OCR Text |
Show of , ' ; JGrace LiyirsforvHill Lutz AUTHOR "HAKCIA "PJiOrer DrTAjNEl" "DAWfl Or THC MORNING " ETC. ILLUSTRATIONS 6y 7? A UjA-rj SYNOPSIS. Tyron Iti'iham, Just alij-'htorl from a -t:;iin. 1h aiMH'oH'hfil l,y a Iii'Hiitiriil trill n.sks h.'n prutf-rl Ion. Hht- js itl (V.ir ,of .ursiiit. hiit dcrllrn-H to ive t!if eiius -if li.-r I i m 1 1 -ss. Iitnihuiii takt-s h'r to tllS homo !UI1 In the II I i. li-0 of Ills tfl'ith-it tfl'ith-it anil sIhi.i- Iiiiitows a hat aai cloak for tir-r. lie lakes her to a ilitiner put1-' at I fie home of n friend anil u'lves her (wiiii: as Mary ltemiiu;ion. ( I -r aetlous M'ntrip tier us a Kill of refinement am to-'-ei li iil,'. After the dinner she requeyfs liuiiliani to asslnt her to lea'.e the eltv. Ito ptilH her on a train for ('hleasro and oiptilloy her wllh inotn-v. Iliinham has iheeoiTia Intense-ly interested in the Kir Anil anxious to solve the mystery whleh urrouniK her. Stories In the newspapers of missim,' ijirls only add to his hewlld'-i'-fnont. Arrived In ChU-iiKO the tflrl luiys fionui rheap ciotliimr In an attempt at llaprulne and starts out to seek empioy-jrnent. empioy-jrnent. CHAPTER VI. Continued. "I suppose my husband would f.i'.nk 1 was cntzy to do It," she said aloud, "but I just can't help trusting you .Suppose you come and stay with me today and tomorrow, and help me out with this dinner party, and yoii can fjtay overnight at my house and sleep Jn the cook's room. If I like your work, I'll give you a recommendation as waitress. You can't get a good place anywhere without it, not from the offices, I'm sure. A recommendation recommenda-tion ought to be worth a couple of day's work to you. I'd pay you something some-thing besides, but I really can't afford it, for the washerwoman charges a dollar and a half a day when she goes out to cook; hut if you get your board iind lodging and a reference, that ought to pay you." "You are very kind," said the girl. "I shall be glad to do that." And so they got Into a car and were -whirled away into a pretty suburb. The woman, whose name was Mrs. Hart, lived In a common little hoise tilled with Imitation oriental rugs and heap furniture. - The two went to work at once, bringing order out of the confusion that reigned in the tiny kitchen. In the afternoon the would-be waititss Bat down with a box of water-colors to paitf? dinner-cards, and as her skilful skil-ful brush brought into being dainty landscapes, lovely flowers, and little iDrown birds, she pondered the strangeness strange-ness of her lot. The table the next night was laid with exquisite care, the scant supply of flowers having been used to best advantage, and everything showing the touch of a skilled hand. The" long hours that Mrs. Hart had spent puckering puck-ering her brow over the household department de-partment of fashion magazines helped her to recognize the fact that in her new maid she had what she was pleased pleas-ed to call "the real thing." d. ,.:.t...i ,f.,n.. t ,1 She sighed regretfully when the guest of honor, Mrs. Rhinehart, spoke of the deftness and pleasant appearance appear-ance of her hostess's waitress. "Yes," Mrs. Hart said, swelling with pride, "she is a treasure. I only wish I could keep her." "She's going to get married, I suppose. sup-pose. They all do when they're good," sympathized the guest. "No, but she simply won't do cooking, cook-ing, and I really haven't work enough for two servants in this little house." The guest sat up and took notice.. "You don't mean to tell me that you fire letting a girl like that slip through A (V mm y Jet Himself Silently Into the House. your fingers? I wish I had known JihoiJt her. 1 have spent three days in Intelligence offices. Is there any thance for ice. do you think?" Then did the little woman prove that f.he should have had an e iu her name, for she b.irst into a most vol-ubje vol-ubje account of the virtues of her new cnaid. until the other woman was ready 10 hire her on the spot. The result of (t all was that ".Mary" was summoned to an interview with Rhinehart in the dlnim; room, and engaged at four dollars dol-lars a week, with every oth"r Sunday artorunnii and every other Thursday out and her uniforms furnished. The next morning Mr. Hart gave ,ier a dollar-bill and told ber that he appreciated the help she had given thin, and wanted to pay her some- thsifef'tL'il.ked- him arraciously and took the money with a kind of awe. Her first earnings! It seemed so strange to think that she had really earned some money, sin; who hail always al-ways had