Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-09-11
LADY SLIPPER
By Ella Mister Hdiiies
Author Of MYSTERIOUS sWEETHEART."
Copyrg Thompso


Once again she was being paddle
through the growing darkness. Stai
were appearing in the sky. and i'm IN
far distance lights appeared, biesst
sight!
Look Victor. lights. Oh, than
God"
THAT is Gatun Locks, I'm sure
he commented, but it's long wa
Anne The place where we SHAH ian
will be much nearer i'm the end. u
patient just little longer" His vote
was tender. poSsessive once more, an
Anne shuddered.
She hated the man more with every
passing hour. she reflected as the
/ canoe shot through the water. How
could she ever have considered marry
ing him?
1T was all the fault of my mean
ungovernable temper" she admitted
! frankly to herself. Il don't deserve
the love of "A good man like chris, m
not fit to cherish it,
Presently her thoughts were divert
ed by the beauty of the night, and
still later she became conscious of
miserable fatigue. Her position was
cramped and uncomfortable, but
canoe is a ticklish thing in a large
| body of water. and she dared not stir.
where shall we go in Colon, or is
| Cristobal the place for us to stay?
What about the Washington Hotel?
! I've heard so much of that
Il hardly want you to go to hotel
alone so late at night, Anne" Straine
replied there would he question
about my arriving there with you. To
put it quite frankly we might be ar
rested. Sorry to have to be so plain
spoken"
"But-but-," Anne broke in. pro-
testing.
But. please let me finish my sen.
tence, l have friends in Cristobal.
charming people. who l am sure will
shelter us for the night. Tomorrow
we can look up Dahlgren and the rest
of our fellow travellers. They are
bound to be safely in port by this
time"
Yes. and Chris will be frantic to
find I'm among the missing" Anne
said bitterly. who are your friends,
observation-disclosures"
English, dear. Mr.. and Mrs.
Holmes live on the Zone. He is
sort of representative of the English
shipping interests" 2.
Are they NICE" Anne asked timid
~. w Ill tHeN nave Il lttSpuoHS fSo
that | can reach Chris at the hotel?"
Certainly, and no doubt he will
come over to see you Immediately.
He'll be as eager to recover you as
you are to get him back. / know
Anne-oh, Anne-it's going to be so
hard to give you up-I-"
Victor, I'm terribly sorry! But
you wouldn't want wife who loved
another man, you know! Try to look
at it that way, and some day you'll
see another woman more worthy of
your love. Perhaps it won't be long
before that happens. who knows?"
Another silence. the lights of
Gatun growing DINNER until they van
ished altogether. The opposite shore
line grew clearer and clearer, drew
nearer. and after what seemed to \
Anne an eternity they were on land
again.
Now, darling. another short cut
through here and we'll reach the open
road" Straine explained. Don't he
frightened, the man SAYS it's not half
as bad as the last CUT
His prophecy was correct. The
path. though overgrown, was not
nearly so difficult, and a half hours
walk brought the party out upon an
open road. a sight SO blessed that
Anne. overwrought and exhausted,
burst into tears, happening deeply
to he regretted. as it brought Straine's
arm swiftly about her, EMBEDDING her
in an ardent clasp.
Anne, Anne, don't cry, beloved.
You're safe now. Oh. Anne, love you
so.'
Lifting her bodily off her feet
Straine set her down on the back
seat of motor. shabby thing which
creaked beneath their weight.
Now. then" said Straine to the
man who sat in the front seat, hurry
along"
He spoke in English, but the man
replied with a questioning infection.
He was not an American.
Immediately Straine switched to a
foreign tongue, and when the man an
swered they talked for several minutes
before the car started forward
Anne Straine took her hand gen
thy i'm his, "can you be patient a little
Ionger?"
Victor" Anne's nerves snapped as
she realized that a new disappoint-
ment awaited her. Victor, what has
happened now.''
We'll, dear. we've missed the ships
party! The government headquarters
are in Balboa. at the Pacific end of
the Canal. This man says that the
party was landed and shipped through
to Balboa this evening, but it's no,
far, Anne, 40 miles. Wen go after
them. dear!'
'Oh. Victor, are you sure he isn't
mistaken. Hadn't we better keep on
to Colon, anyway"
ITS very late now, beloved, and il
we turn back to Colon we'll have to
spend the night there! No, we'd bet.
ter go on to Balboa, it's the only
way"