Show the ne thio by jwj RUPERT HUGHES emman ame t by ril dilno brothen no CHAPTER I 1 I 1 continued 15 mrs romilly finished her wholesale order and wheezed out like a grand old automobile ot of an early model when they were alone the partners gazed at daphnes list and then at each other what on earth made you take it mrs chivvis exclaimed you know we cant fill it were going to fill IV it but how darned if I 1 know but well well have to 10 get a lot of sewing women in nod and sit up nights but the material we cant buy those things on credit then ill borrow cash and pay for it borrow where you said you trouble your brother rm im not responsible tor for what I 1 have said eald or may say besides I 1 dont mind going to bayard now that I 1 can go with success ill call on him in a business way and offer him interest and all that I 1 guess mrs Rom illys name Is good enough collateral all unconscious of 0 Da daphnes affairs bayard was approaching his office ma kill it 6 cit 57 X it Z aj mrs romilly finished her wholesale order and came wheezing out like a grand old automobile of an early model with the brisk manner of a triumphant capitalist but that was bluff for outward effect he was actually dizzy with loss of bearings and control bayard had bad carried heavier burdens than clay and under the sting of leilas whip had taken greater risks for higher prizes the crash in the street had found him so BO extended that he could not recover without additional help that very morning one of his brokers had bad called on him for a renewal of margins he had to have five thousand dollars or he would lose fifty rebuffed from every door bayard had gone to Wethe office il a mysterious sort of place surrounded by guards and secret service ram men to ward off the menace of spies real and imaginary bayard had unusual difficulty in passing the lines the reason he soon heard A new man was in charge in Wethe place a retired british officer whose natural and affected gruffness was aggravated by the unpleasant nature of his tasks lie ile had bad only one eye hamade lie made bayard describe who and what he was and what he wanted only bayards bayaras Ba yards desperation gave him strength to ask this old cyclops tor for an advance on new contracts bayard went away in a stupor ite ile had intelligence enough to feel that he could loss less safely attack wetherell now than before lie ile would seem to be implicated in the fellows malfeasance ne ile would only advertise to his creditors that his vaunted contracts were worthless business men will endure much to escape such publication of their wrongs bayard kept his head high till he reached his own office then lie he fell into his chair and propped hla his elbows on his desk and gripped ills his hot brows in his hands as if he were holding his bis skull together it Is the business mans attitude altitude ot of prayer it was thus that daphne found him when she opened the door narrowly and closed it behind tier as softly as la tosca she was beaming with affection and importance and when at her mischievous alicia A heinl I 1 bayard looked up she was so pretty that he forgot himself long enough to smile und find rush forward to embrace her she was wondering how to state tier her errand when the telephone rang it startled bayard strangely lie ile caught it to his lips as a toper lifts a glass ile he pressed presher the receiver to his ear car and evidently recognize ot the voice that said bald hello from somewhere nome where he eie answered in monosyllables of the least importance but daphne lard gloom in them bayard hung up the receiver pushed the telephone away as a bitter cup and laughed sheepishly great convenience the telephone just learned that ive dropped more money than I 1 ever hoped to have tor for want of a nail the shoe was lost oil oh well ivell it saves me from spending it foolishly but it if id had five thou thousand dollars sly MY godl god if id had five thousand dollars daphne could think of nothing more helpful to say than a casual hows lelia leila dont ask me I 1 bayard smiled tell me what can I 1 do tor for you honey before I 1 go to take some nasty medicine from the president nothing dear I 1 had to come downtown on an errand so I 1 thought id run in and say hello well hello I 1 ile kissed her and patted her back with doleful tenderness and she went out of his office into the elevator its iron barred door and its clanking chains gave it a congenial prison feeling and the bottomless pit it dropped into seemed even more appropriate CHAPTER daphne wanted to run away from her thoughts find and she walked for a mile or two up the deep ravine of broadway slie she dared not go back to mrs chivvis just yet with tier her bad news slie she thought of asking clay for a loan she swept the appalling idea from her brain with a puff of derision besides lie he was out of town bayard had said she thought of asking tom duane for it she tried to blow that idea from her mind but it kept drifting back like a bit of stubborn thistledown she could not it at length she grew so desperate that she stopped at a telephone booth and brazenly called up duanes number lie e chanced to be at home when lie e heard heard her her voice he cried oh lord its good to hear you sing again sin sing again nightingale im no nigh nightingale cingale