The evening world. Newspaper, July 13, 1914, Page 13

\Coppright, 1914, “Why did you—kill him?” “Why?” repeated George Orcutt. “Was it—in self-defense?” “No,” he groaned, There My feet. the knife in—his—heart, on the handle.” he told her the man despairingly. to keep alone"—— The tapestry in question was of held a life-size statue, “What a head y.u have! “1 shall try—to save my baby. from—the disgrace of your—arreat, returned his wife, maternal tender- ness flooding her breaking voice. “You quarrelled over—a woman?” “It was a woman." George Orcutt's gaze was dully wondering. The in- comprehensibility of it would never leave him. ‘That he could kill his friend for so light a cause—a pair of faithless red lips and a provocative smile! “There will be room for @ chair.” she went on, a little wild! “Er will arrange it so that you can get enough air, And keep very quict and don’t come out—oh, don’t get afraid and come out—not till I tell you. It ts only a hope—yet—but stay there quietly till—1 know’ ‘The tapestry again in place with him seated behind !t, Gail Orcutt un- \.locked the door and threw it open. ‘When sho went to a window and pened it and stood still, drinking In cold air, The past seven years ipread before her. To-day was the seventh anniversary of their mar- rlage. She had been seventeen then, an ardent girl, believing the man she loved so chivalrous a creature that worship was not more than his due. Acolyte had never believed more in his patron saint than she in George Oreutt when she married him. Her belief in him had lasted six months. Then sho had learned that he was faithless to her. He was a lover of women, not of one woman. More, tis wife of seventeen had learned that her own father knew! »He had smiled when she came to him with her tears and hot anger and he nisingly she cried over a broken doll! shattered plaything, an unfaithful juaband—did she not know that these ¢were incidents In her life? Of course, »@ china toy would break; of course «George Orcutt would be untrue to ther, But why cry bis unfaithfulness loud to the world? This was a thing not to bruit abroad. And she had hid it. She had crept back home, an outraged child, heart- broken over her shattered idol. But she could do no more than play the of wife. The arrangement had consented to by George Oreutt readily enough. He was proud to have this beautiful girl wear his name. Hoe liked scandal no better than did his father-in-law, Till to- day he had not entered his wife's rooms for seven years less the six Months’ honeymoon. And George Orcutt was now a— murderer. She was the wife of a mur- derer. And Vance—her beautiful hae Her chivalrous, high-minded tle son! “Last week at dinner she had sat beside Judge Allison in his home and heard him denounce the police in biting tones. He had said that 80 Per cent. of all the murderers went uncaught and that less than 2 per cent. Ft punished. And he had sald something else. He had told her how to save George Orcutt. George mutt was not then a murdere! erick Allison was not then act- ing in the capacity of judge. Asa woman Gail Orcutt would not have had the trength nor the cun- ning either to conceive this plan or to of {t Into effect. As George Or- unloved wife she would not we had the Inspiration. But as ngth and endurance had come to eet the physical travail that gave wr baby life, it came now to save the boy and the man he was to be the devastating shadow of the jectric chair. “Insight—Wit—Nerve!" These were the three winning cards in the gai crime, had been Judge Allisoi ronouncement. Insight to divine road the pursuer would take; wit extricate one's self when cornered; to play the game through to end—making no admissions, con- ing no pointa, proclaiming inno- ince In the face of an army of ac- lhe went to the call-bell, pressed button to summon her maid. The aid Gail, and sald carelessly to her own amazement. CHAPTER II. RIVE very slowly, and " was order to the chauf- feur. “And keep to the horoughfares, where the sidewalks re crowded with people. Keep going 1 I signal you to stop.” The car moved forward, Down the lve to Seventy-second street, Brough the park and on to Fifth enue; down the avenue to Six- leenth street; across to Broadway; ip Broadway; thence on Forty-sec- jad street to the Grand Central THE WOMAN'S LAW (Copyright, 1919, 1914, by the Phillips by Freder CHAPTER I. SBAND and wife sat in a long silence after his recital. Mer shivering hands came to her eyes as though to shut out the thing “And Earle