The Ordway new era., 1920-07-09

II . SNEJ1ys1 u VII ia9shN@fs hbN
lie s>Ssfepsr. with DriOut'- most
zsD1ine eit7tsoa IN n And the old
SsssDorz photograph which he had
htdoezl for fear that his real name.
ir<,orz4s1 on II. rslzst be esbiesi home,
tozstber With prof 70 the world that
h@ hadn't besen ber0-thst he had
failed 10 fi,i<. az In every other un-
cer1zking Of his ilfe. And all the
dates In accuracy. And II anyone
cared to trace back the story. where
@ss the fs1s where was there
ia,opboie7 And who would recognize
Diek Morgan In his cloak and mask Of
utter Bfirscie7
Who hsds
Ligifninzifke. his brain included all
The salient items Of the picture In
single fash. There vas Dieky Nor
gan, sailing away 10 Frsnce--which
could be proved. There WAS a num-
ber. and name attached 10 II. and
since HiiIisrd's sturdy defense OF
Dicky Morgan had had grain Of
truth In IL. and one of the steps of
his msny-slded progress carefully
Ofnlffed-a name had really been as-
suned. and had endured from the date
Of enlistment TO the date Of discharge.
II was tine Individuals recorded name
In the army and at Seuiily-and II
wasn't Morgan and 1t wasn't Hilllnrd
and IL wasn't Dutout. No one here
knew II. or ever would know II; even
Harmon didn't know II: II WIS the
first sobriquet Of shelI-torB individ-
st..I sfff.f bod sat t. tp
and had been made whole again. No
one at Seulily had ever get eyes on
Dicky Morgan's real facet But a GER
tain man named Dutout had been dec
GRATED and died. and that could be
proyed-was proved HlllIard had
borrowed Dutouts name In perfect
safety; and the trail was cold. And
here was q fourth man. HIllinrd-to
take his word for it-8nd the world Is
larger than the curiosity OF sincere
people to encompass.
No-if NeuIiiy surgeon ever told
as one OF the mysterious chapters of
the war what had happened to GER
tain gloomy individual that summer.
the name would suggest nothing. And
as fur as checking up the visits OF
q mythical Hilllsrd 10 very real Du-
tout was concerned. who would pro-
feHs 70 remember? The testimony of
any single witness would be inmate
rial.
The voice OF Carol Durant was echo
Ing In billiards ears, and Hillinrd,
yielding to tidal wave OF reckless
ness. and Of swelling anger at imagi-
nary wrongs. looked squarely into
Carols eyes. and spoke with winning
urgency.
"Yes." he said. 81 have news of
Morgan. In fact. I'm here In Syracuse
solely because have 1t. I've just
been telling Mr. Cufien-and Miss Cul-
ien-that was with him when he
died"
She didn't speak. at first; she mere
ly looked at HillIard and grew very
white. and her lips quivered. Pres
entity she swayed little. and reached
out with her hnnd toward the back
Of convenient chair. Armstrong
stepped toward her. and Angela Cui.
len slipped an arm around her waist.
Hes dead?" she repeated.
dHu tOhG Wub hot JEt iItC IIou II
certain incredulIty. ms though the fact
were OF itself impossible. and the
statement OF It subject TO discussion.
"Yes. Miss Durant."
She moIstened her lips; her eyes
were very bright, unnaturally bright.
80 that HiliIard was fascinated. and
appalled,.
"You You know that?" she
asked, again with that queer inhexion
OF amazed doubt.
"Yes, I know It."
The others were standing MS stat
ues; Mr.. Cullen. snatching at the first
Idea OF consolation to present itself.
fumbled for his daughters other hand.
which still retained The trophy bet
ter man had won.
Here's what they gave him. Carol
Look The Croix de Guerrel Don't
let's think of anything but what he
E. let's be proud OF him /"
"Oh. yes" she said inertly, and took
the cross In her palm. She dropped
her eyes for moment, then raised
them TO the level of Hilliard's. "Didn't
he send some word 10 me?"
mo" billiards. nod was very min
isterinl. mo, I'm sorry, but"
Her eyebrows lifted. and her nos
trlls dllnted the merest tribe. Her
breath was coming more rapidly now;
she was nearing the breaking point
OF her resistance. and all of them
knew It. The moment was agonizedly
prolonged. HlllInrd. gazing without n
quaver at the girl he had thought he
loved beyond NIL else In this world or
the next. was singularly relaxed as
he observed her symptoms. She had
really cared. then so much
the greater pity that she hadn't kept
MN caring M she might.
"Cnn that he possiblcf" she said.