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Show orS Helen R rMaHhr? CHAPTER VIII Continued 19 "My cousin Is a Imronot, Sir John St. Croix, uiul his soil's dentil left no heir to his title; so th:it it would Imvo died out with him, hut th.it the king conferred on his dnushtcr, Sylvia, tlio title of haroness and the rli;lit of continuance con-tinuance of the title in direct line, so that her oldest son will hear the title of haron." As Marvin stated these facts, his efforts ef-forts to watch his companion's faco rendered his driving rather eccentric. "Oh," she exclaimed, "is that the English titled lady they say n round here you refuse to marry?" Nothing could have been more Impersonal Im-personal than her tone though he noted that her cheeks were flushed. "Has that gossip reached you?" "Couldn't have dodged It!" she smiled. "By the way, 1 believe you told me, the first time I met you, dldu't you, that you'd been 'Jilted'?" "Only once." "What for?'- "That's what IM like to know I Can you understand a man's deliberately and of his own free will and choice losing the chance to annex me for life? Why," she abruptly Inquired, "did you jilt your cousin, that baroness?" "I didn't, i was never really engaged en-gaged to her. Our parents had a sort of understanding " "Did the noble lady fall In with iV "I never heard that she objected." "Then don't you think you rather let her down?" "Not so much, In my opinion, 03 a mariage de convenance would let her down ! Anyway, my brother, whom Ehe'll probably find much more to her taste, Is going to marry her." "Is he?" "If she'll have him." "And you think she will like him better than you?" "If you'd ever met him you wouldn't ask :" "Oh, why?" "He's a ladies' man has prettier manners than I have and better clothes." "Some girls don't care for 'a ladies' man.' " "Well, if she turns him down I might begin to be interested In her myself." "Why?" "If she could be so disinterested. My brother has a big income from my father. I have only what I earn." "You haven't a very high opinion of girls, have you?" "What makes you think so?" "You seem to think they've no sense preferring manners and clothes to a man '" Marvin felt a tingling sensation along his arm that made it difficult for him to keep his hand on the wheel, such an urgent pull was on It to snatch her to him and kiss the lips that paid him such a tribute; he was cot used to compliments from girls because he was not used to girls at all. But the necessity, at this moment, of finding a parking spot in front of Sun-bury's Sun-bury's best hotel prevented his replying. re-plying. "I've been wondering," Meely said, as their waiter arrived with oysters, "are you going to make this educational educa-tional Job your life work, Mr. Creigh-ton? Creigh-ton? Or are you 'using It as a stepping-stone' to other ambitions?" she wickedly suggested. "Have you any idea," he seriously replied, "how hard It Is to find a job an honest man can do? Pledge yourself your-self to absolute honesty In this world and you'll starve to death or rot in jail ! Public school positions are political jobs controlled by a bunch of exploiters. Show me one profession or business In which a man can be entirely entire-ly honest. The church? It Is to smile! ask any pastor! Journalism? Ask John Swinton, one of America's most beloved Journalists. Medicine? Read Arrowsmith !' The law? Ask Judge Lindsey! Teaching? Ask Scott bearing bear-ing !" "Well, what is one to do about it?" "Darned if i see any solution for a fellow that was born with a twist like mine !" "Most people born to great riches as you've been, certainiy are not troubled with your diihculties, Mr. Creighton ! I've always been poor, so I can't quite feel your plight." "All my life I've felt bitterly the hoggishness of our family's living in luxury on the labor of others who live on the ragged edge of poverty." "You take life us seriously as I did at sixteen ! Grow up and be a cynic like me, then you'll be happy, though rich. Can it matter to the vast unl-. unl-. verse how we worms on tills tiny earth behave?" "Not to the vast universe hut to us wiile we're here. Got to have traffic traf-fic laws, you know, unless you can get off tne high road to a road no one else uses; where, of course, you'd have a right to drive yourself to death If you wanted to. But can you find such a road? Can you " Ills voice trailed off Into silence as he sat staring at her absently; for while he had been talking he had become be-come conscious', as he looked at her, of seeing a face within a face the childish child-ish face of that photograph of his Kng-llsh Kng-llsh cousin looking out at him from tho mature, Intelligent countenance of (Ids young woman. That photograph was at this moment In his Inside breast pocket. An almost Irresistible temptation seized hlui to "take It out and compare It with the living face before his eyes. Or to suddenly sud-denly confront her with It and note the effect. "Why on earth do you keep staring at me like that?" she Inquired in astonishment. aston-ishment. lie came to himself with a short laugh. "Well, I've seen worse chromos than your face !" "Oh, don't be so Impersonal !" They laughed gayly as, having finished fin-ished their luncheon, they rose to go out to their wnlting car. CHAPTER IX Four o'clock on Monday afternoon, at which hour Meely, though not aware of the fact, was booked for something of a reception at her schoolhouse, found her dismissing her pupils with almost frantic expedition, that she iulbhi b lone t- ans.. er a letter Bhe