The Washington herald., 1921-09-11
By ELIZABETH JORDAN

Ms. Hutton had brief visst IN the i.ttsr1
room. Sitting Up In bed and looking very
picturesque In Q lavender bed Jacket and
lace can, the old lady received her nephew
with unsnotsonaI oordi.lty. Deep IN her
heart she was Glad 10 have opportunity b T
wipe out, or at least aim. sfev unple~s>nf
memories In her consciousness and his shs
was not efusive She was never that Bun
Dick left her room with the surprising knovi
edge that she had been glad TO see him
Later. In the living room. Dorothe. drew
from him the story Of the fun yers stnes
they had met It was good story. told
simply and with utter unconscsouzDsss Of
its drama, while Dick lovingly embraced has
knee before the glowing nra II so forth
the early struggles, nrst Of Q determined boy.
then Of . determined maD-the hopes. The
dissppotntmenta, the sustness tragedies IN
the LIE OF this esast. shining eyed Euest o
hers He had been al over the west
ranchinE. riding. mining. prospecting He
had been TO the Klondlke in its roaring years.
He had taken boats through the Yukon
rapids and driven dog teams over the CHI
coot Pass. When the war broke out he
had volunteered at once. had done his bit In
the trenches, had been severely wounded
at verdun, then gsssed, and sent home But
his brown forennger jerked the collar
around his strong throst-the west had put
his lungs all right again
From this point he ceased TO be rerninis-
cent He wanted To know about Dony-her
training, her work, her daily life at home
and in the Office. He had read Of her pro
fessionsl success II was clear that be was
proud Of f. When he was leaving. at eleven
O'Clock, he made an abrupt request
Il want you to take a day OF tomorrow.
You can telephens down to the once, can't
you1- .....--
Yes, I suppose so-but-
Then that's all right There was an
unexpected masterfulness about the returned
wanderer. I'm call for you at ten We've
got q little matter to attend to-
He closed the door on himself and Tire
words, but Dorothea, after q goodnight chat
with her mother, carried them to bed with
her and continued TO study them in the diru
gray lantern Of the dawn What did Dick
wantf
her mind, led UP to the question Inks an
unwilling horse, frst shied st # then serious
ly considered IT. A sudden memory swsn
into the foreground OF her thOushts- Dick
had spoken Of being -staked- twice BY her
stepfather. Possibly. quite possibly, the
little matter was the return TO william
Hutton's widow Of the amount Of tho.s
Stakes which Dick probably regarded m
a loan In that case-In that CASE
Even a thousand or two-and the -stakes.
would hardly have been less than that
would mean 90 much Just now Could IT be.
was Il possible, that the dinicur financial
problem Of the year was TO be thus easily
solved7 No. She turned from the tridescent
rainbow. She could not look upon its beauty
and then see It fade. She chided herself
even for the momentary vision The face o(
Dick appeared before her-Dick. shining.
eyed, eager. 90 happy to be with her again
And she had been thinking Of money-of
money from Dick. How low she had fAllenl
Yet how could she help IT. Her Thoughts
doubled on their tracks and made the weary
round again. Even two thousand-even .
thousand-why. ftve hundred would make MP
the deficiency OF the year
Dollar signs, and Dicks eyes. and Nors's
determined little mouth, and Dicks smile.
swam in and out OF Dorothea's consciouS
ness until. toward morning. she fell asleep
The hat and gown she put for her
-
last years make, but only the sophisticated
professional eye would have discovered this.
Dorothea wore her clothes with an sir-with
what her girls called style Dick arrived
at ten o'clock. In . high holiday mood He
was a study in dark gray this morning and
the color became him weu an the brown
Of the day before.
Got a heavy coat7- he demanded. after
he had flashed his brilliant approving eye
over her. But never mind You wont
need It I've got a limousine. and the darnet
thing is heated"
Dorothea's eyes widened-
MY dear boy" she protested. II YOU'RE
going to do that sort Of thing
II won't last q week In New York;
suppose not May 1 see Aunt Caroline for .
moment? I've brought her some stuff"
He disappeared into the outer hall. then
returned hidden behind the stun which
proved TO be two florists boxes and a huge
steamer basket" under . riot Of scarlet
bows. Thought perhaps she'd like to us
pack the basket herself" he explained. An
sorts Of things In It, like a grab bag. My
amuse her.