New Britain herald., 1929-08-09
THIS HAS HAPPENED

Her adventures are HldllS anu CA citing. From Naples, she travels to } Rome, and then to Venice.
 Later she goes to Florence. and buys her sweetheart, Jack Wells, fascinating ring from an old silver smith on Ponte Necchio. Returning. happily, to the pension where she IS staying, she receives cable. Tearing 1t open rather fearfully. Molly falls at the feet of Signorina Benvenutl' mistress of the pension. For the first time in her life, she has tainted. NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY
 CHAPTER XNVII
 Servants came running when signorina Benvenuti called. Sig- norina chafed Molly's cold hands, and pressed brandy between her lips And, when she could not be reviV- ed. they carried her to divan in the living room; and the concierge went on his bicycle for doctor.
 Then Signorina Benvenuti re- trieved the cable that had fiuttered from Mollys stiff fingers,
 RITA DEAD" it read. INSIST ED DURING CONSCIOUSNESS THAT YOU BE NOTIFIED I'M MEDIATELY. BOZ
 ~ Tears came to the Italian ladys eyes. Her sympathetic Latin nature responded readily to the grief of any living thing, and for the little
 1i,Nr a wept sincerely
 Molly stirred, and her eyelids fluttered. < q have great sorrow for you Sig norina,' murmured the mistress Of the pension. T have read your mes- sage and weep my grief
 Molly stared with unseeing eyes, The concierge had returned with the doctor. And the murmur Of anxious voices penetrated her con- sciousness. She raised herself on her elbow. Everything was clear now She remembered the cable, and realized she had tainted.
 My best friend is dead she said. and I must go home lmmedl- atelv. to take care of her baby. l. I hope I didn't frighten you. It was a dreadful shock"
 Signorina nodded understanding ly.
 ITO be sure" she murmured. "A dreadful shock. I shed tears my self"
 Sba rined her eyes
 "The bambino?" she asked. You will be mama to the little bam- bino?"
 T promised my friend" eXclaim- ed Molly, that if she died, I would take her little girl. She was ill then. But I never realized the end was so near. She did not seem very sick. never dreamed y Mollys voice broke.
 "sometimes it is better" consoled the older woman, when death comes quickly. God knows best. May He have mercy on her soul"
 Molly nodded through her tears. "Yes. Rita wouldn't haze wanted to suffer and be i'll. know that "She was content. maybe, to die whenashe knew you would be ma ma to the little bambino, declared Sls- norina. "And now if you will have a glass of my wine .f. v
 She proffered a goblet of purple 1jauid. The sun, slanting through the shutters, filled it with light so that it was amethyst and ruby, like the sweet grapes from which it came. Ut will revive you" she said.
 
 Molly drank it gratefully.
 q feel better already she declar- ed. "I'm sorry I was weak and silly I must have frightened you. DO you know. Signorina, when there is a boat for the States? "
 Sgnorina did not know, but soon the concierge was busy with sailing lists and steamship tracts. The Conte Grande was sailing from Naples or Thursday. He would arrange lm- mediately for reservation. Did Sig norina wish to send a cable?
 Molly dictated message of sym pathy to Bob. It was good to nave someone do her thinking for her.
 Bob's answer was delivered the next day-the day of Rita's fu- neral. Whatever Rita desired, he said, should be done. Molly waf very kind. He would meet her ir New York. and they should talk things over. Thank God, he added little Rita was too young for griev. ing.
 Jack cabled too. Bob had tolc him that Molly knew of Rita'' death, and that she had offered tt take the baby. He sent his sympathy and commended her for her gen erosity. But there was not a word 0 love, nor hope expressed that h' might see her in New York, Whel Molly read it, she practically decided to give the Borgia ring to Red Flynn Red had been wonderful abou writing. Molly fancied that, betweel the lines, she could read a grea many loving expressions. But the let ters themselves were chatty ant RUSSlpSs Slt Slloultl tolillliNl AiiltL q her fame, he advised. Another play perhaps. Or book. Maybe she coul' do some short stories She was stil the child wonder of Broadway. Tn ingenue prodigy. The red-hairc baby-girl who could call the trick any old day.
 "They're eating out of your han
 
 the dear public" wrote Red, "bu they're fickle as d flock of Womer Keep 'em, while you got 'em-an ride 'em for flock O suckers Can you dish up another order 0 Crime with a little Sex on the side? An give it to 'em hot, dear. Hot an medium raw. And make 'em loV 1t"
 Reading q letter from Red va like talking to him. He had goo ideas too. His insistence upon hold