University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1915-07-19
LOVE INSURANCE
By Earl DER Biggers =


posing-room, beginning tomorrow.
BE careful, Jack" Minot warned
"A double life from now on" Pad
dock replied, but l think | can ge
away with it. Say. for ways that ar,
dark this man Stacy seems to hold &
better hand than the heather Chinee.
In one corner the portly Spencer
Meyrick was Grating to a circle Of
young people on the evils of gamb.
ling. Minot turned away, smiling
cynically. Meyrick. as everybody
knew. had made a large part of his
fortune in Wall Street.
The dinner was much larger than
Mrs. Bruce's. Minot met a number OF
new peOple-the anemic husband OF
the jewels, SNUG in his dukedom, and
several very attractive girls thrilled
at being present in Mr.. Stacy's sin
full liar. He bestowed a smile upon
Aunt Mary, serene among the best peO-
pie, and discussed with Mrs Bruce
who wasted no boughten wit on him
the Florida climate. Also, he asked
the elder of the Omaha girls if she had
heard of Mr. Nat Goodwin's latest
wife.
For once the dinner itself was a
minor event 1t sped rapidly there in
1 the gloom, and few so much as list
ened to the flashes of Mrs. Bruce's
wit-save perhaps the duchess, envi-
ously. 1t was after the dinner, when
/ Harrowby led his guests to the enter
tainment above, that interest grew
tense.
No gloom in that bright room over
head. A cluster of electric lights
/ shed their brilliance on Mr.. Stacy S
( pet roulette tables, set amid parlor
furnishings of atrocious plush. From
one corner a faro layout that had
once fiourished on Fifty-eighth Street,
New York, beckoned. And on each
side, through open doors, might be
seen rooms furnished for the game of
] poker
I Mr.. Stacy's assistant, polished
gentleman with face like aged ivory,
presided over the roulette table. He
swung the wheel a few times. an in
viting smile on his face Harrowby.
his eyes bright, laid a sum of money
beside row of innocent figures. He
won. He tried again, and won. Some
of the young women pushed close to
the table. visibly affected. Others pre-
tended this sort of thing was an old
story to them.
A few of the more adventurous
women borrowed coins from the men.
and Joined in the play. Arguments
and misunderstanding arose, which
Mr.. Stacy's assistant urbanely set
tied. More of the men-Paddock
among them-laid money on the ta-
BILE
A buzz of excited conversation,
punctuated now and then by death
ly silence as the wheel spun and the
little ball hovered heart-breakingly,
filled the room. Cheeks glOwed red,
eyes sparkled, the crush about the ta-
BILE increased. Spencer Meyrick him
self risked from his endless store. Mr..
Tom Stacy's place was in full swing.
Dick Minot caught Cynthia Mey-
rick's glance as she stood close be-
side Lord Harrowby. She seemed
another girl tonight. grave rather than
gay, her great brown eyes apparently
looking into the future, wondering.
fearing. AS for Harrowby, he was a
man transformed. Not for nothing
was he the son of the sporting Earl
of Raybrook-the peer who never
failed to take a risk. The excitement
of the game was reflected in his tall |
tense figure, his flaming cheeks. This
was the Harrowby who had made
Jephson that gambling proposition on
a seventeenth floor in New York.
And Harrowby won consistently. |
Won, until a fatal choice of numbers
with an overwhelming stake left him |
poor again, and he saw all his win
nings swept to swell Tom Stacy's
store. Quickly he wormed his way
out of the crowd and sought Minot.
May | see you moments" he
asked. "Out here" And he led the
way to the gloom of the balcony.
'If l only had the cash" Harrowby
whispered excitedly. 81 could break
Stacy tonight. And I'm going to get
it. Will you give me the necklace.
please"
you forget" Minot objected, that
the necklace is supposed to have been
stolen"
mo. No. That's no matter. III