all she wanted without lifting lift-ing a finger. She went to a store and bought a hair-brush and a few little things that she felt, were necessities, with a fifty-cent fifty-cent straw telescope in which to put them. Thus, with her modest baggage, she entered the home of Mrs. Rhine-hare, Rhine-hare, and ascended to a tiny room on the fourth lloor, in which were a cot and a washstand, a cracked mirror, one chair, and one window. CHAPTER VII. Three days later Tyron Dunham entered en-tered the office of Judge Blackwell by appointment. After the business was completed the . Judge said with a smile. "Well, our mystery is solved. The little girl is all safe. She telephoned tele-phoned ma just after you had left the other day, and sent her maid after her hat. It seems that while she stood by the window, looking down Into the street, she saw an automobile containing contain-ing some of her friends. It stopped at the next building. Being desirous of speaking with a girl friend who was seated in the auto, she hurried out to the elevator, hoping to catch them. The elevator boy who took her downstairs down-stairs went off duty immediately, which accounts for our not finding any trace of her, and he was kept at home by illness the next morning. The young woman caught her friends, and they insisted that she should get in and ride to the station with one of them who was ' leaving the city at once. They loaned her a veil and a wrap, and promised to bring her right back for her papers"and other possessions, posses-sions, but the train was late, and when they returned the building was closed. The two men who called for her were her brother and-a friend of his, it seems. I must say they were not so attractive as she is. However, the mystery is solveS, and I got well laughed at by my wife for my fears." But the young man was puzzling how this all could be if the hat belonged be-longed to the girl he knew to "Mary." When he left the Judge's office, he went to his club, determined to have a little quiet for thinking it over. He was annoyed when the office-boy appeared ap-peared to tell him there were some packages awaiting him in the office. "Bring them to me here, Henry." The boy hustled away, and soon came' back, bearing two hat-boxes one of them in a crate and the heavy leather suit-case. witn a start ot surprise, jjunnam sat up in his comfortable chair. "Say, Henry, those things ought not to come in here." He glanced anxiously anxious-ly about, and was relieved to find that there was only one old gentleman in the room, and that he was asleep. "Suppose we go up to a private room with them. Take them out to the elevator, ele-vator, and I'll some in a moment." "All right, sah." "And say, Henry, suppose you remove re-move that crate from the box. Then it won't be so heavy to carry." - "All right, sah. I'll be thah in jest a minute." The young man hurried out to the elevator, and he and Henry made a quick ascent to a private room. He gave the boy a round fee, and was left in quiet to examine his property. As he fumbled the strings of the first box his heart heat wildly, and he felt the blood mounting, to his face. Was he about to solve the mystery which had surrounded the girl in whom his interest had now grown so deep that he could scarcely get her out of his mind for a few minutes at a time? But the box was empty, save for some crumpled white tissue-paper. He took up the cover in perplexity and saw his own name written by himself. him-self. Tb-n he remembered. This was the box he had sent down to the club by the cabman, to get it out of his way. He felt disappointed, and turned quickly to the other box and cut the cord. This time he was rewarded by seeing the great black hat, beautiful and unhurt in spite of its journey to Chicago. The day was saved, and also the reputation of his mother's maid. But was there no word from the beautiful stranger' He searched hurriedly through the wrappings, pulled out the hat quite unceremom-ously, unceremom-ously, and turned the box upside down, but nothing else could be found. Then he went at the suit-case. Yes. there was the rain-coat. He took it out triumphantly, for now his mother could say nothing, and, moreover, was not his trust in the fair stranger justified? jus-tified? He had done well to believe in her. He began to take out the other garments, curious to see what had been there for her use. A long, golden brown hair nestling on the collar of the bathrobe gleamed In a chance ray of sunlight. He looked at It reverently, and laid' the garment down