The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1914-02-19

IO
The little hypocrite continued to voice
words of warning and denial. though
her eyes invited him. and for long
time they continued this delightful
play of pleading and evasion. But at
last Chiquita jumped up with a great
appearance of alarm.
Heavens. the time!" she cried 81
have stayed too long by much. Ste
phanie will miss me-
He rose and stretched out his hand
as if to hold her.
shall | come again tomorrow
She grew suddenly earnest
No no. senior. That is something
you should not ask. If ever we are to
meet again it must be with my fathers
consent Please! Do not urge. for truly
| would have to refuse" She let her
palm rest in his an instant, and her
cheek went scarlet as he pressed it to
his lips Then she said: go, Mr.. Bra
zen One. How greatly it surprised me
to find you here | cannot say. 1t gave
me such start! And. Senior Antonio
my father may be found any day at his
bank" Before he could detain her she
was gone. fitting up the path with just
one flashing smile of mischief over her
shoulder
Anthony went home with his head In
the clouds. All his doubts were now at
rest: for while Chiquita had stubbornly
denied him all encouragement. he felt
sure that her heart had answered. 1t
was in the highest spirits. therefore
that he opened a letter he found await
ing him and read as follows:
Dear Krk-r hope you are heartily sick
of yourself and ready to do something
decent for change. Knowing your aris
tocratic habits as do | realize you must
owe a lot of money by this time. and
your new friends must be getting tired of
you. / have been expecting you to draw
| on me daily and am taking this occasion
| to warn you in your own extensively ac-
| quired college English that there is moth
ing doing"-except upon one condition. Ii
you will agree to behave yourself in fu
ture will pay your debts. send you west
and give you a job as operator at $40
month. But you will go where send you
| and you will stay where you are put.
will do the thinking for both of and
| judge of your associates. Maybe il you
| prove to be any good at all | will arrange
| with the police to let you spend your va
| cations in that dear New York" which
! still shows signs of your red paint brush
| wor'd be pleased to have an apology by
| return mail. so that / may meet you in
| New Orleans and start you off once more
| on the road to decency and self respect
| You will never be a success at anything,
| but 7 am always ready to do my duty.
| This is my last offer. and IL you refuse
| you may distinctly and definitely go to
! the devil. AS ever your loving father,
| DARWIN K. ANTHONY.
p. 81 can get good operators for $50 a
| month. The extra $40 is pure sentiment.
| Spurred by his present exhilaration.
Kirk wrote an answer. which he read
with good deal of satisfaction before
sealing it up:
| Dear DadAYou affectionate letter with
the kind offer to take charge of siding
| out in the Dakotas is at hand. l would
| like to help you along with your business.
| but Upward and Onward is my motto.
| and you'll have to raise that salary bit.
l am drawing 1925 a month at present.
| quarters furnished and promotion prom
| ised. i have made some good investments.
| and there are no debts to settle. Inclosed
| find my last bank statement. which will
| doubtless prove great disappointment to
/ you.
| II you need a good master of transpor-
| tation would be pleased to consider an
1
| satisfactory, but your proposal to edit my
acquaintance is out of the question. My
| decency and self respect are doing well.
| thank you, and like the climate.
| The salary would have to be about Sc. 900
a year. AS always your devoted and ODE
| dent son, KIRK.
P ST. would not care to locate farther
| west than Buffalo. My wife might not
| like it.
in of no
bank, but was disappointed to learn
that Senior Andres Garavel had left
the city for an unexpected business
tour of the provinces and would not
return for at least two weeks.
In the days that followed he saw
nothing of Gertrudis. but great deal
of Edith Cortlandt. She had redeemed
her promise of getting him a good
horse-something rare in this country
and he was grateful for the exercise.
which came as welcome relief from
his indoor toll. Soon their old friendly
intercourse was going on as if it had
never been interrupted
AS for Edith. this semipublic III
timacy came TO be quite as much d
pain as pleasure to her. Durin-
these past few weeks she had been
plunged i'll IL mental turmoil. the signs
Of which she had concealed with diff,
Guilty. She had fought with herself
she had tried to reason; she had mar.
sialed her pride. but all in vain. Al
LIST she awoke to the terrifying Ger.
tainty that she was in love with Kirk
She began to look upon her husband
with quickened curiosity. and found
him stranger For years she had
made allowance for his weaknesses
! ignoring them as she ignored his vir