Show N iba by mae mac fostr foster jay copyright by W A wilde co vernim CHAPTER XV 23 25 a million dollars they dined out at cliff house bouse mary brown john stork stark and denis craig arid I 1 thought I 1 had matured enough to swing a man size cobl mary laughed ruefully to stark when he had recovered from what he called his cinderella attack but my still was in rompers I 1 thought that to succeed I 1 must start in as you and dad did I 1 cant see wily why dad tell me lie ile did my dear in the most dramatic way nay by showing you through your own experiences have th thought ought it a lot of twaddle it lie had bad told you in words that the opportunities tor for pioneering today lie in quite different fields and under quite different conditions from those hose of fifty years ago and the experiences have been good for you ive learned how far a dollar stretch mary alary laughed also to tind find joy and satisfaction in spending and every minute on the project has been heaven heave nl I 1 sie she sighed it if the firm of stark and brown can furni furnish sli half the thrills it will in fact you really have been experiencing some of those thrills vicariously on the ranch dont tell me the knowledge that your own capital was behind it added to the punch youve found in the paradise valley project 1 I dont deny it mary blared dared ive preened myself as dennys silent allent partner surely surely something would make denis stop looking at her as it if she were merely a person with a million dollars to invest 1 something would make him remember she was maryl but not this you probably mean that you relished it she might take him lightly or seriously as she chose after you were convinced that the million was a loan to me not a windfall wind fall mary attempt to answer this had he forgotten the morning at tile the cabin when she proclaimed her undying faith in him before she ever eve dreamed of his repayment john stark looked from one to the other of them miserably occasionally he tried to help mary out speaking of personnel of tile the new firm he said no need of our trying to get hilt or john or any ot of the boys who went back to denny when work opened up again stick it wont be for so long denis said the engineering work will be finished in a few months im the one who will be sticking it may take years if this war goes on after construction st Is finished to accomplish the drudgery of selling remaining tracts and collecting to meet the bond pay ments after your project Is finished denla deals mary ventured maybe you could dream some dreams for stark and brown to materialize materi alise wont you perhaps ally yourself with us some time and in some way stark chuckled grew daring himself in 16 an effort to thaw out the iceberg remotely suggestive of denis craig hows that boy for an answer to your claim that mary had repudiated you toil by refusing two offers you said bald you yon made to keep her ber there two offers 1 mary flushed painfully of course mr stark know that one had been that of becoming telephone central the other of becoming dennys wife denis looked as if he could have murdered his beloved friend john stark tark 1 I understand now of course why mary be telephone central and her note explained her other refusal quite eloquently she la Is entirely vindicated mary hackled a morsel of steak savagely her note explained a thing I 1 how could denny be this way why was he determinedly stand standing ing aside to let her pass by the way stark asked what were you doing in an art shop denny merely explored his salad mary answered he was looking for chintzes chint zes for hops for the cabin having some silly compunction about using mine after I 1 passed out oat of the picture the cabin Is closed beuls stated without looking at her im planning on re furnishing it iland and selling it it oh denis 1 the cry broke from her involuntarily but it came from the very depths of her being you you P denis looked quickly at his watch match laid his bis napkin on the table and arose 1 I think ill just hurry in to town ud nd catob this lat late etrain train you two can talk shop 0 over ve r your des dessert serL he held out his hand then lien turned to offer it also to mary goodby good by he said pleasantly y as if she were just some one he had chanced chanced 10 lo 10 meet at a dinner good luck to the new firm and I 1 shall be glad to see your father at any time ne ile was waa gone mary leaned back in her chair trying to look as it if everything that nattered mattered in the world gone with him she must get herself together must talk to john stark but john stark was talking to her his eyes narrowed his bristling little mustache severe wheres your to courage urage M brown you arent letting him go are you mr stark have you never learned that men run from girls with mone money monedi yi she shrugged then smiled up at him gamely through her pallor you taught me to stand the grief of the job if part of it Is that the world will credit anything I 1 do to my money im prepared to stand that now and if another part of tho the grief im born to Is that I 1 expect to realize the happiness of love in another minute the girl will have cave found his hat and it will be too late but he care any more mr stark I 1 bosh and nonsense I 1 when a man makes a complete ass of himself trying to snub a girl makes at a bally stuffed shirt of himself the answer defense mechanism I 1 pure and simple 1 lies hes on his way mary biary do you mean that I 1 should ask him I 1 ask him P make the idiot talk maryl mary gave a wild frightened look at stark a desperate one at denis craigs back just vanishing through the door took a deep breath and flew after him denis 1 P lie he turned removed his hat with a faultless gesture denis I 1 want to talk to you 1 I dont believe there Is anything tc be said Is there mary 1 I have a different slant on that ill miss my train miss it then theal I 1 defiantly may I 1 talk to youl you with a gesture which signified that he be rude he followed her it happens to be money not leprosy that I 1 havel around the cliff beyond the glare of lights to the bench beach below and seated himself beside her on a bench facing the ocean mary attempting to speak made a strange noise and camouflaged it as a cough how did a millionaire ask a poor young man to marry lier her if lie he happened to loye love her yet and how did she find out if he did love her yet all shut up as he was inside himself locked and barred and the key far flung denis she cried impatiently looking at the rigid figure well very well on his own side of the bench beach it happens to be money not leprosy that I 1 havel bavel and besides you treated me as it if I 1 wore a quarantine sign before you knew I 1 had money why talk to mel me 11 money truculently y but those were her lines were they not hotl and you should know that I 1 cant give you friendship mary im not made that way Wil what she gave a preparatory swallow then emitted the question what did you mean denis deals when you eald cald I 1 wrote finis mean what else was your note 1 I just cant do it denny 1 but you see eee now why I 1 tell you why I 1 want you yon to know I 1 was 1 I see no slightest reason in the world why you have told me everything unless you meant that you were closing our chapter you you dont she gasped she jumped up tip excitedly and ran to dabble au an uncertain toe in the lapping water thinking trying to figure it out A seal slipped into the water she watched it unconsciously turned back suddenly to cry almost joyously cant you yon denny truly cant you T he had arisen to pace the beach mary swung into step beside him H halt alf crying but as it worlds were at stake she demanded again will you stick to that denny mary where Is all this getting us as I 1 cant stand more of it will you she persisted stick to it that you cant see ill swear it on a stack of bibler what of it exultant she saw D seize him by the coat lapels her ce was wholly laughing now denny I 1 oh denny 1 all this talk Is futile then I 1 what else was your note but a definite refusal of my job and of me why tell me who you were 71 1 11 I was afraid id lose you it if I 1 did I 1 the hands bands tightened their hold tersely doggedly analytically that presupposes that that you loved me TO BE 13 CONTINUED |