carefully, that it might not be disturbed. As he lifted the coat, he saw the little note pinned to the lapel, and seized It eagerly. Surely this would tell something! But no, there was only the message that she had arrived safely, and her thanks. Stay, she had signed her name "Mary." She had told him he might call her that. Could it be that it was her rc-al name, and that she had meant to trust him with so much of her true story? He per. dc re J the delicate writing of the note, thinking how like her it seemed, then he put the note in an inner in-ner pocket and thoughtfully lifted out the evening clothes. It was then that he touched the silken lined cloth of her dress, and he' drew back almost as if he had ventured roughly upon somc-ihing sacred. Startled, awed, he looked upon it, and then with gentle lingers lifted it and laid it upon his 1 lr.ee. riadually, as he looked, the gown to'd its own story, as she had thought it would: how she had been obliged to put on a disguise, -and this was the ; only way to hide her own dress. With a sigh, he carefully folded up the cloth gown., w rapped it in folds of tissue paper from the empty hat box. and placed it in his suit-case. Then he transferred the hat to its original box. rang the bell, and ordered the boy to care for the box and suit-case until he called for them. During the afternoon he took occasion oc-casion to run into the Judge's private . office about some unimportaut detail of the business they were transacting, and as he was leaving he said: "By the way. Judge, who was your young woman who gave you such a fright by her sudden disappearance? You never told me her name. Is she one of my acquaintances, I wonder?" "Oh, her name is Mary Weston," said the Judge, smiling. "I don't believe be-lieve you know her, for she was from California, and was visiting here only for a few days. She sailed for Europe the next day." That closed the incident, and,, so far as the mystery was concerned, only added perplexity to it. Dunham purposely remaiued downtown, down-town, merely having a clerk telephone home for him that he had gone out of the city and would not be home until late, so they need not wait up. He did this because he did not wish to have his mother or his sister ask him ay-more questions about the missing hat and coat. Then he took a twenty-mile twenty-mile trolley ride into the suburbs and back, to make good his word that he had gone our of town. N A little after midnight he arrived at the club-house, secured his suit-case and the hat-box, and took a cab to his home. He left the vehicle at the cor-lest cor-lest the sound of it waken his mother or sister. He let himself silently into the house with his latch-key, and tiptoed tip-toed up to his room. The light was burning low. He put the hat-box in the farthest corner of his closet, then he took out the rain-coat, and, slipping off his shoes, went softly down to the hall closet. In utter darkness he felt around and finally hung the coat on a hook under another long cloak, then gently released re-leased the hanging loop and let the garment slip softly down in an inconspicuous incon-spicuous heap on the floor. He stole upstairs as guiltily as if he had been a naughty boy stealing sugar. When he reached his room, he turned up his light, and, pulling out the hat-box, surveyed it thoughtfully. This was a problem which he had not yet been able to solve. How should he dispose of the hat so that it w'ould be discovered discov-ered in such a way as to cast no further fur-ther suspicion upon the maid? He took the hat out and held it on his hand, looking at it from different angles and trying to remember just how the girl had looked out at him from under its drooping plumes. Then with a sigh he laid it carefully in its box again and went to bed. The morning brought clearer thought, and when the summons to breakfast pealed through the hall he took the box boldly in his hand and descended to the dining-room, where he presented the hat to his astonished sister. "I am afraid I am the criminal, Cornelia," Cor-nelia," he said in his pleasantest manner. man-ner. "I'm sorry I can't explain just how this thing got on my closet-shelf I must have put it there myself through some unaccountable mix-up. It's too bad I couldn't have found it before and so saved you a lot of worry. wor-ry. But you are one hat the richer for it, for I paid the bill yesterday. Please accept it with my compliments." Cornelia exclaimed with delight over the recovered hat. "But how in the world could it have got into your