Show F apsa money to v peter BB kyne 0 by peter 13 kyno service A A A A k A A A A A A A A A THE STORY hiram butterworth miser decided aided to leavo leave his fortune to a M nephew elmer clarke clarka butterworth w 0 rth tells his lawyer absolom McP M ealce ot of having swindled a man out of forty years yeara before and arranges for payment with interest butterworth buttera D tb dies suddenly the town of pi allar I 1 ar aitos including 1 elmers sweetheart nellie cathcart learns of his inheritance before elmer does colorado charley crook and his partner mae plan to pluck elmer nellie wants elmer to see more ot of thu tho world before they marry unknown to E elmer imer nel lie Is heiress of the man butterworth swindled elmer becomes I 1 a candidate for school trustee posing as a reporter named doris gatewood colorado charleys partner calls on elmer CHAPTER VII continued 13 some ten minutes later when elmer entered his little parlor in which no woman had sat since his aili mothers funeral he found miss doris gatewood seated at the ancient square piano softly playing a strauss waltz at his approach she turned gracefully on the revolving stool and advanced to greet him with outstretched hand band and a shy embarrassed smile there was arouther about her a charming combination of frankness and shyness which quite robbed the friendliness of her glance her smile and her hand shale shake of a faint note of boldness elmer who was hypersensitive to first impressions noted all this and told himself it was perhaps characteristic te of lady correspondents ite he had gathered an impression from ills his reading that all writers were a bit jolly unconventional and bohemian bohe so glad to meet you mr clarkel Cla rhel the girl announced her deep mellifluous tones seemed to reverberate in W the room and challenge the dying voice of the last note she had struck on elmers old piano 1 I am doris gatewood elmer bowed over the outstretched hand jasper gave me your card miss alsa gatewood consequently I 1 can guess the reason for your call please be seated he indicated a horsehair sofa and sat down opposite im sorry youve had to wait so long for me oh I 1 been a bit lonely sir mr clarkel clarke I 1 ive been playing with your fox terrier and when lie ran away I 1 played the piano I 1 found some books and ive been reading also you did quite right to make yourself at home miss alls s gatewood youre very kind by the way mr clarke it if forgive me for mentioning en it your piano has a wonderful tone but it needs tuning 11 1 I aware of that nobody has opened the old ruin since my mother passed away over five years ago androu and you live quite alone lie ile nodded the while he be appraised her with the impersonal air of good breeding which was his bis natural heritage ile he decided she was the most dashing young woman he had ever seene seen in fact she was more beautiful than nellie Catl cathcart icart ona and elmer had thought that an impossibility for any woman perhaps he told himself that was due to the undeniable air of her more than to superiority of sheer physical beauty nellie too had an air but it was natural while miss doris gatewood appeared to lieve tie acquired hers she was dressed in IA a manner which elmer could not have described like all of his sex sec all he knew about clothes was that they looked stunning or indifferent miss Gate woods wardrobe then and there in evidence was neither stunning nor indifferent and elmer found in hla his rag bag ot of a mind a phrase that appeared to describe her and her clothes she wa was I 1 s yell well groomed her clite little tan hat bat it was a paris model gave her a saucy air and fitted her face her hair wits was bobbed and as black and glistening as a ravens wing her skin was the kind hind one loves lovea to touch but whether her glorious florl coloring was natural or artificial was beyond elmers ability to decide she wore a smart tailored suit of biow brownish nish tweed and somewhat mannish cut cat brown silk stockings and cunning little brown brogues with tas selet meled tongues her shirtwaist with gi ft tailored collar was immaculately white and very plain she wore colorado charleys handsome brown silk tic her gloves were brown and her eyes were brown radiant challenging alight with interest ashes a darb I 1 thought elmer eimer butterworth but ter worth clarke brains to spare must have to be a special correspondent of the american weekly ive heard writers like ilki her make a hundred or two a ve fc sometimes more why she can afford nice clothes but she overdressed over dressed either what nellie would call good taste la Is the keynote of her getup get up miss doris gatewood on her part was without appearing to do so making a swift appraisal of elmer clarke lie he nice looking she asked herself and he be has nice manners too for a hick he must musi have had a nice mother lies iles small town but not a Iten reuben ben and hes shy and sensitive hello he wears a silver service button I 1 in his lapel hes been to the war and been wounded right leg doubtless I 1 notice he favors it just it a little ho he buys his suits ready made much ch too much of the collegiate atmosphere to the one hes wearing ills his tie I 1 Is s a trifle flamboyant but what wearing lately ile he seems reserved and dignified bet lies hes an old fashioned boy takes off ills hat in elevators and gives up ills his seat in street cars to old ladles indies good western type and not fresh ile hes s taking me in from heels to hair but his eyes are as innocent and free from desire as a babas elmer youre a nice boy and I 1 like you now to make you like mel she fished a notebook and a short pencil from her pocket and smiled across at him apologetically of course mr clarke I 1 know im boring you to the point of warm tears she began but really you look so kind I 1 cant feel as contrite about it as I 1 ought besides I 1 make my living by boring people making them talk when they do not hot want to and putting words into their mouths when they refuse to io talk what do you want to know he challenged oil lob all about the fortune been left you by the uncle youve never seen im ordered to interview you and get a snappy story on how it feels feela to be a poor man today and a mil lio leonaire llon alre tomorrow id like to have some expression from you jou as to your ideas on the obligations of wealth does money make for great happiness or vice versa what do you expect to do with your money and when are you going to marry the one girl who has been waiting for you or li Is there one girl out lie he reminded her it its s nob odys business whether theres one girl or two or a dozen and it if there should not discuss them tipped a foul that time miss gatewood went on flushing prettily still one never can tell whether the patient will talk on that subject or not so BO usually we ask ash to find out pardon i ill try to stick to my knitting hereafter now then mr clarke what is your man friday cooking tor for dinner it smells like corned beef and cabbage to me this is thursday it miss gatewood nodded brightly and potatoes boiled with their jackets gnp on slie she queried with eager curiosity ne he nodded then youre ns as as I 1 am she challenged 1 I adore plain food and im famished famish e d 11 to himself elmer said 1 I suppose ill be a dog it if I 1 dont Invite her to eat cat some of it confound it I 1 think she expects to be invited or wants to be thata just like these bohemian bohe newspaper women ile he turned to his visitor 1 11 I should like very much to invite you to dinner miss gatewood but rd id adore to come she interrupted before he could c cloak his invitation with more buts during dinner we can have a nice long comfortable interview ter view well ass alsa gatewood if you can manage without a chaperon chapero nl il can im sure youre not at all a dangerous person mr clarke clarice 1 I am sure eure you tire are I 1 elmer came back at her just like that she blushed blus lied at the compliment and proved herself equally fast by retorting 1 I see you are not a stranger to risks mr clarke I 1 had two broth ers era in the service one was killed at Sols sona sons and the other was gassed lie ile been very well since lie ile lives with me in los angeles Inde indeed edl I 1 well I 1 harl had my tas teof telof gas too my lungs are still a little ticklish but im slowly out growing the effect pardon me please while I 1 tell jasper to set a place for you and add a few fancy touches in your honor TO BE BB CONTINUED |