Evening star., 1912-07-17
.CHAPTER ~.
! White Moth.

Cynthia co,isulted his wishes with shy
ly formal gsance. which for some reason
pleased hiISl uncommonly. She herself
seemed READY enough to fall In with the
Red Man'sa offer, and since they had
missed the last boat for New York mo-
tor ride sees1ed infinitely preferable to its
only alternative, the trip by trolley or
elevated, in;cars crowded to the point OF
suffocation with the dregs of Coney Is
lands floating population.
So presently this singularly assorted
trio passed Through the hotel to the car
riage entrance.
Here a stalwart person not less i'm
posingly invested in livery than in the
habit of authority consented to accept of
Mr.. Rhode quarter of dollar together
with the numbered ticket for his waiting
car, and went languidly away to sort out
that particular vehicle from what seemed
little less than half hundred others, all
parked in a. shadowy reservation to one
side of the carriage drive.
Then the inventor of occupations suo-
denly discovered his cigar magazine TO
be quite empty, and after snortlng i'm
mitigable disdain of the cigarette Critten-
den gravely offered, hurried off TO lay IN
freSn
black projectiles, with brilliantly illumi-
mated stomachers.
II wanted to ask you- Cynthia De-
gan, the moment they were alone.
"And I wanted to tell YOU" Crittenden
interrupted. I'VE may not have another
chance. This man Rhode 1 know
practically nothing about; he seems to be
a rather unusual type, and 1 wouidn
advise anybody to trust him out or haho.
But Nine. Savaran is quite another propo-
hnv
/ do know a little something about her;
i'm fact, almost everybody in New York
does: she's a-well. an original. but
she'll probably tell you all about hersen,
if you get the job. and there isn't time
now = There's no reason whatever
why you shouldn't engage yourself to
her. if you want to-especially since
you're in no way bound to Rhode. Don't
forget he has done nothing but give you
advance advice of the opportunity. OF
courSe-there no question put-l-ne mas
-ah ."
Crittenden's words were trailing off into
hopeless tncoherence even as his voice
fell to an inarticulate humble. Cynthia,
who had been listening attentfvely enough
while idly watching the arrival of be-
lated but evidently high-spirited motor
party, whose car had just then run In to
the carriage landing, turned to look Won
deringly at her companion.
/ She surprised him in a state of utter
CONSERVATION, stammering to full stop.
Even in the semi-dusk of the yeranda the
hue Of pallor replacing the healthy color
in his dark face was noticeable, while
the eyes she had thought SO kind and
pleasant were cold and staring, just as
the gently humorous lines of his mouth
had hardened into set. thin line of lips.
She thought his appearance that OF one
to whom an ineradicable affront has sud-
denly been offered. judging from the
struggle to retain his seif-command that
ohyioI1siy was taking place within the
man.
Naturally she sought the source of this
unpresaged change. and with a woman's
unerring instinct found II In another
woman-one of the newly arriving party
There were four of this company-two
men in dinner clothes and two women all
in white. OF these last the first to be
then coming up the steps to the veranda.
Even though she were q thought too
strikingly attired, CynthtA thought her
ravishingiy beautiful ought so even
when conscious Of that Q$pt autagonistic