Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1908-05-16

she DaQe nlm gOOO night. lie IOucn-
ed her hand, but made no offer to kiss
her. She laughed a little to herself.
watching him striding toward the ele-
vator.
She turned leisurely, her slim hands
balanced lightly on her narrow hips,
and strolled into the second dressing
room, where Mrs. Vendenning sat sui
leniy indulging in that particular spe-
cies of solitaire known as 1.-THE Idiots
Delight"
"Well?" inquired Mrs. vendenning,
looking up at the tall, pale girl she
was chaperoning so carefully during
their sojourn in town. "What did
Howard Quarter wantY
"He knows, tL:ck, bat be hasn't yet
informed me-"
'I'll tell you one thing, Agatha, I"
said Mrs. Vendenning, gathering up
the packs for a new shuttle, "Grace
Ferrall doesn't fancy Towards atten-
ton to you, and she's beginning to say
so. When you go back to Shotover
you'd better let him alone"
''I'm not going back to Shotover,"
SAID AgdInd.
"What?"
''No, don't think so. However, I'll
let you know tomorrow. 1t all depends
but / don't expect to-" She turned
as her maid tapped on the door. "Oh,
Captain Voucher. Are you at home to
him?' Tipping the pasteboard on to
the table among the scattered cards.
EYES," said Mrs. Vendenning aggres-
sively, unless you expect him to flop
down on his kIees tonight. Do your"
81 don't-tonfght. Perhaps tomor-
row. l don't know. | can't tell yet"
And to her maid she nodded that they
were at home to Captain Voucher.
Quarter had met him, too, just as
he was leaving the hotel lobby. They
exchanged the careful salutations of
men who had no use for one another
On the Englishman's clean cut face a
deeper hue settled as he passed; on
Quarters not a trace of emotion, but
when he entered his motor he sat bolt
upright, stiff backed and stiff necked,
his long gray gloved fingers moving
restlessly over his pointed beard.
The night was magnificent. Myri-
ads of summer stars spangled the
heavens. Plank, driving his big motor
northward through the night, Leila
Mortimer beside him, twice mistook
the glimmer of FREELY for the distant
lamp of a motor, which amused Leila.
and her clear young laughter foated
back to the ears of Sylvia and Siward.
curled up in their corners of the huge
tonneau. But they were too profound
~ occupied with each other to heed
the sudden care free laughter of the
young matron, though in these days
her laughter was infrequent enough to
set the more merciless tongues wag-
ging when it did sound.
Plank had never seen fit to speak to
her of her husbands scarcely yelled
menace that day he had encountered
him in the rOtunda Of the Algonquin
Trust company. His first thought was
to do soto talk it over with her, con-
slider the threat and the possibility of
its seriousness and then come to some
loglcaT and definite decision as to what
their future relations should be. Again
and again he had been on the point of
doing this when alone with Leila-un-
comfortable, even apprehensive, be-
cause of their frank intimacy. But he
had never had the opportunity to do so
without deliberately dragging in the
subject by the ears in all it's ugliness
and implied reproach for her impru-
dence and seeing that dreadful. va
cant change in Leila's face which the
mere mention of her husbands name
was sure to bring turn into horror I'M
speakable.
A man not prone to fear his fellows.
he now feared Mortimer, but that fear
so reached him until the days of his
closing struggle with Quarter. That
threat of Mortimer's to involve Plank
with Leila in one common ruin, that
boast that he was able to do so could
not be ignored as a possible weapon if
Quarter should by any chance learn of
it,
In all his life he had taken Leila
into his arms but once. had kissed her
but once. But that once had been
enough 70 arm Mortimer with danger
from head to foot Some prying serv-
ant had either listened or seen.~per-
haps a glimmer of mirror had be-
trayed them. At all events whoever
had seen or heard had informed Nor
timer, and now the man was equipped,
the one and only man in all the world
who could with truth accuse Plank,
the only man of whom he stood in
honest fear.
And it was characteristic of Plank
that never for one moment had it oc-
Cured to him that the sheer fault of
it all lay with Leila; that it was her
imprudence alone that now threatened
herself and the man she loved-that
threatened his very success in life as
long as Mortimer should live.
All this Plank, in his thorough, pains
taking review of the subject, had tax
on into oooo1n+ aud bo o0I1Id. NOT see