Show synthetic gentleman I 1 by channing pollock copyright channing pollock ii SYNOPSIS the th duke a pleasant likable youth ot of twenty three jobless and broke enton enter an unoccupied summer homo home in southampton seeking shelter from a terrific rain storm he makes himself at home six years ago his bis father had died in china leaving the lad barry gilbert to light fight his way back to the he did not recollect ever having bad a mother dozing at the alre side ido he Is startled by the arrival of butler willetts a chauffeur evans evana a cook book and a maid lie he learns that the son on of the owner of the tha house jack bidder whom the servants had never seen een is expected ho he decides to bluff I 1 it out oat his supposed parents have left for germany next morning he Is riven given j letter for his mother he opens it and finds a message from the real jack saying he could not come and returning return lne hundred bundred dollar bill the boys father had pensioned him into obscurity barry pockets the money intending to return it later he orders evans to take him to montauk intending to disappear there on the way he assists judge hambidge and his daughter patricia whose car bad broken down ellav ing be is I 1 jack ridder she invites cibira ibira him to dinner the following thursday barry returns to southampton deela ine to stay a bit longer mr ridder sr fir through irh his newspaper the globe accuses judge hambidge of taking or iders from rom tammany hall in a condemnation dem nation proceeding CHAPTER ir II continued 5 on wed wednesday elgh eighteen teen days after abts advent at southampton the duke got a letter from mrs ridder uy aly own dear boy I 1 write this as we its are leaving cherbourg Cher bourg and shall try 07 to post it at t southampton how I 1 wish it were our southampton and that I 1 were about to see you tour radio message arrived duly I 1 und understood er stood of bourse and it made me happier thin than I 1 have hav been in years dont laugh but I 1 have slept with it under rny my pillow think how long ion it has been since I 1 lav have had any word from yo you u save a tor 0 that hurried worried talk at ah the hotel ole lt I 1 wanted to write you at once but it hu has been hard to get a minute away from your father lie he really 1 la a very III and a little irritable and t the h e doctor says ays any shock might prove serious of 0 course I 1 want to tell him about you but perhaps its as well that I 1 cant jut just yet we shall be away until the end od of july at least and perhaps long er by that time I 1 shall have had such rood news of you as will enable me to win him over he does care tor for you dear As much as I 1 do perhaps more and that Is why his pride has been hurt burt and he has seemed so hard I 1 do hope you have given elven up drinking that has been your real enemy and I 1 do hope you will find work nothing else will go BO so BO far in persuading your father and we must per aade him soon eoon he must chart cha TJ h will it the money r im m thinking fa ing of so co much as an its bitterness bit terne s I 1 could bear your being cut oft 1 but I 1 have Ili egged him for years to take out the paragraph forbidding me to help you and giving his reasons why I 1 shall never forget the night he read read me ie that ne be has taken care of the household expenses at southampton did I 1 tell you that we were going to open the place anyway weve had willetts Willet ls ever since ince weve had the house and our agreement gre ement Is that hij hl winter layoff lay off ott to last over six mont months lis your four tather gave him his check when he came to the hotel the morning we mailed balled and will send him one every month to pay servants etc I 1 am enclosing another hundred dollars tor for you cash because my bank accounts rather low now all except that I 1 am m counting the days to your letter at Kau helm its perfectly safe to write roe there as I 1 shall arrange with the porter I 1 want that letter dear you can never know how bow much ive wanted it ft and how long and how I 1 pray that vio nothing thIng may happen now one false step on your part dart one foolish exploit like that thai at college it he knew would end everything forever and lie he would know ill III as he be Is be still has his bin newspaper sent him and he be still reads every word it if I 1 seem overanxious over anxious you will understand der stand you teti are almost all I 1 have mother P 8 dont fall to write for tile the first time since be had bad la in exerted his knife blade under the dry putty 0 of that window the duke felt shamed ashamed of himself deeply and thoroughly ashamed what can I 1 dot dor he said 1 icart I cant