Show 0 I 1 MAIM I 1 hl by RUPERT HUGHES commandment by 11 arper brothers Br ottora 0 CLAYS ORGY OF SPENDING GETS HIM INTO AN EMBAR RASSING SITUATION synopsis clay wimburn Wlm buro a young new yorker on a visit to cleveland meets pretty daphne kip whose brother Is in the same office with clay la in wall street after a whirlwind courtship they become engaged clay buys an engagement ring on credit and returns to new york daphne agrees to an early marriage and after extracting from her money worried father what she regards as a sufficient sum of money for the purpose she goes to new york witcher with her mother to buy her trousseau CHAPTER V continued 3 this is too beautiful to go through so fast daphne cried its wonderful we ought to walk promise me we can walk home its such a gorgeous night youre crazy darling lie he said ive got to get to my office tomorrow and youve got to get home for breakfast all right for you she pouted but it was none too serious a tragedy and her spirits revived when the taxicab turned in through the shrubs about the old inn that had once been the home of napoleons brother and had heard the laughter of Theod theodosia osla burr and of betty jumel in their primes daphne did not like the table the head bead waiter led them to it missed both the breeze and the view cant we sit over there she said ill see tue the head waiter came reluctantly to liis his beck when clay asked for the table the answer was curt sorry sir it is r served reserved V clay felt insulted he whipped out his pocketbook and rebuked the tyrant with a bill he thought it was a one dollar bill but he saw a IV V on it just as the swift and subtle head waiter absorbed it without seeming to to uk lisk for it back or for change was one of the most impossible things in the world clay raade made it as adz easy tor for his new slave us as he could T dont think you understood which table I 1 meant he said pointing to the I 1 one he had indicated before that humr one oh that one I 1 said the head walter waiter certainly str sir he led the way beckoning walters waiters and omnibuses omni buses and snapping his fla gera clay ordered a supper as chastely chas ea perfect as a sonnet it showed that he had both native ability and education in the art of ordering a meal ile he lm lin pressed even the head waller aud and that Is a triumph that was clays pur ur pose pon also lie he wanted to preserve his self respect and the waiters attention in the face of the supper that was being ordered at the next table that was well ordered too but it was as not a sonnet it was a rhapsody it was ordered by a man whose guests had not yet arrived when clay had dispatched his waiter he whispered to daphne see that thai fellow thomas varick duane one of the bellest known bachelors in new york he was cr arzy sy about leila not bayards bayaras Ba yards leila yes really why bayard got majil mil i lied so quick he was afraid tom duine duane would steal her nice enough fellow but too much moneal money 1 daphne looked at the big man and caught him looking at her with a favorable appraisal she stared him down with a cold self possession of the american girl who will neither flirt nor much flinch duane yielded and turned his eyes to clay recognized him and nodded hello wimburn Wlm burn ilah hah ya feeling fairly snappy said clay duane showed a willingness to come over and be presented but clay kept him off with a look like a pair of pushing hands duane loitered about waiting for ills his guests lie he looked lonely daphne felt a mixture of charity and snobbery in her heart she whispered to clay invite the poor fellow over here till his guests come im dying to be able to tell the people at home that I 1 met the great duane again clay shook his head and that you introduced him to me clay nodded ile he beckoned duane over with hardly more than a motion of the eyebrows duane came with a flattering eagerness lie put his hand out to clay and clay rising made the preben presentation tation youre not related to cayard bayard kip I 1 hope duane said with an amiable frown lies hes my brother why 1 I owe him a big grudge said duane ne ile stole his wife from me just as I 1 was falling madly la in love with her beautiful girl your new sister ive never seen her said daphne beautiful girl he sighed much too loo good for your brother infinitely beyond me why dont you both move over to my table miss kemble is to lie be there with her manager mighty clever girl gin miss gemble Kei uble have abu you seen been her new play we were there tonight said daphne ashes glorious come on over and play in our yard then daphne had never met a famous actress she was wild to join the group and to know tom duane better but clay spoke with an ley icy finality thanks old man weve already ordered he still stood and he had not invited duane to sit down tom duane looked at daphne and smiled like a boy rebuked all right ill go quietly I 1 know when rin im kicked out but next nest time I 1 wont go so easily good night he put his warm friendly hand out again to daphne and to clay who nodded him away with an appalling informality considering how great he was other people came in some of them plainly sightseers some of them personages of quality everybody seemed happy clandestine romantic this was life as daphne wanted to live it