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Show VORST by M. G. KETTNER 1 07 Th Bobbs-MerrUl Co.) N0PSI3. 22-year-old son of the copper king of Blair-i Blair-i guest at the English orey. Dan's father had Lord Galorey during United States and the being returned to the youth has an Ideal girl meets Lily, Duchess of beautiful widow, who is Immense fortune, k .. i II. Continued. Irey hesitated, dlsap- Id specially arranged lourt to drive over lought it would be a her to see Dan." tie duchess had suc-Dan suc-Dan to herself to-vie to-vie day in the red ty a London n had an- C you, as if I 1 of them, and I throat." Vs answered. Jjir mouth TTeply for a secont hut lit her more seriously, con-I con-I her grace and her good 3 vaa ciiaiuij utjLLCi i-u ian the simple girls with Jinds, small wits, long faces e boy expressed it, "utter t-up." The duchess shone intage. m't you talk to -me?" she I ly. "You know you would Jhi to me than the others." jT1 he said frankly; "they make nervous." "And I don't?" "No," he Bald. "I learn a lot every time we are together." "Learn?" she repeated, not particularly particu-larly flattered by this. "What sort of things?" "Oh, about the whole business," he returned vaguely. "You know what 1 mean." "Then," she said with a slight laugh, "you mean to say you talk to me for educational purposes? What a beastly beast-ly bore!" Dan did not contradict her. She was by no means Eve to him, nor was he the raw recruit his simplicity might give one to think. He had had his temptations and his way out of them was an easy one; for he was very slow to stir, and back of all was his ideal. The reality and power of this ideal Dan knew best at moments like these. But the Duchess of Breakwater was the most lovely woman the most dangerous woman that had come his way. He liked her Dan was well on the way to love. The two were alone in the big dark room. At their side the small table, from which they had taken their tea together, stood with its empty cups and Its silver. Without, the day was cold and windy, and the sunset threw along the panes a red reflection. The light fell on the Duchess of Breakwater, Breakwa-ter, something like a veil a crimson veil slipped over her face and breast. She leaned toward Dan, and between them there was no more barrier than the western light. He felt his pulses beat and a tide rising within him. She was a delicious emanation, fragrant and near, and as he might have gathered gath-ered a cluster of flowers, so in the next second he would have taken her In his arms, but from the other room just then Lady Galorey, at the piano, played a snatch from Mandalay, striking strik-ing at once Into the tune. The sound came suddenly, told them quickly some one was near, and the Duchess of Breakwater involuntarily moved back, and so knocked the small tray, jostled it, and it fell clattering to the floor. CHAPTER III. The Blairtown Soloist. Blalrtown had a population of some eight thousand. There was a Presby- terian church to which Dan and his father ent regularly, sitting in the bare pew when the winter's storms beat and rattled on the panes, or in the summer sunshine, when the smell of the pews and the panama fans and the hymn books came strong to them through the heat. One day there was a missionary sermon, ser-mon, and for the first time in Its history, his-tory, a girl sang a solo In the First Presbyterian church. Dan Blair heard It, looked up, and it made a mark In his life. A girl In a white dress rimmed with blue gentians, white cot- jat is, . De ce wlth her. us store who tad asked her As for a "vanilla f wasn't this vul-If vul-If e the little boy I SM3 volce g J ellow-paintcd S'B pulpit, above tllJ ews and the ami ok Panama and she sang nto Dn,J lo speak more tr""! fu'ra a soul in that m " Vied th k 1 mom.e?SrT Veks y: iS C0"" felt f X t B 1W hot- He felt V, hard and heavy' Vnade him K Vof a Ti tho nhvsicnl sA V , oue 1c lerial part of the awa I ,lke fl . went on deeply lnsideAl broke his heart; then sMj, . and grew She made him want to crylt- . ,. . . . . , . . -lrened, and then she wiped his tears. t The little boy settled bacnta J more comfortable and ' I what she sang was, h I "From Greenland's icy mouV8 I From India's coral stra ancr n I Before the hymn reached its enJ was a calm boy again, and' the hyffi took up Its pictures and became likV, an Illustrated book of travels, and he wanted to see those pea-green peaks of Greenland, to -float upon the icebergs ice-bergs to them, and Bee the dawn break on the polar seas as the explorers ex-plorers do. . . . He should find the north pole some day! Then he wanted to go to an African jungle, where the tiger, "tiger shining bright," should flash his stripes before his. eyes! Dan would gather wreaths of coral from the stra ands and give them to the girl with the yellow hair. When he and his father came out together from the church, Dan chose the street that passed. the soda fountain drug store and peeped in. It was dark and cool, and behind the counter the drug clerk mixed the summer drinks; and the drug clerk mixed them from that time ever afterward for the girl with the