Show missing byj evelyn j campbell service arvice copyright ty by ev avelyn lyn campbell CHAPTER XI 18 there Is no one they left the hotel by the servi service a elevator and an obscure exit linda had bad changed to a street dress while the man waited outside her door there had been no excitement about it though a house detective came a and nd hovered about uneasily claiming the wardrobe trunk with a sort or of triumph the two men whispered together while she dressed and she could hear bear scraps of their conversation through the open transom such things happen every day they said ald it ivas was it a common occurrence for people to beat hotels nearly always they were were good lookers also but the law was making it pretty serious the new laws they get away with it any more and the law had no mercy I 1 mercy I 1 that was not strictly true the man who came tor for her had mercy ile he had allowed her to go down and break ruthlessly with brian before brian could ruin himself over her she knew what would have happened if brian abrl had heard about her first I 1 in salte of her misery this thi thought sent a little wave of warmth and happiness over her lie he would have been true when she came out of tier her room site she was white but entirely composed anu and detective jimmy allara was politely thankful to aher her tor for not making a scene it was a bad night slippery with light falling failing sleet and taxis moved like careful ghosts feeling their way along on clanking chains under a street light the officer saw her waxen profile outlined against the dark of the cob cab youre sure there aint a gentleman ask to see you through this he muttered clumsily he had nahed that question before and ana she had told him no but he be had bad known women to take that stand often declare cl are utter f tri rienold endlessness es when they had an army of rich relations women in trouble were a lot like birds they Putt flattered ered and tried to fight off tile the liand land that was helping them contrarily he persisted that young fellow lied a been glad to anek you up it you bawled him out so strong that made her smile a queer twisted lift of her ber drawn lip did 17 I 1 was it really strong she questioned a curious childish childishness neis officer jimmy scratched its square lead head if a dame ever talked thata way to me id have passed her up lu in the first five dye seconds he ruminated rumina ted but lie he hung on like a bull pup you hardly shake ashoke him off her head sank forward and he heard her sigh this affected him strangely policemen must guard themselves closely against pity and lie he confined its his to kids and stray kittens for women like this one confidence molls lie he should have no feeling whatever but lie he slipped a glance at her and fould that tier her profile broffle the delicate a outline he had marveled at was now in shadow she was a dull blur in the corner of the cab bl but ut one hand bare a little above the wrist lay illy on the cushions between then them and in the semi gloom it looked dead white and limp lie he wondered it if she had fainted its a bad night under the wheels he said to try tier her out 1 I hope we dont bump another car she did not answer though he knew she heard and at ai that moment the car did skid and her weight was thrown against him lie grasped her hand to steady tier her sho she turned tier her head slightly and spoke poke you were very good to let me go down that embarrassed him 1 I 1 hated to hang around lady lis listening to you an your sweetie but I 1 had bad to keep you in sight why do you vail call him that ills his embarrassment grew brew he meant to use just that word to her but there seem to be any other well anybody could see that he was that you was anyway I 1 had to be there I 1 felt kinda foolish 11 1 I know you have to watch people who ore are arrested site she tore the tha word from tier her throat but once spoken her head went up it was your d duty uty it made them both feet feel better 1 I wish let your friends know about this ohara persisted excuse c u so me maam but I 1 dont think you k know now how flow to manage a business like this thares the res got to be somebody there eslo Is one site she interrupted with a touch of impatience he was perplexed ile he had the warrant n his pocket she was charged with defrauding hotels some of the ag g ones in chicago and new york ii d sum too mop moro than a good cooil no nun in could earn ln in byear a benr ne ile hud been rather proud odthe order to bring her in hed bed always hated bated a client cheat worse than any sort of law breaker and then it was ao an as assignment sitti sure to carry publicity and front page pictures and a policeman likes like publicity as well as any man but now he be proud lie wanted to find a way out for her and she claimed there tiny any but is she he had sold said something that gave him im a chance to speak to her aga again in MOW without sacrificing his dignity A man n has to do a tot lot or of things for duty when maybe he w 0 1 I re E stammered to a full st stop op but she was the kind that understood that is true she said sweetly she seemed to have no hard feelings against him film at all then she added thoughtfully and it if you been exactly honest with yourself duty iball Is all the harder when it does come if youve lied and pretended its terribly hard to tear it down he nodded anybody knew that thai it was harder to take bac backa back kalle a lie than to tell one linda was not suffering any more all the pain that had wrapped her like a dull flame had somehow settled to inertia that mercifully stilled active thought it did not matter what happened now the scene with brian ended everything as if a sharp knife had severed a cord that bo bound un d her t to I 1 all those people and made her one of them I 1 there would be a tremendous scandal and the family would want to pay up but she could not see what difference that would make now they would talk about it forever and the disgrace she had bad brought upon them all and how bow foolish it would be for of course everything was over for her now and then she saw herself lin linda it a iloth as she bhe must have seemed to others the with her head high and her skirts trailing in the gutter mud the despised woman who bid her eyes like an ostrich and took with both hands held behind herl her I 1 hands handal suddenly she held them out shuddering what will they dovi do she whispered ue he was slow about answering ile he knew at once what she was thinking of but it was not easy to answer her do im afraid its lall jail maam I 1 CHAPTER XII wind driven moth and what Is jail what happens happe fis in jail what happens to a delicate woman with alth silken wrists and ankles who has only known the softest sheets the whitest broad bread what happens to her in jail the detective told linda while the cab rattled and clashed over the slippery streets while he talked his big eyes were fascinated by the scrap of white alte wrist that caught the light from tile the window the woman prisoners had to earn their keep there were dishes to wash and floors to scrub and beds to male make just ordinary work A million women doing as much and far more all over the country every day yes but there must be something more there was it was a serious charge ohara knew the law the law could send an embezzler to sing sing S ang easy enough or maybe to the island which was worse sing sing she repeated this vaguely it sounded heathenish and a little silly but oddly familiar and what then oil oh three or tour four years I 1 of what prison detective jimmy drew a long breath lie had tried to make her understand as well as he could but he had not told her the half of course it could never happen to her A woman tike like that would have lave dozens of friends but in spite of this assumption he be moved uneasily lie he had seen it happen ile he had seen them young and pretty with the innocence hardly brushed from their eyes and no friends friend sl I 1 nothing to be called friend there were so miny many women they sprang up like daisies everywhere find and if one was tramp trampled lid there was always another for its place detective jimmy was no poet poel and he was a little ashamed of these fancies that came now and then and which he be never recounted to anyone TO BE CONTINUED |