but at length she he yawned dawned her little hand could not conceal the contortion of her features im gloriously tired honey she confessed with a lovable intimacy its the most beautiful supper I 1 ever had but im sleepy ile he smiled with indulgent tenderness and said to the walter waiter check daphne turned her eyes away decently as the slip of paper on a plate was set at clays elbow but sha noted that he started violently as he be turned the bill over and met it face to face ile he studied it with the grim heroism of one reading a death war rant the amount staggered him ile he turned pale ile he recovered enough to say to the walter waiter youve given roe me the wrong check the waiter shook his head bead oh I 1 clay studied it again he called for the bill of fare and studied that daphne felt so ashamed that she wanted to leap into the river abroad it is belle believed ved that the man who does not audit his restaurant bill is either an american tourist or some other k kind ind of tool fool but in daphnes set it was considered the act of a miser clay worked over his check as if it were a trial balance ali ah I 1 thought so he growled the bill of fare says that this montreal 6 mivy I 1 11 patriotism and pride helped her for a quarter of a mile melon Is seventy five cents a portion youve charged me three dollars for foi two portions A look of pitying contempt twisted the Nv waiters alters smile the melon you ordered sair was nil all out 1 I served you a french melon instead why you tell me 1 I deed not theena it mett mattered ered to the gent gentleman laman clay sniffed lie ile was not to be quieted by such a sop he whipped out his pocketbook and laid down every bill in it lie ile stretched his legs and ransacked his trousers pockets and dropped on the plate every cola coin he had ile he i withdrew a dime and waved the lie heap at the waiter it was evident from the way the waiter snatched the plate from the table that clay had not tipped him lu in fact clay said this will be a lesson to you they slumped down the steps thi starter said cab sir and made to whistle one up clay shook his hend head and walked on toward the monument of 0 grant daphne followed they went as humbly ns as a couple of paupers haupers evicted for the rent daphne was afraid to speak she saw that clay was sick with wr wrath ath and she did not know him well enough to be sure how lie he would take her interference ter in his thoughts she trudged along in utter shame the worst of her shame was w s that she was so ashamed of st it why should she care whether a waiter smiled or owned frowned but she did aid care infinitely daphne could not pump up any enthusiasm thu thusia sm tor for the scenery her lover took no adv advantage a niage of the serial of arbors and the embracing bowers ile he never kissed her not once daphne ceased to be sorry f tor or ci clay ay and felt sorry lor for her neglected self then she grew angry at herself then at him at length she said with ominous sweetness are you going to walk all the way dear you said you wanted to I 1 you he mumbled thickly so she trudged some distance farther afew a few blocks it was it seemed miles then she said how far Is it home altogether about three miles and a half Is that all the heroine of an english novel ive been reading used to dash off five or six sis miles before breakfast patriotism and pride helped her for a quarter of a mile more then she resigned 1 I guess im not an E english heroine I 1 dont believe she ever really did it ill resign I 1 ill have to ask you to call me a cab pretty hard to find an empty one along here at this hour he said and urged her on lets ga over that way to the inhabited part of town she said and take a street car or the subway and then he stopped and said with guilty brus have you got your pocketbook with you no I 1 left it at home tonight why daphne I 1 got it a cent I 1 why clay 1 you poor thing why I 1 was so rough with the walter waiter 11 id had the money do you think rd id have made a arow row before you about a few little dollars do dollars lIars never you see I 1 expect to go out to claremont after the theater the taxi cost more than I 1 expected and then I 1 gave the head waiter five dollars instead of one I 1 ordered with care so that it would come out right but that bustness business about the melon finished me I 1 just made it I 1 never was so ashamed in my life and ahad I 1 had to drag you into it and now im murdering your poor little feet the funniest joke I 1 ever heard why you tell me before its no joke why of course it Is I 1 you have only to go to your bank tomorrow and draw some more he did not answer this he said nothing at all she had a terrified feeling that his silence was full of meaning that his bank account would not respond to his call she could not ask him to explain the situation she was afraid that he might she marched on doggedly growing more and more gloomy and decrepit her little slippers with their stilted heels pinched and wavered and every step was a pang lets go over there and get on a street car and dare them to put us oft off she suggested its a pay as you enter car he groaned the world was a different world now the drive that had been so tremendously men bously lovely as she sped through it in a taxicab was a pathway in mojave she limped