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Show HARIXS KLEIN V y L ARTHURHORNBLOW Y ILLUSTRATIONS BY RAY M541TER$ I OOfTMCKT, l0, BY G.W. DILLINGHAM COflMHY SYNOPSIS. (Howard Jeffries, banker's son, under a evil influence of Robert Underwood. I feilow-student at Yale, leads a life of ysslptitlvn, marries the daughter of a Mmbler who died in prison, and Is dis-Kned dis-Kned by his father. He tries to get fork and fails. A former college chum fake a business proposition to Howard Ihtch requires $2,000 cash, and Howard broke. Robert Underwood, who had been repulsed by Howard's wife, Annie, In his college days, and had once been engaged to Alicia, Howard's stepmother, f has apartments, at the Astruria and Is apparently In prosperous circumstances. Howard recalls a $2i0'loan to Underwood that remains unpaid, and decides to ask 1 him for the $2,000 he needs. CHAPTER III. The handsome townhouse of Howard How-ard Jeffries, the well-known banker, on Riverside drive, was one of the most striking among the many imposing millionaire homes that line the city's splendid water front. Houses there were in the immediate proximity which were more showy ad had cost more money, but none as completely satisfying from the art lover's standpoint. stand-point. It was the home of a man who studied and loved the beautiful for its own sake and not because he wanted to astonish people with what miracles his money could work. Occupying a large plot on slightly elevated ground,' the house commanded a fine view of the broad Hudson. Directly opposite, across the river, busy with steam and sailing craft, smiled the green slopes of New Jersey; in the purplish north frowned the jagged cliffs of the precipitous precip-itous Palisades. 1 The elder Jeffries, aristocratic descendant de-scendant of an old Knickerbocker family, was proud of his home and had spent large sums of money in beautifying it. Built in colonial style ' of pure white marble with long French windows and lofty columns supporting a flat, rounded roof, surrounded sur-rounded by broad lawns, wide-spreading shade trees and splashing fountains, foun-tains, it was a conspicuous landmark for miles. The interior was full of architectural beauty. The stately entrance en-trance hall, hung with ancestral portraits, por-traits, was of noble proportions, and a superb staircase, decorated with statuary, led off to tastefully decorated reception rooms above. ' To-night the house was brilliantly illuminated and there was considerable activity at the front entrance, where a footman in smart livery stood opening the doors of the carriages as they drove up in quick succession. Mrs. Jeffries' musicales were always largely attended because she knew the secret of making them interesting. Her husband's wealth and her fine house enabled her to entertain on a liberal scale, and she was a tactful and diplomatic hostess as well. She not only cultivated the right kind of people who were congenial to each other, but she always managed to have some guest of special distinction whom every one was eager to meet. Her own wide acquaintance among the prominent operatic artists and her husband's influential position in the world of finance made this policy an easy way of furthering her social ambitions. am-bitions. She would always invite some one whom she could present as the lion of the evening. One week it would be a tenor from the opera house, anothfir time, a famous violinist. In this way she managed to create a little lit-tle artistic salon on the lines of the famous political salons in which the brilliant women of the eighteenth century cen-tury molded public opinion in France. Alicia knew she was clever and as she stood admiring herself in front of a full length mirror while awaiting the arrival of her guests she congratulated congrat-ulated herself that she had made a success of her life. She had won those things which most women hold dear wealth and social position. She had married a man she did not love, it I was true, but other women had done ' that before her. If she had nc brought her husband love she at least was not a wife he need be ashamed j of. In her Paquln gown of gold cloth, with sweeping train and a jeweled tiara In her hair, she considered herself her-self handsome enough to grace any man's home. It was indeed a beauty .which she saw in the mirror the face of a woman not yet 30, with the features fea-tures regular and refined. The eyes were large and dark and the mouth and nose delicately molded. The face seemed academically perfect, all but the expression. She had a cold, calculating cal-culating look, and a cynic might have charged her with being heartless, of stopping at nothing to gain her own ends. To-night Alicia had every reason to feel jubilant. She had secured a social so-cial lion that all New York would talk About no less a person ' than Dr. Eernstoin, the celebrated psychologist, psycholo-gist, the originator of Hip theory cf scientific psychology. Everything seemed to go the way she wished; her musicales were the talk of the town; her husband had just presented her with the jeweled tiara which now graced her head; there seemed to be nothing In the world that she could not enjoy. Yet she was not happy, and as she gazed