Evening star., 1923-12-31
CHAPTER Nv.
The Surprise Party.

The nnomentary silence was so pro-
sorna that the measured ticking of the
tall clock in the corner sounded IKE
dull hammer strokes, and the droWSS
tvitter of birds seeking their nests
among the trees came plainly in at the
opened windows.
Zoe Dawn clasped her white-glove
hands tightly together and began her
story.
at is nearly three years now since
Joseph Bernhard saw me at the races
and became infatuated with me. lie
had heard of me, that other men IN
high places had tried to make me care
for them, and l think it must have
been these rumors of my supposed con-
quests which piqued him at hrst, put
soon he himself began to care l can
say this without conceit, for ! know
that he fought against it. and / have
! reason to believe that until our meeting
he lived only for ambition. From that
hour, though. he who had mastered
everybody and everything that opposed
me against his own will. As for me,
I found after a few months OF ms
strange half-reluctant devotion that ne
meant more to me than all the world
besideo'
Her hands unclasped, and she struck
the arm of her chair
"What a fool l was! l thought that
the world would forget me as easilg'
that I could hide myself from II eN-
cept for him until Zoe Dawn was no
longer remembered and ! might take
nv place as his wife. He led me to
believe this, of course, and that as soon
as he had reached the position OF
powre in the financial world when
he had set for himself he would mar
ry me.
II had made fools of men, but now
the tables were turned, and my trust
was as blind as any unsophlsticated
girls could have been. For almost two
years 1 was absolutely happy and then,
! Just a few months ago. he changed
He was not firing, but he was fighting
against me and against himself, and l
fought back, but it was no use! He
told me brutally that there could be
no future for us together. that any
wife would hamper him in his ambition,
but one to whom the breath of past
intrigue and scandal still clung would
defeat all he had worked for "a and ID plan Ian
you see and l let him CO."
The woman paused and the soft sum-
mer twilight, stealing i'll at the win
dows, cast ever deepening shadows
with averted face but Geoff sat twist
ing his cap in his workworn hands
and gazing steadily through narrowed
lids at their visitor. After moment
She went on.
81 hadn't any thought of reprisal
was simply stunned, but when that
passed / went nearly crazy! 1t was
then that I could have killed him, only
1 still cared, but gradually l came, to
seem him as he was, a petty, thleylng
schemer! deSpiSed myself, but hated
him, and when Stoneham Lane came
| to me last Wednesday night and pro-
posed that we work together to ruin
him 1 fell in eagerly enough with his
| plan.
"Alone, 1 could never have accomp-
| lshed it nor could Lane, but together,
with my knowledge of Joe Benkards s
! innermost processes of thought and un-
scrupulous methods of manipulating the
market which he had confided to me
| boastfuly down to the smallest detail,
and with Lanes own practical expert
ence and mastery of the same game, we
stood fighting chance. Success would
mean fortune to Lane, and he agreed
| to divide with sme-oh, l don't mind
being frank about it; when love went
what they were before, creatures to
be used!
EARLY next mornings though. Lane
| teIephoned me the news of Joe's death
and the suspicion that it had been mur-
der, and cautioned me to do or say
nothing until l had heard from him
again On Sunday evening he came and
said the police had learned of his quar-
\ rel and break with Joe and were look
\ ing UP his whereabouts on Wednesday
night; that he had refused to give an
alibi till he had an opportunity to
come to some agreement with me-"
| She hesitated ,and Geon nodded.
/ 20 course. with Mr.. Bernhard dead
and gone, there was no reason why