Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-06-21
c1IAprnn 1v-tcontInuedl.

Mr.. Huron was a man of leisure. He
| had no visible means OF subslstenCe' eIu
| nobody knew anything of his tarnlly vI vi vi
| his remote antecedents. But no hea Deeu
| living at comfortable rooms IN CieIBes
! street and moving freely in good society
these 10 years past, 30 people had long
since ceased to ask Themselves VINO ne
was or whence he came. For that mat
ter in the particular set to which ne
and Mrs. Plessey belonged, suoh ques-
tions were seldom asked. The Important
thing was what sort OF a call you made
Mt 'auction" or what sort Of figure
you cut in tho tango; and In these re.
spects Mr. Huron was almost as we'll
qualified as his friend and patroness, the
universally popular Oracle
Her thoughts entirely with the man she
had left on the deck of the Sidi, Maud
was unconscious Of the anxious whisper
ing going on between her mother and
friend in the stern of the launch 1t
was not until they were all three seated
in Huron's motorcar on their way across
London that she reused herself suffi-
ciently from her abstraction To reply to
his Inquiries about her recent experiences.
Maud found herself In love for the first
time. All at once everything seemed
very beautiful and everybody very pleas
ant
Hardly realizing or caring who any
man was so long as he was not Martin,
she displayed unwonted amiability to-
ward Huron She was grateful, In fact,
for tho opportunity he gave her of re-
latng her experiences In company with
her sailor--a recital to which the man
listened in thoughtful silence, his eyes
and hands fixed on the driving wheel,
while Mrs. Plessey yawned and COM
planned OF the general nnstiness of the
riverside regions. 1t struck Maud that
her mother was unusually grave and
silent.
South Kensington was reached at last.
To Maud, the big house in Edgeworth
square, facing the ornamental garden
had never seemed what most people
mean by home It was simply the house
where she visited her mother. This morn
Ing in April she entered 1t with a strange
feeling of Inconsistencies She felt an in
tense longing for the dingy little steamer
she had Just Quilted.
Her own room struck her as uncomfort-
ably vast after her tiny cabin; the at
mosphere Of South Kensington was stuffy
after the open Atlantic and the pure air
OF the Atlas Mountains. She felt hor-
rlbly lonely. The maid had n strange ap-
pearance to her, used as she was to the
ministrations of q negro cabin boy. She
dismissed the woman. Then gulping down
a lump In her throat. she brushed away
a tear and sat down to think about Mar
tin.
Her mother had known him. Why had
not he told her that definitely? Her
brows contracted They had been OBJ
viously embarrassed, confused, at being
brought face to face Her mother knew
something about his past. OF course,
she had seen from the first that he had
not always been the skipper of a tramp
steamer, that he had belonged to the
same caste as herself Her mother knew
his secret. She did not want penetrate
1t, but she knew II could not be dis
graceful At any rate she must talk
to her mother before she decided how
or where she was next to meet him.
She tapped at Mrs, Plessy's door and
receiving no reply, entered. The room
was empty. She descended to the morn
ing room. Gilbert Huron stood looking
out OF the window. his hands behind his
back. He turned as he heard her foot
step and smiled.
"'Pon my word, 1t is good to see you
again, Maud" he exclaimed. "You can't
Imagine how l missed you! London
wasn't the same without you. The nights
| have lain awake wondering whether
anything had happened to you out
there"
Maud. surveying his plump form. was |
about to observe that his anxiety had not |
.Gsulltu III any pu9slGhl utleIlOIhllOns DuL
she checked herself. That's very sweet |
II you, Gilbert" she remarked carelessly. |
Where is mother?"
Gone out, my dear. She has to be |
at 70. then she has some
hing on at the Princes / don't think |
he'll be back all day. I ought to have .
gone with her, but I've let my engage
nents slide, l don't see you every day,
'ou know, What shall we do, eh7"
Maud leaned backward against the edge
u the table, gazing thoughtfully nefOre
Ter Huron eyed her admiringly. You
'oung juno" he murmured
But she did not hear the compliment.
shade of annoyance crossed her face.
I'm rather wild with mother running off
Ike this There is an important question
wanted to ask her.
Can be of any user" Huron lit a
cigarette and glanced at her keenly
Perhaps It's just possible" Maud
airly perched herself on the table now
md assumed a confidential tone. TITS
bout Captain Arrol-" Try as she
would she could not help the blood
mounting 10 her face and neck She went
N hurriedly; I'm under tremendous
obligations to him. as you know, and /
want to have him here to dinner. Wen.
0 my astonishment, when he and mother
net they recognized each other as old
But they didn't tell me
ghen or where they met. Now 1 don't
want to pry into their secrets, OF course,