write and what would be the usel use one letter and then silence e some e day ashes sure sun to find out that her boy never came near southampton I 1 wish ish to god I 1 could find that boyl boyf thursdays evening paper was full of judge hambidge hambidge decision due the headline read As civic association links holding 11 corporation with boss kelly the link seem very strong relly kelly who evidently was some potatoes in tammany liall hall had once urn elli aloyed one of the alleged dummy directors of the corporation that owned the property to be used in widening jefferson street in the face of this sensational disclosure the paper asked editorially editor lally will supreme court judge hambidge have the courage to to give these men the fati fabulous ulous sums they ask for their rookeries rook eries judge ham bidge insists that lie he has never even met mike kelly 1 I have never spoken a 91 word to him in my life judge liam ham biages decision Is long overdue over due when it Is handed down the voters will know whether ross boss ke kelly clr has hais ever spoken to and judge e hambidge after that barry surprised to find the judge absent from the he next nights dinner party at his house CO dently flent ly the pack was in full cry fri days evening paper hada had a headline that ran clear across the street breet still unfolded en folded barry had left tile the paper lying on tile the library talle with 11 boss os kellys name filling most of its isabe quarter page naturally patricia wa was fattier father spoke at a banji banquot let last at t the aslor alir aba explained and he let me stay in with him til ill sleep in the hotel and take a train out la in the morning he said an hour ago lie he phoned that hed been unavoidably detained 1 I fancy be feel quite up to the trip peter winslow added to pa tri cias apology the speech must have taken it out of him and then afterward he saw a woman killed by a 4 taxicab taxi cab oh peter I 1 yes sea the judge called me early tills this morning about his bis decision in this condemnation proceeding hed just sent it to the county clerks office and his voice sounded shaky a h a ky hed gone for a walk after the dinner was over he said and tin the tail dashed out of a side street jus ju as the woman stepped oft the curb the driver jammed on his brakes and am skidded right up onto the sidewalk dewalt sl the usual hit and run business what did the judge talk about at the dinner barry asked chiefly to change the subject 1 I dont know I 1 seen a paper today winslow seemed preoccupied barry thought but a mighty fine fellow A famous criminal lawyer but so simple and kindly he was a big chap loosely put together and ills his graying half hair was loosely brushed back from a face that was square in every sense the two men clicked at once barry lovel peters manner to his wife a soft round pink little woman with worried eyes peter was always jollying her gently whimsically protectively my lly yes man lie he said of her anything I 1 do Is right only my move to make the decision unanimous smiled mrs she had wit in her own qu quiet I 1 e t way 1 I never met your fattier father the attorney remarked to barry in the drawing room after dinner yo you work on his newspaper I 1 suppose no dont you want to do anything he asked very much what anything that wont get you far can you writer write e like the lady who was asked if she could play the piano I 1 dont know I 1 T tried A n never ever you should be able to write with your fathers gift of trenchant expression youve got IL it too in conversation sly my brother owns a big advertising agency id like to have you meet him id like to said the duke 1 I do wan want tto to work lie he hesitated ive been in town almost every day this week looking for a job he caught patriciaa Patri cias surprised glance come in and see me winslow suggested just his bis damned luckl luck I 1 here was a job a career probably for the asking and he take it not as V 4 va 4 C 7 ea A theres a lady to see you sir john clarke ridder jr but patri paid clas cias eyes were still on him so ill be in monday 1 he be said when lie had made his adieux I 1 to 0 the Win winslows slows patricia accompanied d him to the door 1 I owe you an apology she declared d L youre not just a rich man mans s son youre cometh something ng quite different and im glad some girl I 1 when he reached home willetts w as waiting in the hall theres a lady to see you sir at midnight she got here around eight and she go ashes upstairs in the library what kind of a lady sort of glittery it if you ask me the butler replied did she come in a car one of the station taxis sir 11 hows she going to get brick bark never mind I 1 I 1 can