Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-07-27
Copyright, 1oo7-The Bobbs-Merrill co.,

Louis Joseph Vance,
Author Of "The Private War;"

not been woman had she Deen undoi
| then to see that the adventure intrigued
| Maitland with it's spice of novelty a ne"
| sensation. fully as much as she, hersel1
| the pretty woman out of place, interested
and attracted him. He had enjoyed play
| ing the part had been amused to lead her
to believe him an adventurer OF mettie
and caliber little inferior to her oWn-as
| he understood her: INSCRIPTIONS. lmpa-
| tfent of the bubble of meum-et-tuum. but
| adroit and keen witted. and distinguished
| and set apart from the herd by grace OF
gentle breeding and chivalric instincts
How far he might or might not have let
! this enjoyment carry him she had no
means Of surmising Not very far, not
! too far. she was inclined to believe,
strongly as she knew her personality to
| have influenced him; not far enough to
induce him to trust her out of sight with
| her humiliation.
the flush of excitement waning. man.
| like. soon had he wearied of the game
she thought: to her mind. in distorted
retrospect. his attitude when leaving her
at dawn had been insincere. contemptu-
Gus. that of a man relieved to be rid OF
| her. relieved to be able to get away in un.
questioned possession of his treasure.
True. the suggestion that they lunch to-
gether at Eugene's had been his I:
But he had forgotten the engagement. if
ever he had meant to keep it. If the no.
ton had been more than a whim of the
moment with him. And O'Hagan had
told her by telephone that Maitland had
left his rooms at l o'clock--in ample time
to meet her at the restaurant.
No. he had never intended to come: he
had wearied: yet. patient with her., true
to the ethics of gentleman. he had
been content to let her go. rather than
to send detective to take his place.
And this was something. by the way.
to cause her to revise her theory as to
the manner in which Anisty had managed
to steal the jewels. If Maitland had gone
abroad at one. and without intending to
keep his engagement at Eugene's. then he
must have been despOiled before that
hour and without his knowledge. Surely.
II the jewels had been taken from MIN
with his cognizance, the hue and cry
not have dared to linger so long in the
neighborhood!
| To be just with herself. the girl had
not gone to the restaurant with much
real hope of finding Maitland there. Curl
osity had drawn her-just to see if /"
But it was too preposterous to credit,
that he should have cared enough.
Quite too preposterous! 1t was her cup.
her bitter cup, to know that she had
learned to care enough-at sight, =
And she recalled with what pangs OF
shame and misery begged expression ,
how her heart had been stirred when she
had found him tas she thought) true to
his tryst; even as she recalled the agony
dHu uiSITcSS VI IQlT1O WIN winch she naO
moment later fathomed Anisty's imper-
sonation.
For. of course, she had known that
Maitland was Maitland and none other
from the instant when he told her to
| make good her escape and leave him to
| brazen 1t out: a task to daunt even as
bold and resourceful criminal as Auisty
and more especially If he were called
| upon to don the mask at a minutes no.
tice. as Maitland had pretended to- Or.
If she had actually known, she had been
led to suspect. and it had hardly needed
what she had heard him say to the SER
wants. when he thought her flying hotfoot
over the lawn to safety, to harden sus-
picion into certainty.
And now that he should find her here
second time a trespasse doubly an
fngrate-that he should have caught her
red-handed in this abominably ungrateful
treachery! She could pretend of
course. that she had returned merely to
restore the jewels and the cigarette case,
and he would believe her, for he was
generous. . She could but-she could
not. Not now. Yesterday the excitement
had buoyed her: she had gained a piquant
enjoyment from befooling him. playing
her part of the amateur crackswoman in
this little comedy of the stolen Jewels.
But therein lay the difference-yesterday
1t had been comedy. but today. ah! today
she could no longer laugh. For now she
cared.
CTo be continued tomorrow