through the hideous hateful unpardonable length and felt that it was a symbol of the life ahead of her she had counted on escaping from the money limits of her home she was merely transferring herself from one jail to another iier young lover had bad dazzled her with ith his heedless courtship flown away with her on motor wings dipping to earth now and then to sip refreshments at a high cost and then swooping off with her again and now his wings had broken his gasoline was gone his motor burnt out and the rest of the journey was to be the same old trudge she had been leaning heavily on clays arm now she put it away from her in a mixture of pity for him and of self reproof when he protested she said 1 I think ill walk better alone for a while so slie site hobbled and hobbled by herself he be pleading to be allowed to help her but she kept him away and they crept on a little farther loving each cadi other piteously in the course of time they reached the soldiers Sold lere and sailors Sni lors monument and daphne sank down at the base of lt it 1 I cant go any farther she said not it if I 1 die of starvation lie ile sank down at her side the moon powered at them between the columns and the cella of the monument and seemed to lo tilt hit its face to eme side and smile A motorcar went by with the silence of a lop loping ag panther another car passing it threw threw a calcium light op on tom duane and his bis guests and his chauffeur ilow how gorgeously they sped 1 if daphne had had a bit of luck she would be with them soaring on the pinions of money instead of hobbling on without it IL daphne took oft off her slippers and fondled her poor abused feet as it if they were her children but when she tried to thrust them back into her slippers for a final desperate effort she almost 6 tricked shrieked with the hurt hurl ill have to go the rest of the way in ray my stocking feet she moaned not if I 1 have to carry you clay growled before he be had bad a chance to carry out bis hi resolution a taxicab ta that had deposited its fares at an apartment house above went bowling by with its ilag flag up ay clay ran out and howled at it till it stopped circled round and drew up by the bridle vath path then he ran to daphne and bundled her into it and gave her address to the driver but how are you going to pay him she sighed blissfully as they shot along not that I 1 care at all 1 I figured that out I 1 said clay ill drop you at home i and then take him to my club and see it if I 1 cant borrow from somebody there if I 1 can cant I 1 t ill give him my watch or the fight of his life terrible daphne sighed to think how bow much I 1 have cost you well I 1 wanted to give you a good time on your little visit said bald clay and its only two days till my next salary day her heart sank her guess was right nis ills bank account was dry it had gurgled cutin amusing her she felt that there was something here that would take a bit of thinking about when she had rested enough to think the taxicab swung into fifty ninth street and drew up to the curb clay helped daphne out and said to the chauffeur wait ile he said it with just the tone he had used when he said to the walter waiter check when clay had bad kissed her his seventeenth farewell and was wondering how he could tear himself away brorn from her without bleeding to death daphne pressed the bell instead of her drowsy mother opening the door half an inch and fleeing in her curl papers bayard himself appeared in his bathrobe and pajamas bayard Bayar dl 1 daphne gasped as she sprang for him what on earth brought you home so soon money gage gave out he laughed heno hello clay he be said as be put forth his hand band mother tells me youve been secretly engaged to my sister all this time you old scoundrel how are you the good word lend me five dollars said clay CHAPTER VI the meeting of daphne and her new sister in law was not what either would have expected or selected daphne was tired in body and soul discouraged footsore and dismayed about her love and her lover she had reached the door of the apartment in the mood of a wave buffeted castaway eager for nothing but to lie he down in the sand and sleep daphne could imagine the feelings of her brothers wife when she reached her home after a long ocean voiage voyage a night landing the customhouse ordeal and the cab ride among the luggage and found a mother in law asleep in her bed and a sister in ln law yet to arrive bayard and leila serene in the belief that daphne and her mother had gone back to cleveland entered the apartment without formality and went about switching on lights recovering their little home from the night with magle magic instantaneity mother kips awakening came from the light that bayard hashed flashed in his bedroom leila had a lovable disposition but she was tired and all the way up in the overloaded cab slie site had thought longingly of the beautiful bed in her own new home and had promised herself a quick plunge I 1 into n to it for a long stay how could slie she rejoice to find a strange woman there even though she bore the sacred name of mother in law mother kip ordered bayard and leila out of their own room and when she was ready to be seen she ha had d so many apologies to matte make and accept that the meeting entirely lacked the rapture it |