Show golden dawn ay by peter be B kyne copyright by trell syndicate service CHAPTER XI continued 24 you ton are to so kind doctor burt she said aid ile he resumed his passive stroking of her ber forehead and cheeks in a low monotonous tone he be commanded her to answer all his questions then suddenly rare hare you thought or of your daughter penelope of late grimace of distress flitted flirted across the beautiful face no distress or bad luck will attend the thinking while you are with me understand I 1 command you yon to think about her to remember her and to answer truthfully all my questions regarding her yes res doctor why did you yon and mr gatlin adopt herr her he wanted a baby and I 1 give ire him one could you if you had cared to yes oyes doctor her tone was very peevish how old was she when you adopted her about a month where did you find her in the infants shelter in san francisco did you know who her parents were before you had decided to adopt herr yes tes doctor A captain and mrs robert E elleott El llott llort why did the elliote elliots abandon their baby the captain was killed by the moros and his wife died in this city in childbirth do you remember what whai branch of the service the captain was in he was a captain of cavalry when you and mr gatlin adopted penelope did you have any written record ot of her parentage we had a letter from the matron at t the infants shelter and we had a letter from the doctor who attended mrs elliot at st dunstano Dun stans hospital and somi some letters from old neighbors of the elliots elliote Elli why did you get the letters from the old neighbors theodore was concerned about the babas ancestry and was it the best 01 1 I do not know it satisfied mr gatlin what has become of all the records pertaining to penelope 1 I burned them why to keep penelope from getting them then she wanted them did she not yes doctor she demanded them when was this on her el eighteenth birthday how did it happen that she waited until her eighteenth birthday before demanding them up until then she thought she was our own flesh and blood ahl why did you burn these records rather than give them to per pece llope lope 1 I hate bate her when you refused to give them to her what happened she cried and laughed and screamed and attacked me she said she hated me finally she fainted and I 1 had the maid put her to bed and lock her in c her room did you give penelope any information at all at any time regarding her parentage there was a slight hesitation 1 I 1 lied to her I 1 wanted to hurt her because she recognize my moral right to halt half of theodores estate SO sf I 1 told her she had negro blood in her veins what made you invent such ench a horrible tale penelope Is a decided brunette I 1 thought even if she did not believe me my statement would create in her mind a doubt and a fear that would drive her crazy what happened after that mrs merton in the morning she w wa s gone how did she go she made a rope of sheets and blankets have you seen her sincer since no Is she dead 1 I do not know I 1 hope so stephen turned to dan any questions mcnamara Namara Uc shook his bis head owlishly 1 I can revive most of the record perhaps all of it the captains record to is in the army flies when he be married a notice dotlee of it appeared to in the army and navy journal with that and what I 1 can get out of the of off ficera leers who gol col dieren with the captain IU ill get a pretty complete picture crept stephen eu resumed his bis cross examination DH you yon ever beat penelope did you ever pinch her and slap her and lock her up tw doctor I 1 wake the fiend up op and send her ber home bome mcnamara roared 1 I 1 will As aa soon boon as I 1 look up tier her memory of penelope stephen replied tie ile impressed upon her the he fact that she was not III fit at all ne he commanded her very earnestly to forget that she had ever heard of him then ile 1 he awakened alried he her as 11 mcnamara departed gave her a long look felt her pulse told her she was much improved and handed her some soda mint tablets she departed in a somewhat happier mood well mcnamara demanded when he and stephen found themselves alone again what do you think of that one tor for a hellcat hell catl cat 1 I do not think dan we merely accept such people as we accept sunlight and rainfall do you think see any more of this woman stephen 1 I hope not I 1 hope the hypnotic suggestion I 1 save gave her Is strong enough to overcome her acquired instinct for illness were the things she told you 11 lumina very I 1 suspected most of them and she confirmed my suspicion we know now cow that penelope Is of sound ancestry her father was not a neurotic if he been a normal gallant fellow and physically fit he would never have become a captain of cavalry ne he was killed in action but we have arrived at a starting point dan the reason for the mental shock that gave penelope a dissociated personality sona lity 1 I get that at least not quite stephen for some dome reason best known to themselves the gallins kept from penelope the fact that she was not their own flesh and blood however while we have definitely established the date of the mental shock and the character of the shock we have also established the causative factors leading up to the shock penelope had a most unhappy childhood from earliest childhood she was the victim of bitter rebellious thoughts then that baseball wrecked her nose this was a mental and physical shock the separation and divorce of the gallins was another terrible shock because she lost gatlin and there was nobody to protect her and Gat gallins lins death was a severe shock then is she emerged from childhood into maidenhood the knowledge that her nose made her hideous naturally became an obsession with her now dan by this time there was no a further necessity tor for concealing the facts of the childs birth