Evening star., 1933-08-30
NSTALLMENT XVII.

vt was not until the ne1t IHotAnuS
that the full force OF what she hao
done struck Mary. ~ %
Somehow she had walked PACK "
the dinner guests with Curt. Some
how She managed to get through that
tunabled, hectic meal.
Freckle and Burton Sinclair. Dumas
and Count Faltax, what had tney
thought? Had she acted naturaliy:
Sitting beside Curt, his hand pressing
hers reassuringly once in Whlle-ano
his strange, sad smile on her nusneo
face.
She had not slept more than an hour,
an hour of nightmare and strange
dreams, filled almost entirely with Iom-
my-Tommy on his knees before her'
begging her not to marry that OLD MIL
uonaire"-Tommy angry-chokins her,
chasing her until she dropped exhaust.
ed and out of breath to waken and find
she was in her own bed, with FrecKle
snoring softly close by.
Mary lay in bed a long time without
moving. All action seemed to have
gone from her limbs She felt numb
as though the whole thing must be
nightmare. She was engaged to curt
Little And hidden away in white
satin-lined box in her bag was the Big
gest ruby engagement ring she mad
ever seen.
Why had Curt begged her not to tell
any one Of their engagement for a
while? For business reasons, he had
said She was net even to tell Freckle
Just yet. ,-
millions-his cars. yacht. airplanes-
that beautiful home-would be hers.
Every woman in Hollywood would envy
her. She could have every gown, every
hat, every wrap-every pair OF shoes
she saw, If her heart so desired. Curt
had said so.
Oh. truly, she was lucky girl. No
one in her right mind would refuse to
marry a good, kind man like Curt Lit
tie when he needed her so much-and
she would have all the money, to do
with as she pleased. Her father and
mother could live in luxury the rest of
their days. Daddy could give up work
and travel, as he had always dreamed
of doing. She could do SO much good
with all that money.
Mary closed her eyes and dreamed of
all the lovely things she would do. The
poor people she would help. But
Tommy. What would become of poor
Tommy? Perhaps he really, truly
loved her.
That night when he had called for
her at Nine. Dumas and she had driven
away with Curt Little he had taken it
like man. But that was days ago
and he hadn't telephoned her or shown
up again. He was just a sulking little
boy. Perhaps he had gone back to
Millstream. That would be best.
Mary felt tears choking in her throat
and it took all her will power to fight
them back. She was going to marry
''that old millionaire" after all-and
Tommy had been so sure his intentions
were not honorable. When Freckle
stirred and seemed to waken Mary drew
the cover near her face and feigned
sleep.
Freckle left early to work on pic
ture-and Mary was glad when she
gave her hurried glance and left the
room. In a little while she smelled
coffee percolating and soon the door
closed and Freckle had gone out. It
was a relief not to have to talk the
party over just then. Shed hardly
gotten her bearings.
X < x
In the morning when Mrs. Blnney
went into Curtis den to see that it was
in order she was amazed to find him
still in his dinner clothes, sitting at his
desk with his head in his arms. Fright
ened, the hou5ekeeper went up close
and listened to see if he were breathing.
Mr. Little-wlly, Mr.. Little-what is
wrong"
Mrs. Binney shook Curt by the
sat up. Tears of relief came to her eyes.
"Ch-Mr. Little, you gave me nasty
turn, sir. 7 thought something had
happened to you. sir"
Curt rubbed his eyes and smiled
YEARLY.
live been sitting here thinking
thinking about some business I've got
to attend to, and I guess fell asleep.
I'm sorry if frightened you"
"Oh-that's all right, Mr.. Little.
Please, forgive me, sir, for waking you.
But was afraid
Afraid I might have inabibed too
freely?"
Mrs. Binney looked shocked.
"Oh, no sir-'tis well we all know
you're not one for spirits, sir.
Curt smiled.
Your party was a success. Mrs.
Binney; congratulations. ThereH be
substantial raise in your pay envelope
this month"
"Oh-thank you, sir" Mrs. Binney
beamed with pleasure that she had
pleased her adored master. You're SO
kind to every one, Mr.. Little. Such a
SCoO IIldIl
At that Curt WINGED But he forced
a crooked smile. The housekeeper
added further to his discomfort before
she hurried out:
I'm sure the Lord will bless you, sir,
for all the good you do in the world. y
Curt Little was weary in body and
soul. For hours after he had taken
Mary and Freckle home he walked the
floor of his den Now that Mary had
promised to marry hin1-what was he
going to do with her?
He could still feel the sweet per-
fumed warmth of her red mouth when
he took her into his arms. He had
been SO sure he would loathe her. Hate
her as he hated her father. But she
had clung to him in such sweet SYM
pathy for his loneliness-such trust
ing. innocent clinging.
Her body, slim as an elf in that lovely
gown, had felt like the body of a child.
Hours he had walked the floor and tried
to get away from the memory.
Triumph turned to ashes in his
mouth-and weary and heartsick he
had fallen asleep at his desk. Mary
was going to marry him. Now what?
But as he sat staring out the window