Plentywood herald., 1936-04-16

l
called 1t, because their papas are
rich" From one Of the longshore-
men, Barry had discovered that he
should have a mother. The old man
had never mentioned 1t, so his SOD
raised the question. II lost her." his
father said.
| "How?"
"In Alglers. You were born there"
1t was years before Barry was old
enough to put the two things togeth-
er. did she die when l was bornY'
he asked then. and got no answer.
This was In San Sebastian. where the
old man worked for an engineering
concern. Soon afterward. they pushed
on to England. and short-lived pros
| perity. Barry went to school, for the
first time. and found that he had
learned more from his father than the
other lads from their professors. That
was fortunate, because the schooling
lasted only a year before Barry-fif-
teen now-was taken to India. Il
can't stand counting houses" his ia
ther had told him. They've given us
berth In Calcutta"
| 1t wasn't an upper berth, and 1t
was in another counting house. II
met fellow today" the elder Gil
bert announced. who's got something
| to do with the diamond mines.
think we'll go to Johannesburg" They
didn't, because, a week later the old
man found another friend who sug-
gested Manila. From there, 1t was
only step to Canton, and the tea
business. and shorter step to Hong
Kong. where Francis Gilbert came
home one night with fever. and
died the next morning.
Barry had begged a clerkship In
Hong Kong. and then worked his
way to San Francisco. On the boat
was movie director. you've got
a great SMILE" he told the youngster
II think l can use you" Hollywood
then, and one studio after another
Youth, and looks, and the ingratiating
grin helped lot there. And Barry
|
clothes, and how gentlemen behaved
or Hollywood thought they behaved
| In a drawing room. He was earning
two hundred dollars a week, some
times, when a wallet vanished from a
coat thrown over a table ''in the set"
The Duke knew who took It, She was
poor little thing. though, and des-
perate, and His Grace kept his mouth
/ shut. They couldn't pin 1t on him,
he said, and they didn't, but there
were no jobs after that.
And so he'd come East. Ankle-deep
in the sand, that morning at South
ampton, he kept thinking Of the let
ter he'd just burned. And of his own
mother. He had missed her all through
his childhood, watching the other boys
with their mothers, or, at school in
England, getting ready to go home to
them. 81 lost her." the old man had
said and never mentioned the matter
again. Had she died in Algiers, in
childbirth or merely grown weary of
wandering, and decided to stay some
where with someone? "rd like to find
her." the Duke thought.
At noon Evans brought the car
do you know where we're goingY'
asked the Duke.
"Yes. I'm taking you for a ride"
Almost surly, thought the Duke.
And it had a sinister sound, that
phrase.
"You want to get lunch, don't your
the chauffeur added, quickly.
Il want to see the end Of the is
land. We can eat anywhere"
The Duke sank back into the cush-
oned seat. 1t gave him a curious
sense of Importance - being driven
like this. Along the highway they
sped.
The car was slowing down now,
and, looking ahead His Grace saw
another limousine drawn up at the
side of the road. Evans threw out
the clutch, and then put his foot on
the brake.
husky young fellow in uniform
was standing In front of the other
car Beside him was a spare, white
haired gentleman. And, framed in the
cars doorway. ready to alight, stood
pretty girl.
"Stop," said the Duke, quite super
erogatorily, since they had stopped
She was the prettiest girl he had
ever seen, the Duke decided. He had
made the same decision many times
before, but this time he felt 1t would
be final. Tall and slim and dark
dressed In an ensemble of hunters
green tweed with top coat to match
and tiny felt hat perched upon her
sleek black hair, she looked, some
how, like thing turned out by ar
entirely perfect machne-trim, and
polished, and built for speed. Her eyes
were gray, the Duke was to discover
later, and wide, and little cold Hei
nose was straight line from hel
forehead, and her lips were bright
red against the pale ivory of her face
Can do anything for your In
quired the Duke
He was standing before her now
and her glance took him in, calmly
appraisingly. before she answered
, mo, thanks"
And with that, Barry felt, she
erased him from the landScanp