Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-12-24
THE FORTUNE HUNTER
LIE nrnrNs THE STORY
By RUBY NJ. AYRES
Abor of Bachelor Husband" Unuuonfed"
' Copyright by Wheeler Syndicate, inc

Ths dead urdns nan's " So"W 20 eWhn' h.in'
ssSsssS;. S,e,ss;. q g ssscIsss: seS %se sa. ,al5,s
Scat ro,oed By =" s.it'r; :, ars,tar s ms,s, na,ns
z. esenSe "a his clothes.
AND HERE 1T CONTINUES
THERE was something In her eyes
uhon she looked Mt him. He knit
a.. hroyrs, After all, he had known so
.,v n,, women. He dismissed the thought
| casually. - .,-,,r .o ,u,,c
N -, h;s own soaked garments and pull
.hsm ~" into some semblance OF shape
.ni ..in that he came across the pocket
ssat be had taken from the dead man
VI Far s tbe moment he had forgotten that
lnosome discovery, and 1t returned
~, IN his memory unpleasantly.
nV"rherry Lodge, Somerton- on
'pn' =, must be somewhere near here, at
II events; perhaps the girl downstairs
aon,d tell him where 1t was.
He opened the door and went to the
pATrrh pThs house was beautifully furnished,
ID The Fortune Hunter looked around
Mn with enyious eyes; 1t was many
months since he had been in such sur
roupdings. A.
staircase, uncertain which way to go,
when the girl came from a room on the
right. ,l
There was a hint OF nervousness in
b.r voice, and the Fortune Hunter fol-
lowed her with a family amused smile
In his eyes. ,.,.., .v,.
and he liked her white frock and shoes
and stockings and the pretty waves Of
There we're wine and biscuits on the
table. and she pressed him to take
some. a.,
know he would make you welcome. l
cannot thank you enough for, what you
have done. II you had not been there
Tommy would have drowned
~ am glad was there then," he
answered smiling.
There was a moments silence; the
Girl was fidgeting nervously with her
handkerchief; then, quite suddenly, she
l raised her eyes.
Twill you-will you tell me your
| usmel" she asked.
The Fortune Hunter hesitated. He
had answered to SO many different
names during his lifctime--few Of them
bis own-then he half shrugged his
shoulders. After all, what did a name
matter?
'My name is John Smith," he said
deliberately, with cynical memory OF
that moment in the woods when he had
taken the pocketbook from dead
man.
But he was totally .unprepared for
the stihed cry which broke from the
she took toward him, her hands out
stretched.
II knew knew it was you," she
said with a sobbing laugh.
The hot blood beat into the Fortune
Hunters face and for a moment he
stood helplessly staring at her; then
mechanically he took her hands in his
and held them fast.
~ knew it was YOU" she said again,
with tremulous happiness in her voice.
"And you always said that would not
recognize you" She held back. from
him at arms length, scanning his hot
face. smiling through her tears.
"Why, you haven't altered so very
much !" she declared. GLOW could you
tell me that you have! Oh. and to
pretend that you didn't know who !
was. Oh, John! 1t seems like yes
terday after all, now that you're here
again"
She was too excited to notice his ST.
lence, and she went on: "You were
coming to us, Of course, weren't your
The Fortune Hunter hesitated for n
moment, cropping for the words that
would leave him free to make his es-
cape and yet not hurt her feelings.
II wanted to see you at once he
began. then stopped abruptly as
deep, vigorous voice called from below,
interrupting him.
ANNE Anne!" called the man be-
low, who evidently had just entered
the lower hall. The girl whirled around
and ran down the stairs, her face alight
With Joy, exclaiming:
"Oh, it's Uncle Clement"
But the Fortune Hunter, following
more slowly, felt no such exultation.
Things were beginning to be a bit diff
hcult to manage.
The Fortune Hunter was a shrewd
man. During his rowing, eventful life
20 was proud to feel that he had sell
dom made mistake in his summing
up OF man or woman. But he made
one now, as he shook hands with
Element Harding, and believed that he
Knew exactly the type of man with
waom ne had to deal.
An inoffensive old country gentleman
VINO took the obvious for granted, and
Houbled no further; so the Fortune
nunter would casually have described
nlm. But for once in his life he was
wrong.
The twinkIipp eves tbat neened ont
rom the rosy, wrinkled face were the
snrewdest eyes In the world, and the
nearty manner, and simple. almost boy
An laugh were but disguise provided
nature for the wonderful gift of
instructive foresight and understand