 hla his pa plan an in b 0 a force in the town towa which position he h must attain I 1 it f be h Is to court betty daughter or of D dunleigh Mana flold steel magnate in gnats 0 of th the town cathe cathene story telling how we minnele Min neld has defrauded a workman of I 1 valuable invention which has made mansfield rich doctor maddox learns that Is in it clr 1 a q son BOD of digby lial haa lowell lowall na nancy n w the doctors daughter Is be bettys tty s chum and together they read the article mansfeld Mans Mansi neld told learns that cathene Is the now new editor CHAPTER ill III continued 3 mansfield recalled what he be could of that remarkable interview why the fellow had bad caught the spirit of 0 the jest but had pinned the jester down to a gent lemans agreement gone to bannister bought th that at semi socialist sheet all with the idea of winning bettyl betty the fellow ought to be looked over by the commission in lunacy in one manner or another he mu must at be driven out of 0 bannister where he did not belong mansfields prerogatives had bad been encroached upon and the encroacher must be punished as nn example and a warning to other editors that one man ruled the destinies of bannister suddenly he be had it and the illumination chilled him reprisal 11 the whole affair on shipboard a blind betty a pretense the son of some man he had bad broken via wall street method tile the affair now had sense and significance reprisal I 1 very good what he had meted out to the father he be would mete out to ito the son I 1 wish a new words 7 I 1 wish I 1 had bad some me new words to describe nancy and betty or that I 1 could twist the old ones about in such a fashion BS as to make them look new to have described these two young women a thousand years ago when the language blocks were freshly pa painted anted 1 both of them had beauty the beauty of one was cloudlike a summer eummer cloud brilliantly white against tile blue changing subtly and continuously mirrored on the stream a serene beauty her lovely white arms were spread out on each side of he her ll 11 her skin reflecting the airell firelight was like a goldbeaters gold beaters boaters leaf and there were magic made threads of gold in the blue iris of tier lier eye her hair was a ruddy brown like the leaf of the cop per beech in october the other girl was resting her elbows on her knees lier her chin in the cup clip of tier her palms she was as pretty as a hollyhock homesy frank and friend ly good folks a summer cloud and it a hollyhock I 1 there was no continuity to nancy maddows thoughts they were like butterflies wheeling and turning la in a most wonderful garden these amazing two weeks in washington it seemed to tier her that she real that in some mysterious fashion she had bad been incorporated between the covers of rn an english society novel ambassadors and diplomats officers from all parts of the lie world heroes and politicians men lien with brains to sell and they danced with nancy maddox because she was betty man mansfields elds friend bettyl betty now how they flocked about her these men I 1 she was like a whirlpool drawing every one toward her and quite as unconscious of her power as any real whirlpool nancy had learned a stupendous tact facts that the great in soul are always simple and genuine and this doely girl at tier her side wai wag to totally tally free of artifice betty you ballie baffle me nancy said one sometimes I 1 think thank I 1 know you then im sure I 1 dont ilow how why I 1 you are so fco beautiful that I 1 find myself watching you constantly and I 1 cant caff get away from the idea that you are watching and walling waiting for something Bomp lhing or someone tile the enger eager way in III which you greet new men I 1 I 1 thought fit at first it was one of those little tricks women use to trap mens interest but not you I 1 have noticed that after youve talked a little while with a new man you leave him utterly bewildered by your sudden lack of interest and so you have noticed I 1 wonder if others have nancy have you cpr been in III love rather intensely 1 I dont know betty there Is a young nan n an in bannister im very fond foad of im afraid I 1 am fonder than it Is wise to be since no act or word of his has ever carried him over the boun boundary darT line of friendship iles hes the queerest boyl merr and whimsical and shrewd but I 1 sense precipices in ills soul depths that I 1 cannot re lire e into fattier father bays lie ile la Is the fenc t young man inan he ever met but there I 1 im not in love that I 1 know of it may happen but im not going to let go until he gives me the right to betty stood up site she swept a hand across tier her eyes oil oh I 1 must tell some tine one or go mad I 1 I 1 dare not tell daddy Ile besides sides he would not millet understand stand ile he t believe in brushwood boys betty suddenly dropped to her knees and seized the bewildered nancys sands bands llor I lomance tiance nancy do I 1 look ake the kind nin am I 1 the kind for any man to play with I 1 mean Is it right wat RPY app man should hurt and mock I 1 by harold macgrath 0 06 by ban syndicate em dit arvice me ine when I 1 have wittingly harmed no one it fair it fair I 1 love I 1 As it if one could say any howdy do to it and then goodby good by byl I 1 betty whatever has happened 1 I 1 just knew that something was wrong but there must be some mistake no man would hurt and mock you intentionally tio nally betty turned rind and sat on her heels staring int into tho the crumbling embers she drew one of nancys hands down across her shoulder and held it tightly Let letters teral i from the sky the cloudy the stars burning with fire oh he must have losew loved met mel he have written like that else the first was beautifully written full foil of poetry and music and love I 1 read real it and threw it into the empty grate but I 1 went back and recovered it there was a phrase that kept singing through my head and I 1 wanted to see it if I 1 had interpreted it correctly weft I 1 put the letter away nancy laid her free hand on the beautiful hair and stroked it of course I 1 wondered who and what he was