at the face reflected before her In the g'.ass she wondeied if the world I guessed how unhappy she was. She knew that by her own indiscretion she was in danger of losing all she had won, her position in society, her place in the affections of her husband, everything. When she married Mr. Jeffries it was with deliberate calculation. She did not love him, but, being ambitious, she did not hesitate to deceive him. He was rich, he could give her that prominent position in society for which she yearned. The fact that she was already engaged to a man for whom she did care, did not deter her for . a moment from her set purpose. She had met Robert Underwood years before. He was then a college boy, tall, handsome, clever. She fell in love with him and they became engaged. en-gaged. As she grew more sophisticated sophisticat-ed she saw the folly of their youthful 'nfatuation. Underwood was without fortune, his future uncertain. While in this uncertain state of mind she met Mr. Jeffries, then a widower, at a reception. The banker was attracted attract-ed to her and being a business man he did things quickly. He proposed and was accepted, all in the brief time of five minutes. Robert Underwood Under-wood and the romance of her girlhood were sacrificed without question when it came to reaching a prompt decision. She wrote Underwood a brief letter of farewell, telling him that the action she had faken was really for the best interests of them both. Underwood made no reply and for months did not , attempt to go near her. Then he met j her in public. There was a reconcilia- tion. He exerted the old spell on the married woman. Cold and indifferent I to her husband, Alicia found it amus-! amus-! ing to have her old lover paying her court and the danger of discovery only pocketed the. money, forgetting to account ac-count to the owners for the sums they brought. The dealers demanded restitution resti-tution or a settlement and Underwood, dreading exposure, had to hustle around to raise enough money to make up the deficiency in order to avoid prosecution. In this way he Jved from day to day borrowing from Peter to settle with Paul, and on one or two occasions he had not been ashamed to borrow from Mrs. Jeffrie herself. Alicia lent the money more because' she feared ridicule than from any real desire to oblige Underwood. She had long since become disgusted with him. The man's real character was now plainly revealed to her. He was an adventurer, little better than a common com-mon crook. She congratulated herself her-self on her narrow escape. Suppose she had married him the horror of it! Yet the next instant she was filled with consternation. She had allowed him to become so intimate that it was difficult, to break off with him all at once. She realized that with a man of that character the inevitable in-evitable must come. There would be a disgraceful scandal. She would be mixed up in it, her husband's eyes would be opened to her folly, it might ruin her entire life. She must end it now once for all. She had already given him to understand that their intimacy must cease. Now he must stop his visits to her house and desist de-sist from trapping her friends into his many schemes. She had written him that morning forbidding him to come to the house this evening. She was done with him forever. These thoughts were responsible for the frown on the beautiful Mrs. Jeffries' Jef-fries' bejeweled. brow that particular Saturday ovening. Alicia gave a sigh and was drawing on her long kid gloves before the glass, when suddenly sudden-ly a maid entered and tendered her mistress a note. Alicia knew the handwriting only too well. She tore the letter open 'and read: Dear Mrs. Jeffries: I received your letter let-ter telling me that my presence at your house to-night would be distasteful to you. As you can Imagine, it Was a great j shock. Don't you understand the harm ; this will do me? Everybody will notice my absence. They will jump to the conclusion con-clusion that there has been a rupture, and my credit will suffer immediately with your friends. I cannot afford to let this happen now. My affairs are in such condition that it will be fatal to me. I need your support and friendship more than ever. I have noticed for some time l ": ' She at Least Was Not a Wlf He Need Be Ashamed Of. gave the intrigue additional zest and charm. She did not lead Underwood to believe that he could induce her to forget her duty to Mr. Jeffries, but she was foolish enough to encourage a dangerous intimacy. She thought she was strong enough to be able to call a halt whenever she would be so disposed, but as is often the case she overestimated her powers. The Intimacy In-timacy grew. Underwood became bolder, claiming and obtaining special privileges. He soon realized that te had the upper hand and he traded on It. Under her patronp.ge he was invited in-vited every vre. He practically ijve( on her frie'-ds. He borrowed their money ad cheated them at cards. His reai character was soon known to all, but no one dared ex-pose him for fv. of offending the influential Mrs. Jeffries. Realizing this, Underwood continued his depredations until he became a sort of social highwayman. He had no legitimate source of income, in-come, but