The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1917-01-19
THE
DESTROYING
R ANGEL
CHAPTER x-continued.
- By ==
LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE

CHAPTER x-continued.
~
"What wished to convey was SIM
ply my intention no longer to bear my
masculine weight upon women-el-
Their you or any other woman"
A smile contended momentarily with
the frown, and triumphed brilliantly.
81 mean to ask you," he said delib-
erately, "to whom am indebted"
To his CONSERVATION the smile van
ished. as though cloud had sailed be-
fore the sun. Doubt and something
strongly resembling incredulity in
formed her glance.
"Do you mean to say you don't
know she demanded after a moment.
surely Mr.. Ember must have told
your
"Ember seemed to be laboring under
the misapprehension that the Ffske
place was without a tenant"
"Oh!" Her tone was thocghtful.
"Has he gone back to town."
Business called him. At least such
was the plausible excuse he advanced
for depriying himself Of my exclusive
society"
81 see," she nodded-'T see :"
''But aren't you going to tell me?
Or ought to prove my human intelli.
gence by assuming on logical grounds
that you're Miss Fiske?"
eff you please" she murmured, her
intent gaze seeking the distances Of
the sea.
'AThen that's settled" he pursued in
accents Of satisfaction. @You are Miss
Fiske-Christian name at present I'M
known to deponent. And we are neigh
bors. Do you know. I think this
very decent sort of world after all?"
"And still"-she returned to the
charge-"you haven't told me what you
mean to do, since you refuse my help"
81 mean" he asserted cheerfully. "to
sit here until some kind-hearted person
fetches me stick to serve as emergen-
cy staff. Then ! shall make shift to
hobble to your motor boat and thank
you very kindly for ferrying me home"
She shook her head in dainty annoy
ance, then, light-footed. darted from
sight round the side of the bathhouse.
Presently she reappeared. dragging an
eight-foot pole. He rose on one foot
and tested the staff with his weight.
"'Twill d." he decided. "And thank
you very much"
But even with it's aid, his progress
toward the boat necessarily consumed
a tedious time. It was impossible to
favor the injured foot to any great ex-
tent. He made little or no attempt to
converse while in motion, so she had
plenty of opportunity to make up her
mind about him.
If her eyes were reliable index,
she found him at least interesting. At
times their expression was enigmatic
beyond any reading. Again they
seemed openly perplexed. At all
times they were warily regardful. Once
she sighed quietly with passing look
of sadness of which he was wholly
unaware.
"Odd-about that fellow" he OBJ
served during a halt. ST was sure he
was Drummond-untilI saw"
''Drummond!"
Friend Of mine You don't
by any chance know Drummond, do
your
''Ive heard the name"
s'You must have. Supposed to have
committed suicide-jumped off Wash
ington bridge a week before he was to
marry Sara Law, the actress? &.
I may as well tell you-it's no secret,
although only few people know it
Ember saw Drummond, or thinks he
did, alive. in the flesh. good half-heur
after the time Of his reported suicide"
SLOW very curious!" There was
nothing more than civil but perfume
tory interest in the comment. "Are
you ready to 60 on?'
near the boat:
..when do you expect Mr.. Ember?'
asked the girl.
Tonight. probably"
ST shall be glad to see him." said
the girl in what Whitaker thought a
curious tone. "Please tell him, will
you? Don't forget"
'If that's the way you feel about
him, I shall be tempted to wire him
not to come"
absurd I" she laughed.
When finally they came to the end
of the dock. he paused, considering the
three-foot drop to the deck of the mo-
tor boat. 'If it weren't low tide. -
he explained. crestfallen.
"But, since it is low tide, you'll have
to let me help you again." the girl re-
torted, jumping lightly but surely to
the cockpit.
She turned and offered him hand,
eyes dancing with gay malice.
Like all men, you must turn to a
woman in the end-however brave your
strut"
"Oh, it's that way, is it? Thank you,
but fancy I can manage"
And with the aid of the clothes-prop
he did manage to make the descent
without her hand and without disaster.
The girl started the engine and took
the wheel as the boat swung droning
away from the dock. Not until she
had once or twice advanced the spark
and made other minor adjustments
did she return attention to her passen-
ser.
Then, in a casual voice, she in
CURED: you've been out Of the coun-
try for some time, think you said?"
almost six years on the other side
of the world-got back only this
spring"
"What," she asked, eyes a7erted.
spying out the channel-"what does
one do on the other side of the world?"
This one knocked about, mostly, for
his heaIth's sake. Il did drift into a
sort of business. after bit-gold min
ing in a haphazard, happy go-lucky
fashiou-tlid pretty well at it and
came home to astonish the natives"
"You find things-Eew York-disap-
pofnting?" she analysed his tone.
81 end 1t oyerpowerins-and lonely.