and Adams knew we went to the studio together,” continued “Charlie Knox passed me as I was coming out of vEmimet's door—I was so undone that I almost blurted it out to him—t used my latch-key for fear I should tell it to the footman—It was too—awful— “And no one saw you as you came through the halls—no one of the “Take your hat and coat and cane and get behind that tapestry George Orcutt drew in a breath as of new life, I believe you can save me,” OF The man's By degrees the woman's stunned was imploring cadence in quaver, We were both in ugly temper—I was playing with the knife—1 didn't intend—then—somehow it was done--and—he was—at It is there now—my knife with my name exquisite workmanship and fabulous value—a shepherd leaning upon his staff, gamboling lambs, a boy playing upon a flute, the dimensions full five feet by seven, face flat to outward appearance; but behind it was a recess that had once It hung against a sur- Terminal. The car turned, went back over the ground. Gail's eyes, filled with despera’ questioning, gazed out on the medley of faces. There was every face there but the kind she sought. Yet Judge Allison had said that he could find his double in a search of three blocks ~-hia double’ as regarded = height, weight, shape of head, color of eyes and hair, his double in these and alt of the characteristics that could be conveyed by a deacription. At the corner of Forty-second and Broadway the automobile came to a full stop, held up with a score of other vehicles by the white gloved hand of an officer till the waiting pedestrians were escorted across the crowded thoroughfare. Gail, her eyes still Alled with agonized questioning, gazed out on the passing faces. An Instant’s wild staring, then — she opened the door and almost flung herself on the man standing on the curbing directly facing her. She pushed him within the limousine and sat down pantingly beside him. The chauffeur, eyes on the officer, ears deadened by the din of the janglil traffic, drove on, unaware of the scene $0 quickly enacted. For breathless moment Gail's eyes traversed the face of the man beside her. She took stock of his features; of his shoulders; his body. Then—— “You are a gentleman,” she ut- tered rapidly. “And I am a woman In need, the greatest need. You can help me. I can't tell you why. But— Give me a day of your life. One day! On a hazard—without questions.” She bent her face nearer to him, her alluring face whose power she knew. “I am asking you a service that re- quires courage and faith in m will you go blindly into what may seem to you grave peril for the sake of an unknown child and—and—a mother? It {s my motherhood that makes me brave enoWeh to ask this—to beg you to give a day of your life to me to use for myself, im my own way. Will ou" y ‘The man's eyes rested on her In a dazed, unblinking way. He knitted his brows. His lips opened, but he did_not speak. “will you His hand reached up and his hat between wavering fin He lald it on his knee. “Excuse me, dear,” he # “I forgot I was in the hous There was bewilderment in the eyes he fastened upon her, Again he knitted his brows. She saw that he did this In an effort to think—a vain effort. It was apparent that he did not understand her words, His lips parted, mumbled something, stayed parted in a vacant smile. Gall looked at him again, closely. It came to her comprehension that the vague unwinking orbs and the lax mouth bespoke a stunned brain. She drew in her breath. Here was a graver risk than the other. A gentleman might serve her through chivalry. or daring, or from desire for a new adventul for all reasons—or for no reasot all; and a gentleman's word once paseed would remain inviolate, But the befogged brain beside her—was there any dependence in it? Was it passive or—~ Bhe did not complete the question. Her being, keyed to action, instinc- tively girded itself for the plunge. She placed the man’s hat on his head, “Keep it on,’ 6 urged, her voice coaxing, as to child, The man smiled in a tired way and let her envelop him a fur-lined coat of George Orcut! that she drew from beneath the seat. She brought the collar up over his necktie, A long, scrutinizing look at her work, then she drew the stop-strap and waited. ‘The chauffeurs face betrayed sur- prise as he saw the other occupant. “Mr, Orcutt got in when the car stopped a few blocks back,” she ex- plained, and listened in a daze at her own voice. “I received a telephone message that he was wandering about the streets alone and