Show S I 1 he man with three N names ames BY HAROLD macgrath ca by bell CHAPTER V continued As he went out he passed doctor maddox coming in john job mansfield said 1 I sent for you because I 1 wish to ask nn an honest man a few simple questions maddox plainly distressed pulled ills beard happened rt eb you an inconceivable thing aie fallen in love with something what my daughter nothing abnormal about that tell me what you want to and ill answer us as an honest friend what do you know about tills this fellow brandon Catbe we 1 I know him film to be as clean and white as a hounds tooth dunleigh im glad youre fallen in love with betty its bound to change your point of view youve made bannister tt i r prosperous but on a rotten foundation you tou liae set out to brenk break calline because he Is the first man ever dared oppose you openly and I 1 dont believe you yon will succeed why because be represents right and you represent Ali might light plain speaking jolin john you asked for it 11 all this la Is quite complimentary to me said mansfield dryly then you advise nc me to throw up my hands jolin john my position Is impre impregnable on the money stile side yes man theres a great thing under your hand make hake a clean breast of it to that girl mansfield drew his palm across his forehead first ive got to find out where cathene got his four hundred thousand did you know that he had that amount in the local banks no do you accept him in your house bouse BS as an equal assuredly I 1 by george that fellow has hypnotized you not noticeably so you have written down your boyhood friend as a rogue 1 1 I wont answer that EMIL ill abide by what you have lure written down yourself shrewdly mansfield laughed ill III travel on my own but you wont find anything call mean in the deal I 1 can promise you that put but one of us must break im on the boys side aide dunleigh replied maddox getting up but ill repeat my advice call up catlege Cat lewe give him what he wants then the doctor left that night as he sat before the be fire in tile the library ari his office hours over his pipe going comfortably nancy walked over and sat down in ills his lap IAP I 1 took ook the pipe from his teeth and laid it on the ash ashtray trey then she seized his ears and drew his head right about face father maddox who Is digby raal lowelor low elir nis ills start nearly upset her ber where did you hear that name front Ii rooi you I 1 irl from me but 1 dont you know that you have lately acquired the habit of muttering out loud chett you are overtired over tired ralf halt a bloyen times limes I 1 have heard beard you mutter that name dame as if it were some tremendous thing I 1 I 1 I 1 nancy he said gravely you will flo father a great favor if you will forget you ever heard me utter it I 1 feel by uttering that name aloud even unconsciously that I 1 caie baie broken my faith as a physician 6 a a 0 0 0 when the advertising men of the various shops penitently entered the busl business trip ss office of the herald the nest dext morning asking to renew their contracts the business manager called up nil Cat cathene who had bad an extension telephone at tb the eside side of ills his bed drowsily cathene caught the first few words then he became wide awake all A of them yes sir they want their spaces back tomorrow the old contracts are dead ive got new ones all ready wit with the he cash line blank do you wont want to come down bor or shall I 1 handle it ill leave it to you but listen carefully the herald has gained twenty thousand since those chops chaps deserted us ui add twenty per cent to the HIP old scale it be better t to 0 oak them with the J january andary renewal you tou dont understand the fit big thing happened those fellows are not in the office lip because enuse they khey are sorry for us as they ore are up against a wall and were vie only way out twenty per cent arid and a years run when a man offers you yon a corona you dou daiil k ask for a stogie those are the they can take them or leave them call tile me up when they go propped himself with his pillows and blared at the telephone for a full halt half hour und and when the telephone finally rang again the tin fiur on tits lila forehead was wag damp well lie fie said maid not a whimper one year with a twenty per cent raise and they denied glad to sign in a couple of months it if the print paper holds out well be carrying money to tile bauk banks ill lie ile with you it t four athele set tile the telephone down with etli a bang licked kicked the bedclothes high hlen ti into the air turned a somersault ard tanned with it a thud on the floor door ue he picked himself up laughing flung big bia bathrobe tits t and dashed down the hall ball to the bathroom room it was only after nine but that did not DOE matter ive won mother lie he sold sad as he come came storming into the dining room his big eyes glistening and tits ills fine kin ruddy think of it ILI the most puzzling tantalizing thing on earth the public went out and won this tight fight for me because they saw raw I 1 was wag playing fair queer sheep that they fire they would turn against me tomorrow if they knew mother im bel heang ng watched I 1 cant prove it iut but I 1 sense it continually mansfield has just received a bitter blow to lit his prestige lies hes not going to leave any stone unturned to do me injury lie ate ills his breakfast hurriedly then bolted into the study for a little while she could hear him humming some bars from the second polonaise then silence thereafter she and the maid moed about their worl work without sound ile he wrote steadily until three on his book then lie he went to tile office ile fie worked hard arranged a new dew advertising schedule with will his business manager and left the office at live five it was growing dark lie he always walked home even in bad weather it was wag dark but still a little too early for the street lamps the darkness was partly due to the heavy that were sweeping across file sky obliquely he saw two men 1 J he saw a man dash from the kitchen and make