Show A 11 A D E by ca ampbell ps evelyn 0 iya campbell er vice THE STORY linda Flaver hills father neer dowell dowel do well wel dies when she Is seventeen I 1 leaving her to fade the th world with little money or p pros 0 lecta CHAPTER 11 II continued 3 and linda seated opposite forced herself to look buck back she had bad seen been film before lie ile was her fat fathers tiers best and oldest friend but then her vision had been childish and distorted by sweets and french dolls aills she saw him film now us its a mau man but she conquered what stio she saw it was private slie she explained by my cousins wish etwas it was as though the whole occurrence had been managed by the reluctant mrs ralston lie ile nodded ills small eyes abnormally intelligent saw through everything nt at once cousin amys engagements gage ments and the impracticality of death at such a time and now my dear he said after all the meaningless words had been spoken what can I 1 do for you the little eyes searching out the sweet cold lines of tier her body under the narrow black frock said site she could coul d have anything she wanted of him ile he had refused to tend jim haverhill money but that was another matter no use sending good dollars down a greased Inel incline lne jim daughter was an investment virgin soil that could not suspect its own return but linda smiled a faint rejection she had not come to borrow from her black handbag she took a sheaf of stiff R papers apers i and before they were unfolded lie caught the familiar glint of gold leaf eat and purple a hint of flaming scarlet sly my father left no money she said slowly but there are a great many of these certificates if you will tell nie me how to sell them the senator was not a humorous man but he almost smiled at that sell chent I 1 but lie put out its his cushioned paw and took the papers managing to touch her fingertip of course my lie he wheezed pretty little girls must have money then he asked her what she ans going to do and linda lundn for the first time looked childish and bewildered do she stammered out that she supposed she would live with cousin amy and some day would marry blushing hatefully as she said it ali ah I 1 exclaimed the senator delightedly light edly rolling his tongue A marry larryl I 1 that be difficult my dear with your attractions ile he was on a millar ground now and edged his great reat chair closer to hers linda got up quickly please sell the stock for me she pleaded and suddenly tier her poise dropped away and slie she was a child young and afraid the senator was touched too young to haye have planned anything lie he thought there any man yet just silly talk she can have all the money slie she wants for a year or two the first week of following september d did if not find linda in the city again at that uncomfortable period of tho the year she would be with the Rals ralstone tons at their long island place or with some other distant relative who hall had a twinge of conscience and a spasmodic desire to do something for the family oralian orp lian she was wag not unhappy because she was not penniless irhe he stocks owned by poor jim occasionally surprised every one by exhibiting a stir of life something would be sold something would pay an infinitesimal dividend find and unda linda would have enough to pity pay tier her dressmakers bill or the expenses of acabie a cabin across slie she saw converse occasionally and he be always urged tier her to have a good time and spend what she wanted he would chalk it up un against her account lie he promised ali ith a tat laugh she got over some dofher of her repulsion but that was because he was wary lie ile knew that any female thing would be appalled by him until I 1 I 1 its ita nin gs were broken cousin amy spoke to her husband about the senator he Is enormously rich ile he lias has never never been married an and d it Is very strange that lie should manage so go well with all that worthless paper poor jim left ile he agreed lie ile was vas darn glad he been expected to handle the stuff but it was too bad taste to discuss even for them and the subject was quickly taboo linda met courtney roth at cor ovado ile he had run out there to see what it pcs like he said for europe it used to be but he like california either he be told unda linda ten nit minutes after they met there was nothing to california but 1 pavement a algar climate and picture postcard scenery her attention was claimed what Is a vulgar climate she asked laughing weather that has no reserves he answered instantly perpetually sall ins ing sides shies tire are like a woman who laughs because site she has no sense she did not like ilke the way he said that there was something cold and bitter in hla his voice men biel did not usually speak so to her of tier her own sex she was both piqued and interested 44 you mean you like to go about with raincoats and rugs ue he nodded possibly but I 1 like uncertainty I 1 like to see eee the sun cloua clou d over and the end of a rainy d day ay then you like capricious women said linda thoughtfully if lie he did lie he had ample opportunity to prove it in the whirlwind month that followed for linda knew until the day after she married him whether she cared or not courtney roth koth was waa a high headed reddish faced man with tife the sort ol 01 0 staring gray eyes that are always looking lover peoples heads in search of something fart farther ber afield lie he was never satisfied if he be was here he wanted to be there if he had this he wanted that not through fretfulness or greed but because of an unconquerable qu erable appetite for life lie he wanted to see everything to have everything and he was in a hurry about getting both such tastes are expensive ills restless expansiveness fed and encouraged something that might have lain dormant in unda linda if she had married another man with courtney roth a train of was lighted in berthat her that was to burn to a brilliant flare until that part of her that was his was wag consumed even with this attraction it might not have happened but for mrs rals hals tons impatience she could not forget the senator you must be sure my dear she warned the girl giri with your beauty you ought to go far and remember it Is all the same after you have been bean married six weeks courtney Is a charming person but the senator has been a wonderful friend your position in washington would be superb linda looked at tier lier with dilating eyes it was not the first time that the senator had been suggested to tier her ns aa other than her fathers friend and each time something within her grew colder and shuddered with deeper aversion and a strange prescience that unless she was careful and quick like a bird in the grass this thing might happen to her measured by converse courtney roth became splendid and desirable she did not consider love but only safety and the certainty that now she could afford to forget the other man to whom she seemed to owe some vast and incomprehensible debt but even after the engagement they spoke far less of love than of plans for co covering yering ground during darlng the honeymoon they were ivere going around the world but bui roth was worried about missing the winter sports in switzerland if we were married six weeks sooner we could lop off enough mileage to get us there in time he said anxiously linda laughed but tier her color came and went site she was amused amus edmore more than offended that his reason for hurrying the wedding was not herself but a pair of skis well see what cousin amy says cousin amy was not averse to an early wedding but she wanted to know several things illas has lie money linda dear of course there must be some but is there enough it takes such a lot to live as he does ali ah er skittering ering about the world and two of you would be rather frightful linda shrugged she was onar twenty but the world has fallen in a way of treating girls of twenty as aa if they had the wisdom of their grandmothers ma abers linda had thought so much about money that slie she had begun to take her luck seriously money aloney always atay alay w ay s came there had been a bad time after her fathers death but that was vas bridged by the clever financing of the stock certificates she was so certain she was on safe ground that slie she neglected to go into the matter thoroughly with wath her flance fiance so linda hard bitten with the virus of change consented to hurry burry the trousseau and therefore please her lover might mightily fly courtney roth both was in love with her as he would be with a woman ile he was always trying effects with her beauty viewing it from different angles you need pearls he said one day and soon after brought her an exquisite strand linda stood perfectly still valle he draped the tenderly beautiful tearful circlet upon her smooth neck she had never dreamed of owning such pearls but once they nestled against her flesh she felt perfectly at home with them TO BE CONTINUED |