Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-08-17


And standing in that deserted cor
ner Of the steamer Hopes moonlt
deck. he peered once more through
the window against whose outer sue
his head had leaned moment before
The window opening into his very own
cabin! Seeing things" Then he must
IA a cbronic victim OF haliuCinaton,
DOR he still saw the same large arm
chair in the center Of his room, facing
the door into the inside passage, an
armchair which certainly had never
been there before. an armchair whose
depths hid somebody from view
The whole thing was absurd. pre-
posterous. Glass slippers? cinderella
had gone out long ago-with chaper'
ons and lon. hair Yet those SHIN
merinG slippers were certainly maze
Of glass, crystal clear, And those
little feet couldn't have strolled into
his room entirely alone. They belonged
to somehodv-who was She
And as if this marvellous revelation
were not enough to dazzle any man,
Young or old, there was something
even more alluring' \ yellow bank
note nesting against the dainty
ankle of the left foot was plainly
visible through that filmY, transparent
stocking: The moonlight climmering
full upon it disclosed its denomination.
81 900, 1t was the first nota of its
size that Christopher had ever seen.
The Young man drew his head ont
Of the window again. blinked several
times and rubbed his eyes. What
kind of n tropical madness had over
taken him. anyway, Then as his gaze
wandered inward through the window
once more, as il drawn by magnet,
and the apparition remained un-
changed and motionleSS. he made n
desperate attempt to climb through
his window. cursinC the lifelong ath'
letic training which had developed
him to six feet and IFS pounds,
stripped.
Yet. something must he done-he
couldn't let a girl sit there like that
fnh is room at midnight.
who are you?" he called with all
the courage he could muster, don't
YOU know you're in my room. and
hat-that-ankle-is no place to keep
your money, What's your Nance"
No answer. He tried to stretch his
arms far enough to reach the chair
but it was provokingly beyond him.
die withdrew his head. questioning
his next move. Presently Anne
Morris. strolling past him on the deck
With that callow young Winston, the
ships prize idiot. threw an amused
glance his way. pausng beside the
rail. diminutive White figure sill
houetted against the glowing path of
moonlight which stretched across the
tropic sea.
Anne was always turning up at the
wrong moment these days, Her silvery
laugh broke the stiffness of the hot
1T. H. Of hoY cid
brayed his response. Brayed! That
VAS the exact word for the sound he
made, What Anne could see in that
low comedy type. mere kid at that,
was beyond Christopher's comprehen-
sion, but ut any rate her presence
discouraged the idea that she had
placed upon the back of Christopher's
head the kiss which only few
moments before had caused him to
Jump up and peer into his cabin.
He could still feel that faint, linGer-
ing touch of soft lips, hear that quiv-
ering sigh, inhale the light breath of
lilies of the valley upon the midnight
air. The fragrance of those lilies had
sent a sharp, stabbing memory
through his heart, but that was no
reason TO imagine that Anne would
play him a trick like that, Anne, the
girl he had loved so desperately and
from whom he had now parted for
ever.
No, the ~banknote, the crystal slip
pers. and all that went with them
belonged to someone else, A second
girl was trying to make monkey of
him, He must be the worlds cham
his cabin and let that piece of fluffy
ruffies understand that she had picked
the wrong man.
Christopher's jaw set like a bull
dogs. His eyes glowered as he squared
his shoulders and strobe forth to war.
But in the first passageway. opening
from the deck into the main salon
some so feet down the promenade. he
bumped into Victor Straine, the man
who had taken Anne from him, the
man he was going to kill, when he
got around to it!
Looking for you, Dahlgren,"
.Straine laid a OBTAINING hand on
Chris shoulder. Come into the
smoking room, won't you? It's still
early"
Sorry" Chris chafed at the delay
but was unwilling to show his eager
ness to be rid of this man, whose
cabin being directly across from his
and see what Chris had seen, Got
Touch Of headache. Won't tomorrow
do"
well" Victor Straine hesitated.
ats about Miss Morris You know
I'm employed by her father as his
assistant. and although he doesn't
know that / happened to sail on this
ship. ! feel responsible. ] can't under
stand the old man sending a beautiful
girl like that off alone
Miss Morris is quite capable of
looking after herself" Chris retorted
scornfully, 'if you'll excuse ME-
'Oh, ] know that You two have had
a misunderstanding" Straine planted
himself firmly in Christophers path.
land I'm not blaming you for being
soured. Still, you don't want her to
get into any trouble. and that woman
in the cabin opposite Anne's and next
10 mine. Lady de Nere--you may have
noticed her."
Eyes. I've noticed her. hut my pulse
continues to beat formally"
mo doubt. However. I'm not think
ing Of your pulse but of Anne's. Lady
de We're is moving heaven and earth
to get chummy with the girl"
and just why does that concern
uS?"
II don't trust that woman. Some
thing peculiar about the way she
behaves. Shut into her room for hours
nj time never out If it. in foot. Has
her meals carried in, eats next 10
nothing. vet appears in perfect health.
and has thousa nds Of dollars In her
possession"
thousands OF dollars" Chris at.
tention was instantly crystallized
show do YOU know that?"
Il saw her give the purser a bunch
Of yellow bills as thick as my fist,
telling him TO put them in the safe,
and do you know that the outside one
was q $1,000 note
"A 81 900 note Good Lord" Chris
gave low whistle, and did not fail
10 notice that Straine was watching
him with shrewd eyes, his lips con