not—not well. I was looking for him.” She stepped out. “He is—ill, out of his head somewhat. Stand close by the door and don't let him get out.” She swept by him and into the candy shop before which she had stopped the car. The chauffeur smiled as he guarde the door, So Mr. Orcutt was "Ill." And his wife thought she needed to tell him, Tom Bryan, who drove Or- cutt home after his nights’ debauches! That is, when he went home. Yet— it was unusual for him to be “ill” at this hour. And he did look strange, curiosly unlike himself, Bryan's g unconsciously questioning, turned on Mra, Orcutt as she appeared. The woman's tense muscles tight- ened a fraction more. It waa here that t A was to come. Bryan saw that there was a difference boe- she repeated, tensely. sped A NEW YORK MYSTERY STORY; | NEXT WEEK’S COMPLETE NOVEL == IN THE EVENING WORLD = A eS tween the George Orcutt of yester- day and the George Orcutt of to-day. Her being sickened with fright Judge Allison had said that the jest way to deceive a fellow being was to lead him into deceiving him- self; that a man involuntarily ques tions another's opinion and instine- tively defends his own. Once having sald that green is blue he would in- sist upon it and swear to it and even- tually believe it. Yet—to direct Bryan's attention to the difference he saw-—Things recled before her eyes—So much depended upon the successful carrying out of her plan—And how could she be sure— Bryan's eyes still questioned. . Orcutt looks very strange to she whispered, “I have never him look nor act #o—peculiar, Is It anything unusual? Or have you known him to be—like this? I won- der if I had better have our physi- clan sea bim?” Tom Bryan's open face could not fully hide his inward laughter. A physician? “A few hours’ sleep'll fix him. There is nothing to worry about, Mrs. Or- cutt. Home?" This stranger thrown up at her from the curbing should be George Orcutt tll the true Orcutt was safely out of the country. This waa her pian. And somehow she should make It succeed, Unless— But ah! the man must remain passive—must! “Don't cry, dear!" Her eyes questioned his hopefully. But vacancy again replaced his fleeting understanding, blankness sus- ended the compassion of his gaze, is eyes, bent on her face, seemed not to see her, not even as she drew him to his feet at the halting of the car. Bryan, acting on tho premise, long since learned, that his employer al- ways needed support when “ill,” put an arm under the man’s elbow and carefully guided him into the house, He moved without protest. “Take Mr. Orcutt to my room," she rd herself saying to Bryan, “I t to see how long one of these at- tacks lasts.’ Galil waited till she could no longer hear Bryan's retreating footsteps, then she closed and locked the door and staggered to a chair, Again @ catching sob broke from her aching throat. ‘The man moved toward her, a com- forting hand outstretched. “Don't, dear, don’t!” he entreated. Shivering, she shrank away from him—a woman's instinctive shrinking ‘om the teuch of 4 stranger, # a ee ‘before, the man's Interest was but transitory. His hand fell aimlessly to his side, He stood still in the strange room with only a dumb stare in his eyes, the unheeding stare of one who has no mental vision. Gall left him where he stood, re- moved her wrap and hat, took a few moments to quell the beating of her overwrought heart, ‘Then--in a low voice she called her husband, CHAPTER III, G of the man to the strained J countenance of hin wife. RGE ORCUTT'S bulging “am I out of my head? What dons eyes leaped from the face this mean, Gall? What does this mean?” His wife did not answer. Her eyes travelled from man to man. Theirs was the same shaped face, the same full forehead and thick brown hair, the same golden-brown mustache and Vandyke beard, eyes of almost identical brownness. The noses were different, but not pronouncedly 80; the contours of the cheeks were un- like, but only slightly; the ears were of different shape—but who ever re- membered an ear save it was de- forming In its individuality? Till now she could not have told what shape her husband's were. Both were of medium height and bufld, the possible inch's or pound's not attract notice ‘The dissimil- difference would even from intimates. ities were unimportant, the likeness striking. A Vandyke beard was Unusual a feature of a man's face of to-day that it alone would cause one in to be taken for the other in almost any crowd of ordinary ac- quaintances, And when this beard