Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1902-10-02
look quite ILL.," His voice was cor
cerned.

look quite ILL" His voice was con-
cerned.
81 feel ill.," she answered, sitting
down, and she looked him steadily in
the face; sill and troubled. l have
lost a friend"
Indeed, who is it-anyone ]
know?"
She was mistress of herself, and
answered clearly and coldIy.
ut is you, Mr.. Rising. l thought
you were a friend. l trusted you
with my secret, and how have you
rewarded me? By stealing my play,
the work of my brain, and palming
it off as your own. This afternoon
at Mrs. Bryan's reception l heard
with my own ears Mr.. Harcourt Dare
tell a woman he had accepted a COM
edy called An Impenitent Woman
by Herbert Rising, the dramatic
critic. He said he hadn't thought
you had it in you to do such clever
work-that you had a great future
as a dramatist before you"
Herbert looked quite disconnected.
"You heard him say that?"
do you deny you told him you
wrote the play yourself?"
mo, l don't deny it. I did tell
him | wrote it,"
80, how can you look me in the
face and own such baseness?"
Herbert stared, frowned and rose
to his feet. He came in front of Mar
garet and put his hands on her shoul.
ders.
Marcy" he said, unconsciously
using the familiar name he was not
privileged to utter; "how dare you
suspect me of such unutterable
meanness?"
"Must l not believe the evidence Of
my w ears?"
"In this case, no."
Margaret flushed slowly. and, look
ing into his face, believed him. Tears
started to her eyes, but not all o.
sorrow. She asked for no proof; tn,
look in his eyes satisfied her. "For
give me-" she whispered.
"Three years ago Dare accepted
play by a Mrs. Averill; he was per
suaded into doing SC. He spent
large sum mounting it, and it failet
utterly. He vowed never to produce
another play by a woman. l there
fore led him to think I wrote you
play; otherwise he would have eithel
not read it at all, or read it base,
against it. That is the explanation.
Forgive me-" repeated Margaret
with shining eyes.
For nswer he stopped and kisse'
her. MARCY, I love you. It's no
your play | want, but your swee
self. I want to steal you from thi
home to reign in mine, or, rather
in the one I have in my minds eye
1t only wants a wife to complete it.
"a wife," she said, smiling mistily
eff her name is Marcy, and if sh
, suspected me of barefaced stealth
of plays, no other will do"
"Then her answer is Yes" MAJ
: garet whispered.
) "And the funny part" said Hell
) bert, taking a paper out of his pocl
ct, "is that l didn't come wife-seel
ing tonight, but on a prosaic piec
/ of business. On second thought.
l Marcy, I can hardly blame you, afte
what you overheard, from %suspectin
me. But, to prove my loyalty, rea
this. It's a contract on the part c
Harcourt Dare to produce AN In
penitent Woman by Margaret Ha
ston, before the year is out. SCI
the original name is Herbert Ri
ing, but when he had signed it tol
him the truth, crossed out my nan
: and wrote yours overhead"
But when can Impenitent Woman
t was successfully produced at TIL
Crescent theater the name of tn
t author was not Halston, but Rising
l and no one was prouder than he
0 husband of the success of what /
called "Margy's play Chicag
Tribune.