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CHAPTER 53

'. " run ra-rn or roux

' lwiien the ship was leaving the is- land, Shirley was kneeling on the divum before the open port-hole in c; cabin. She was thinking of Rod- ncyfas slie had last seeu him, stand- ing motionless on the dock, the moon light shining no his handsome. sleek Hike); head, his lithe body outlined ikifllnst thejialm-trees. iilI-Ier whole heart. cried out to him as the expanse of rippling water be- tween them widened. Involuntar- ily, she raised her arms and stretch- lgd them, in a gesture of infinite up- ppal, toward the shore. But Rodney could not guess that she crouched there until the palm-fringed shore became a hliii' in the distance. Then she got to her feet, weary and chilled. ‘lite ship was breast- ihc first waves outside the peace- ful. harbor: the hangings of the stateroom swayed; the old, familiar creuks of a speeding ship were in Shirley's ears; the smell of the sea was. in hcr nostrils. ,-She sighed and snapped on the lights and slurtcd at herself in the tun-ice. ,r_."'l‘lie \VZ\ll(ll‘l'Cl‘ takes to the ugrlini" she thought, with a little griniace. She undressed slowly and lay down in her berth. But not to blIJCl). Like Rodney, in his little bungalow‘ by the sea, she kept vigil lJlliOllFllflill the long dark hours. After that, the days and nights QKBESES. by. ivlthoiit change. She ., to look forward to any inure; nothing to look back upon. Rodney had taken evqi licr mem- dries. She was denied the solace of grieving for a lost love. For, if Rod- ney had never been hers, never really wanted her. she couldn't have lost lll.l‘.. She couldn't have lost what she. hnd never had. ~» There was o. gay company aboard tho ship on its round-the-world cruise. Louis was in his clement, llfippy. engrossed, relieved of a. fear that. had been very sharp and unset- tling, for a few hours. There was ' a second Mrs. Conroy aboard, a still- , young widow, who flattered him with ~ her attentions. There were plenty of 5 men to play cards for high stakes. It ‘was a. rich, leisurely, holiday com- 1111.115’- Louls was plcnsccl to sen, after a time, that. Shirley VJRS joining more il-ul more in the festive spirit of the ' cruise. , wdoy or two. after leaving the island over young Sheldon, and he didn't l lake-what. He'd muke up his mind l that, [IS soon as this trip was over, he'd take licr back to Oscar Bert- : rand nnd have the marriage over ; with. He'd had a report from his Paris bankers that was not reassur- R11‘ lie was ammed rit the way that $25M"!!! legacy wis melting. He want- ! ed to eat. his cake and have it, too; hilt, nt the rate things were going, He would spend the rest of his life fifvdgliw, jail for the sake of a stolen , fortune that was almost gone. It teas not an alluring future. Shirley must marry Bertrand. "He W85 astounded to come upon like one night in a secluded corner of the twat-deck, with a very hand- liome young ship's ofiiecr. Louis , could have sworn she had been in the youngsters nrms. the moment, before. She looked up at the man she called her father, with slmrkiing eyes, a laugh on her red lips. Louis had never assumed the pat- 6mm role with her. but there were rich men aboard ship whose friend- ship he earnestly desired. He knew

road

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'Rlieumafism Crippled _' * Englislrfiirl

_iv.t_But Gin Pills soon brought relief

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'1 “tango; in l: gluing?‘ lulnda c1115 l ' a mom s mi. rum unlz an nn

l eix of these a cripple. with Rheumatism. W?) Wonlrier Mil: Florencia llallalttst was glqslxmf cut. 'riting rom ntvn _ he enmn up in u. few mun-noes thou l dreary, painful monthle-ihree (lot-tors, 1570M. Blveeiixlist, u month Ill hospital

. idhontwork n uiu when she "should

been in Jed."

[Gin Pills earn Misc Helium's warmest ' "c. "I found nu improvement ,"u'l'fii' the first. box." chc declares grate- Wu '.' "l nimll always keop your pill: ' I think they are wonderful." P f“ [i ‘ITBUQI-mt voluo of Gin Pills lies in - - thing and tonic effect "upon Tho relief they give Rheumatism, Sciatica, _- etc, in wonderful. But iaauto conditions should never 0W!!! to develop. Take Gin time . one of trouble I . i l . ghgfidijfiglfi ' m t c oyel cwo on loin t‘ brick ductln urine, a bum- _ ton nthudlut on scanty or o nqueut urination. 60c. a box ll

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dnoya.