yellow hair never showed up in Blairtown Blair-town again. She went away! CHAPTER IV. In the Coral Room. "Mandalay" had run at the Gaiety the season before a'-d gain opened the autumn season. Lighr. and charming, charm-ing, thoroughly musical, it Lad toured successfully through Europe, hot London Lon-don was Its h"me, and its popularity chioft owing to the girl who iitd starred in it Letty Lane. Her face, was On ' every postal card, hand bil V ' a junior. He had " "' hlffl !r '" their pace as T lo a tarnished them VV M he '"ed. I '-'been their aZ Z aDd ' -Wed yo ulhtlai- ttV " deniy dropped down eeD Sl,d- ' ' tnat had vhi. ,ph , an effete set y one out o I hl T and ca'd him to , 7er circle bad rfone with allJofntihen,: ftDd De Xhirled f them Dan had S. . to him o '"3 own father and founf" h"d been k old n'an's common d much of ln blond head TTn?86 ,n hia n t0 in a moment o re7 had and no one but w ' anx'ety, th how bni ber young gllest kDpw father made it eker he,p- H d "athe was no In th 4 the iad '-t; that she could n0tTrrige mar-ay mar-ay of her girl? , j have for , Duchess of Breawat SS for th whirled with her ti en',elI-he had He had grown years oM bead 6Wam' " the few wee W m at the P" Mandalay" Btri, v the mic of ?Sie of UPOn h,s ears, like ' 1' wh ,Se.as' e felt U, J? come ab3ha ennost part of the day in London with a man who had come over to see him from America. Dan attended to his business busi-ness affairs, and the people who knew said that he had a keen head. Mr. Joshua Ruggles, his father's best friend, whom Dan this afternoon had left to go to his room at the Carlton, had put his arm with affection through the boy's. "Don't look as though it were any too healthy down to the place you're visiting at, Dan. Plumbing all right?" And the boy, flushing slightly, had-said: had-said: "Don't you fret, Josh, I'll look after my health, all right." "There's nothing like mountain air," returned the westerner. "These old fogs stick in my nostrils; . feel as though I could smel) London clean down to my feet!" From the corner of the box Dan looked hard at the stuge, at the fresh brilliant costumes and the lovely chorus cho-rus girls. "Gosh," he thought to himself, "they are the prettiest ever! Dove-gray, eyes. of Irish blue, mouths like roses!" Leaning forward a little toward the duchess ' he whispered: "There isn't one who isn't a winner. I never struck such a box of dry goods!" The duchess smiled on Dan with good humor. His naive pleasure was He Liked Her Dan Was Well on the Way to Love. cosmetic box ami even popular drinks were named for her. The night of the Osdene box party was the reopening of "Mandalay," and the curtain wenc up after the overture over-ture to an outburst of applause. Dan Blair had never "crossed the pond" before this memorable visit, when he had gone straight out to Osdene Park. London theaters and London Itself, indeed, in-deed, were unexplored by him. He had seen what there was to be seen of the opera bouffe in his own country, coun-try, but the brilliant, perfect performance perform-ance of a company at the London Gaiety he had yet to enjoy. The opening scene of "Mandalay" Is oriental; the burst of music and the tinkling, of the silvery temple bells and the effect of an extremely blue sea, made Dan "sit up," as he put it. The theatrical picture was so perfect that he lifted his head, pushed his chair back to enjoy. He was thus close to the duchess. With Invigorating Invigorat-ing young enthusiasm the boy drew in his breath and waited to be amused and to hear. The tunes he already knew before the orchestra began to charm his ear. On landing at Plymouth Dan had been keen to feel that he was really stepping Into the world, and at Osdene Os-dene Park he had been daily, hourly "seeing life." The youngest of the household, his youth nevertheless wa.: delightful. It was like taking a child to a pantomime. She was wearing his flowers and displaying a jewel that he had found and bought for her, and which she had not hesitated to accept. She watched his eager face and his pleasure unaffected and keen. She could not believe that this young man was master of ten million pounds. When Letty Lane app-eared Blair heard a light rustle like rain through the auditorium, a murmur, and the house rose. There was a well-bred calling from the stalls, a call from the pit, and generous applause "Letty Lane Letty Lane!" and as though she were royalty, there was a fluttering flutter-ing of handkerchiefs like flags. The young fellow with the others stood In the back of the box, his hands in his pockets, looking at the stage. There wasn't a girl in the chorus as pretty as this prima donna! Letty Lane came on in "Mandalay" in the first act in the dress of a fashionable princess. She was modish and worldly. For the only time in the play she was modern and conventional, and whatever breeding breed-ing she might have been able to claim, from whatever class she was born, as she stood there in her beautiful gown she was grace Itself, and charm. She was distinctly a star, and showed ber appreciation of her audience's admiration. admira-tion. fTO BS CONTINUED.) |