was golden-brown! Would even the most astute officer of the law look further with this before him in George Orcutt’s home? ‘ow! cried George Orcutt. He a feverish hand on her arm, —have you bribed him to take my place till I'm in safe terri. tory? But can you trust him? And"—— — Amazement spoko above all else—“where did you tind another beard and forehead Ike mine? Did the devil fling up this man from the pavement?” “Perhaps it was the devil—they say he looks out for his own,” she re- turned in a tired voice. “We have something to do now whether it is with or without the devil ald. And you must obey me without question- ing. First, you are to go in there and strip that man and put the clothes on him that you are now wearing—every article. You will find a bath robe of mine in the closet that you can put on yourself till T can bring you other clothes from your room, Wrap his clothes together so that you can take them with you behind tho tapestry, * * * He is out of his head, he will not resist you. * * * He is a gentieman—I am not buying him—Go! there is no need now for you to understand. Af- terward you and I can arrange where you are to stay in Europe and under what name. I will send you money. Now, go!" , Oreutt obeyed. Presently, Gail's commands fulfilled, he returned. She was standing by the window. As jeorge entered she sald hurriedly: “Th are coming up the walk now er and another man, The tapestry Her eyes swept the room to see that nothi suspicio: lay about, then she went swiftly and looked at the man reposing in her boudoir. He still reclined in a be-pillowe chair, his eyes partly closed in stupor. As @ue bent over him to se that all was us it should be, his eyes took on @ gleam of intelligence, own—pirl" ~ he mumbled, tae pronounced lowly, it. Gall.” lis brows came together } \thett- cally. She saw that it was useless to try to Impress her name on his fleet~ ing consciousness. And just then there came a knock at the door, - CHAPTER IV. HE Killing of Lucas Emmet y by George Orcutt was front | page news next day, One paper told the tale in the following words: “Yesterday at 8 o'clock in the af- ternoon George w. ureuc, million- aire, clubman, noted whip, stabbed and instantly killed Lucas Emmet, NEW_YORK GIRL’S FIERCE BATTLE AGAINST A Coplele Novel Each Week in The Eveing Hori ~, inp well and favorably known as a painter of the nude. iriends for a number of years, Jealousy over a beautiful model of Emmet's allenated the men, “The murder occurred in Emmet's studio In the Landseer Building. Or- cutt was seen leaving Emmet's studio at 3.80, There was no evidence of a struggle, Emmet Iay on the floor in a pool of blood, his heart plereed through with a Chinese dirk having Orcutt’s name In full engraved on the handle, “Orcutt was apprehended at bis home on Riverside Drive at 6.30 P. M. by Officer Fagan and Detective War- ren, to their great surprise, as his home was the least likely place it expected to find hi ‘The exact circumstances of the murder may never be known, Orcutt is mentally unbalanced. He ts now at his home under guard. He will be placed in an asylum for the insane; whether one for the criminal insane or in a private hospital will be at the discretion of the court. “Seven years ago yesterday George W. Orcutt was married to Miss Gail Revelling, daughter of the late Hon Clayton Kevelling, at one time consul to Rio Janeiro. “They have one child, a boy of six.” ‘The man supposed to be George Or- cutt remained in the Orcutt home un- der guard, Here camo the District- Attorney daily and @ succession of alient "Orcutt" was examined and his condition passed upon hourly, or 80 it seemed to Gall, awaiting the outcome in agony of spirit. But the outcome to Gall was not, as with the people, where should this man be placed, but when would he be claimed by his friends and the search for the real George Orcutt beg! Gail sat for hours beside him, her hand in his. His eyes, in the fect- ing moments of comparative con- sciousness, were boyishly candid, And there was a simple dignity in his manner that gave a curious {mpres- sion of poise, despite his shattered mind, It was the man himself that finally decided the District-Attorney upon the course he took, Hie watched the accused, studied him, and as the man's personality grew upon him he began to qt George Orcutt’s part in the murder and to doubt the enormity of his other sins, The District-Attorney wi @ man who had the courage of his beliefs. ieht days after the killing of Lucas