He thought she'd moped for

she could win it for him, i! lhQ would. He didn't want. her to waste hei- time with such small fry u ship's oflicera. So he slid:

"Time w turn in. my leve- l! you want your beauty sleep."

She turned her brilliant eyes on the enraptured young mun.

“Should I be more beautiful?" she asked him. He murmured something inarticu- late, but his eyes were eloquent. “That settles it!" she laughed. “Mr. Crosby will be afraid ol me. if I be- come more enchanting. He thinks I'm fatal now. And he's such a. love of u playmate! Run along to bed, Dad; I'm going to wait for moonrise." Louis went meekly, without a fur- ther glance, but he was certain that she slipped back into the arms of the young oflicer, directly his back was turned. He heard her soft, reckless laughter as he descended the coni- panionway to the lower deck.

He turned in and awakened after what seemed hours. Then he heard low whispers outside her stateroom door, which was opposite his own. That infernal Crosby was bidding Shirley good night, he thought! There wins an interval of silence-a silence long enough for a very long kiss - and then he heard the officer's foot- steps receding along the corridor. That sort of thing must stop imme- diately, thought Louis, with virtuous indignation. Wasting precious’ time and getting herself talked about. for a young Jackanapes like Crosby! He determined to speak to her the fol- lowing day. But the next day the situation had changed. She had n new man in tow and barely noticed the unhappy young officer, whose nose was most. evidently out of Joint. For two days she was constantly in the company of a wealthy Argentinean, and then it suited her caprice to drop him and take on a tilted English polo-player. He lasted until Honolulu, when a handsome Spaniard had his day. Louis discovered the infatuated Latin giving her lessons in Spanish, and he vanished into the card-room to laugh it ofl’. Shirley had spoken Spanish like a native when she was ten years old. "Just what's her game, I wonder?" thought Louis, who himself, had always a game in hand.

It was in Honolulu that he became alarmed. For an Oriental appeared on the scene. Louis wasn't sure whe- ther he was Indian or Chinese. He was handsome and attractive and was said to be a. diplomatic envoy to some European country. He fell head over heels in love with Shirley. She en- couraged him shamelessly. Louis pro- tested.

Said Shirley, eyes and cheeks fev- erishly brilliant:

"What of it? He's fun! That's all that matters, isn't lt?"

\

CHAPTER 54

THE PURSUING JINK

Miss Liz was talking to a caller in her little oflice. _

Old Judge Thorne sat in one of the plain wooden chahs opposite Miss Liz's battered desk and looked at her with eyes dimmed by something more than age.

“It's bacl business. Lizabeth." He had known her when she wore her brown hair. now so gray, in long, sleek pigtails. "You ought to have put a stop to it. The young fool's out of his senses."

Miss Liz made a weary gesture. “How could I stop it? The money

as you know, and by your advice.

day he came of age. it totaled a little

nnd the girl—plus what he must have

The old Judge snorted.

ulous little hussy roped him in."

She lifted her fine eyes to his and smiled slightly.

"Pretty badly off, Judge, I reckon you know. Ever since Rodney left mo, things have been going poorly, 1n ,5

farms with him. First there was Fan

lost my grip." Shc sighed and Ierfld

a smile. "It's age, I reckon, Judge. That happens to us all, sooner or later."

“Does-the boy know?"

She looked startled.

"No. no, of course not! And he mustn't! I didn't want. to tell him. but, if things got much worse. I was going to ask him to come buck and invest. some of his money in the farms, to tide us over the crisis. After all, they're really his, you know. I'd like to rethe and see him take them over." '

“Well, why don't you?"

Miss Liz smiled wearily. Her old vigor seemed to have left her.

“He'll have to earn a living now at his chosen profession. There isn't enough for him here." . The old Judge was shocked.

“You can't mean it, ‘Lizabeth. The Sheldon farms! Why, they're tradi- tlon." '

“And, like many traditions, they've outlived their day of glory,” she told him sadly. “No. JUilPI“ we're just about. on our last legs. MCQHJC, if Rod- ney came home and took charge, we ‘might pull through, but———~" She shook her head skeptically, a sad little smile playing around her strong mouth. '

“Tell him to come home," said the judge firmly. "He's played the chival- rous fool long enough."

She shook her head again.

"I can't, do that. He gave up the girl, because I asked him to. Now he's given awny ever cent he has in the world. I can't ask to give up the pro- fesslon he's ‘ as second-best, I can't ruin his whole life."