I 1 had nearly forgotten the lie letter a month later when the second one came quite as wonderful as the first which I 1 resurrected for comparison they were absolutely unlike except in theme that was love no answer was expected for there was neither name nor address A month later the third letter came and then I 1 began to wait for them eager and thrilled for nearly three years they came parts paris london cairo direct there was never any forwarding marks upon the envelopes some one who knew where I 1 was where I 1 was going that alone fascinated me mel I 1 from where were they mal mailed led always from new york I 1 carried an autograph album about and lots of young men have written their names in this album but I 1 never found the he one handwriting I 1 was in search of 0 but it would be easy to disguise that thail I 1 1 1 I made them write a paragraph with three or four sentences quotations it the writing it was tile the style of punctuation by which they ended a sentence 1 I dont understand 1 I was hunting bunting for a curious period a little x instead of do tsuch as you and I 1 make A man might change the style of his stroke but habit would lure him inco making that odd little period so I 1 believed and you never found III it no there was always a postscript to these letters some day I 1 shull shall come to you five months ago the letters ceased to come what has happened Is lie he dead if alive why he come to me nancy im much afraid of what that he be has created in my heart something that will always be there love whispered nancy 1 I dont know what it Is but it Is beginning to hurt dreadfully at first when I 1 got a letter it made me curiously happy id sit down at the piano and sing happy songs now I 1 cant play anything anything but sad ones what Is happening to me whatever can it mean im afraid lie ile may be ill ile he would have found some way of notifying me he might be too old and afraid to come oh nancy he Is young like I 1 ami am I 1 know it but it if I 1 could only stamp out the thought of him free myself I 1 am watching and waiting and searching I 1 am always straining my ears for some sign ile he come and now he writes no more where arid and under what circumstances did he first see me have I 1 really met him do I 1 know him what impelled him to write like that to me man would make sport of me sly brain Is in a turmoil I 1 would have disobeyed father and remained in france but for the hope that if I 1 came home I 1 might meet this strange ant and unusual man nancy I 1 am hurt burn burn the letters letter said nancy indignantly dign antly it Is going backi mackto to them it that i gat holds holda you burn them cut cu t the gordian knot ive tried and I 1 cant I 1 CHAPTER IV an encounter on the sunny side aide of a huge bowl der on the top of a rusty green hill bill sat ant a man with a small book on his knees ile he wore a gray flannel shirt tl eless a pair of brown corduroy trousers much the worse for wear and a pair of ugly russet walking boots eastward several church spires were visible in the late september haze there lay jay the city of bannister nature hating the ugly hid it as well as she could farther east a drab smudge which seemed to shut off on tile the world beyond wherever whenever the mints mans raze gaze went back to ills his book bonk his expression was one of COT contentment tont ment whenever this raze gaze shifted toward the spires an ironical smile mile twisted up the corners of hs his lips lipa ile he frowned frowned for they were after him down there nearly all the local advert advertising Ning had fallen away the stockholders were exhibiting signs of restiveness and that signified that mansfield or his agents had approached pro ached them ills thought went to his mother what a thoroughbred she was to stick to him on his crazy adventure to follow his fortunes when she might have hare remained in the pence peace and seclusion of the villa up way with that riot of roses in the springtime and the sun on the red roots roofs of florence I 1 cathene Cat her maiden time name and to he be forced to prefix it with mrs in order to share his fortunes there came an interruption the whine of an automobile A plague of them a man had bad to climb the matter latter horn these days to find solitude San sandy dyl 1 cried a domans womans voice from the tar far side aide of the bow bo lder wIder sandy come herel beret sandy I 1 the automobile whizzed by C cath ath ewe recovered his book and stood up resentfully but this resentment died swiftly on the slope just beyond the ditch where lie he had been flung lay an airedale motionless kneeling beside him was betty mansfield her hands clenched against her bosom her eyes full of unshed tears my dog 1 my illy friend and comrade com 1 cathene dropped his book ran across looked at the dog for a moment or two then picked him up tenderly and carried him back to the sunny side of the bowlder boulder bow lder where there was a patch of warm clover the girl followed dumbly not a word was spoken until cathene put his hand over the dogs heart Is Is he dead she whispered no ills hands roved hither and yon over the dogs body well wait a minute I 1 cant find any breaks probably stunned my poor sandy A moment later cathene received a slight but pleasurable shock lie ile had and reached for the dogs head bead the same instant as she and their hands touched A great bitterness swept over him for the aftermath of that pleasurable shock was the knowledge that he still cared A shudder ran pan over the airedale find presently the stump of his tall begin began to heat beat the turf feebly sandy joyously iles hes all al right said cathene Cat confidently fi Slin simply lily knocked out ile lies in luck its mighty hard to keep a dog doe these days and yet I 1 cant hon catty blaine the motorists the an animals will run at the ears curs this Is a particularly fine breed never saw anything like ike him around these parts big and strong ena en j ir to tackle bear lie ile began to pat tile lie broad head and the wag of the tall became more inore energetic something in the wind wait for the next installment TO BE CONTINUED |