The evening leader. (Tarpon Springs, Fla.) 191?-19??, 1916-06-29

cab out to roadhouse where the bas:
fiddle is still inhabited and the SECOND
generation is trotting to the Robert e
Lee'?"
Lorelei shook Ter head with a smile
81 don't care to GO"
stranger Mr.. Wharton helped
himself to a goblet of wine. appearing
the glass. "No. if l were sober
could understand how you might pre-
fer these 'pappy guys to me, for no
body likes me then, but I'm agreeably
picked. Merkle won't take you any
where for he's full of distilled water
and has directors meeting at ten
"Why don't you ask Miss Demorest?
She came with you"
Wharton sighed hopelessly. Some
thing queer about that Jane. D'you
know what made us late? She went
to mass on the way down." ..
Mass? At what hour?'
ut was a special midnight service
conducted for actors. l sat in the taxi
and waited. 1t did me lot of good
Some time later Merkle returned to
find Bob still animatedly talking;
catching Lorelei's eye, he signified a
desire to speak with her, but she
found it difficult to escape from the
intoxicated young man at her side. At
last, however. she succeeded, and
Joined her supper companion at the
farther edge of the fountain. where the
tireless cupids still poured water from
the cornucopias.
Merkle was watching his friends
son with frown.
You have just left the personifica-
ton of everything l detest," he volun-
teered. You heard what his father
said about raising him-how he taught
Bob to drink when he drank and follow
in his footsteps. But that isn't what
want to say to you. Help me feed
these foolish goldfish while talk
"Do you think anybody would under
stand if they overheard your. 1 fam
! cied you and 1 were the only sober
ones left"
"Some of the girls are all right
Merkle eyed his companion closely.
Don't you drink"
Il have nothing but my looks.
Wouldn't be fool to sacrifice them?''
'You seem to be sensible, Miss
Knight. Something tells me you're
very much the right sort l know
you're trying to get ahead, and-I can
help you if you'll help me. l need an
agent, and I'll pay good price to the
right person"
''How mysterious"
"I'll be plain That affair yonder'-
he nodded toward Jarvis Harmon and
Lilas Lynn-"strikes you as a-well
as a Irritation. 1t is something very
different. for he's in earnest He thinks
he is iniuring no one but himself with
this business, and he is willing to pay
the price; but the fact is he is putting
other people in peril-me among the
rest. Nobody outside of mans fam
lily has the right to question his private
life so long as it is private in its con-
sequences. But when his secret con-
duct affects his business affairs, when
it endangers vast interests in which
others are concerned, then his associ-
ates are entitled to take a hand. Do
I make myself clear?"
Perfectly. But you don't want me;
you want a detective"
MY dear child, we have them by
the score We hire them by the year,
and they have told us all they can.
We need inside information"
The girls answer was made with her
habitual self-possession.
give heard about such things. I've
heard about men prying into each 9th
er's private affairs, pretending to be
friends when they were enemies, and
using scandal for business ends. Lilas
Lynn is my friend-at least in way
and Mr.. Harmon is my host, just as
he is yours. Oh, know: this isn't a
conventional party, and I'm not here
as conventional guest-inside the
little coin purse he gave me is a hun
dred-dollar bill-but, just the same,
don't care to act as your spy"
Merkle's grave attention arrested
Lorelei's burst of indignation.
"Will you believe me-" he asked,
when l tell you that Jarvis Hammon
and Hannibal Wharton are the two
best friends have in the world? This
Is more than a business matter, Miss
Knight"
II can hardly believe that"
'It's true, however: l mean to serve
Harmon. At the same time / must
serve myself and those who trust me.
fear--in fact. I'm sure-that he is
being used. I've learned things about
Miss Lynn that you may not know.
What you have told me tonight adds
to my anxiety, and 1 must know
more"
what, for instance?
"Her real feeling for him-her inten-
tions-her relations with a man named
Melcher--"
"Maxey Melcher?"