The Washington herald., 1913-12-21

corded as heliOck- ana instead OF De-
iEg a Canadian and born and brought up
In the Western town Of Medicine Hat, as
young Mallory had claimed. her birth
place was recorded as Lansing. Mich. She
had been educated at the Glider Seminary
In Boston, and had later studied one year
at well-known, dramatic school In New
York. In little over aIyear she had been
made star in the Broken Ties produc-
ton.
The st. Lukes officials. after all, had
not been so far wrong. The young man
in the panama hat was a paranoIac.
II was, however. too late to turn back.
And there was still the other end of the
mystery to unraveL So / ushered young
Mallory up the musty stairs to my third
floor room, and seated him with a cigar
and a magazine between those four bald
and depressing walls with their sulphur
colored paper Then / stepped outside
and carefully closed the door after me-
The crossed the hall to the girls room
and knocked
There was no answer. So opened the
door and looked in. The room was empty
1 crossed the room. with a sudden pre-
monition of evil Then turned up the
gas and pulled open the top drawer o;
the chintZ-covered bureau. There lay my
bill And beside 1t, noticed with a gasp
OF relief. still lay the revolver
l took the weapon up and looked It over,
hesitating whether or not to unload Il.
still held 1t in my hand. staring down at
II. when heard the creak OF the door be-
hind me- II was followed by a sudden
and quite audible gasp Of fright
1t was the owner OF the room herself
I saw, the moment I swung around It
was not so much terror in her eyes, by
this time, as sheer surprise.
What are you doing here?" she asked,
with n 0travar n Embellishments
TN answer that when you answer q
question of mine" 1 temporized. as
held the revolver up before her. Where
did you get this7' 4
She did not speak for a second or tws
why are you spying on me this way
she suddenly depanded- She sank Tito
a chair. pulling nervously at her pair Of
worn gloves.
You insist on knowing?" 1 asked.
I've a right to know"
Because you are not Harriet Walter"
was the answer 1 sent, buIlet-like at her
She raised her eyes to mine There
was neither anger nor resentment on her
face All / could see was utter WEAKNESS,
utter tragedy.
Il know" she said. She spoke very
quietly Something in her voice sent a
stab of pity through me.
I'm only trying to help you," I told
her.
You can't" she said, very simply.
Its too late"
IT'S not too late," 1 blindly persisted.
What do you know about it?' was her
listless and weary retort-
know more about it than you imag-
this revolver came from, when and where
you picked IT up. and just how near you
came to using it."
She covered her face with her hands
oh. they'll all know now" she moaned.
Il knew it would come, some day. And
I haven't the strength to face It,"
/ felt, in some way. that the moment
was a climacteric one
But how did it begin?'' asked. more
gently, as / gazed down at the fragile
and girlish body huddled together in the
chair.
TT began two years ago." she went on
in her tired and throaty monotone 1T
began when I saw I was a failure, when
realized It was all useless. that Id
made mistake
What mistaken 1 demanded, stfii in
the dark.
The mistake wasn't brave enough or
big enough to face. thought il was the
life was made for, that they'd never un-
derstood, at home. Even he couldn't un-
derstand. / thought. Then they let me
come worked. oh. so hard. And when
l left the school all could get was a
place in chorus I was ashamed to tell
them 1 pretended 1 had a part, a real
part. He kept arguing that I ought to
give 1t up. He kept asking me to come
back. I wasn't brave enough to ac-
knowledge defeat. 1 still thought my
chance would come; 1 kept asking for
more time"
And them prompted.
Then 1 couldn't even stay at the work
I had. 1t became impossible. / can't tell
you why. Then did anything, from NOV
ing pictures to reader in the city library
classes. But still kept going to the
agencies, to the Broadway ofices. irving
to get a part. And things dragged on
and on And then did this-this awful
thing
What awful thing?' I asked. trying to
bridge the ever-recurring breaks in her
thought But she ignored my Interrupt
ton
Wed studied together in the same
classes at the dramatic school And peo-
pie had even said We looked alike. But
she was born for that sort OF life, for
success. As went down, step by STEP
she went up. He wrote me that I must
be getting famous, for he'd seen my pic
ture on magazine cover. It was hers.
pretended It was mine pretended I
was doing the things she was doing
let them believe I'd taken a new name, a
stage name. I sent them papers that told
OF her success. 1 became a cheat. an i'm
postor, a living lie. 1 became Harriet
Walterv'
At last the light had come. 1 saw
everything in a fash.
1T was terrible" she went on, in her
passionate resolve to purge her soul OF
the whole corroding light. 'T didn't
dream what 1t would lead to, what it
would cost. l dreaded every advance she
made. 1t wasn't Jealousy, Il was more
than that: It was fear, terror. She seemed
to be feeding on me. day by day. month
by month. I knew, all the time. that the
higher she got the lower had to sink.
And now, in a different way. she's taken
everything from me. Taken everything.
without knowing it!''
NC, you're wrong there" I said
''She hasn't taken everything"
Its too late!' She clasped her thin
hands hopelessly together. And there's
no one to 80 to-"
There's Mallory" I said, waiting for
some start as the name fell on her ears
But saw none
mo" she cried; he'd hate and de-
spise met
But you still care for him?' I de-
II need him." she sobbingly acknowl-
edged. ''Yes-yes. always cared for him.
But he'd never understand. He'd never
forgive meN He's grown away from me-"
Hes waiting for you." l said.
/ stood looking at the bowed figure
for moment Then slipped out Of the
room.
I stepped in through my own door and