Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1920-10-05
A SWEETHEART AT THIRTY
The Stor, II, Woman's Transformation.
bl MARION HUBlNCAM.
NEW EVIDENCE.
Charter XCYIII.

But il turned out that / was not,
after all, TO hear the rest Of the eviuen &C
in the case which so affected Bud, except
indirectly. Both Francis and the boy told
mo. however, so | know it all as well as
though | had beer present in that room
with the raised platform and the uniform.
ed mon standing about.
The man Simons WAS brought IN, and
his testimony took long time.
1--WE think he is the ring leader, Fran
chs told me. 'IIe is trying to pretend not
To he, but after all, tho man Is extra
ordinarily cl,vcr, Indeed, it's his clever
ness in trying to appear stupid that Is
giving him away at every turn.
"HowY" | wanted to know.
ooh, lots of ways" he replied vaguely
"You ~e. policemen and detectives are
not apt to be "A romantic lot, but the fact
that all these robberies happel ed IN the
same fashion led them to think one mar
was back Of il al.
Then the re' sp per mon, who are
a romantic lot, ~ the way, took 70
making movie melodrama out. OF 1t.
They had a master mind back OF 1T,
you know :,
IL read some of the stories"
"Then you knowl Even Pete was sus-
pcctcd-"
'sPetel He's shrewd, but"
"Shrewd Amazingly SO. I'd like TO
take him on at my place when this affair
blows over. He has clever tongue and
he'd he valuable-if only l could trust
him"
| sighed little
''Hls poor little wifel How nice If you
dkd, Francis-'
"Now come" he laughed turning to
ssff In A L 4 Il h,
hrcatise no has a most persuasive manr or
and would make an excellent bond sales
man. But after ALL | have q reputation to
kecp up in my frm-and Pete has lost
his Besides, | can't take on man De-
car,se I'm sorry for his wife,
mo, suppose not, | agreed
That day Francis came and took me
uptown for tea. These were our only
moments alone these days. For Esther
was always with me In the hvlng room
M our tiny fiat, and her curiosity about
Francis WAS so great that she sat starin
At him all the time he was with us. Fgancls,
OF course, was very charming to her. ;.
'But they're not hospitable lot,
she commented once. why doesn't his
mother call on you-7"
"Shc willard I've boon there, l
interrupted quickly.
''She ought TO ask me to dinner, I'm
vurlr sister" Esther grieved. 'They
talk of city folks having such grand
manners-I guess Henly Falls could
show them a lesson In what's what after
all"
And uvatly pleased at having es-
tnhlshed the superiority of our VII
lage ovur the big city, Esther retired to
some knitting. said nothing was
idhng over late berakfast-but ] sat
for long time thinking over tho prob
lem of Francis mother. l wanted her
10 like me, and / believed she would,
in time. Meanwhile, there WAS the in
ovitahle triangle of two women and
one man--and after having him all these
wears, no doubt IL was all the harder for
her 90 part with him now, TO me.
"She wants YOU TO make brilliant
marriage" | said once.
"Be patient" he begged. at would
hr the same with anyone i chose. She'll
b. All right"
"But Il IL were Cecile-"
Lord he laughed out, throwing
his head back a little. Neither Of us
ever thought of Cecile that wayl Be
sides. my partner has been after her
for wears. And he'll get her-when he
makes enough money"
| thought over that with little sense
of shock Those charming brown eyes
gave no hint Of a mercenary disposition.
Cecile seemed everything soft and winning
and lovely.
But about Simons," Francis went
on that afternoon, they'll get a 'confes-
sion out Of him tomorrow, if they haven t
mcceeded today. They found some new
evidence"
What"
"A bank account of his, under another
name, into which large sums of money
have been going mysteriousiy.
''fiow did they get the other name?"
prom Bud.
"Budr'
'YcH, he knew IT in some way, and
finally came out with il.
Hes been afraid. He's been trying to
shield these men"
''Yes. They promised that they would
cancel his debts if he would keep his
mouth shut"
do YOU think it's dishonorable of
him to break his word?"
ooh, he hasn't done that exactly. He'll
tell YOU the details. Anyway, it's all
nastv mess, and ought to be cleared up as
soon as possible. The only thing Is,
thsa Simons may get nasty now, and IN
vulve Bud more deeply thar he Is already.
Thn was something else TO worry
Tumouo~-Ow TAh.