Show synthetic Q gentleman by channing pollock copyright Chan channing pollock service SYNOPSIS the th duke a pleasant likable youth of t twenty three jobless and broke enter ditora an unoccupied summer gummer home in southampton seeking shelter from a 1 trifle terrific rain storm he makes himself at t home six sit years ago his father had died in china lea the lad barry gilbert to tight fight his way back to the states he be did riot not recollect ever having ha eirv had a mother dozing at the ire e side ide he is startled by the arrival of butler willetta a chauffeur evans a took cook and a maid he learns that the son on of the owner ot of the house jack der whom the servants had never ten seen Is expected he decides to bluff it out his supposed parents have left for germany next morning he Is given elven ia a letter tor for his mother lie ite opens open it if I 1 land and finds a message from the real jack I 1 saying he could not come and returning ik hundred dollar bill the boys father had pensioned him into obscurity barry pockets the money intending to return it later he orders evans to take him to montauk intending to disappear there on the way ho he judge hambidge and his daughter patricia whose ear car had broken down believing he Is jack ridder sho he invites him to dinner the following thursday barry returns to sou southampton th ampton decia inc to stay a bit longer mr wilder sr through his newspaper the he globe accuses judge judee of 0 taking orders ordera from tammany hall in a condemnation dem nation proceeding 1 CHAPTER II 11 continued 5 on wed wednesday nead ay el eighteen ah teen days after his advent at the duke agot bot a letter from froin mrs wr own dear boy I 1 write this as we are leaving cherbourg Cher bourg and shall try to post it at southampton how I 1 wish it were our southampton and that I 1 were about to see you your radio ines message sage arrived duly I 1 understood of 0 course and it made me happier than I 1 have been in years dont laugh bu but t I 1 have slept with it under my pillow think how long it has been since I 1 have had any word from you save for that hurried worried talk at the hotel I 1 wanted to write you at once but it has ban been hard bard to get eft it a minute away from your father lie he really Is very ill and a little irritable and the doctor says ay any aback might prove serious of course I 1 want to tell him about you but perhaps its as well that I 1 cant just yet we shall be away until the end of july at least and perhaps longer by that time I 1 shall have had such rood good news of you as will enable me to t 0 win him over ile he does care for you dear As much as I 1 do perhaps more and that Is why his pride has been hurt and he be has seemed so hard I 1 do hope you have riven given up drink ing that has been your real enemy and I 1 do hope you will find work gothing else will go so far in persuading your father and we must persuade him soon he must change his will it the money irn im thinking of to BO much as its bitterness I 1 could bear your being cut olt off but I 1 have hav begged him tor for years to take out the paragraph forbidding me to help yo you and giving his reasons why I 1 shall never forget the night he read me that he has taken care of the household expenses at southampton did I 1 tell you that we were going to open the place anyway weve bad willetts ever since weve had the house and our agreement Is that his winter layoff lay off to last over six elx months your lather father gave him his check when he came to the hotel the morning we called and will send him one every month to pay servants etc I 1 am enclosing another hundred dollars tor for you cash because my bank accounts rather low now all except that I 1 am counting the days to your letter at nauheim Kau heim its perfectly safe to write me ine there as I 1 shall filial arrange with the porter I 1 want that letter dear you can never know how much ive wanted it and how long and how I 1 pray that nothing may inay happen now one false step on your part one foolish exploit like that at college it he knew would end everything forever and he would know ill as he be Is he still has his bis newspaper sent him and he be still reads every word it I 1 seem overanxious over anxious you will understand der stand you are almost all I 1 have mother P S dont tall fall to write for the first time since lie he had bad inserted his knife blade under the dry putty of 0 that window the duke felt ashamed of himself deeply and thoroughly ashamed 1 what can I 1 do he said 1 I cant write and what would be the use one letter and then silence some day ashes sure to find out that her boy never came near southampton I 1 wish to god I 1 could find that i oy thursdays evening paper was toll full of judge hambidge Ilam bidge decision due the headline read As civic association links holding corporation with boss kelly the link seem nery ery strong kelly who evidently was some potatoes in tammany hall had bad once employed one of the alleged dummy directors of the corporation that owned the property to be used in widening jefferson street in the face of this sensational disclosure the paper asked editorially will supreme court judge hanbidge hambidge have the courage to give these men the fabulous sums they ask for their rookeries rook eries judge hambidge insists that be has never even met mike 1 kelly 1 11 I have never spoken a word to him in my life judge ham badges decision Is long overdue over due when it Is handed down the cites voters will know whether boss kelly has bas eser eier spoken to judge hambidge after that barry surprised to find the judge absent from the next nest nights bights dinner party at his house evidently the pack was in full cry fridays evening paper had a headline that ran clear across the street still unfolded barry had bad left the lying on the library table with boss nellys kellys name filling most of its visible e quarter page naturally patricia was disturbed rather father spoke at a banquet last night at the astor antor she explained and he let me stay in with him ill sleep la in the hotel and take a train out in the morning lie he said an ali hour ago lie phoned tent hed been unavoidably detained 1 I fancy he reel feel qulie quite up to the trip peter winslow added to pa tri trl cias clas apology the speech must have taken it out of him and then afterward he be saw a woman killed by a taxicab taxi cab oh peter I 1 yes the judge called me early this morning about his bis decision in this condemnation proceeding hed just sent it to the county clerks office and his voice sounded shaky hed gone for a walk affet the dinner was over he said and tho the taxi dashed out of a side street jus jug as the woman stepped off the curb the driver jammed on tits his brakes anti and skidded right up onto the sidewalk the usual hit and run business what did the