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Show 'J I HIIIR'IMJ ! Ill I tillll J b SYNOPSIS. Howard .Teffries, banker's son, under the evil Inlluenee of Robert I ' nde -wood, a student at Yale, leads a life of dissipation, marries the daughter of a Rambler who died In prison, and is disowned dis-owned hy his falher. II.- tries to Ret work and fails. A former eollee rhuin makes a business proposition to Howard which requires $',0!jii easli, and Howard Is broke. Robert I'nderwood. wllo bad been re-pnlsed re-pnlsed by Howard's wife. Annie, in Ills a)llet;e days, and had onee been enya'vi to Allela, Howard's slepmolher, lifts apartments at lie Astruria, and is apparently ap-parently In ;,rosperous eireumstanres. Howard reealls a $.'i ioiin to Underwood, that remains unpaid, and decides to ask liim for the $L'.i)ilO he needs. Underwood, taking advantage of his intimacy with Mrs. Jell" lies. Hr.., beeotnes a sort of social Mbwaynian. Discovering his true character char-acter she denies him the house. Underwood's Under-wood's absence from a function causes comment among Mrs. Jeffries' guests. CHAPTER IV. Continued. "In a word," laughed the judge, "you mean that any one trained to read my mind can tell just what's passing in my brain?" "Precisely," replied the doctor with a smile "the psychologist can tell with almost mathematical accuracy just how your mental mechanism is working. work-ing. I admit it sounds uncanny, but it can be proved. In tact, it has been proved, time and time again." Alicia came up and took the doctor's doc-tor's arm. "Oh, Dr. Bernstein," she protested, "1 can't allow the judge to monopolize yoti in this way. Come with me. I want to introduce you to a most charming woman who is dying to meet you. She is perfectly crazy on I'sytlio.ogy." "Don't introduce me to her," laughed the judge. "I see enough crazy people in the law courts." Dr. Ilernstein smiled and followed his hostess. Judge Brewster turned to chat with the banker. From the distant dis-tant music room came the sound of a piano and a beautiful soprano voice. The rooms were now crowded and newcomers weie arriving each minute. min-ute. Servants passed in and out serving serv-ing iced delicacies and champagne. Suddenly the butler entered the - salon and, quietly approaching Alicia, handed her a letter. In a low tone he said: "This letter has just come, m'm. The messenger said it was very important im-portant and I should deliver it at once." . Alicia turned pale. She instantly recognized the handwriting. It was from Robert Underwood. Was not her last message enough? How dare he pddress her again and at such a tima? fietiring to an inner room, she tore ppeu the envelope and read as follows: Dear Mrs. Jeffries: This is the last lime I shall ever bore you with my hitlers. hit-lers. You have forbidden me to see you tasain. l'r'actlcally you have sentenced rne to a living death, but as I prefer death shall not be partial, but full and complete oblivion, I take this means of letting you know that unless you revoke yotir cruel sentence of banishment, I shall make an end of it all. I shall be found dead, Monday morniner, and you will know who Is responsible. Yours devotedly, I ROBERT UNDERWOOD. An angry exclamation escaped Alicia's lips, and crushing the note up In her hand, she bit her lips till the blood came. It was just as she feared. The man was desperate. He was not to be got rid of so easily. How dare he how dare he? The coward to think that she could be frightened by such a threat. What did she care if he killed himself? It would be good riddance. Yet suppose he was in earnest, suppose he did carry out his threat? There would be a terrible ecandal, an investigation, people would talk, her name would be mentioned. men-tioned. No no that must . be pre- i ented at all costs. Distracted, not knowing what course to pursue, she paced the floor of the , room. Through the elosed door she could hear the music and" the chatter of her guests. She must go to see Underwood at once, that was certain, and her visit must be a secret one. There was already enough talk. If her enemie could hear of her visiting vis-iting him alone in his apartments that ' would be the end. ' "Yes I must see him at once. Tomorrow To-morrow is Sunday. He's sure to be j home in the evening. He mentions Monday morning. There will still be time. I'll go and see him to-morrow." 1 "Alicia! Alicia!" j The door opened and Mr. Jeffries put his head in. "What are you doing here, my dear?" he asked. "I was looking everywhere for you. Judge Brewster wishes to say good-night." 