“You're a fine woman, ‘Lizabeth Sheldon.“ said the Judge rising. "But it's no use arguing with you, or blam- ing your nephew. You're as quixotic as he is."

When he was leaving, he said: "Let me know how things are, from time to time, ‘Lizabeth. I'll be honored to do what I can to help. If only I was a rich man . . . .' if I hadn't gone on that blasted Europen trip, you could have had that money . .

She smiled and laid her hand gent- ly on his shoulder.

“My dear old friend, you'd give me the shirt off your back. I know that. But it would take more than the price of your trip to Europe to pull me out of this hole, with everything against me."

"I feel internally responsible," he told her. “If I'd had my eyes open and my wits about me, I'd have de- tected that‘ hoax of Van Dorii't, and all of this would have been avoided.”

“You couldn't have kept those two young people from loving each other. That: was Fate."

"Well, at least, I could have nabbed

that wily Louis Van Dorn when I ran into him at Gibraltar last year," grumbled the judge, "and, with him behind the bars, all your precious nephews sacrifices couldn't have mended matters."

save the girl," said Miss Liz, with curious pride. “He, too, had a. chance to apprehend them, but he let them go, for her sake,"

The judge made a grimace.

"And now that he's given his for- tune to recompense the Rand estate, so that the charges against Van Dorn and the girl will be dropped, I sup- pose wc‘ll see Louis swuggering back hare pretty soon, just as if nothing had happened. He's got. gall enough , for it. But. if he takes my advice. he'll fsteer pretty clear of this community. lAnd the girl, too."

"You blame her Mia Liz. "Not exactly equally. Nobody as lyoung as she could be as great n lscamp as Louis Vim Dorn. But I'd ladvise her to make herself scarce. lDoirt forget what she's got back of iher. It's a worse heritage than

equally?" asked

belonged to Rodney. His father left it Louiss." i to him. I invested it for him, wisely, Miss Liz looked at him intently.

“You still believe, thcn, the old

When I turned it over to him on the story of Bianca and Mary Lou?"

"Who doesn't, ‘Lizabeth? Nothings

over $240,000." Her lips quirked in a evcr happened to change my belief,- wistful smile. "'I‘hst sounds like Fate, and nothing over will happen. I'll go doesn't. it, Judge? Exactly the anwunt to my grave, believing that Blanca he needed to clear Louis Van Dorn Van Dorn was a. murderess."

Miss Liz went back into her little

saved from the interest." She llghed: office, after her visitor had gone, and "He did love her. I lost him, after all." sat staring straight ahead of her for a

long, long time. After n while, she

"A boy's infatuation The unscrup- opened a drawer of her desk and took

from it a. packet of letters. They were

Miss Liz said nothing and, alter Q, Rooney's letters, written from the moment, the Judge naked lbruptly; little consulate at his tropical post. “How did this crazy act of his leave They were bright and cheery in tone, you, ‘Lizabeth? Financially, I mean?" ‘but Miss Liz was wise, and their ob-

vious effort to bc gay wrung her heart

In one of them, he spoke of Isabella Banner-man, at greater length than when-he had merely mentioned her

though luck went away from the as having entertained him.

"I've had my first proposal, Aunt.

Fares accident. It took her of! the Liz." he confided, "and I don't mind tracks for good and gegmed m “u; admitting that it's a darned ember- the jinx. Then. while you w"; ln rousing experience. I had three mil- Europe, m; mall. "able bum“; Th“ lionsoffered mo on I silver platter, cost us four splendid mares. The in- and I turned them down, just like aurance had lapsed too, by twgnfly- that." He had written next: "I shall four hours. 1t wu my fault. I couldn't marry only for love." ""11 $0 i089 my head cloni- those days. I reckon it wu mining my boy 5195101! with thl Others- co much. For awhile. we had one mis- down on her knees rcvercntly and ut- fortune after another. All of them cx- l?!“ l m"! Pflyéfi "Dfllr 00d. lct pensive. Money going out constantly, hi"! b! hlPPl" and precious mm coming n. Things , When IhI rm. 1hr In her old vit- bcttct as}, but I mm w have Qlfflll! pelt. for a moment.

Miss Liz refolded the letter and put She want

“Rodney would still have tried to.

