The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1916-12-07

yOu SlbUDtu Ut tu6 luOIkut.
Jimmy's reply left no doubt OF the
genuineness of his fears, II not OF his
intentions. Strange stories were told
In the Tenderloln-tales OF treachery |
punished and ingratitude revenged.
Jimmy knew several young men who |
appeared out of the East side at Mel |
cher's signal. They were inconspicu-
Gus fellows, who bore fanciful dime !
novel names-and no rustler's strong |
hold OF the old-time western cattle |
country ever boasted more formidable |
outlaws than they. Jim knew these
0unmen well; he had no wish to know
them worse.
IL can't promise anything definite
when she's sore on me-" he declared. |
Hes about ready TO ask her-she's |
the one to fix. She hates men, though.
and that Merkle story made her crazy"
Melcher pondered for several mo-
ments. 81 think l know Lorelei better
than you do" he stated, deliberately,
"and believe we can pull this or. pro-
vided Wharton really wants to marry
her. Anyhow, he's so rich it's worth
the odds, and she's just the sort to
| fall for 1t. Meanwhile I want n un-
derstood with your mother that
share in what comes her way"
"I'll fix that" promised jim.
! He found II. in fact. no very difficult
task to regain at least part of his
sisters lost esteem, though the process
took time. He went about It with the
lazy, catllke patience of his kind, be-
haved himself, kept his mouth shut
and assumed just enough of an injured
air to be plausible. He enlisted the
aid OF bis mother and of Lilas Lynn.
and meanwhile made himself as agree
able as possible TO Robert Wharton.
Melcher was as good as his word,
and there shortly appeared in the Dis
patch an unpleasant rehash of the for
mer story. 1t was published in con
nection with the Harmon divorce pro-
ceedings, news OF which was exciting
comment, and IL further smirched Lo-
relcl's reputation. Jim was appropri-
ately indignant, but helpless, and Mrs.
knight unweariedly blamed everything
upon her daughters desertion of the
family circle, predicting more evil to
follow unless Lorelei came home at
once. She also dwelt upon the fact
that Peter was steadily failing and
was in immediate need OF both medical
and surgical attention. The doctor had
pronounced sentence, prescribing to-
tai change OF living and treatment
by foreign specialists.
In some unaccountable way the story
of Nobel Bergman's humiliation be-
came public and afforded the basis for
newspaper article that brought him
, to Lorelei's dressing room in a fine
fury. Even after she had convinced
him of her innocence his resentment
| was so bitter that she expected her dis
missal at any time.
Other press stories followed; the girl
suddenly found herself notorious;
, scarcely n day passed without some
dlsagreeable mention of her. Adoree
Demorest, as indignant as Lorelei her
self, declared finally that her friend
must be the object of a premeditated
attack directed by some strong hand,
; and once this suspicion had entered
Lorelei's mind 1t took root in spite OF
, its seeming extravaganza. Her good
{ sense argued that she was of too little
consequence to warrant such an as
sault, bat her relatives seized the sug-
gestlon so avidly rs to more than half
convince her.
Mrs. Knight attributed this injustice
+ first to Bergman then to MerSle, whom
= she hated bitterly since her unfortu-
/ nate attempt at blackmail; Jim was
: inclined to agree with her. Mrs
3 Knight, as always, ended her sympa'
thetic reassurances by saying, "If you
D were only married, my dear, that
. would end all our troubles"
: The climax of these annoyances
8 came one night after party at which
Lorelei had been presented to an old
friend Of Miss Lynn's. Lilas had in
troduced the man as one of her girl
hood chums, and Lorelei had tried tc
be nice to him; then In some way he
arranged to take her home. The mem
ory of that ride was n horror. She
knew now that she was hunted; the
man had told her so. She felt like q
deer covering In brake with the
hounds working close. This first at
tack left her trembling and wary. Hei
cover seemed pltifully insecure.
Thus far Max Melcher's campaign
had worked even better than he hat
expected; and meanwhile he had EN-
ployed Jim in assiduously cultivatinl
Bob Wharton and arranging as many
meetings as possible between Bob and
Lorelei. A short experience had taugh
Jim to avoid his victim In daylight, fol
I'm Bob's sober hours the two did moi
agree; but once mellowed by intoxlca
ton. Wharton became imbued with 1
carnival spirit and welcomed Jim as
freely as he welcomed everyone. In
cldentally the latter managed to reaI
considerable harvest from the asso
citation. for Bob was a habitual gam
bier, and the courteous treatment h
received at Melcher's place seemed 4