The state herald., 1917-04-20
Preparedness was Mulry's

| nirtat10n. Preparedness was Mulrys
motto.
Gloria studied him moment. This
was the partner Of her murdered
lover. He was too amiable Of mlen
to be accusable Of such crime. She
acquitted him of wishing to do away
with Freneau. In fact, the papers
said that Freneau's death had nearly
wrecked the firm. Mulry did not look
bankrupt. Gloria did not know that
her father had given large sum Of
money to Freneau few days before
his death and that Murly was living
on that.
There was a shifty flippancy in
Mulry's eyes and manner that made
Gloria distrust him. She felt little
added distrust Of her dead lover for
having such man as partner. The
hateful proverb about birds Of
feather" ran through her mind like
tune In any case, here ut last was
the man she sought, and she was i'm
patient to question him. There were
too many people on the crest Of the
|
So she dared him to toboggan ride.
He accepted. She got aboard and
he steered. They swooped like de-
scending airship. But at the foot Of
the hill the toboggan careened and
slid them deep into the drift before 1t
capsized.
| Mulry, for all his bulk. was agile
and he was soon helping Gloria to her
feet.
''Thank you a million times, Mr..
Mulry." she said. "You saved me from
drowning In the snow"
He beamed and congratulated him
self on making such success with this
pretty creature. He had not recog-
nized her. He had seen photographs
Of her in Freneau's possession and he
had seen her at the opera. But she
was disguised to him now by her
close-fitting cap. her rough sports suit
and. most OF all, by her cOquettish
smiles. Suddenly he had to leap for
his life to escape another scooting to-
boggan. On 1t were David and Lois
and young man from the same house
party of which Mulry was member.
Hurt yourself. Gloriar David
sang out.
"DId you get hurt, Miss staffordf"
the other young man cried.
Gloria shook her head and called
after them. not noticing that Mulry's
eyes were popping and his jaw droop-
ing. He had pieced the name to-
gether. "Gloria Staffordi" He had
come up here to escape her and he
had Just coasted down the hill with
her. and she knew his namel He re-
membered Doctor Royce's warning Of
the danger Of meeting Gloria face to
face.
He pretended to be suddenly Ill. He
begged Gloria's pardon and said that
he must 80 home. He was too big for
Gloria to hold and she could not run
after him without attracting atten-
tion. She stood bewildered while he
got away.
Later she telephoned to his host
and asked to speak to him. She
learned that he hnd Just taken a mo.
tor to the train.
Gloria forgot her suspicious Of Lois
In her newer suspicious Of this man
Mulry. He was evidently running
away from her. Therefore she must
pursue him. His flight was evidence
Of some mysterious guilt.
Gloria cut short her visit to the
country and announced her intention
Of going back to town at once. Her
father and her brother were used to
her whims and did not oppose them
nowadays out Of pity for her.
The next morning Gloria made IN.
other Journey to Mulry's Office. She
went early within business hours. Tho
stcnogrnpher told her that Mr.. Mulry
had gone to Palm Beach tho night be-
fore with n rich client who had In.
vited him to be his guest.
Gloria wns furious at this new On.
cape. She pondcrcd II all the way
home. When she saw her father she
told him that hc was not looking Mt
all well; he needed some golf md surf
bathing. He ought TO go TO Palm
Bench. He accepted the suggestion
heartily. He was more than willing
to u rtnkc tho golf and no was
eager 10 get Glorla out Of the region
Of her sorrow. Hc was 80 worried
over her swift alienation Of gloom
md gnycty TINT he invited Doctor
Royce to camc nions ns member OF
the fnmiiy party. Hc did not hive to
ask Royce twice.
Gloria had not been 10 Florida dur.
Ing tho last i've ycnrs. To her II wns
not 80 much n Night from her romance
M return to Its birthplace. II wns at
Palm Bench that she hnd mot her fntc.
II was there TINT she hnd made her
girlish cscnpndc In Dnvid's racing cur.
md wrecked II In the everglades. It
was thcre TINT she Ind wandered into
the hcart Of tho wilderness and into
the heart Of the young Seminole chief
who would have forced her to bc his