tin gale im a business woman offering you an investment she told him the whole story the name of sirs mrs romilly made him whistle old gorgon zola lie he called her and added youre a made woman but the clothes arent made and I 1 cant make em cm till I 1 get some money would you could you advance me a little on the most excellent security now how much do you want where shall I 1 bring it mall mail two er five hundred dollars to the shop will you and I 1 can never thank you enough hush its me that thanks you dont you want more no thanks it will be there in the early mall mail and I 1 may call round later to put a mortgage or something on the place goodby good by slie she chuckled and hung up the receiver slie she was crying softly as she stole from the messed blessed booth boot and she looked less like a successful business woman than ever something made her think of wetherell she stopped off at bayards bayaras Ba yards floor door and rang the bell leilas new butter butler admitted her with pomp daphne walked past him into the drawing room lelia leila and wetherell wore were standing there in heavy coats they seemed to be a little shocked at seeing daphne she was horribly hurt at seeing them but she chirruped chirrup ed just come in just going out leila answered kissing hissing daphne nervously where daphne asked with intrepidity as she shook hands with wetherell We thorell a prize fighters preliminary handshake it was oh er just motoring about a bit thanks id love it daphne dared to say almost as much amazed as is they were vere at hearing her accept the invitation that had not been given she was quite shameless from their point of view but slie she felt that it would be unpardonable to let her brothers wife go or at least unaided and on a cruise so perilous to reputation it if not to character while she was at the miserable business she decided to make a goo good job of it when they went down to the carahe car she squeezed la in between leila and wetherell leila blanched with jealousy and cold rage they dined at long bench beach and watched the dancers in sullen mood wetherell ordered much champagne and would not listen to leilas pleas that he let it alone ile he frightened her a little by his reckless mood and daphne began to dread the journey home in the dark with champ champagney champagn ed hands on the steering wheel after daphne and ho he bad executed a funeral lance dance leila was emboldened to step out with him they talked very earnestly find and he seemed to horrify tier her by what be said to her daphne could not irna imagine ine what it was bayard had bad not told her of enells downfall from power wetherell confessed his disgrace to leila in the dance and leila was sickened with the sordid outcome of her romance ance she had played with fire dro and got soot on her hands she quit th the u dance and asked to be taken home wetherell felt that sho she had turned against him and he reached for the last of the wine to fling it down his throat lelia leila grimly took it from h his 14 fingers and emptied it la in the ice bucket chauffeurs and champagne are a had bad combination she laughed but there was a sneer on oil her lips oh very well wetherell sneered in turn he paid for the dinner and tipped the waiter with the lavishness of a bankrupt lie he tipped lavishly the man who guarded his car and swung out into the road with an instant speed that would have been prettier if there had been less danger daphne and leila were good sports but they were not merry wetherell furnished all the merriment and his was from wine and despair it was the wine that brought out the truth lie ile had to tell daphne what ho he had told leila of his misfortune with his batty bally old government he asked daphne to explain to bayard how sorry he was that he was involved in the crash your broth bayards bayaras Ba yards awny sawfly nice fell fel miss skip hes got nicest wife in worl good girl straight as a stran string straight as they make era em no nonsense about leil left I 1 just love her hon orble love id do anything in wort worl for lell or miss daffy or ol 01 broth baad tell him at will you like a goo all girl tell bay at willil will il 11 daphne grew furious she felt now that she had justified her presence here she held leila fal in her embrace and commanded wetherell slow down at oncel once do you hear slow down this earl cart wetherell laughed bless lit heart ini im goin take you home youre qui quite to shafe with me quite man born to be hanged never drown or 6 get automo killed good word a au ul tomo killed eh what they whipped round a somber jut in the road and his searchlight painted instantly in white outlines against the blade black world a of ale sleepy epy children returning from some village church affair they were singing drowsily merrilee MerrI Iee we ro la long ro la long daphne and leila seemed to die at once wetherell groaned oil oh my god the chil children ren I 1 there was nothing for wetherell to do but nhat he did lie he spun his wheel and drove his thunderbolt into an open concrete culvert there was a furious racket the car turned a somersault and crumpled in a shuddering mass wetherell pinioned under the wheel was knocked tills this way and that and his beautiful head bead cracked on the concrete like a china dolls leila was