closet. Tryon? It was Impossible. I left it in my room. I know I did, for I spoke to Norah about it before I left. How do you account j for it?" ))))))) "Oh, I don't attempt to account u-. it," he said, with a gay wave of hi hand. "I've been so taken up with other things this past week. I may have done almost anything Py 'he v.av. Mother, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that Judge Biackwe'.l has made me a most generous offer of business relations, and that I have decided de-cided to accept it." Amid the exclamations of delight over this bit of news, the hat was forgotten for a lime, and wli'n the mother aud sister finally reverted to it and began to discuss how it could have guten on the closet she'f. he broke in upon their questions with a suggestion. "1 should advise. Mother, that you make a thorough search for your rain coat. I am sure now that you must have overlooked it. Such things often happen. We were bo excited the morning Cornelia missed the hat that I suppose no one looked thoroughly." "But that is impossible, Tryon," said his mother, with dignity. "I had J.hat closet searched most carefully." "Nevertheless, Mother, please me by looking again. That closet is dark, and I would suggest a light." He beat a hasty retreat, for he did not care to be present at the finding of the rain-coat. "There is something strange about this." said Mrs. Dunham, as with ruffled ruf-fled dignity she emerged from the hall closet, holding her lost rain-coat at arm's length. "You don't suppose your brother could be playing some kind of a joke on us, do you, Cornie? ' I never did understand jokes." "Of course not," said practical Cornelia, Cor-nelia, with a sniff. "It's my opinion that Norah knows all about the matter, mat-ter, and Tryon has been helping her out with a few suggestions." "Now, Cornelia, what do you mean by that? You surely don't suppose your brother would try to deceive us his mother and sister?" "I didn't say that, Mother," answered answer-ed Cornelia, with her head In the air. "You've got your rain-coat back, but you'd better watch the rest of your wardrobe. I don't intend to let Norah have free range in my room any more." CHAPTER VIII. Meantime, the girl in Chicago was walking in a new and hard way. She brought to her task a disciplined mind, a fine artistic taste, a delicate but healthy body, and a pair of willing, will-ing, if unskilled, hands. To her surprise, sur-prise, she discovered, that the work for which she had so often lightly given orders was beyond her strength. As the weary days succeeded each other oth-er into weeks, she found that while her skill in table-setting and waiting was much prized, It was more than offset off-set by her discrepancies in other lines, and so it came about that with mutual consent she and Mrs. Rhinehart parted company. This time, with her referenco, Bhe did not find it so hard to get another place, and, after trying several, she learned to demand certain things, which put her finally into a home where her ability was appreciated, and where she was not required to do things in which she was unskilled. Then the son of the house came home from college in disgrace, and began to make violent love to her, until her case seemed almost desperate. des-perate. She dreaded inexpressibly to make another change, for In some ways her work wa-s not so hard as it had been in other places, and her wages w-ere better; but from day to day she felt she could scarcely bear the hourly annoyances. The other servants, too, were not only utterly uncompanionable, but deeply jealous of her, resenting her gentle breeding, her careful speech, her dainty personal per-sonal ways, her room to herself, her loyalty to her mistress. Sometimes In the cold and darkness of the night-vigils she would remember remem-ber the man who had helped her, who had promised to be her friend, and had begged her to let him know if she ever -needed help. Her hungTy heart cried out for sympathy and counsel. coun-sel. In her dreams she saw him coming com-ing to her across interminable plains, hastening with his kindly sympathy, but she always awoke before he reach cd her. It was about this time that the firm of Blackwell, Hanover & Dunham had a difficult case to work out which Involved In-volved the gathering of evidence from Chicago and thereabouts, and it was 1 with pleasure that Judge Blackwell accepted ac-cepted the eager proposal from the junior member of the firm that he should go out and attend to It. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |