Omaha daily bee., 1921-07-24

raging within until the gates opened ana sne
was permitted to take her seat in the sleeper
Traffic was heavy at the moment and hav-
! mg suddenly decided to leave. she had been able
to secure only an upper. which was well In the
middle Of the car This. if possible. added to
her fury. which Of a particularly upsetting
sort, being mingled With really sincere grief
and a tremendous disappointment.
1t is always grevous to find ones self left
out of an expected large inheritance. espe-
cially where this has been verbally promised
But when added to this there Is an honest
mourning for the deceased because of past ties
of love and gratitude. the conflicting emotions
are disturbing in the extreme. The mind is
angry the heart is hurt, pride is Inundated. and
confidence In human nature crippled
Claire had Travelled two days and nights by
rail to reach the bedside of her dying godfather.
millionaire and past benefactor of many acts
of kindness and generosity. She had hoped to
arrive in time to minister comfort to his last
moments but had reached her destination too
late, and she had remained to hear the reading
of the will. Expecting with just cause to IN
- herit richly, she had managed to secure the
proper mourning. including veil which, as one
very close to the deceased she had not raised.
And now she was glad that she had not done So
Later the lawyers had explained the
OF her omission as a legatee.
.When our late client learned of your en-
gagement to marry Mr. Van Schaik he was furi-
ous" the dry little councillor had said 1T ap-
pears that Mr. van ScnalkS Iatner was not only
business but a personal enemy. and man
by whom he considered himself to have been
defrauded and villifcd. He swore that the son
should never profit by penny OF his and he
therefore caused your name to be stricken i'm
medately from the will
"But had just written to him to say that
had broken the engagement" Claire protested.
in choking voice. II learned few things
about Reggie Van schaik which made all idea
of marrying him revolving
ALAS my dear young lady, said the lawyer.
your letter must be among those which ar
rived after the stroke. LET me see" He sum-
moned clerk. who brought heap of cor
respondence and from this he selected and
handed to Claire the letter which, by its retard-
ed delivery, had cost her perhaps quarter Of a
million dollars.
so here Claire. penniless girl, depend
ent on the bounty of a relative, her engagement
to marry a wealthy prohgate broken, her ex-
pectations shattered, and in her heart an aching
grief for man who had proven her best friend
now beyond reach of appeal and all the result
of horrible misunderstanding and an tnef-
ficient postal service.
Claire had taken the blow squarely on her
two feet; she had shed some tears, these of sor-
row. quite free from all recrmination. And
, now, fac cling the situation she obliged to ad-
nit that her immediate future was not brill
liant
Since death of her parents her home had
been made with a rather tyranncal widowed
aunt, whom she suspected of being by means
averse to second marriage, and Claire had
reason to believe that her entertainment was
largely due to her usefulness as decoy There
was nothing of the 1apper to her. She had
lust turned 25, possessed of sense and
character, allurng of face and with rpeness
, of physical charms unusual for her age. More
over, she was steady of head. cultured, and she
egarded social problems squarely.
\ 1Facing the present one, her gray eyes grew
' thoughtful, her firm little chin was set at
an angle of decision. and her cool little nose ap.
eared to raise itself trfe, as If in self-con-
Nmpt for the mess that she had made of things
as the result of a swift infatuation for liber-
tine.
But underneath was a burning rage this di.
rected not against her kindly godfather, but the
vultures who had profted by his beauests. She
was convinced that swarm Of these had
profited by her own fall; so that when presently
the porter conducted to the seat facing hers
lean but squarely built young man, whom she
recognized instantly as having seen at the read
ing of the will, Claire's emotion was for the in
stant homicidal
She did not remember the amount Of the
legacy he had inherited, but that did not matter.
AS she figured it, no doubt correctly enough her
godfather striking out at the eleventh hour
the considerable fortune previously bequeathed
to her, had been left with residue which he
had probably divided among a number of people
having no special claim upon him. moment
later she had reason to feel convinced OF this.
The young man who was to occupy the lower
berth or the Sectlon appeared enCuHlDereu WIFI
~ good deal of hand luggage, which the red cap
had set down Unfortunately. and the Pull
man porter, observing this as he passed, pro-
ceeded to stow these pieces in more orderly
fashion. A suitcase went under seat SOL
dier's seabag was stuffed under the other, while
a roll of steamer rugs with the of a
Navajo blanket protruding was hung from a
hook overhead The porter then stopped to
pick up a small square black valise which the
young man had set down in such a manner as to
incommode his feet. But this inconspicuous bit
of luggage did not up The porter had
reached for 1t negligently with one finger, and
the expression of his sable face was that Of one
who might lay hold of the empty trunk left by
an INDECENT boarder and finds it nailed to the
floor.
Ian sakes" said he. and tried again, this
time with success, though at the cost of some
considerable effort. then stood staring with per-
plexity at the fine steel chain which was at
tached at end to the valise and at the other
to the wrist Of the passenger.
Never mind that, George" said the young
man. crsply. Just little white mule We
have to ride close herd it nowadays"
The porter gave explosive negro laugh.
"Yassr," said he, but l never hefted white
mule weigh lax that" knowing look spread
over his face as he turned and went about his
duties
Claire had missed no part of this She could
easily guess that white mule a term for
the country's forbidden fruit but she knew that
no spirits could ballast the little valise, which
was not more than the size of two shoe boxes.
solution of the problem. flashed across her
quick mind Here apparently was hand
FED young man, who was taking chances
Sthe prompt custody OF his inheritance He had
evidently by some special favor received his
legacy in gold. and put it in the baby suitcase,
which he had secured to his person by chain.