snatched from the car as it if invisible hands had caught her exquisite body for a lash to flog a tele R 1 4 wetherell furnished all the meri I merit ment and his was from wino wine and despair phone pole with then threw her into a ditch daphne was hung flung and battered and thrust under the car when it turned over and then the gasoline spilled from the shattered tank and caught fire CHAPTER I 1 a underneath the machine ma cliine lay the relics of wetherell who would suffer no more hero here close by was daphne kip whom a brief unconsciousness gave a short furlough from torture she was not alive enough to be afraid of the long lean flames about the gasoline tank though they kept springing at tier her like wolfhounds wolf hounds held in a weakening leash they had not yet quite reached her but they missed her less and less A small distance off leila lay still in almost her first ungraceful attitude oblivious for a few moments ot of the outrages the blind forces of momentum had wreaked wrecked on tier her with the fury of a 1111 hlll sikes trying to beat a woman to death the chauffeurs and passengers of cars that drew up in lengthening queues lucues ran to the scene of Wethe disaster at first they could not see wetherell but they saw daphne and her peril and they set frantically to work to drag her free but she was so caught that they could not release tier her until they should remove the car they pulled and heaved but it was jammed into the culvert ond find the ditch so tight that they could not budge it though they took risk enough and suffered blistered hands and charred clothes at last one chauffeur fa fastened a chain to the rear axle of wether Wethe ells car C ar D and nd to the front axle of his and by alternate backing and sw swerving shervin ervin g dragged and hoisted Wethe car up upward Nard and rearward while other men snatched daphne from beneath and away from the flames just as they were nibbling at her skirts at the same time they disclosed the body of wetherell and with huge difficulty fetched it forth still others found leila la in a heap a toy with broken joints the last thing daphne had known was the sensation of being shaken to death a helpless mouse in a terriers mouth tile the next she knew was that she was seated on the edge of a ditch iii aind id leaning against the shoulder of a kneeling woman in evening dress A number of shadowy men and women wavered against the searing glare of the gasoline they arrived at last at a hospital daphne was lifted out and delivered into the possession of two curt young In ternes she was stretched on a litter carried feet foremost into an elevator down a corridor to a room and rolled out on a bed two nurses proceeded to undress her and bathe her then an older doctor came in and examined tier her injuries she blazed with shame one complete blush but to him she was hardly more than a car brought to a garage lie ile nodded cheerfully and said not a bone broken young lady and no internal derangements derange ments that I 1 can discover A few burns all and a big shock Is leila hurt much daphne mumbled she is hurt a trifle worse than you but shell ame come round all right 1 I dont believe you said daphne and sighed poor bayard who is bayard sly my brother lier her husband ali ah the young man who was the ther other 0 young man was not your husband then daphne shook her head he Is no relation a friend perhaps wed better notify bayard hla his last name has he a telephone daphne muttered his name and number then her head was lifted a capsule placed in her mouth and a gla glab of water held to her lips when she was restored to her pillow a sedative was within her to subdue the riot of her thoughts she wondered what duane would think ot of her now she remembered the money she had asked him to lend her it would be in the mornings mall mail but she would not be there to 0 pen open it mrs chivvis might not dare to all her acquaintance degan began to march patt past daphnes brain in review thoughts and half thoughts and whimsies danced through her mind in a carnival of stupor and frenzy while to tile the eyes of the nurses she lay still and slept in another room leila was shrieking and fighting whimpering and moaning a torn gazelle under the claws and fangs of pain abruptly there came a lethal silence also from her they had succeeded in drugging her at last 0 when daphne had left bayard in the afternoon she had found that he was us depressed but not how deeply she supposed that his money loss was only a failure of expected profits or the mishap of an investment she did not dream that he was crippled financially bayard was so forlorn so profoundly ashamed of his bad guesswork that he could not bear to show his fact face at any of his clubs that night lie ile had boasted there too often of having bought heavily of the stock he had persuaded too many of his friends to invest in it so he be went where busy men go when other places are closed to then them ile he went vent home when lie he rea reached clied ills his apartment he found that leila had given the servants a night out lelia leila had left no word of her own plans after a forlorn delay bayard called for daphne she was ans gone too 00 with no word of tier her return at last the telephone rang A mans voice spoke and explained that it U spoke |