rouse evans if we need him you go to bed beda very much on guard he climbed the stairs to the upper rooms willetts Wll AVIl letts was right her eyes were glittery and hard bard A woman who wn knew her way around barry would have said and yet there was something tender about her too she h had ad a sharp face with will a slightly protuberant chin her lips and brows and lashes liis lira were heavily made up but her hair nondescript in color escaped in soft waves from beneath her cheap little litlie red beret she note a shabby black dress and her shoes were badly worn all this barry observed veil la in tile the lonz long moment before she mie spoke youre not sir mr ridder she said tier her voice was hard too lahe the girl hard and yet pitiful it seemed on the point of breaking yes barry answered 1 I am not john clarke ridden not the old man the duke breathed again not the old man of course he said olly my fathers in europe rm im john clarke ridder jr the girl stared at him you ayou mean youre john clarke bidders son of course she kept on staring crazy she said it had bad come then it was bound to come was willetts listening in the hall what would patricia say crazy the girl repeated and I 1 dont think its me or a liar and I 1 dont think its him I 1 and suddenly she began to laugh langh no she shrilled its youl its written all over your face and its funny because youve walked into a pretty messy mess 1 I I 1 it if youre john clarke ridder jr im your wife sly wife she stopped laughing as suddenly as she had begun it she said and her voice was harder than ever im your wife and youre under arrest for killing a guy under arrest barry echoed what hat are you talking about for answer the girl reached across to the library table and handed him the newspaper she had been reading when he be came into the room what john clarke nidder did last night she said killed a guy that guy that damned skunk mike kelly boss kelly of tammany halll CHAPTER III after all she such a glittery lady for as carry barry glanced lit the newspaper headlines unfolded before him she crumpled suddenly and dropped into the big chair steady dyl the duke adamo admonished nashed her walt wait a minute ill get you a drink ile he poured the girl a stiff hooker of brandy and she drank about a third of it knew her way around undoubtedly he thought and yet there was something helpless and appealing about her finish it thanks im all right now to give her a chance to pull herself together the duke went back to thoe headlines boss kelly murdered they read body round found by servants skull crushed midnight caller hunted by pollee police was your husband the midnight caller he asked the garl nodded wen wearily rIly and lies john clarke ridder jr she nodded again for some reason he never quite understood der stood the duke had bad stopped wondering whether willetts Wll letts was listening outside instead he was thinking of a letter that lay in the drawer of the library table a letter from a heart gunery old woman who had written to this boy from three thousand miles away 1 I am counting the days to your letter you can never know how much ive wanted it and how long and how I 1 pray that nothing may happen now well something had happened something that would end that old 11 omans efforts to make it up with the boys father something that might well be the end of them both why did your husband kill boss kelly he you raidy raid said Y 1 I said what john clarke did well mat what they say he did and it going to mako make much difference whether he did it or not but bat you dont think h he e did IV it 1 I know lie he lie ile had reason enough and lies hes done a lot of cr crazy alzy things but jack hurt a fly why did you come out here for help well the duke said maybe I 1 can help you god knows id like to anyway lets see where we stand ile he crossed the room and sat opposite her on a little library clia chair r go on he urged your name yours your real name barry gilbert im a bum I 1 took shelter in this house one rainy night a couple of weeks ago and everybody thought I 1 nas young ridder so I 1 let em cm think so sn my story yours she actually smiled youve youre got your nerve she observed well what we need now sly my names peggy oday Ac actorina Actor torine lne sort of I 1 was a chorus girl in Blos blossom sota time when I 1 met jack in florida lie he was a bum too living under a take fake name we still live under that jay rogers ll everybody calls him jack the old man paid him fifty dollars a week tor for not using his name weve got a little boy now and lie he even know his names ile he thinks lies hes jay rogers jr the old man know what name we took find and lie care TO BE CONTINUED |