The Detroit times., 1916-05-24
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THE TANGLED WEB.

nlu.
NJ edless to say, Mrs. Alden lost no
opportunity TO widen the breach. and
on the evening Of Blair's departure,
as she came upon Ruth sitting hard
and dry-eyed by an open window.
she was thrilling inwardly With tri.
unph.
"Ah. my dear, don't grieve for
him." she purred. "He was never
deserving OF you. The older you
grow. too, my daughter. tie more
you will learn that all men are alike
Money is the only thing that counts
in this world"
Ruth stirred from the apathy Of
her pose.
rs Batson Kendrick here this
evening"" she asked irreievantly. 81
thought heard him announced a bit
ago"
| Then when Mrs. Alden answered
in The affirmative, she arose and
with a reckless, bitter smile saunter-
ed down TO her mothers sitting
room
You paid $4,000 for Fleetwood
Blair / believe. Mr.. Kendrick. Nos
what price do you offer for me? Y0l
will have TO bid higher than $4,000
though. tell you that before you
| begin"
The millionaire glanced at Der
questioningly. appraising as he did
so the curl OF the lip, the smoldeir ng
fire in her eye, the defiant swatSger
in her manner.
ITS only the result Of this upset
she's been through" she said to Shin
s.~f. THAT and maybe this Sudden
hot spell we're having. She'll come
around all right, once she's settled
down and knows just where, she
stands.
But therein Batson KeDdriclS made
the one great mistake of HIS life.
Ruth did not come aroundF She
never as his wife allowed hir. TO for
get that he had brought her" and
that she expected him TO ipay the
price. Coldly aloof, contemutuous of
herself as she was of him. s1e piled
extravaganza upon extragaJIce until
his misery soul fairly sto,si aghast.
His only method of reyenge. he
learned lay in forcing hertinto assoc
citation with Fleetwood blair, and
this he played 10 the limit
The mining engineer ont his return
from Alaska, would. for his own
peace OF mind. have gladly avoided
any encounter with hist old sweet
heart.
This. however, Kendri.sk would not
allow. Blair had made more than
made COON on the Alaska, trip and had
shown such high order OF general
capability that Kendrick had install
cd him as his personal advisor and
chief lieutenant. Seeking distraction
from his domestic troEbles, the mil
lionaire had plunged into a gigantic
copper speculation which was, in eff.
feet. an attempt to corner the mar
ket, and in this he feaned heavily
upon the clear vision and valuable
counsel of the younger man.
Reasoning then that the sight OF
Blair's success and, prestige would
be gall and wormwpod to Ruth, he
had never rested happily until he
had brought them into contact, man.
aging one day byi ruse to have
them meet in his loffice.
Both of them withstood the ordeal
unflinchingly.
After that he made It a point TO
have Blair freque ntly at the house.
So the situation moved on to its
inevitable denoue ment. One evening
when Blair was there for dinner
Kendrick proved so persistently
offensive that Ruth in self-defense
finally rose in fine middle OF some
remark he was Launching at her and
left the room.
Kendrick caught up with her half
across one Of the big reception
rooms on her way to the stairs, and
threw himselQin front of her to bar
her further progress.
by God you'll understand that
you can't fo'yt me in front Of one Of
my employees" he ordered hoarsely.
"You go back to the dining room"
She fsoedthim with a reckless de-
fiance and Laughing mockingly at
his commands. tainted him with his
inability TOT master her.
you bought me-" she jeered, I'm
yours, slave you bid In on the auo-
ton block And yet you can't man
age me. The thousands Of dollars I
waste forfyou each year are so much
dead loss. How that must wiring
your sos11!"
"Canttmanage you. eh7" he snari-
ed, slip drawing back from his
teeth. Cant? SO that's what you
think, rs 1t? Well. I'll show you what
II can do I'll show you!"
His fist suddenly clenched, he saw
red, and In a spasm Of blind fury. he
struck at the lovely, haunting face
appraised TO him.
She sweryed, but not enough TO
avoid the entire force OF the blow.
1t sent her Keeling. staggering to the
I Nonv