Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-12-30
THE FORTUNE. HUNTER
BY RUBY NJ. AYRES
Tor of 1.-THE Bachelor Husband' "The One Uouanted"
Copyright By Wheeler Syndicate, Inc

| would tell hin.
Just nine years. she answered
readily. John, you never could re-
member dates"
"Onc day has generally been the
same to me as the next" he answered
grimly. THE chief excitement in my
lie for years has been in wondering
where the next meal is to come from. "
The admission was out before he
realized what he had said, and it was
only when he saw the amazed look In
her eyes that he laughed and tried TO
cover his own seriousness.
Il was as hard up as a church mouse
Tor long time after / went abroad,
you know he added.
Were youY' Her voice was piti-
flil. "You never told me. | always
thought your mother sent you money
MY mother" The Fortune Hunt.
er's heart gave thump of apprehcn-
sion.
Yes" Anne was unconscious of
HIS agitation. 'She used to write TO me
You know that-and l thought she
always sent you money. tried TO
myself but when Uncle Clem found out.
he stopped my allowance" Her voice
was angrily reminiscent.
"John--how your mother would have
talk of any one but you
The Fortune Hunter turned abruptly
away. He wondered savagely how
much deeper into the riire he had
to walk before he could find way
out; he could not trust himself to
meet Anne's eyes.
John! You're not angry with
me?" she asked after a moment.
Angry? No" He laughed and
jumped down into the punt beside her.
| What about this famous island? You
don't seem very anxious to show it to
me after all"
They crossed the river some way down
the stream. and worked round back
water till they came out to the main
stream again. and close TO tiny island
fringed with dropping willows and COW
cred with brackcn.
Here it Is" Anne said. This 10
where I used to come when felt par
looked UP at him, and quickly away
ngain. "rie the punt up, John. and
We'll go and explore"
She sprnng on to tho bank without
waiting for him. and the Fortune
Hunter secured the boat There was
( little sick feeling at his heart, and he
purposely fingered, unwilling to rcjoin
her.
Whittier were they drifting. nc and
she? What would she think OF him
when she knew. as she must inevitably
know sooner or later.
He wished he had died before nn had
entered into the monstrouSness of this
deception. Guilty or not guilty, the
John Smith to whom death had come In
the woods had been n finer man than
L.. IL ,,..t - al, ii nY,9,
give the girl who loved him n chance
for freedom. whilst he
Anne called to him from the island {:
John" The Fortune Hunter hesi-
tated: then he made quick gesture
of angry impatience and turned to FOL
low her.
She was standing in space from
which the ferns had been cleared and
where the ground was carpeted with
moss.
"Ths Is where wrote my last
letter to you" Anne said eagerly. ''It
wasn't summer then, Of course. but
spring. Tho fourteenth Of May. !
think, and lovely day. The trees
were just coming out. Oh, Jotn'
Aren't you longing to see another Eng
lish spring? think it is the most
beautiful time OF all the year.
The Fortune Hunters eyes dwclt
wistfully upon her. Every time cf the
year will be the most beautiful If am
with you," he said, then flushed darkly
at his own unwOnted Cloqucnce.
He put out his hand and caught hers.
"You re turning me into poet, he
declared. 81 swear to you that before
last night I could never have said a
thing like that, even II my life depended
on it,
"But you did-ycars ago" she Snid.
"Md I?" lie frowned. We'll.
then. must have forgotten.
"You wrote the dearest letters, she
said swiftly, eager to chase the shadow
from his eyes. "John. I've kept every
single letter you EVER wrote me. Have
you kept mne?"
lie pulled her toward him almost
roughly, pressing her cheek to his shoul-
der so that she could not see his eyes.
Some day IN tell you . great
day" lie broke OFF, releasing her
abruptly. Glow long is it since last
night" he asked. "lt seems as ii l
have always been with you"
That's how it seems to me, too
she said shyly. 'Iust az if you've
never been away. John, do you like
Inc better now than you did all those
wears ago? I've sometimes been
afraid that you'd be disappointed In
mc--that I shouldn't bc-as nice look
ing as you might expect.
lie laughed at that, and she laughed,
too.
"Whut about me. them he asked
with forced liGhtnesS. He took of his
hat, showing the gray in his cropped
hair. ".Am MS beautiful MS you hoped
I should be. Miss Vanity"
She put her hands behind her back
and considered him seriously.
HYou'rc better looking" she said
ot Iost There's something in your face
that I'd orgotten--sOmething which J
an sure was not there when--when ]
drst fell in love with you,' she added
sauriIy, ..,, .,..,
She laughed. who's vain now!'
che leased. He turned away in pre-
tended olfeuse. and she followed quickly.
She slipped her hand through his
arm and laid her cheek against his
, cont sleeve. "If you were rs ugly as
os the ugliest man in the world she
s"id with sudden gravity, ~ should
still love you best in the world, Ihere
something about you-somcthlng IN
, your voice. and the way you look ut
inc u" she broke on. ana gave
him little push away from her.
''You say nm turning you ihto
poet," she sCoited wen, you arc
making me as sentimental as school
n;"I MIN not coming near you
6m';; 66ma;n for a long time. We're going
te walk round the island and talk
seiISe' n" porturc Hunter thrust his hands