The Washington herald., 1913-11-14
THE DANGEROUS RIVAL.
BY ARTHUR WALLACE PEACH.


When Delmar Hammond entered his
fathers once his attitude was that of
great respect and little excitement, for
outside he had just seen the girl his
father had hired for their stenographer.
Father. she's a beauty. and she looks
as IL she had brainsi" Delmar said.
Where did you md her?''
The older man turned his smiling face.
I'm glad you admire my choice 1 sup
pose all you young cubs in the building
will be in love with her; but I give you
warning-you don't want to-"
We'll. II won't be hard. But who is
she?-
''She is the daughter of Stanley Vail
You know, he went TO the wall with his
business in a Southern city. She had no
money, and as had been a friend Of
her father offered her a position when
she applied to me. She's shown good
courage"
"A month from now she will be taking
a life position with some one"
Mr.. Hammond sighed. Yes, / suppose
so. 1 hope II won't be until after this
court session. We've got work ahead
of US"
When Delmar went out into the outer
office of their small suite he found his
friend. Lindon Wallis. waiting for him,
and together they went into Delmar's
private office, where Wallis whirled on
him.
Man. man, where did you find such a
girl2 Why, she ought to be a modeln'
"I don't know about that"' answered
Hammond, sharply.
well, she Is a wonderfully pretty
s~ftva apF
Wallis urged.
wait till I've had one myself" re-
turned Hammond
Wallis smiled. Now, Del, / warn you.
I've seen the girl Of my dreams, and l
intend to see more OF her in spite OF
Hammond and Hammond. l give you
fair warning
Thanks; dad gave me warning. too.
I'll be prepared. You seem to think I'm
going to be a dangerous rival. III give
you the compliment that I think you are.
You artistic fellows score over a plain
business man every time"
Wallis smiled again. May the best
man win"'
beautiful, but. as Mr.. Hammond the elder
had said, courageous, and as the younger
had discovered. intelligent.
In spite of Mr.. Hammond's warning.
Delmar found himself quickly in love
with her. Wallis, too, fell a victim to
her charms Every possible pretext that
he could find brought him TO the law Of
fce, and finally he forced an introduc-
tlon through the older lawyer.
Thereafter the race was open between
the two friends, and each played his best
cards Wallis took her to those gay
gatherings where magnetic men. dream
ers. poets. writers were present, making
an atmosphere in which she was at home.
Delmar employed other tactics; his po-
sition in the younger set Of the city CIV
ing him an opportunity to keep her in
touch with gentle folk and gentle ways
she had known in her Southern home.
So keen grew the feeling. his father
warned him again that the friendship
might suffer II they carried things too
far. Neither OF the young men gave
heed, however. and the matter came to
a crisis
Delmar secured an engagement with
her for one Monday evening, and, on ap-
pearing at the house where she was
staying, learned that she had driven
away with another man. The maid from
whom he extracted the information gave
him no further assistance in identifying
the man, but Dalmar guessed II was
Wallis.
II look Delmar long Iine TO reacn
home that night; he felt he had been
hard hit. She could have made no mis-
take in the matter OF the date: she had
shown her preference for
Wallis
As he thought more about the matter.
he began to wonder IL Wallis had not
plotted some scheme by which he was
enabled TO take her that night. He
would do anything to win. He might
have telephoned her, telling her OF some
change in plans that enabled him to take
Delmar's place; such high-handed move
would be impossible.
Delmar began to realize that his imag-
nation was getting the best OF him, and
he decided to interview Wallis in the
He stopped in the latter's studio on the
way to his Office. Wallis sat up on the
couch where he was making up for time
lost the previous night, and blinked at
his friend rather sorely. the friendship
between them had been strained to the
breaking point.
Now what's on your mindT' Wallis