The Washington herald., 1921-09-06
THE
FORTUNE
HUNTER
New,Gripping
Romance Serial
BY RUBY AYRES
tcoutinu.d Prom Ysstsrd.y0

(Coutnued from IesteroAy.l
But even then the task was q dif-
ncult one, and the letter when at
last completed to Irenie Claver.
seemed to his critical eye an obvious
copy.
The afternoon post left somerton
at o'clock and he knew he could
not AFFORD to miss II. II she were
the sort of a woman he thought her,
she would keep her word and come
to somerton II she received no reply
to her letter.
So he hurrierly sealed and ad-
dressed the envelope and took it
himself to the post. He had written
as tactfully and kindly as possible,
telling her that a meeting at pres
ent was impossible, hating himself
because 1t had seemed necessary to
address her affectionately-he who
had never written a love letter to
any woman in his life, hating him
self for the added lies which every
moment of the day now seemed to
bring with them
Anne kept her room for dinner.
The poor child has a headache"
Mr.. Harding said Il think she must
have been out in the sun without
hat" He smiled at the Fortune
Hunter cheerily. You must look
after her better, John; she Is not
too strong you know"
Tommy was not in to dinner
either. "Oh, he'll have some supper
with Fernie." Mr.. Harding said.
really believe he prefers bread and
cheese at Long End Cottage to any
thing We can offer him here. Well,
what are you going to do with your
self this evening? I promised Fos-
ter to go up and have a game OF
billiards with him; will you come
along with me? I'm sure he'll be
delighted"
The Fortune Hunter smiled wryly
and refused.
I'm not much of a hand at bill
lizards" he said, then checked him
self hurriedIy, wondering II here he
was on dangerous ground also; "at
least I'm out of practice" he added.
When Mr.. Harding had gone he
sent a note up to Anne, begging her
to come down. The day had been
intolerable without her, and he be-
gan to realize what life, would be
like in the future II he never saw
her again
He waited impatiently in the hall
for his answer. which the maid
brought verbally. Miss Harding was
so sorry. but would Mr.. Smith ex-
cuse her Her head was very bad.
and she was trying to sleep.
The Fortune Hunter walked away
without answering; he knew that
she was Avoiding him Intentionally.
He spent a wretched evening. 1t
was past IL when Tommy came
home full of excitement about some
new and wonderful steam engine
Fernie had shown him. You know.
he's really a wonder" he said 20 the,
Fortune Hunter. his face aglow. Il
wish I were half as clever"
IT didn't know he was such a
friend of yours" the Fortune Hunter
answered dryly. You must take
me along to his place some day"
will you Gomez" Tommy looked
pleased. Mr.. Fernie said he wished
1 would bring you sometimes"
The Fortune Hunter laughed.
Really I'm honored." he said.
Hes not such a bad old codger."
Tommy said lightly. Anne hates
him. but. then, women always hate
people they don't understand. He
asked me a lot of questions about
you"
what sort of questions?"
''oh. don't know. he seemed in
terested. thought. Well, I'm on to
bed. lis uncle inT'
Not yet-he's gone up to play
billiards with Foster"
Tommy went of. and. finding the
silence Of the huse unbearable. the
Fortune Hunter went to his own
rooms
Was Anne asleep, he wondered, as
he lay through the long night un-
able to sleep; or was she awake as
he was: unhappy, as he was?
But at breakfast time next morn
ing she was apparently quite her
usual self. save that she seemed to
avoid hm as she had done on the
previous day. She was quite well.
she declared: a good nights rest
had cured her. Wasn't it a perfect
day? and she did hope that he had
not been too lonely last evening.
The Fortune Hunter could hardly
answer her: he made no attempt to
seek her out during the morning;
he took a newspaper and went out
into the garden; he tried to read,
but his thoughts kept wandering.
What could he do? What was to
be the end Of everything What
would become Of them all?
Tommy came across the garden,
waving a yellow envelope. "A tele-
gram for you, and the boys wait
ing"
The Fortune Hunter paled as he
took IL and read the curt message.
Letter received; expect you here
to lunch. or shall come down
IFenie-"
For a moment 1t seemed to him
that this was the end of every
thing: for a moment his self-pos-
session deserted him, and he could
only sit motionless, the message
falling from his nerveless hand.
Tommy looked on curiously.
Il say. what's up?" he asked at
last. rs it bad news?"
The Fortune Hunter reused him
self with an effort, and rose. NO;
at least I've got to go to London;
do you know how the trains go? /
want a fast one, it's urgent" He
hardly knew what he was saying.
He picked up the telegram and
went quickly back to the house.
Tommy struggling to keep up be-
side him, talking all the time
There's one at IL; 1t only stops
once. at Slough. You can catch that
II you hurry. say. is there any
answer for the boy?"
mo; tell him, will you? I must