The Daily Alaska empire., 1930-10-18

Because, apparently, someone i going to give me away"
 "Who?"
 Lester Broom"
 The doctor swore, apologized, anc swore again.
 I'll settle him, Miss Elles-Mis' Conaldine. I'll shut his moutl somehow What on earth doe' he want to tell his brother for He's got nothing to gain by it.' T thought" Hallie sounded i'm mensely weary, that once I'd re- fused to marry Lester anyway he was out of it. But that's where he's SO amazing. He's determined to marry me. I can't think why"
 She spoke without the faintest hint of coquetry. Lytton, angrily conscious of her slender limbs and the deep, sweet line of her breast, and that birds-wing hair, could quite easily think why man might be determined to marry her. But the man was Lester Broom, for whom the feast of woman's beau- ty was too often spread.
 Does he feel he ought to marry you after what happened?" he shot out.
 "Oh, no." She spoke quite calmly. Lester would never in this world do a thing because it was his duty. Besides, his duty is done when I've refused him. He lied to his brother about iU," she added dispassionate- ly, and persuaded SaXely that it Was-Nurse Ellesmore-who insisted on marriage And Saxely gave his consent. But all that is just stage setting
 Mot necessarily. Iou forget that Broon gets big house and an am- pie income when his brother con- sents to his choice of a wife"
 T don't forget it. Nor does Les ter. But-there are score of girls whom Saxely would welcome, once Nurse Ellesmore has let Lester off marrying her"
 What does Broom say to that?"
 Simply that he doesn't want to be let off. That he won't marry any one but me. And that if I don't marry him almost immediately he will tell SaXely who I am" Its blackmail," said Lytton.
 T told him so. But, you sec, words don't mean anything to Les CT. He'd say, suppose, that you gan call him a blackmailer all day , long, if you want to; he isn't dis surbed by your opinion in the least"
 "It's monstrous," Lytton eXclaim- ed. Its davilish. It's-what are you going to do?" His hands thrust deep into his pockets, he stared at the white washed wall against which her shadow and his leaped and merged and drew away again. When did all this crop up?' "He wired Saxely from New York that he had arranged to marry Nurse Ellesmore. He knew that l should be with SaXely when the wire came"
 Hes clever!"
 Yes, he's clever. And then he came down here, a couple of hours later and we talked on the cliff I ran away, after a bit. ran and ran !. He said he was going back to New York"
 He may be somewhere around, all the same" Lytton looked round for his hat. "Ill have a shot at making him see ordinary common ldecency-"
 { He can't" said Hallie. He just cant"
 But" countered the doctor vio- llently, how am I to let you mar " him?"
 The two shadows on the wall were close together. Lytton looked at them steadily. There was a drumming in his veins. Give that a moment. It'll pass" Life-a mad wanton, life; getting a man by the throat when the years had long ago stripped woman's charm of every thing but-charm Such a darkly perfect woman this. Little more than child, against his for ty-seven years. And he had always been moved by dark women. Come now, his pulse was steady Iagain and there was the discipline of years to hold his thoughts in check.
 What I mean is, how the devil
 can you marry Broom, now, suppos- ing for moment that you want to? There's Grannock talking oi getting to the church with only a cane in three weeks" Lester doesn't care about any oi
 those problems When he speaks of Saxely and me. he's offensive