Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-10-03

dangerous She threatened him again
with the awful weapon of suicide
against which there is no defense. re
realized that he was the prey OF KIND
| or blackmailer. He had once thought
| of Lois as conquest to be proud OF !;
now he saw that he himself was the
victim and she the tyrant. With one
rash act she could not only destroy her
self but all Freneau's plans
Again he surrendered. Surrender was
becoming a habit He made one condi-
| ton, that they should take along the
| letters they had exchanged and destroy
them. He wanted no written evidence
Of his past to imperil his future. Lois
consented, and hurried away, rejoicing.
She left Freneau in a mood of black
rage and remorse. The quality of his
remorse was shown in his meditations.
He thought of the many women he had
dealt with lightly, and he wondered If
any more of them would arise to threat
en- his security as son-in-law OF Pier
pont Stafford
That very day the most pitiful Of
| his conquests appeared. Nell Trask
had learned from a newspaper that her
father had been knocked down by an
automobile and taken to a hospital She
visited him there. His bodily injuries
were nos serious, but he was brooding
gan to fear for his reason. He told her
that he had seen Freneau and had de-
nounced him, and Freneau had struck
him in the face. Old Trask was not
of the sort that conceals family dis
honor; he burned to avenge It, He
whispered to Nell that he would reach
Freneau yet and strangle him like a
dog. She feared both for her own faith
err and for the father OF her dead child.
She thought of writing Freneau to warn
him, but that might only lead him to
prosecute her father. Perhaps if she
begged him to marry her, he would be
rich enough now. She found out Fren-
eau's address with little difficulty, and
appeared at his door soon after Lois
had left him, in an ugly mood The
apparition now of so humble an incident
in his past as the daughter of a barge
man was too disgusting to endure.
That evening, when he went home.
| Lois greeted him with her usual
warmth. Before he had quite de-
cided what to do, he had told her that
he was called south for ten days, and
he had not urged her to go with him.
She did not ask to go. In fact, he
thought that she took the bad news
with just a little too much philosophy.
He was tormented with shame and sus-
picion.
The next day, when, he went to mis-
office, he bade her good-by as if he
were the criminal and she the saint
He could not have imagined that Lois
only waited his departure to fling
on her hat and her veil and speed to
Freneau before he should leave for his
own office.
She found him. and he gave her
cold welcome When she told him that
David was to be in the far south for
a week, he did not seem to be interest
ed. When she rejoiced that now they
could be together without the annoy
ance Of David's presence, Freneau sol
EMMY reminded her of the danger from
gossips and servants. He must walk
warily, now that he was oetrothed to
a bank account like Stafford's.
To this Lois made the astonishing
answer that If New York was too full
of spies, she would go elsewhere. She
reminded him Of a beautiful village in
the CatslIill mountains, and declared her
intention of paying it visit; also she
advised Freneau to happen there at the
same time-his fiancee. Gloria, was too
i'll to see him, anyway, and he could
give a business trip as an excuse.
Freneau was indignant but Lois was