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Show Salvia of the Minute Unrx R. Mxr.Ttx CHAPTER X Continued "l.a.lv Svlvls St. Ornlx? Ttuit Is I mil (lull U to s:iv uuy I i ---n: ins'lf ?' r " lul ttr, "''" Sti sturvj at Mm In vvti:it riivmt'it uiulis.uUt'vl iisti'iiishiiiriil mill ilri'iv .way tuT liaiul. 1UU sh BIi-iM'i'il 'U! of th- crnil ainl t.iul iiMiti- Willi Mm on tt'.t ilH'W. "u h:iu' N--n Sflll t Mill llli'l you arv, V sii'io" uM, un-nln; un-nln; Ms rxvlnTvlif iiitUo, "my iiuisin'j EriH'LiV ilv, tin m-ivt.t, u.-ri'. to Injure, In-jure, an u:trly i!iff-rMil from M. ily'n n vtvrv the 1,'tie im.l imtniit-r if the ..ii '-iivNt's-tsl. rvMrv'il ninti- h-" - tor th.it ui:ile St. I'r.'lx h.T nl'.i.vt si.ivts In spite of her i: i-:l:it lor i:i c mul ftiipiJ iiii-iake In Mains Mm f.T a f;rv:ii heaeus ! "I am your iVusln Sr. Croix. I mly Sylvia." Ie :.i:p.i'.'..T.n4'y "M'l.ii:i'l. -OhT :lh a uriris,-, I. ft of her Ct.e trow. "How yoj i!,y S!ie offeriM her fiovej Muni niwl as he livk It It f!.vhe-J tji'll him tt'.:it he oaiJ know Meoiy Svhwen.kton's h.i::,'. iroi:; a t''.'H:s.u:-l -he won!, I k'.-.ow ti e very toi:,-h of t!ie!:t he lim! lin.ns ti.o':.-l;t her li:i:oi unuMi:il for a work.!-.- K!rl. When this irirl drvw off her eioves Hut h.'W un-r-It ar'.:rji ttioui ti-.e rve .'.'Manor a truiy a:::a::f.i An e!vr:.':-.,-e-.! tr.nei.-r. Si. Croix tv.e'.v how to epe.!.:e ti e t.illon cut to:::5 t-as:nev ar., In a very short t!;r.e he k.is he'.; ::.; I .". !' Sj'.vUi Into a taiai!. S-at.-l at her s:,V in the r-.ih. lis-lenir; lis-lenir; i:h :rsi!i:s a:vn:i'a to the tores of t.-r voi.-e. sieaiir.c ir'.movs at her vyjS:te pro ;":'.. the move- rr.-r'-i of t-r ti"i,-l Mm.-'.. (if only shf'J t'i-.e off her iove). St. Cro!x fe'.t every n.::.'j:e r.-.ore hen il ii re.l. c:or urovrt.i:n. There w.-t sot.o-ti.i: sot.o-ti.i: In tie v.-ry attnopher of ii-r f-reser.ee ti .it t:::i-!e Mm fe 1 a If he were !;:!r.s !:! M.-viy yet tiie In-t"r.z:'.:y In-t"r.z:'.:y of M--nti'j r.i in any way this eie-ant creature with M.oiy S !.w-r.. -kton her eiiiiire-t ;..-e.-h with Meviy's rent. i ania l'jth lia-l-.-t. her jrraee wi'.li M-iiy's vul ;ar finn.sir.ess. her fparkl.n; e:r.tenanre w::h Meeiy's h-avy ipiilne-is. the itn-p'.irity itn-p'.irity of h-r coiT'tre with JI--!y's einin'rate p--rf.j'aMour The wiM n! -surdity of his pre.lirn-r.ert pre.lirn-r.ert In r.ot heir:; S'ire n.a ie hi:n fool, as he toM hi:::-, if. .-. ry:- All 8t nrn'f he re-aiii-l that M.iiy ha'l a tiny hrown nioie ur.-Ier the lohe of hr ear he ha'1 ki-ej It often Her harv'.s an'l that nioiei If he rnuM or.iy lift the Ioi.es: of Ijrly Sylvia's Kirs nntl have a look: Kut snpi'ose he f' ur.i the n.oie there what woni.l It n.ean an'l what wnnM he do nhout It? Surely this was the woinlest experl-f-nce that ha3 ever fallen to the lot of a man : "You have ehanzerl so much since you were a chlM. Cousin Sylvia : I'd never have recognized you." He put out a feeler. MNo, of course you wouldn't. When you last saw me. I was a homely little tow-headed. how-Ieed. plenntoed. freckle-faeed kidi" The words hal a vaguely familiar sound to St. Croix. He pectned to hear aaln the unaccountaMe Indignation with which Xleely Schwcnckton. that day In the wood.s on the hill, had repeated. re-peated. "liow-leKged :" HU head swam and he feit almost III. Suddenly he turned In his seat and looked straight Into her eyes with a very delinlte and- frank suspicion. "This." he Inquired with what he felt to he subtle cunning, his eyes probing hers like gimlets, "was of course your first crossing?" "Well, I've crossed the Channel ro often that crossing the Atlantic didn't seem anything: Why, I'd hardly know I was on a boat at nil. crossing the Atlantic. Why. crossing the Atlantic" Atlan-tic" She was evading a direct answer to his question : and covering the fact by volubly chattering. Seated opposite each other, presently. present-ly. In the dining car. he waited In strained suspense for the critical moment mo-ment when their waiter would bring their order and I.ady Sylvia would be obliged to remove her gloves; and at the same tlrcfe ho was wondering how he could contrive to have a look he hind her ears for that tiny mole; Tor that mole could have been no part ol a make-up; he knew it too Intimately Intimate-ly not to he quite sure that It did't come off ! "So." she suddenly remarked, resting rest-ing her folded arms on the table and binding forward confidentially, 'your hi other, Marvin, won t have me. will he?" St. Croix made' an effort to conceal Ins surprise and embarrassment tn this unexpected broadside. He felt It lacked delicacy. 'Tin afraid when he aces you, he'll I'liiniKrt Ills iiihul !" "Afrnur?" "1 needn't tell you why-you know!" "Tell me," t.lm uiiliiiKly Invited, "w hut's he Ml.oT' "A queer bird! Seems to luile his comforts I Wants to llvo like it hod eiii'i ler or a at root -cleaner or a N by, he's none mid taken a toaclilni; ..lob. If you'll tielleve me, for a potty Utile salary Hint wouldn't keep me In tiusnllne i Insists on llvlni; simply and wurkliiK for his living." The waiter's arrival with their food broui;bt him up short. As l ady Syliki drew off her gloves, ho fairly hold his lireiilli. Hut to his chagrin, that test proved no more con elusive limn anything else about her, for her hands were now, to his ills taste, so covered with rings and so perfectly manicured (Mooly'a nails hud never been so pink and polished) that while these lovely hands certainly certain-ly did somewhat resemble .Mocly's, be felt, as about everything else concerning con-cerning Ids cousin, (hat he could not feel sure. "I wear all thes. rings." she explained ex-plained apologetically, "when 1 travel trav-el because I think It's the safest way to carry them." Well, since the hand lest fulled, be as all the more determined to find that mole! If It were there to tn' found. A very vague intention he gave to bis il.niier. as. vvlih every least movement move-ment of tier head, he tried to see under un-der and around and through her ear-lobes! ear-lobes! "I.ady Sylvia." he said abruptly, with a Midden reckless daring. "I want fViV cl ' ( t'Sl It-h:;;::a,i tm '.!.;.;.('' 119'i "Lady Sylvia St. Croix? That la I Am That la to Say May I Present Myje:f7 You Ar Who Ar Vou?" to take you to see nn acquaintance of mine who looks so remarkably like y..u that It's uncanny '." "Yon n.ean. don't you. that you'll bring her to s-c me'" "No. (VnMn't. She's a farmer's daughter living nhout live miles from us. An Ignorant, vulgar " He stopped short, his face Hushing red. feeling. Insanely, ns though he were Insulting Mcely Schwcnckton to her face! "A very nice country girl." he hastily amended his remark, "but not a person one would ask to call on you :" "Hut why?" "dh. not In our class." "Then you have 'classes' In America?" Amer-ica?" You know we do! Kver hear or our Colonial Panics or R A. It.'s?" -I've heard of your C. A. It.'s to my sorrow! Hut these C. D.'s and l. A. f , they seem to be an expression of the national yearning for a titled order; for all those silly soclnl en cumhrances which Knglund. so much more advanced In democracy. Is try-;l try-;l to slough off. So this farmer's daughter Is an ignorant, vulgar girl who" is uncannily' like me? Thanks:" "I'll take you to see for yourself ho-v much yon look alike. I want to see you two together! Why. you're as -in-, n twins except that you are who.ly unlike I mean your features are i like : that's all." "It will he interesting to see her like seeing oneself on the screen! I'll know, for once, what I do look like. A portrait painter once told me my type was unusual" ' She chattered on. but he scarcely heard her. so Intent he was In trying to penetrate the veil of her ear-lobes when suddenly she stopped short, laid down her knife and for'.: and looked at him in puzzled astonishment. "Why." she Inquired breathlessly, her brows puckered In bewilderment, "are you looking at me so strangely?" "I'll tell yon," he smiled frankly. You look so like that farm girl that ,i, i-prv shape of your ears Is like hp,.sso that I should not he at all surprised to find you had even the same little brown mole under the lobe i,f your ear that she has !" "Well !" she exclaimed, "how extraordinarily ex-traordinarily intimate you must have ' i-en with her to have learned all .,1,0111 her IllUe brown mole under her car-lobe! This is interesting, not to s-.,v exciting! own up bow did you come to know about Ibis mole?" "Do you have one. too?" "What ''satiable curiosity"! See for voi'i'seif." She lined the lobes of her irsand he looked. There was no mole there. Hut bis relief was not greater thai; ilis astonishment and confusion that I wo people could look so alike with-Bt with-Bt being related. However, he culild delight la her, now, without fear and dread and be proud of her illsllue-lion illsllue-lion and even enjoy lbl weird resemblance re-semblance lo thu cirl for whom his senses hungered. "Now appease my ' 'satiable curt oslly'!" she insisted. "Mow did -you discover-that farm KliT UlU" mole?" "Well, you'll llnd It In your heart to forgive me, I know, that her hcaiily, so very much like yours, proved so Irresistible Hint -s limes-1 kissed her when 1 got n good chance. "And II was while engaged In kiss. Ing her that you discovered the lllile-mole?" lllile-mole?" "You see If she hadn't been beautiful, beauti-ful, like you. I shouldn't have wanted to kiss her- being a bit fastidious In my lasle." "Your fastidious taste," said I.ady Sylvia rctlectlvely, "didn't find her too vulgar lo he kissed, though she's loo vulgar lo he asked lo call on mo?" Shu shook her head hopelessly. "It's too much for my logic. I don't get It. Kissing doesn't seem to me less Intimate Inti-mate than calling! Hut one thing t do get-I am to play the role of Iho rival of this 'Ignorant, vulgar farm girl' In your ii.Tectlons! It Isn't a role that appeals to me." "I'll show her to you and you'll understand un-derstand !" "Hut bow will she like that your bringing tne to Inspect her? She inlghl not like it at all ! I shouldn't think she'd like It ! She might fall upon me and scratch me!" 'Hut. my dear cousin, you don't suppose that a girl of that class lake the caress, -s of men of our class serl-ouslv?" "Vou're sure that girl didn't ta! you seriously ?" "She wouldn't presume to!" he an- 1 swered. a faint tinge of unciisliies In , his voice. j "I've never been able to niub r- j stand." she said nl t plaintively, , "how It Is that while men of the most i elvltl-od background will seek the most Intimate relations with low girls. It would be worse than death to worn- J en of the same background to be so much as touched by a common, coarse ' man. Why Is that. St. Croix?" j St. Croix looked rather shocked, a though he f. lt her rlndce of a theme , to he In very i.or taste, to say the least. "Well, you know." he answered lightly, "when the go, Is made man nnd woman they us.-, I a great deal lcs clay and much more divine fire (,,r the woman than for the man; so that woman Is of nuire less earthly, finer, more celestial! ,WIII you." he ; n-ked ns they tiow ro-e to leave tiifl diner, "co to the y Ling corridor 1 for a 'cigarette?" She thought she would not; but ' when he had taken h.-r ha, k to their chairs, she urged him to go for a smoke without h'-r. That be refused to do- he had no desire to tear him self from the delectable sight of her for even the few minutes It took to smoke a cigarette. Hut when she Insisted In-sisted that he must go so that she could take a little nap. as she nm "awfully sleepy." he reluctantly yield.-.!. Ills reflection ns he smoked were Increasingly reassuring. The agitating agitat-ing sense of the girl's dual personality was somewhat dulled by the soothin? effect of several cigarettes. I'.ven the recollection of certain vague doubts he had always felt about Mcely, certain cer-tain Inexplicable things like her fine hands, her being able to get away so often from the hard work of the farm, the touch of foreignness In her speecii, her very stupidities that sometimes had seemed more like keen thrusts at him none of these things were con- vinclng enough to counteract the evidence evi-dence of the mole. Mcely had a mole and I.ady Sylvia had none. He had to go through several day coaches to reach his parlor car, nnd It was when he was hurrying down the aisle of the last of these, scarcely seeing see-ing nnyone ns he progressed, for the bncks of the passengers were toward him, that suddenly the hack of a head Just a few feet ahead of them brought Mm to a ret rifled standstill froze his very bbed and made his henrt sink like lead: for there, under his very eves, so close that he could have put nut Ids hand and touched her, sat Mcely Schwenektnn her heavy, fair hair arranged In the vulgarly exaggerated exag-gerated pompadour she always af fected; wearing a grotesque (lowered blouse that looked like a kimono or a dressing-sack tucked Into her skirt : (which no doubt It was!) no rings on her hands; sitting In the slovenly, slouching way that had so often offended of-fended his sense of "decency." The seat behind her was empty. Noiselessly he slipped Into It. Her head was bowed over a copy of Snappy Snap-py Stories ; curly tendrils of hair on her white neck The mole! Was It there? A mad hope seized him that even yet he might find I.ady Sylvia nnd Mcely lo be two dilTeren; people. He hent his head and looked. And there, under her left ear, was the little brown mole I (TO BE CONTINUED.) |