had received that . morning, which Marvin Felt a Tingling Sensation Along His Arm That Made It Difficult Diffi-cult for Him to Keep His Hand on the Wheel. cried, or rather shrieked, for an answer; an-swer; and not a moment had she had all day to write It. Her mother was in need distressing need her own dear mother! So, the little sum which, in the few months of teaching, she had amassed toward her trip to Hollywood, must be sacrificed and the trip Indefinitely postponed. She had been writing rapidly for only a few minutes, however, when her ear was caught by the sound of a car stopping outside the schoolhouse. Marvin Creighton? Even he was unwelcome un-welcome while her letter lemalned unwritten un-written and she would have to tell him so. A knock on tlie door which one could not have called hesitating. It was. on the contrary, peremptory. Followed Fol-lowed Immediately by the entrance of an elderly, ruddy-faced, white-haired man who seemed, on sight, an anachronism an-achronism in this schoolroom, for Meely saw at once that he was a prosperous-looking gentleman of a rather courtly lieni'lng. Not une of I In Hi'hool t n'Mli'es- she hud nu t t lii-m nil. Not the father of one of hrr rniiisylviuiln Hutch pupils I hi m was n man of the town. ItuiliU'iily her heart began to heat faster. No one else about here could po:;slpy look like! this except yes, It must hi' the elder Mr. Creighton Creigh-ton ! What on earth did he want? lie came to the platform and, as hIicj rose, he held out his hand. Ills manner, man-ner, though courteous, was distant, anil his countenance grave and rather forbidding. "Tills Is Miss Schweni'kton?" "Yes?" she said Interrogatively. "Mr. Creighton," he Introduced himself. him-self. "I'm glad I find you still here; I was afraid you would have gone." "You wanted to see nic?" was her ralher superlluous question. Her heart was quaking and she made a desperate desper-ate effort to get herself In hand. Thu man looked formidable 1 I 'rawing a chair to tho desk, he motioned mo-tioned her to be seated and sat down beside her. "I am planning a little gift to this school, Miss Schwenckton. A Christmas Christ-mas gift. Kloctrle lights. I wanted to ask you when the men can work In here without Interfering with you?" She placed a blotter over her letler, which lay under his very eyes. She did not believe this electric light stuff; he needed an excuse to come here to see her. What for? "The schoolhouse Is empty every day after four," she replied, "and all day Saturday." "Any day after four?" he reflected. "The si-hoolhouse Is ulwnya empty after four?" "Today Is an exception. V stopped to write a letter." "Ah, to write a letter?" he repented, and she heard the skepticism In his tone. "Then you're not In the habit of receiving visitors after school hours?" "You're my first." "Now you surprise me I I w as under un-der the Impression that er my Bon sometimes visited you here after school hours!" . He looked so coldly disapproving ns he spoke that Meely never for an Instant In-stant supposed he referred to his elder son, whose visits, being strictly professional, would, of course, be beyond be-yond criticism. It must be that some garbled rumor of her Intimacy with St. Croix had reached the man and he was here today to put a stop to It ! But how exciting! What would he do about It? Try to bribe her, buy her off? Oh, surely that sort of thing was only a "movie" device, It didn't really happen; she hnd never In the whole course of her life met any one who hnd "bought off" any one or who had been "bought off." If only she could have known he was coming, she would have made up for the part; rouged and powdered like a real "tough"; enhanced en-hanced her price as a menace to St. Croix. Why, she could have made herself her-self look so dangerous Mr. Creighton would have paid anything to be rid of her enough to finance her needy family fam-ily for a year perhaps, while she worked herself in at Hollywood. But the way she was looking Just now, he must be finding her perplexing. That was why, probably, he seemed so dazed ; he had heard she was a common com-mon little hussy and he found her looking respectable; as respectable as his own wife ! Mr. Creighton was indeed feeling as dazed ns he looked for hadn't St. Croix told him that the girl was Illiterate, Illiter-ate, vulgar, talked the dialect of the county? and here was a girl who looked not only like a lady, but whose sophisticated hearing and perfectly good English so astonished him that for the moment he was disconcerted; a sensation to which he was, for the most part, a stranger. . The bare Idea of suggesting to her that he would buy her off, pay her to go away, turned him cold. He had no least difficulty In understanding Marvin's "falling for" her. "I'm not mistaken, am I, In tnklng you for the teacher?" he asked. "I'm the noble martyr," she admitted. ad-mitted. "Don't I look It?" He checked the gallant retort which rose - involuntarily to his lips; he'd spoil everything if he didn't watch himself the girl was fetching. Their attention wns caught at this Instant by the noise of another motor stopping before the schoolhouse. Meely thought with a thrill, "What a situation if Marvin walks in here and finds his father warning me off St. Croix ! Oh, cricky !" She was puzzled by the accusing look with which Mr. Creighton was regarding re-garding her did he think It was St. Croix' car out there? and she had Just denied that she ever had visitors here at her school ! No wonder he looked at her accusingly ! (TO BE CONTINUED.) |