The midland journal., 1913-06-20

holJra nf the dav Rray, scorabe'a office
was MT evan,nf fror, s;yoilsr SCENES
To nreVent the infrnsion of nersons
,,nanno,,Teaa ths ~, so,,ta, doo, rf the
little nrivata "a, 90 waa legt nm mark
I'd, with fis name INT the name Brans-
connie was nromirent,v diHplaved
mon fbe door ~ tha clarlx,s room
tlrnnaf which 81, v;s,tors were "a.
mittad nav Vas oraatIv snrnrised
therefore wren one morning during
ber3 aronlovar,s a,serce sba heard the
souter door wbich Was s,,nnoaed II he.
locked omen She looked nm
comelv well.dreaae,i woman was
stanfiine before her
she locked il I,er 90 firedlv that
Lucy knew trouble was ahead. she
was elad Mr. Rransco,nba q, waa away
ESQ vo,t are the vonpp woman secre-
tary.. said the woman slowly. with
dangerous tension
well. madam what can | do for
you?u she asked. she would not
mention her employers name: she
had already learned caution in the
struggle with the would-be assassin.
The woman suddenly flung herself
down upon her knees and seized
I.ucy's hands.
'I want you to be an honest wom-
an give him up to me- she said.
Il don't understand, faltered Lucy,
and a sense of impending disaster
overcame her. SO that she could hard
" see. She felt that she was trem-
bling and put out one hand to steady
herself.
The woman leaped to her feet; she
was menacing now. 70 yes. you un-
derstand., she cried aYou have
stolen him from me: you have won
his love. yo,,-you had woman. He
was mine before he ever set eyes on
you.,,
Her voice broke. and, snatching at
the document. she replaced it in her
gown again
II want YOU to give him up,o she
pleaded. at is not vet too late.
have had Won watched-both of you.
i have my detectives watching this Of.
fee now. / am going to bring a suit
against YOU both unless YOU promise
me never to see him again. Z,
ssYou are his wife?. inquired Lucy,
strangely dispassionate. It seemed too
ridiculous to be true.
Il am his wife and the mother of
his child, answered the woman,
catching at her hand again. ssAnd I
want you to be an honest girl and let
him go. For he will tire of you just
as he has tired of me. He follows
every pretty face. You think he will
divorce me and marry you, you fool
That will never be. Leave him.
& had no idea of such thing fal.
tered Lucy. She looked into the wom-
ans face. Through the tears that
filled her eyes she saw there the look
Of outraged womanhood that bore sure
stamp OF conviction. This woman was
speaking the truth.
she had been Brancombe's play
thing. And how heartless he had been.
This had been no sudden and irresist-
ible passion. but cunningiy contrived,
and she. poor fly. had walked into the
SPIDERS trap. She knew. now what
her mother meant by ssfoolishness.''
.sWhat are you going to do?o ques-
toned the woman eagerly.
.r am going 70 leave this oftice and
navar come hack said IMcy anietly.
..fsoa hless vo,,--Cod Mess vo,.,'
tba vent avon will never re-
ss,.s,,s -
T.mcv mt on her hat and pulled on
her gloves. There was plenty Of time,
for Branscombe would not be back for
an hour vet. unless, the case ended
unexpectedly.
And in spite Of it all. she could not
regret those happy hours together.
she knew that she would always re-
member their love with pride and hap
piness. That was what made her SO
calm now.
she unlocked the door and showed