he took a suite of apartments apart-ments at the expensive Astruria and on credit furnished them so gorgeously gorgeous-ly that they became- the talk of the town. The magazines and newspapers newspa-pers devoted columns to the magnificence magnifi-cence of their furnishings and the art treasures they contained. Art dealers deal-ers all over the country offered him liberal commissions If he would dispose dis-pose of expensive objets d'art to his friends. He entered In business relation rela-tion with several firv.s and soon his rooms became a veritable bazaar for art curios of all kinds. Mrs. Jeffries' friends paid exorbitant prices fir some of the stuff and Underwood that your manner to me has changed. Perhaps you have believed some of the stories my enemies have circulated about me. -'or the sake of our old friendship, Alicia, don't desert me now. Remember what I once was to you and let me come to your reception to-night. There's a reason rea-son why I must be sen In your house. Yours devotedly. ROBERT UNDERWOOD. Alicia's face flushed with anger. Turning to the. maid, she said: "There's no answer." The girl was about to close the door when her mistress suddenly recalled re-called her. "Wait a minute," she said; "I'll write a line." Taking from her dainty escritoire a sheet of perfumed notepaper, she wrote hurriedly as follows: "If you dare to come near my house to-night T will have you put out by the servants." Quickly folding the note, she crushed it into an envelope, sealed it, handed it to the girl, and said: "Give that to the messenger." The servaat disappeared and Alicia resumed her work of drawing on her gloves in front of her mirror. How dare he write her such a letter? Was her house to be made the headquarters headquar-ters for his swindling schemes? Did he want to cheat more of her friends? The more she thought of all he had done, the angrier she became. Her eyes flashed and her bosom heaved with Indignation. She wondered what her husband, the soul of honor, would say If he suspected that she had permitted a man of Underwood's character to use his home for his dishonest dis-honest practice!. She was glad she i i had ended It now, before it waa toe late. There might have been a scandal, scan-dal, and that she must avoid at any cost. Mr. Jeffries, she felt crtin, would not tolerate a icar.dal of toy kind. All at once he felt something brush her cheek. She turned quickly, It was her husband who had. entered the room quietly. "Oh, Howard," sh exclaimed, peer-Ishly; peer-Ishly; "how you frightened me! You shouldn't startle me like that" A tall, distinguished-looking man with white mustache and pointed beard stood admiring her In silence. His erect figure, admirably set off In a well-cut dress coat suggested the soldier. "What are you doing alone here, dear?" he said. "I hear carriages outside. out-side. Our guests are arriving." "Just thinking, that's all," she replied, re-plied, evasively. He noticed her preoccupied look and, with some concern, he demanded: "There's nothing to worry you, la there?" "Oh, no nothing like that," she said, hastily. He looked at her closely and she averted her eyes. Mr. Jeffries often wondered if he had made a mistake. He felt that this woman to whom he had given his name did not love him, but his vanity as much as his pride prevented him from acknowledging it, even to himself. After all, what did he care? She was a companion, she graced his home and looked after his creature comforts. Perhaps no reasonable man should expect anything any-thing more. Carelessly, he asked: "Whom do you expect to-night?" "Oh, the usual crowd," replied Alicia, languidly. "Dr. Bernstein Is coming you know he's quite the rage just now. He has to do with psychot ogy and all that sort of thing." "So, he's your lion to-night, is he?" smiled the banker. Then he went on: "By the by, I met Brewster at the club to-night. He promised to drop in." Now it was Alicia's turn to smile. It was not everybody who could boast of having such a distinguished lawyer as Judge Brewster on their calling lists. To-night would certainly be a success two lions instead of one. For the moment she forgot her worry. "I am delighted that the judge is coming," she exclaimed, her face beaming. "Every one is talking about him since his brilliant speech for the defense in that murder case." The banker noted his wife's beautiful beau-tiful hair and the white transparency of her skin. His gaze lingered on the graceful lines of her neck and bosom, glittering with precious stones. An exquisite aroma exuding from her person per-son reached where he stood. His eyes grew more ardent and, passing his arm affectionately around her slender waist, he asked: "How does my little girl like her tiara?" "It's very nice. Don't you see I'm wearing it to-night?" she replied almost al-most impatiently and drawing herself away. Before Mr. Jeffries had time to reply re-ply there was a commotion at the other end of the reception room, where rich tapestries screened off the main entrance hall. The butler drew the curtains aside. "Mr. and Mrs. Cortwright," he announced an-nounced loudly. Alicia went forward, followed by her husband, to greet her guests. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |