The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-07-04

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pie who pecked at their food, with
no more appetite than canar1es, as
| she grumbled to Estelle.
Reminds me of last Christmas,
when that Crawford man sat there
and made eyes at the creature who
was Mrs. Morgan then" Estelle whis-
pered. This Todd man is nuts over
Miss Nan, and the poor dear mister
looks like he's wondering if he's 60
ing to lose this missus, too
That was an eXaggeratiop, but
certainly John Curtis Morgan did
not look like a happy man, between
his odd bursts Of forced volubility.
Nan, with an impishness she had not
suspected herself capable Of, firted
openly with Willis Todd, and the
burden Of her conversation was,
And, oh, Willis, do you remember
When-?"
Immediately after dinner Nor
gan called for Curtis tray and
trudged heavily upstairs with it. The
sound of those slow. heavy foot
steps-almost like those of an old
man's-echoed in Mans heart and
brought tears into her eyes.
What the matter, Nan?" Willis
asked anxiously, as he dropped
down to the couch beside her and
laid a trembling hand over hers.
rs it-pretty bad, honey?"
Nan made no pretense of not I'M
Outstanding. She nodded niser-
ably. then dashed an angry hand
at the tears. Iris has come back,
Willis. She didn't know John had
got a divorce and-and married me"
Good Lord" the young man
calculated. you poor kid No
wonder. Can you tell me what hap
/ pened? Did she come here?"
Nan nodded and Willis frightened
his clasp on her hand until the
pressure hurt But it was a sweet
pain. Stumbling, interrupting her
self at times to choke back a sob
Nan told him the incredible story
of Iris return and of its devasting
effects upon John Curtis Morgan.
She concluded by rapidly repeating
DR.. Blacks warning that Iris in
tended to fight her successor with
every weapon she could lay hands
on.
Then you'll need weapon, too
Willis Todd said grimly. And I've
got dandy I can place in your
hands right now"
Mans tear drowned eyes stared
incredulously into his Steely gray
ones.
mo I'm not talking through my
hat" he assured her. I've got facts
and proofs which you're welcome to.
was in New York in November
on buying trip for my firm and
one Of the big wholesale men took
me to night club. Sure-fre enter
tainment for us out-of- town hicks,
you know" he grinned. "Well, it
happens he was right this time, for
I wouldn't have missed show saw
there for a months pay. And the
show was extra, entirely impromptu,
not part of the regular cabaret at
all"
you saw Iris and--Bert CraW
ford?" Nan whispered.
"Of course you'd be two leaps
ahead of me- Willis growled. al
most the first person my eyes lit
on when we took our table was
Bert Crawford. He didn't recog-
nize me, of course-we'd never met.
With him was a stunning brunei
an actreSSy sort of person, made up
to look like a Spanish heart breaker,
lace nantilla, jeweled comb, Spanish
shawl and whatnot. They were
thick as thieves. The description fits
our blond villain, at any rate
."DUT-Iris?" Nan frowned. 81
ID was so sure she'd been with
him after she left john"
"Oh, she had, all right No doubt
about that, if you can wait till
tell my story. 1t was about 1870,
when the cabaret was in full swing,
that Iris appeared suddenly at
Crawfords table and launched one
of the nastieSt rows I've ever had
to listen in on. It all came out, Of
course: how Crawford was her prop
erty and she'd not stick at murder
to keep any other woman from Sav-
ing him."
"Oh!" Nan gasped.
Exactly" Willis Todd agreed. 'It
was pretty awful. Before the night
club manager could get there to
put her out, Crawford had told her,
in no uncertain terms, that ha
wasn't going to stand for her spying
on him, that he was his own master,
that since he wasn't married to her,
what was it to her anyway, If he
fancied another woman for a
change. Raw! The Spanish-look-
ing vamp enjoyed it lot, think
she was little sorry when the
manager hustled Iris out of the club.
The next morning I read a front
page story in a tabloid about Row
in Nightclub Ends in Suicide At
tempt"
Did it print Iris name?" Nan
asked, Mortified.
r. D. ra1,Rsr,ua1A