Evening star., 1922-07-16

of asking you. anyway. OF course
they want you"
The memory Of Bea's insolent eyes
steeied Janice.
"I can't go, anyway" she said with
desperate stubbornness. II have an
engagement for Saturday evening.
fmAI'm going to the theater again
with Mr.. Flint
Instantly this presented the mat
ter in a new light. Bob forgot the
Pertwees.
81 thought we had a standing date
for Saturday night" he objected.
We'll. 1 knew you wouldn't mind.
and--so it's RIl right. You so on out
to the Pertwees. and"
Il don't want to go out to the Pert
wees without you. We always have
our week ends together. Can't you
get out of the theater? Tell Flint
you'd forgotten a'previous date"
Janice hesitated for just the right
suggestion of yielding uncertainty.
"Come on" Bob coaxed- Come on
and break it, We won't go to the
Pertwees. / don't care anything
about going. I'll fix it with Bert and
well do something Saturday night
and drive out to Sleepy Hollow for
dinner Sunday Come on, you can
get out OF your Saturday engagement.
can't your"
After a little more coaxing Janice
promised to try. And SO exultant was
Bob when she finally told him. the
next evening, that she had succeeded.
30 unusually loverlike was he during
their Sunday outing. that Janice felt
with a little thrill of power that the
ancient trick would succeed once
again.
NOW. this was all very gratifying.
~ and, so far as it went, quite sue
cessful But it had not gone any
where near far enough. 1t was. in
fact. only beginning. From this
point on. the rivalry Of Lawrence
Ballard Flint should progress: each
week he should be little more real.
a little more imminent. a bit more of
a rival 1t should, of course, be
progress tempered with discretion,
carefully calculated always to be
stimulating, never quite antagoniz-
ing. There would be no point in ac-
tually quarreling with flesh and
blood Bob over a ghostly Mr.. Flint.
sohl
progress. Each week the unseen,
vivid presence of Lawrence Ballard
should make Bob a little less sure of
his own position. a bit more on his
toes. That was the way it worked in
stories. There would probably be a
climax some time when Bob. at last
aroused and beside himself with jesi-
ous fears. should call back all the
fire and ardor Of his early courtship
to outcourt his rival. Then Janice,
secure in this new fervor. might con-
sent to ending it all, to putting Law
renee Ballard Flint out Of her life
forever. This is the way it should
have worked, butt didn't seem to
work that way.
After the first few spurts there was
so little progress one might almost
say there was no progress at all. Bob,
intead Of becoming increasingly con-
cerned over his rival, seemed after
this one incident to be scarcely con-
cerned at all. He received with ap-
parent indifference Janice's frequent
announcement Sthat she was going to
the theater with Mr.. Flint. 1t almost
appeared that he was rather pleased
ut each occasion. 1t was evident that
he considered an invitation from a
man on intimate terms with stage
beauties to be hattering to Janice
and thus indirectly fiAttering to him
self-fiattering but not apparently
alarming. This was not at all as 1t
should be.
Janice took to quoting Lawrence
Ballard with careless frequency. This
would not have been SO easy If II
had not been for the editor Of the
Footlight. But during slack half
hours in the office she and Lockwood
leaned back in their swivel chairs
and talked OF cabbages and kings
She learned all about Yale. for IN
stahce-Lockwood, a. college cor
respondent, had worked his way
through; so Janice was able to men-
tion casually Mr.. F1int's college days
and add few realistic touches. Then
Lockwood had gone on journalistic
vagabondine. which had lasted Ave
years and taken him ali over the
world. His Footiisht Job was. In fact
naerelS one lap in It ne told Janios