Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1917-10-19
CHAPTER XIV.

| 0t1f%E En- NVs
"Peter!'' The cry was smothered
"Silly boy! Can't you see the cab
Is turning? Do let me go!"
"Only into a side street. 1 say,
where are we bound anyway"
ut doesn't matter-only to deliver
note and get an answer
"Who to-and from? Grammar's
nothing to me, anyway"
II sha'n't tell you if you don't stop.
Well, friend-nobody you know. Il
you don't let me go, I'll
What will you doY'
eff you'll let me go, TIL tell you
/ something"
Curiosity triumphed. Lydia extri-
Gated herself.
"What is IT'D"
'"There-I'm all mussed and rumpled.
You're frightfully inconsiderate.'
| "May's well get used to it. You've
got long, rumply, mussy lifetime be-
fore you. What were you going to
sayY'
Promise not to be silly again, If I
tell your
Il say, that amt sporting Of you.
You promised"
Every well. No-wait. Is my hat
straight? We're turning again-stop-
ping. Look out and see if it's the right
| number"
"Ninety-eight."
| That's right"
"Now what are you going to do?"
Get out, deliver the note, get the
answer, and-come back to you, Peter"
| Nothing could be fairer than that.
| Only you don't get out till you tell me
| what you promised to-"
'.Very well. But you'll have to get
| out first. Not word while you're in
this cab. Now, Peter, pleasev'
ooh, all right"
Peter backed out and offered his
hand. He closed strong fingers round
| hers.
mo, you don't-not till you keep
your word!'
'"Then-listen, Peter!" her voice was
| low, but clear and very sweet. ut
| doesn't make an ounce of difference to
me about-th0se others so long as it's
only me you love now and always
| will p
With this Lydia ran up the steps,,
leaving Peter dazed with the memory
Of her face at parting.
And indeed the wits Of the young
man were Keeling, drunken with the
fragrance of his beloved. It was some
moments before he began to recover.
Interim, he stood bareheaded in the
drizzle, blinking fatuously at an cleo.
trio arc on the corner of Park ave.
nue.. Then suddenly he remembered
what misgivings had sent him head.
long from the Margrave to overhaul
this taxi of ten thousand Elysian de.
lights. But when he did remember II
was too late. His dearest had already
been engulfed by the front doors OF
that ill-omened house.
Ill-omened, at all events, he must
consider it in the light Of what Quoin
had limited. And yet, surveying the
residence, one began to doubt
An eminently respectable quarter
Seventy-sixth street, between Madi
son and Park avenues, block as Sc
date as any in town, dedicated to the
homes of solid, decent, laW-abiding
bodies who, to be sure, wouldn't suf.
fer association with any establishment
Of tho loo CT u11ocfiopo hIn ohoro ofo,.
Since the cab had stopped not q
sound had disturbed the quiet save the
semioccasional rumbling of surface
cars on the one hand or snoring OF
motors on the other.
And number 90 itself was a resi-.
dence Of type and caste to allay dis
trust at q glance-an elderly, well.
TODD sort, with brownstone front, well
groomed; nothing in this ensemble the
least ominous or threatening.
Inclining to question old Quoin's
ever-ready inference, Peter climbed
back into the cab, and for five min.
utes Rugged himself In private ecstasy.
Everything was for all the best in
the best of all possible worlds. He
needed only to crowd things bit, rush
the wedding through before Lydia
realized that people were onto Craven.
keep her If possible ignorant forever
of old Tad's disgrace That could be
fixed, no doubt. Fortunately Betty
wasn't vindictive. Quoins commission
from her had been merely to scare
Craven silly and run him out of town.
And that, Of course, would keep things
dark for Craven would never dare re-
turn.
OF course, If he ever found out his
daughter didn't know, and her hus-
band didn't want her to know, he
would likely try on little blackmail-
: ing, just to keep body and soul to.