Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-03-22

her gay laughter! He wanted to cry
out to Time. Stop" lie wanted to
go neither forward nor backward; he
| wanted to be marooncd with her etcr =
nally upon the green isle of the present
in this vast blue sea Of quiet peaceful
ness.
If good fairy had appeared sud-
denly before him, saying as good fairies
are said to do, Make three wishes and
they shall be grantcd"' he could have
made the first two In fash. lie would
have said:
Give me HGr. Give us n little farm
here. In the valley SO that l may work
'Thc third wish?" the Fairy would
have said
And Bobbie Ashc, smiling at her,
must have cried:
give that TO some poor rich man,
to some successful statesman, to some
rcigning monarch to any one
who needs IL. DON'T
But, ns he and Enid sat silent in the
suinncrliousc, 1t was no good fury with
the proverbial three wishes who came
to them, but Justin Iaddon in an ugly
mood, saying curtly:
steel. i want to talk with you.
Come to our rooms Immediately"
It was clearly in Ashes mind to re.
fuse to obey 80 pcrcmptory an order: IL
Is as certain that his eyes snapped back
his answer to lladdon saying as curtly
as the lawyer had spoken, "Go to the
devil :" He wasn't IIaddon's hirclng
after all; and IL his welfare depended
npOn Iaddon. no less then did Had
don's plans pivot upon him.
But the lawyer had not waited even
for the look. Enid, however, got to
her feet and went to find Ronnie.
>. We'd better go in. tOo,' She said
lightly. Ronnic needs II bath. Ron
ME, you little rascal, now do you man
age to get 10 dirty and the puppy stay
so clcnn?'
Asho stood looking at her and at Ron
mic; he had scarcely glanced toward tho
swiftly departing figure Of IIaddon.
viii you do something for me, Miss
Enid?' he said abruptly.
"Why, Of course" she answered.
coming back to him with Ronnic in
tow, who in turn was towing the
puppy. "What is it?"
Come out with me just after din
nor! Please. l want to talk with
you
"I'll have to put Ronnic to bed. ="
But that'll take only minute. III
wait that long
And Maybe Mrs. Stctheri will need
"Ill wait that long, too. You will
come, won't you?''
"It is something tremendously i'm
portant, no doubt" laughed Enid.
Tremendously. he told her quite
seriously. She looked at him swiftly,
curiousy. His eyes were rs serious as
his voice had been.
Eyes. I'll come" she promised. And
then, while she and Ronnic and the
puppy ran u race 10 the house Ashc
followed moodly. his eyes frowning.
a moment ago the world had been
just n green island in blue sea now
1t was chaotic. Just now Ashes heart
had been Surchargcd with tenderness
now it was bitter with the anger in it.
Damn him ~ the boy muttcrcd.
Damn him -
Defiance stood high in his eyes,
cleaning coldly when hc came to Had E
don. defiance stffcncd his carriage and
held his head high. He, who hnd always
hunted alone. he who had always been
his own master. hc who had dciicd all
law. who had been pre- -cmincntly a
lover of his freedom, was little less
than n slave slave TO such ns
Justin Haddon. plain country lawyer
Must he come because IIaddon sum =
moncdf Must he steal because Haddon
ordered? Must he prepare for flight be-
cause Haddon said, Run?
Here was Bobbic hshe, brief time
ago the dcbonair. lawlcss, joyous Lady
fingers of San Francisco, stepping out
this way or that because Justin Haddon
gave the word; Robbie Ashe, who had
held whole police force in scorn, who
n Gan L., Al. /
had laughtcd at warnings, who had been
no whit less free than the birds Of the
air. His face was dark, very dark, as
he confronted him who sought to b. his
master. Without warning madness
such as he had never known lcaped into
his blood: slowly his two fists clcnchcd {:
strange shiver ran through his taut
muscles. With Il physical effort he held
himself back.
'Huddon," he said, his voice low and
vibrant, take tip from me and don t
drive me too hard today"
You fool, Snarled Haddon, his
own mood scarcely less tense than
Ashes. You Internal fool II you
try to pull back BY God I've
notion to land you in Jail right now :"
Jail" said Ashc quietly. Jail"
Slow y hc forced the hot anger out Of
his brain. 1t had no place there. He
was fool; only fools surrendered to
such madness as had just almost over
powered him. He cleared his mind
gradually by sheer force of will Again
he looked at Hnddon coolly.
Haddon must not be considered as n
man, rs an individual personality. He
must be looked upon merely as a piece
III game, an opposing rook in chess,
something to study thoughtfully. fore
seeing all possible moves SO that they
might be- anticipated. Ashc had always
Gloricd in the great game, the game of
life now, that one Of its crises had come
to him, was the time for skill, not for
blind rage. He laughed lightly, took
up his gift pipe and made himself com :
Portable in his favoritc chair. Had
don S eyes followed his every move in :
tcntly.
II accept the cpithct," he announced
checrfully. Il was acting rather like
Il fool. Let's cut out the heroics and get
down to business"
Haddons grunt bespoke his salts.
faction.
You understand, of course, that our
plan for tonight must be changcd?'
Since Mrs. StcthcriI has been he
fore us in looting the bank" nodded
Ashc.
You know, too, that she has with
drawn very large amount of cash.
You know what she has done with it,"
''Shc has put it," smilingly offered.
Into a steel box which is very improp-
crly called Snfc. Here in the house"
Tonight W said Haddon, and
paused
Tonight Ashe prompted him.
damn it '! muttered the other.