1 "I was fixing my hair, that's all," 1 replied Alicia with perfect compos- 1 ore. i ( CHAPTER V. ' Among the many huge caravansaries 1 tiat of recent years have sprung up ' In New York to provide luxurious ' quarters regardless of cost ror those ' who can afford to pay foi the best, 1 uor.e could rival the Astruria in size ! T(1 reag!iifi'e!.ce. Occupying an en- 1 Uie b'c !n the very luart of the- 1 Hed Degree X CHARLES KLEIN Y w AMD Y v , Arthur kornblow V ILLU5TRATIONS BY RAY W4LTER$ COPYRIGHT, 909, air C.W. DILLlNGHArt COnrAHY residential district. It took precedence over all the other apartment hotels of the metropolis as the biggest and most splendidly appointed hostelry of its kind in the world. It was, indeed, a small city in itself. It was not necessary nec-essary for its fortunate tenants to leave it unless they were so minded. Everything for their comfort and pleasure Was to be had without taking the trouble to go out of doors. On the ground floor were shops of all kinds, which catered only to the Astruria's patrons. There Were also on the premises a bank, a broker's office, a hairdresser, and a postal telegraph tele-graph office. A special feature was the garden court, containing over 30,-000 30,-000 square feet of open space, and tastefully laid out with palms and flowers. Here fountains splashed and an orchestra played while the patrons lounged on comfortable rattan chairs or gossiped with their friends. Up on the sixteenth floor was the cool roof garden, an exquisite bower of palms and roses artificially painted by a famous French artist, with its recherche rech-erche restaurant, its picturesque tziganes, and its superb view of all Manhattan island. The Astruria was the last word in expensive apartment hotel builrting. Architects declared that it was as far as modern laviihness and extravagance extrava-gance could go. Us interior arrangements arrange-ments were in keeping with its external ex-ternal splendor. Its apartments were of noble dimensions, richly decorated, and equipped with every device, new and old, that modern science and builders' ingenuity could suggest. That the rents were on a scale with, the to the class which paid social visits to tenants in the Astruria. He was rather seedy looking, his collar was not immaculate, his boots were thick and clumsy, his clothes cheap and ill-fitting. ill-fitting. "Is Mr. "Underwood in?" he demanded. de-manded. "Not home," replied the attendant insolently, after a pause. Like most hall boys, he took a savage pleasure in saying that the tenants were out. The caller looked annoyed. "He must be in," he said with a frown. "I have an appointment with him." This was not strictly true, btttthe bluff had the desired effect. "Got an appointment! Why didn't you say so at once?" Reaching lazily over the telephone switchboard, and without rising from his seat, he asked. surlily: "What's the name?" "Mr. Bennington." The boy took the transmitter and spoke into it: "A party called to see Mr. Under-' Under-' wood." There was a brief pause, as if the person upstairs was in doubt whether to admit that he was home or not. Then came the answer. The boy looked up. "He says you should go up. Apartment Apart-ment 165. Take the elevator." In his luxurious appointed rooms on the fourteenth floor, Robert Underwood Under-wood sat before the fire puffing nervously ner-vously at a strong cigar. All around him was a litter of objets d'art, such as would have filled the heart of any kS fx . j? "Yes, I Must See Him at Once." grandeur of the establishment goes without saying. Only long purses could stand the strain. It was a favorite fa-vorite headquarters for Westerners who had "struck it rich," wealthy bachelors, and successful actors and opera singers who loved the limelight on and off the stage.' Sunday evening was usually exceedingly exceed-ingly quiet at the Astruria. Most of the tenants were out of town over the week-end, and as the restaurant ana roof garden were only slimly patronized, patron-ized, the elevators ran less frequently, making less chatter and bustle in corridors cor-ridors and stairways. Stillness reigned everywhere as if the sobering influence influ-ence of the Sabbath had invaded even this exclusive domain of the unholy rich. The uniformed attendants, having hav-ing nothing to do, yawned lazily in the deserted halls. Some even indulged in-dulged in surreptitious naps in corners, cor-ners, confident that they would not be disturbed. Callers were so rare that when some one did enter from the street, he was looked upon with suspicion. It was shortly after seven o'clock the day following Mrs. Jeffries' reception re-ception when a man came, in by the main entrance from Broadway, and ipproaching one of the hall boys, in-luired in-luired for Mr. Robert Underwood. The boy gave his interlocutor an Impudent stare. There was something lbout the caller's dress and manner R-hich told him instinctively that he was not dealing with a visitor whom tie .just treat respectfully, No one Jivines a man's or woman's social status quicker or more unerringly thj a servant. The attendant saw it once that the man did not belong connoisseur with joy. Oil paintings in heavy gilt frames, of every period and school, Rembrandts, Cuyps, Ruys-daels, Ruys-daels, Reynoldses, Corots, Henners, some on easels, some resting on the floor; handsome French bronzes, dainty china on Japanese teakwood tables, antique furniture, gold embroidered em-broidered clerical vestments, hand-painted hand-painted screens, costly oriental rugs, rare ceramics all were confusedly jumbled together. On a grand piano in a corner of the room stood two tall cloisonne vases of almost inestimable value. On a desk close by were piled miniatures and rare ivories. The walls were covered with tapestries, armor, and trophies of arms. More like a museum than a sitting room, it was the home of a man who made a business of art or made of art a business. busi-ness. Underwood stared moodily at the glowing logs in the open chimney-place. chimney-place. His face was pale and determined. de-termined. After coming in from