judge talk about at the dinner barry asked chiefly to change the subject 1 I dont know I 1 seen a paper today winslow seemed preoccupied barry thought but a mighty fine fellow A famous criminal lawyer but so simple and kindly he was a big chap loosely put together and his fits graying hair was loosely bru brushed bed back from a face that was square in every sense the two men clicked at once barry loved peters manner to his wife a soft round pink little woman with worried eyes peter was always jollying her gently whimsically protectively my yes man lie said of her anything I 1 do Is right only my move to make the decision unanimous smiled sirs mrs winslow she had wit in her own quiet way 1 I never met your father the attorney remarked to barry in the drawing room after dinner you work on his newspaper I 1 suppose no dont you yon want to do anything he asked very much what wha t adyth anything ing that wont get you far can you write like the lady who was asked it if she could play the piano I 1 dont know 1 I never tried you should be able to write with your fathers gift of trenchant expression youve got it too in conversation sly my brother owns a big advertising agency id like ilke to have you meet him id like to said the duke 1 I do want to work he hesitated ive been in town almost every lay day this week looking for a job he caught patriciaa Patri cias s surprised 1 glance come in and see me winslow suggested just his damned luckl luck here was a job a career probably for the asking and he take it not as J NIP 7 1 4 k NA theres a lady to see you sir john clarke ridder jr dot but patri cias eyes were still on him so ill be in monday he said when he be had made tits his adieux to the patricia accompanied him to the door 1 I owe you an apology she declared youre not lust just a rich mans son youre something quite different and im glad some girl when he reached home Willetts Wll letts was waiting in the hall theres a lady to see you sir 1 I oat at midnight she got here around eight and slie she go ashes upstairs in the library what kind of a lady sort of glittery it if you ask me the butler replied did she come in a car one of the station taxis sir hows she going to get back bac kNever never mind I 1 I 1 can rouse evans if we need him you go to bed very much on guard he be climbed the stairs to the upper rooms willetts Wll letts was right her eyes were glittery and hard A woman who knew her way around barry would hive have said and yet there was 8 something ome tender about her too she had a sharp face with a slightly protuberant chin her lips and brows browa and lashes were heavily made up but her hair nondescript in color escaped in soft waves from beneath her cheap III little littie red beret she wore a shabby black dress and her shoes hoea were badly worn all this barry observed in the long moment before she spoke youre not dot mr ridder she alie said her voice was hard too like the girl hard and yet pitiful it beamed on the point of breaking yes barry answered 1 I am not john clarke bidder not the old man the duke breathed again not the old man of course he said lly fathers in europe rm im john clarke ridder jr the girl stared at him you mean youre john clarke bidders son of course she kept on staring crazy she said it had come then it was bound to come was willetts listening in the hall what would patricia say crazy cray the girl repeated and I 1 dont think its me or a liar and I 1 dont think its him and suddenly she began to laugh Is ugh no 0 11 she shrilled its youl ifa it d written all over your face and its funny because youve youre walked into a pretty mess 1 I it if youre john clarke wilder jr im your wife my ily wife she stopped laughing laughl ng 0 as suddenly as she had begun it she said and her voice was harder than ever im your wife and youre under arrest for killing a guy under arrest barry echoed what are you talking about for answer the lie girl reached across to the library table and handed him the newspaper she had been reading when he be came into the room what john clarke clarice ridder did last night slie she said killed a guy that guy that damned skunk liike kelly boss kelly ot of tammany hall CHAPTER III after all she such a glittery lady for as barry glanced at the newspaper headlines unfolded before him she crumpled suddenly and dropped into the big chair steady the duke admonished her walt wait a minute ill get you a drink ile he poured the girl a stiff hooker ot of brandy and she drank about a third of it knew her way around undoubtedly he thought and yet the there re was something helpless and appealing about her finish it thanks im all right now to give iier her a chance to pull herself together the duke went back to those headlines boss kelly murdered they read body found by servants servant skull crushed midnight caller hunted by police was your husband the midnight caller he asked the girl norl nodded ded wearily and hes john clarke jr she nodded again for some reason he be never quite understood der stood the duke had bad stopped wondering whether willetts was listening outside instead lie he was thinking of a letter that lay in the drawer of the library table a letter from a heart hungry old woman who had written to this boy from three thousand miles away 1 I am counting the days to your letter you can never know how much ive wanted it and how long and how I 1 pray that nothing not liing may happen now well something had happened something that would end that old womans comans efforts to make it up with the boys father something that might well be the end of 0 them both why did your husband kill boss kelly ile he you sald said 1 I said what john clarke ridder ill did d well what they say he be did and it going to mako maka much difference whether he did it or not bat you dont think he be did it 1 I know he lie ile had reason enough e and hes dono done a lot of crazy things but jack hurt a fly why did you come out here for help belp well the duke said maybe I 1 can help you god knows id like to anyway lets see where we stand ue he crossed the room and sat opposite her on a little library chair go on he be urged your name yours your real name barry gilbert im a bum I 1 took shelter in this house one rainy night a couple of weeks eels ago and everybody dy thought I 1 was young ridder so I 1 let em think so my story yours she actually smiled youve got your nerve she observed well what we need now my names peggy oday Act orlue orinel sort of I 1 was a chorus girl in blossom time when I 1 met jack in florida lie he was a burn bum too living under a fake name we still live under that jay rogers ll everybody calls him jack the old man paid him fifty dollars a week tor for not using his name weve got a little boy now and be even know his names ile he thinks lies hes jay rogers jr the old man know what name we took and he care TO BE CONTINUED |