for the back fence across the street apparently talking to a woman what made him turn its his head and look squarely lie he never knew ordinarily be would b liae ale continued on this single look was enough lie he broke into a run when lief arrived he did not ask questions ile he knocked one of the men flat and whirled the other into the gutter can I 1 be of assistance bo be said turning to the woman then lie he baw who it was miss mansfields Mansfield 1 what in the world tire are you doing alone in this quarter of the town here take my arm my home Is only a few blocks away ill call cal a taxi and you can have A a cut cup of tea while you wait if you please I 1 im rather upset one of them touched met me cathene stopped no no I 1 please ilease do not go back my chauffeur must have misunderstood my directions for I 1 left him by the curb here im so glad I 1 happened along so am L I 1 and they started on but neither could think of anything else to say here we are lie salt said when they at last reached the house la Is that you sonny what a plea pleasant ant voice thought tile lie girl her astonishment at full tide ode yes mother will you ring for lights and ten tea I 1 have com company priDy misi mansfield whose chauffeur misunderstood tier her instructions tile the girl heard a flurry of skirt skirts I 1 in a the room beyond the tinkle ofa bell bel nod and then in a kill kind of dream P betty etty entered tile living room can you see bee the lo loung lie he asked yes almost at onee once the mull maid came in with a roman candelabrum which she placed on tile the plino excuse me a moment said gald cashews Ca while I 1 call a tail a and nd lie he stepped into the hall mrs cathene sat bat down doan again and played greige greigs Illa pillon played it without taking her gaze off this flower like young woman and betty felt fell powerless to shift tier her eyes she had entered an enchanted castle and the mystic inhabitants had laid a spell upon her she was not conscious of moving did slie she drink a cup of 0 teal she could coald not remember she decol leclef nothing until the door of the taxicab sla slammed mined behind her betty peered from tile the side window and received a distinct shock why this all delias bubos cave was almost op Nan nancys cysT r nancy knew them site she must know them I 1 the moment she arrived home site she was astonished to note that MAE it was seven she had been in that quaint house almost two hours she ran to tile the telephone and called a number doctor maddox bloese she had to watt wait a minute I hello fello this Is 19 betty mansfield doctor ive a question to ask who lives in that MAE little white house across tile the street from you the house wilh the picket fence there Ili erp lire are four or five white houses bouses across the street thanks with an indignant gesture site ilie set the receiver on oil the hook book Cath catheine eive usually remained at his desk until the paper was ready for the press which was about three in the mornin morning but toni tonight glit at twelve he turned he office over to the night editor ile he wonted to get out of doors doom walk ills his head was full of the girl ile ie could riot not dismiss tile the vivid picture of her mathewes Ca Cat helves long stride carried him to his own gate ile he was in the act of opening it when aben a pistol shot cut through the silence sharply CHAPTER VI longing cathene broke into a run toward the rear of the house ile he saw a man da dash h front from the kitchen and make tor for the back fence there was no way of cutting him olt off but there was a chance of putting a band on him before he could scale the high board fence cathene touched the mans coat tall but futilely mother Mot lier he called thundering through the kitchen into the elie dining room mother yes tea sonny im all right came from his study 1 I fired only to frighten him lie he was rifling your sate safe was there anything of value there only odds and ends ends of manuscripts and my dramatic contracts this Is mansfield that money in the bank Is bothering him lie ile begins to feel that he be must find end out but I 1 must go to new york tomorrow night even if im followed there goes the bell exclaimed sirs mrs cathelee Cat helve I 1 probably Iro bably the lie patrolman it was cathene offered hire him a cup of coffee and the three of them sat around the kitchen table discussing I 1 the affair then mrs cathene described the man minutely id let the matter drop the patrolman said suddenly clary which are arc you for Cath catheine eive demanded what do you mean are you for mansfield or for bannister bannister mr cathene Cat but tor for all that my job Is my bread and butter you know tile the department as well as I 1 do youre up against a real war never get anything on mansfield bold water la in court cathene let the matter drop and the policeman left at precisely this moment the telephone rang in Itans mansfields fields library mansfield laid aside his book I hello lello tilts this mr mansfield yes there anything any tUng mansfield hung up the receiver hut but he did not reach for the book he had been reading instead he be stared lato into space lie he w was its thinking and think thinking ingbard hard the truth Is he be was irking to fight his way through the gossamer net betty had thrown about him ile he sensed with panic that the fiber which had made him a power in the land was wai softening again his bis ima imagination took another turn tinn lie ile egued M to be walking lna into valley of echoes give betty what the wants give me what I 1 want give cathene what he wants give the thought of catheine Cat Cath eive lio however wever always had the effect of a tonic upon a man at low ebb to crush this meddling whippersnapper break will him and scatter him like dust the bum of allt all these liehe psychological incursions incursion and cogitations was ME mansfield was giving betty what blie lie wanted giving it to tier her because e he loved tier iier and because another phrase of maddox was of if recurrent quality TO BE BB CONTINUED |