the restaurant he had changed his tuxedo tux-edo for the more comfortable house coat. Nothing called him away that particular Sunday evening, and no one was lfkely to disturb him. Ferris, his man servant, had taken his usual Sunday off and would not return until midnight. The apartment was still as the grave. It was so high above the street that not a sound reached up from the noisy Broadway below. Underwood Un-derwood liked the quiet so that he could think, and he was thinking hard. On the flat desk at his elbow stood a dainty demi-tasse of black coffee un-tasted. un-tasted. There were glasses and decanters de-canters of whisky and cordial, bu the stimulants did not tempt him. He wondered If Alicia would ignor his letter or if she would come tc him. Surely she could not be so heartless heart-less an to throw him over t such a moment. Crushed in his left hand was a copy of the New York Herald containing an elaborate account of the brilliant reception and musicale given the previous evening at her .home. With an exclamation of impatience ha rose from his seat, threw the paper from him, and began to pace the floor. Was this the end of everything? Had he reached the end of his rope? He must pay the reckoning, if not today, to-day, to-morrow. As his eyes wandered wan-dered around the room and he took mental inventory of each costly object, ob-ject, he experienced a sudchm shock as he recalled the things that were missing. How could he explain their absence? The art dealers were already al-ready suspkious. They wera not to be put off any longer with excuses. Any moment they might insiut either on the immediate return of thulr prop erty or on payment in full. He was in the position to do neither. The articles had been sold and the money lost gambling. Curse the luck! Everything Every-thing had gone against him of late. The dealers would begin criminal proceedings, pro-ceedings, disgrace and prison stripes would follow. There was no way out of it. He had no one to whom ha cSuld turn in this crisis. And now even Alicia bxid deserted him. This was the last straw. While he was still able to boast of the friendship and patronage of the aristocratic aris-tocratic Mrs. Howard Jeffries he could still hold his head high in the world. No one would dare question his integrity, but now she had abandoned aban-doned him to his fate, people would begin be-gin to talk. There was ho use keer ing up a hopeless fight suicide was the only way out! He stopped in front of a mirror, startled at what he saw there. It was the face of a man not yet 30, but apparently much older. The features were drawn and haggard, and his dark hair was plentifully streaked with gray. He looked like a man who had lived two lives in one. To-night his face frightened him. His eyes had a fixed stare like those of a man he had once seen in a madhouse. He wondered if men looked like that when they were about to be executed. Was not his own hour close at hand? Ha wondered why the clock was so noisy; it seemed to him that the ticks were louder than usual. He started suddenly sud-denly and looked around fearfully. He thought he had heard a sound outside. He shuddered as he glared toward the little drawer on the right-hand side of his desk, in which he knew there wa a loaded revolver. If Alicia would only relent escape might yet be possible. If he did not hear from her it must be for to-night. One slight little pressure on the trigger trig-ger and all would be over. Suddenly the bell of the telephone connecting the apartment with the main hall downstairs rang violently. Interrupted thus abruptly, in the midst of his reflections, Underwood jumped forward, startled. His nerves were so unstrung that he was ever apprehensive of danger. With a tremulous trem-ulous hand, he took hold, of the receiver re-ceiver and placed it to his ear. As he listened, his already pallid face turned whiter and the lines about his mouth tightened. He hesitated a moment before be-fore replying. Then, with an effort, he said: "Send him up." Dropping the receiver, he began to walk nervously up and down the room. The crisis had come sooner thaD he expected exposure was at hand This man Bennington was the manager man-ager of the firm of dealers whose goods he disposed of. He could not make restitution. Prosecution was inevitable. in-evitable. Disgrace and prison would follow. He could not stand it; he would rather kill himself. Trouble was very close at hand, that was certain How could he get out, of it? Pacing the floor, he bit his lips ti'l the blood came. There was a sharp ring at the front door. Underwood opened it. As he recognized his visitor on the threshold, thresh-old, he exclaimed: "Why, Bennington, this is a surprise!" sur-prise!" The manager entered awkwardly. He had the constrained air of a man who has come on an unpleasant errand, er-rand, but wants to be as amiable as the circumstances will permit. "You didn't expect me, did you?" he began. Shutting the front door. Underwood led the way back into the sitting room, and making an effort to control his nerves, said: "Sit down, won't you?" But Mr. Bennington merely bowed stiffly. It was evident that he did not wish his call to be mistaken for a social so-cial visit. "I haven't time, thank you. To be frank, my mission Is rather a dedicate one, Mr. Underwood." (TO BE CONTINUED.) |