The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1902-11-30
SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE.
CHAPTER v-coNT1NuED,.

CHAPTER V-CONTINUEDl.
King smiled and Miss Langham regarded
Weimer with fiatterlng interest. I've got
n quick-fring gun below decks" said King.
that 1 used in the Malaysian Peninsula on
a j~unlful of Black Flags, and 1 think I'll
have it brought up. And there are about
thirty of my men on the yacht who
wouldn't ask for their wages in a year II
I'd let them go on shore and mix up in a
tight. When do you suppose this"
A heavy step and the jingle of spurs on
the bare floor of the bungalow startled the
conspirato-s and they turned and gazed
guilty. out at the mountain-tops above
theia as Clay came hurrying out upon the
porch.
speaking to Miss Langbam. I'm so sorry
1t tired you. 1 should have remembered
1t Is q rough trip when you're not used to
1T" he added. remorsefully. "But I'm glad
Weimer was here to take care of you"
1T was just a trihe hot and noisy" said
MIS- Langham. smiling sweetly. She put
her hand to her forehead with an express
sion Of patient suffering. TT made my head
ache a little. but it was most Interesting"
She added, You are certainly 20 be con-
graduated on your work"
Clay glanced at her doubtfully, with a
troubled look, and turned away his eyes
to the busy scene below him. He was
greatly hurt that she should have cared so
little. and indignant at himself for being
so unjust Why should he expect a woman
to find interest In that hive OF noise and
sweattuy energy? Bur even as he stood
arguing with himself his eyes fell on a
slight figure. sitting erect and graceful on
her pony's back. her white habit soiled and
stained red with the ore Of the mines. and
green where 1t had crushed against the
leaves. Sse was coming slowly rp the trail
with a bodyguard of half a dozen men
crowding closely around her. telling her the
difficulties of the work and explaining their
successes, and eager for a share of her
quick sympathy.
Clay's eyes fixed themselves on the pic
ture. and he smiled at its significance. Miss
Langham noticed the look. and glanced be-
low to see what it was that so interested
him. and then back at him again. He was
still watching the approaching cavalcade
1ntently and smiling to himself. Miss Lang
ham drew in her breath and raised her
head and shoulders quickly. like a deer that
hears a footstep in the forest, and when
Hope presently stepped out upon the porch
she turned quickly toward her and regarded
her steadily, as though she were a stranger
to her and as though she were trying to
see her with the eyes Of one who looked at
her for the first time.
Hopper she said. do look at your
dressI,
Hopes face was glowing with the unusual
exercise and her eyes were brilliant Her
hair had slipped down beneath the visor of
her helmet.
II am so tired-and so hungry" She was
laughing and looking directly at Clay. ut
has been a wonderful thing to have SEEM"
she said. Juggling at her heavy gauntlet.
land to have DONE" she added. She pulled
off her glove and held out her hand to Clay,
moist and SCARED with the pressure of the
reihs.
Thank you," she said. simply.
The master Of the mines took. It with a
- ~-rsI --1 - -
the girls eyes, saw something there that
startled him.. so that he glanced quickly
past her at the circle Of booted men
grouped in the door behind her. They were
each smiling in appreciation of the tab
leau; her father and Ted, MacWilliams
and Kirkland, and all others who had
helped him.. They seemed to envy, but not
to grudge, the whole credit which the girl
had given to him
Clay thought. why could It not have
been the other?" But he said aloud,
''Thank you. You have given me my re-
ward"
Miss Langham looked down impatiently
into the valley below and found that it
seemed more hot and noisy and more grimy
than before.
CHAPTER VI.
Clay believed that Alice Langham's visit
to the mines had opened his eyes fully to
vast differences between them. He laughed
auO ldliou at u.IlSell IOT udNllS udreO ~
imagine that he was in a position to care
for her. Confident as he was at times, ana
sure as he was of his ability in certain
directions, he was uneasy aad fearful when
he matched himself against a man of gen.
tie birth and gentle breeding, and one who,
like King, was part Of a world Of which
he knew little, and to which, in his ignor-
ance concerning it, he attributed many ad-
vantageS that it did not possess. He be-
lieved that he would always lack the mys-
FERROUS something which these others held
by right of inheritance. He was still young
and. full of the illusions of youth, and 50
gave false values to his own qualities, and
values equally false to the qualities he
lacked. For the next week he avoided Miss
Langham, unless there were other people
present, and whenever she showed hin spe-
c.al favor, he hastily recalled to his mind
her failure to sympathize in his work, and
assured himself that II she could not in
terest herself IN the engineer, he did not
care to have her interested in the man.
Other women had found him attractive in
himself: they had cared for his strength or
will and mind, and because he was good to
look at But he determined that this one
must sympathize with his work in the
world, no matter how unpicturesque 1t
might seem to her. His work was the best
OF him. he assured himself. and ne would
Rtand or fall with it.
It was a week after the visit to the mines
that President Alvarez gave a great ball
In honor OF the Langhams. 20 which all
of the important people of blanche and
the Foreign Ministers were invited. Miss
Langnaa met Clay on the afternoon of the
.as set for the ball. as she was going