gatlin dead had bad left his bis entire estate in trust tu to penelope and on her eighteenth birthday she was free to do as she pleased she could leave her hellcat hell cat of an adopted mother now she carried her own check book the knowledge that she was riot not flesh and blood of the beloved gatlin came as a terrible shock and with it of course came other terrifying speculations 1 more afore piling on of the inferiority ca complex mcnamara interrupted and she cracked under it then she made up her mind to forget forger mrs airs gatlin and she did A clear case of auto hypnosis dan now youve got to run down the record of our penelope and that of her parents she must have it and it must be proof of the most convincing character because such proof Is necessary it if we are to restore to her her mental tranquility well said dan ill be back presently with the girls record and then out of the darkness into the sunlight mac well the next one I 1 find in the darkness will stay there the chief growled the absence of the ile capable lanny was a constant reminder to dr stephen burt of his sole experiment to date in a case of dual personality lie ile yearned with an alert scientific yearning to get to work on penelope gatlin and when dan mcnamara appeared at the office one day he be saw by the satisfied smirk on the mcnamara countenance that all had gone well let me see the documents stephen demanded mcnamara handed over over the pile of papers well youve done your full duty and have kept the pollee police of various cities busy for a few days said stephen what do you hear from lanny 1 shell be home next week the skin graft on the girls nose was a complete success and how does the girl feel about the situation now ashes crazy about her new nose and spends hours examining it in a hand band mirror stephen smiled naturally she would lanny says the girls been her real self more than half the time since that first look she would be and now im going to add to her happiness by sending her this record which I 1 shall supplement with a report of my own on her case shell study lt it and in this convincing proof that she Is not what mrs merton told her ber she was shell probably get well these cases are simple dan all you have to do Is to discover the cause and remove it it nature does the rest she will have no more rebellious thoughts because the despot can do her ber no further harm barm tier her black moods of depression will not nor come again she la is organically and mentally sound the product of a sound ancestry on both sides of her family but she knows she was an inmate of san quentin Quent ln shell remember she abe was a thief she will of course feel great shame when fully restored to her normal per son tonality allty in her other personality with her acquired instincts of morality and convention smothered la in her sub ab conscious mind she che had bad of ourse course no BO sense of remorse or shame J think that when I 1 have explained this to her she will understand cyst what her mental condition wits was and her fear that the world will discover her sorry record will I 1 feel certain be alleviated by her know knowledge knowledg led p that it would be impossible for anybody who knew her as saddle nosed nance belden to recognize her as good looking penelope catlin all ive got to say young fella alad the admIrl admiring ng mcnamara de dared Is that youre one h 1 1 of a smart man danl I 1 some two weeks later lanny walked in on stephen well he declared acidly youve certainly taken your time about geating back on the job youre looking mighty particular lanny happy stevie Stev le dear I 1 never knew there was such complete happiness in the world wheres penelope ashes gone back to paris on a new passport well well well stephen chided tier her tell me things stevie Stev le ashes as lovely as a may morning and the operation A phenomenal success of course lanny added she could never stand a sock on the nose just what Is she going to do in paris close out her apartment and dismiss miss her servants and coming back to san francisco lanny nodded now how do you stand miss ordway as your ybur office nurse stephen rather well im sorry to say ashes very competent and much more tactful than you and do you want me back darling she queried there you go fishing for a comell compliment of course I 1 do but it necessary you could come in once a week weck not for a great many weeks stevie lie he glanced up at her sharply how come lanny dannys face was the color of an old rose im going to have a baby she whispered and then stephen burt burr stood up and took dear old lanny in III his strong young arms and hugged her at last she was going to have her little slice of life I 1 of course lanny said presently be thi the babas godfather god father he nodded of course three months passed to stephen burt remarkable by reason of the be fact that mrs rudolph merton did not call upon him at last to satisfy his curiosity he telephoned rudolph merton to ask him how his bis wife was 1 I dont know merton replied complacently oi ashes gone dead no such luck ashes gone to ro southern california to join a new religious sect A colony on the fringe of the san bernardino desert with a prophet in command and what are you doing about it sir mr merton stephen asked im subsidizing the prophet so hell stay in business ten months longer mrs merton has deserted me thank i spends hours hour examining it in a hand mirror god but she has to be away a year before I 1 can secure a divorce on the grounds of desertion the prophet comes high but I 1 can afford to pay tor for my fancies 1 I gather from your manner that youre not broken hearted 90 such sorrow as I 1 feel now would be delirious delight compared with what id feel it if she decided to come back to me 1 I congratulate you mr merton goodby good by and good luck to you you deserve it TO BB CONTINUED |