The Washington times., 1936-08-13


She promised.
But at nine-thirty next morn
ing, there was no Luana. At
that moment, Luana was lying
in q coma at the Metropolitan
Hospital, sick almost unto death
with blood-poiSoning from the
scratch of the ring that had be-
longed to that most poisonous OF
the Borgias-Lucrezia!
Its an appalling situation
Lorraine!"
In the waiting room Of the
Metropolitan Hospital, the usually
tolerant Joel Vandaveer paced up
and down the floor, frowning at
his wife.
MRS. Vandaveer?" The eyes
of the man in the white uniform
went from Joels face to Lor-
raine's and rested there, penetrat-
ingly.
"As I told you on the telephone
a half-hour ago, this is quite an
unusual case. The patient was
brought in at 4 o'clock this morn
ing, in a high fever, and With
peculiar symptoms that were most
difficult of diagnosis.
Infantile paralysis was the
first report, but when I came on
duty, 1 questioned this. 1t seemed
more like a case of acute poison
ing"
Here Lorraine could not keep
back the question: WAS she SUI
fering, doctor?"
"Acutely."
"She was unconscious"
ITO what was going on around
her-yes. She was unable to talk,
but she was in great agony"
Luana did not die.
She went down into the Valley
of the Shadows, but early on the
fourth morning she passed the
crisis, thanks to the unremittlng
care of doctors and nurses, and a
serum the hospitals pathologist
had concocted for her, plus blood
tranSfuSions.
When dawn streaked the sky i'll
rose and primrose radiance on
that Wednesday morning, the
nurse at her pillow, looking at the
doctors, whispered:
"Sho will live"
It was 4 o'clock, and Yvonne
had gone home early, as Armand
was eScorting her to a big charity
ball that evening. Luana'S illness
had brought her lots OF parties
which she much enjoyed, shining
in reflected glory as substitute.
When she reached the apart
ment in Greenwich Village, there
was a letter on the floor.
~. McC." again-for Luana!
The mysterious father in Holly
wood! Without any scruples what
ever, she tore the envelope open.
She would read it and keep it, this
time. whatever news it contained
about Luana's past"
There was only a newspaper
clipping inside. She unfolded 1t.
Words were scribbled in pencil
down one side of the type.
"No one will recognize you1
photograph, so don't worry" she
read.
In the next column was a pic
ture of a man and a girl, with
'Mr. and Mrs. Gerald Bruton" di-
rectly under it, and below an il
Eliminating line of information to
the effect that Bruton was a no
toriouS crook who had been SEN
fenced to San Quentin prison for
10 years for swindling."
Yvonne put on her reading
glasses, for she was short-Sighted.
Mrs. Gerald Bruton in the pic
ture smiled happily out at her on
the arm of her crook o..
Yvonne gasped: why, it ees
Luana herself!"
4 X X
AfSer her brief but severe ILL
ness, Luana spent a recuperative
week at country club which is an
hour-and-a-half motor run from
New York on the Atlantic sea-
board.
Her fourth day at the club,
which was a Sunday, Hand
some" Carew arrived. He was a
member and had his own cabana,
which was gaily painted affair
in green and yellow, with bright
awnings, and cane chairs and a
swing-couch set outside it.
"Please use it, Luana, while
you're down here" he had told
her.
But she preferred her deck
chair down near the edge of the
water, on the sands, away from
the gay weekend jewellers.
Two weeks went by at the of
Quackenbush, with Luana back on
the job.
On her free evenings, she
worked at her original designs for
gowns. She curtailed her lunch
hour, for the same reason, sketch
ing busily in the dressing roim.