Nogales international., 1930-06-13
Youve given back all the money he gave your"

sufficient allowance"
He could only gaze at her, dumb
founded. All his fine schemes had been
blown away as feather of steam is
blown by.a gale. She saved him the
trouble Of speaking and gave him time
to recover himself, for she went on ::
Luke has never been in Paris since
he went away-some interested person
must have sent that wire. l almost
feel as though I willed it to be sent,
to give~me some excuse for the terrible
way I treated Luke" She smiled. Il
should be awful1y uncomfortable If
/ thought my money made any differ
ence to you in your scheme, Danton.
Happily, you're a rich man."
Dainty nodded slowly. He had that
morning received a warning letter
from his banker, for he had been
spending money and losing large Sums
at his favorite gaming house In the
! faith that his financial position would
soon Be uaasssilabls,
With an effort he recovered his bal
ance and forced his voice into tone
of indifference.
'I'm not sure that you're wise. Did
you consult your 1awyer?"
She shook her neatA
"In matters of conscience one does
not consult lawyers" she said quietly.
1t was difficult enough even to make
intelligent conversation. Her attitude
was dead wall built across his easy
path, and at the moment it seemed un-
scalable. He had to play for time
now; his native cunning told him that
so long as he had her on his side there
was no reason why he should lose
hope. He had dreamed of hundreds OF
thousands; he had been certain OF tens
of thousands; there was still an odd
thousand or two for the picking and
possibly a greater haul II he played the
game shrewdly.
when do you expect to leave for
Ronda3"
"In two days time" she said quickly
so quickly that he realized she had
worked it out to the hour. "As soon
las I am certain that Luke is in Ronda
I shall go to him."
Exactly what will you say to
him?"
He could not resist asking this ques-
ton, though he realized even as he
spoke the words that he was guilty
of tactical error.
He saw her stiffen; that cold look
came back to the beautiful eyes.
"That is entirely matter between
Luke and me-" she said. Il have
made this mess, I am afraid, and l
must get out of it"
In his desperation he blundered
again.
"You owe something to Rex's men,
ory," he said. II don't know what
you're feeling about Luke, but there's
a fact that can't be blinked. Luke
could have saved your brothers life
instead, when he found he was ruined,
he bounded him still further into the
mire. His god is money"
''Yet he gave me everything" she
said quietly; "and when l refused him
money, he went away without a word:
Don't you realize, Danton, that had
he gone to his lawyer, had he gone to
the courts-had he done anything-I
must have given him the money back,
not because he had any legal right to
it but because I would not have dared
to face public inquiry. He may have
been mean, he may have been terribly
cruel, but I cannot right one wrong
with another. That is the considera-
ton which made me give back the
money to Mr.. Stiles" she went on in
voice less tense, more agreeable, al
most friendly. "We shall have to
thresh out this business of Rex-it's
very ugly and hurtful, and I can't
think Of it calmly even now. Luke
may have some explanation; there
may be very excellent reason why
he refused any further help to poor
Rex. At any rate, it's my job to find
the truth"
He was almost Iiyid with fury be