The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1928-04-13
Copyright By Dodd. Mead q ca.
WNU Service
CHAPTER X--Continued


her living counterpart
'.Meelyl"
She turned with a bound and at
sight Of him, her dull face expressed
surprise and pleasure. "Weli-of
-all- thingsl Mr.. Creighton yeti
Well, me, I'm that took back, MIR.
Creightonl What brang you to New
York overt Come on" she said, max
ing room for him beside her, "and set
down here, side by each-ain't? My
lands sakesl" she exclaimed as he
obeyed her, saint you feelin' good.
Mr. Creighton? You look that pale!
Most like dead onei What ails you,
anyhow? Are you mebby car-sick? !
got awful car-sick goin'. But comm,
I'm feelin' right good. was to New
York over to look for place. I'm a
right good cooker and I heerd they
paid good cooks in New York as much
as i've dollars a week. With room
and board yeti So I says to Pop
says
s She stopped short, reached for
coat that was crushed. between her
and the, window, slipped 1t on and
stood up. "Come, St Croix." she
spoke naturally. ''the games up Of
course. Let's 60 back to our chairs
II you're not embarrassed to walk
through this train with my pompa.
dourl / thought this the quickest.
easiest way to make You see how ]
do It'll For I'm in the way Of being
professional actress, st. Croix, and
makeup is my strongest point"
Her countenance was concerned and
sympathetic as, sitting opposite him
In the parlor car, she considered his
white-faced suffering. Was she cruel,
she wondered? But surely, this was
coming to him"-he deserved It
And yet he looked so CHASTITY! Per-
haps he might kill himself and 1t
would be her fault Well, would that
be as bad as what he had plotted to
do to ''Meely Schwenckton"? 1t would
notl
'I1l tell you. st. Croix, all about it
II you want to know" she suggested
In troubled voice. her face almost
rs pale as his own. "I'm sorry II I've
Tort you terribly. but think how You
were going to hurt me!''
"Not you THE girl you pretended
to be-" he said huskily. "And such a
girl would not have been hurt! A girl
like you can't judge for one like Nee
Of the Schwenckton breedi"
"Better than you can, st. Croix
You would have ruined her life for
her ~
aNot If she'd been what she
seemed" he insisted, his voice low
pitched and hoarse.
s'What she seemed was an ignorant.
stupid, but perfectly decent grill And
after the pitiful note Mr.. Schwenck-
ton wrote you which you thought was
about mel It was about his daughter
Nettie, who he knew was In love
with you. It was she that sent you
that fudge"
"How the h-4 you ever managed
the deyilish coupl" he exclaimed des-
perately.
'sThe queer thing, st. Croix, was
that there wasn't thing premeditat-
ed about fit all just happened.
just fell into the thing step by step.
m tell you. I'll begin with the mole.
knew that was landmark for you
So I put fiesh-colored court plaster
over 1t and powered the spot with
desh-colored powder"
He stared at her helplessly.
'"The big mistake you made, St
Croix, was in not knowing was the
teacher of William Penn school. Net
tie Schwenckton wasn't. You had us
mixed. / was the teacher; and
boarded at the Schwenckton farm"
''But-but," he stammered, "then
Marvin helped you put this thing over
on mel"
"Oh, dear, mol He had nothing to
do with iti'
do you swear to me he didn't know
who you were?" st. Croix demanded
with jealous suspicion and resent
menf.
swell, he certainly did suspect me
for fraud and blur when he heard
me teach United States geography I
But he didn't know anything more
about me than You did. Now, I'll tell
you ALI I've always been mad to
go on the stage or the screen. I man.
aged TO scrape together enough money
- 60 to Paris to study dramatic art
keE months. Then got q small
bart In an English repertoire company
that played in the provinces and 1
earned enough to buy my passage to
America, the only place. ! was told.
where screen stars earned anything.
It was an awful risk, my coming here,
/ had so little money. But I reas-
sured my anxious parents by telling
them that If I got stranded I'd send
sout an s o to the Creighton family.