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CHAPTER 55 THE DANGEROUS WAY

The Oriental had ‘ ecome Shirley's faithful shadow. l

Louis was so uneasy that he would gladly have out short the cruise. Only the fact. that Honolulu was American territory, and therefore most unsafe for himself, kept him from taking the first boat to Europe and seeking the haven of the Sea Nymph. He felt that he needed the Commodore's sup- port in coping with this new Shirley. He believed now that. lie had never known her at all. It seemed impos- sible that she could have changed so in a few short weeks.

He broke a life-long rule and con- fided his fears to the sympathetic widow. But, if he looked for reassur- ance, she gave him scant comfort. for she said earnestly:

“I know just how you feel. Man like that are awfully dangerous to young girls. They're so romantic-the men, I mean. What if she'd actually marry him? I hear he has .three wives already." .

Louis knew that was not true, but he was alarmed anyway. Bad as it would b'o if Shirley married the fel- low, it would be worse if she got her- sclf talked about, He was afraid of the effect on the Commodore.

He tried to be stern with her, and she laughed, refusing to take him seriously. Then he attempted pathos:

"You used to be such a docile little thing. such a good little girl. I never had to worry about you. I could leave you ln any company and be sure you were quite safe."

She laughed again, harshly.

"And did you think I was blind and deal’ and dumb? Do you think I didn't learn, while I sat by and watched you? Do you think I don't know men

tribe? Do you think I don't know women-and what we can get away with?"

He was appalled at her bitterness. Little Shirley of the sunny smiles! Sivcct, wistful, modest little Shirley! To think that she had kept all this rebellion bottled up in her heart so long! He felt as nearly conscious- strickon as he could feel.

He stammered:

"My dear, I didn't know -— didn't dream———" He put out his hand, but she jerked away from him.

"Let me alone!" she cried sharply. “Let me go on my own way, won't you?"

There was a. young woman among the passengers who had become ac- quainted with Shirley through the Oriental. She was married to a Chin- ese, a man much older than herself. She was shunned by some of the pas- sengers, but she seemed not to care, Like Shirley, she laughed a great deal and flirted with-all-t the attractive young men when her husband's back was turned. She said to Shirley one day:

“He reads all the time, the old pill! But I guossJ ought to be thankful- it keeps him out of my way."

Shirley was moved to say, laugh- ingly:

“You sound as if you didn't; like him."

"Like him!" The venom in the girl's voice fairly startled her. "I detest him! I'd dance with joy, if he {all overboard this minute." “But—-—aren't you-—-I understood that you, were only recently married?" “I married for spite," the girl con- fessed. “It's a. poor reason. Some day. maybe, I'll tell you about it. It isn't a pretty awry - . . . Come on, it's time for cocktails. There's nothing like a drink to make you forget that the world's a rotten place and the people in it rottener."

She drank a good deal. Shirley, who, in spite of Louisa conviclallty, rarely took even a glass of wine, found herself, of late, shrugging her shoulders, accepting cocktails, 5nd tryill! to look as though she enjoyed thorn.

The night before they sailed from "onolulu, the girl came to hel- and whispered:

"We're setting up s little party to do a perfectly terrible cabaret. You mustn't tell your father where we're going. Just you and "‘SlIB men. tloned Shirley's Oriental friend and one 0t two other! of their gay little crowd. . _ ' “W! Ifllfll t0 be a night, honey, l0 [ct rowdy for it." lhl llld.

The cabaret was a terrible place. Ihlflly ncvci could tell in what put o! the city it vm. Somewhere, she

—the whole beastly, rotten, faithless‘

l air "its l

' she demanded. “It's a dreadful place!

t fully, hcr

all my life. I-Ie was in love with me, too. We were going to be married. And then," shortly, “then his family came on the

mote her u the door to tho cabaret closed behind licr, shutting cut the noun and the light. she gasped and drank it in Ifltefulli. standing quite still in the ltucmrrhcn. u licr nun elm-ed. sin balm to wands:- whct sin hacmotm do. She didn't know the '

scene like a four-alarm fire.

choose between me and the family

book. There wasn't anything else the ‘boy could do-inaybe. turned me down fiat, and . . hand went to her eyes. She brushed away the tears, and the sullen voice continued.

around a long time. He's a. personage in his own country-money and posi- tion, they tell mo. You saw the dele- gation that came to the ship when we sailed? Well, I told Malcolm I was going to marry the Chink. I thought that would fetch him." She laughed again, mirthlessly. luck . voice fnltered, but. she went on. "he asked me where he could find me, if he ever coma to tho Orient, and I told him I never wanted to see him again."