amet he pronounced Orcutt insane, and remanded him, a ward of the State, to @ private institution, the sanitartum of Dr. Morris Underwood, near Valhalla, an institution that took only male patients and that was un- usually successful in its treatment of jseases, mental di ° 28 e@ ‘The months went by. Gall, with Vance, her little boy, was at her sum- mer home in Mamaroneck. Her friend, Kate Lorme, and the latter's husband were visiting her there. Early in September she received a letter from Morris Underwood, the allenist, in whose charge Orcutt had been placed. It read: “Dear Mra. Orcutt: ‘For the past three months Mr. Orcutt has boen steadily improv- ing. His condition {8 now so satis- factory that I have notified the District-Attorney that there !s no occasion for him to remain in a sanitarium. Acting upon this notification, Drs. Upman and Scott, appointed by the law, have. this week examined Mr. Orcutt, and they concur in my opinion. The District-Attorney has con- sented to his discharge. You should shortly receive a communication from him and legal instructions as to the definite steps to take for Mr. Orcutt's removal from my custody, if such have not already preceded this letter, Mr. Orcutt will still be under the espionage of the State, but only perfunc- torily, I did not consult you about his removal, feeling that it would be kinder not to arouse hopes till I had something definite to tell you. “Though Mr. Orcutt fs virtually a well man, he ts still unable to remember about himself and his personal affaira, Old associations may (If only say may) bring him to full consciousness of his past, If this does not follow, he will have to learn anew about his fam- tly and asso es. In either case early renewal of bis family life te advised. "It would be well for you and your little son to see him here once before his return home. He remembers having seen Vance here; of you he has no recollec- tion. It seems to impress him as very odd, and amusingly so, that he should have @ wife and child.” George Orcutt's wife locked herselt- in her room and t down alone to face ber problem. Even In the anx- Jeties and fears of the first weeks after the murder she had not in her wildest moments conjectured any- thing so terrible as the reality con- fronting her. She had feared that the man she had substituted for her, husband matter. reading for six cents a week. wi you will by the foremost living authors, Are You Going Away for the Summer? When you go out of town for the summer you may find It Is difficult and costly to provide yourself with the right sort of reading Why send to the city for novels at $1.25 or $1.50 each or buy them at a fancy price in some country store? You can supply yourself with the best, most delightful summer subscribing to The Evening World for the summer months secure a complete novel each week. Not some old book a country dealer has not been able to sell, bi:t the finest up-to-date fiction Bear this in mind, not only for yourself but for any of your friends who expect to spend the summer in the country. Would suddenty come into his reason and are who he was, and that herself and her husband would be apprehen herself ag an accessory after the crime; sh d feared that some would forth and claim man an ‘aign her on f fabduetion; she had feared Orcutt would ba recognized oF 1 do sony < inadvertently to betray himself. Sho had pictured herself in the eriminal dock, had shivered and almost shrieked aloud under the sup. posititious belief that she was being carried to prison. ‘There had been nothing that she had not conjectured and harrowed her nerves over save the awful fact now staring at her from Dr, Underwood's letter. She must take a strange man into her home as hor husband! as Vance's father! That, or denounce the real husband and fathor. She had thought the game ended— and it had only begun! And somehow she must win, To Jay down her hand now was to lose no less fully than she should lose at any time, She had started in with open eyes to play a dangerous game. Her hand was cruelly weak and the @irds against her cruelly strong. But there was still a fighting chance. This man was alone In the world. He Was a gentioman, and kindly. Even his halting remarks hi been voiced in tones that held a caressing ca- dence. He could not but respond to Vance's winsome nature. Once let him learn to love the child and he might voluntarily protect him. Should he regain memory of his past he could go away and resume hie own name, “Insight—wit—nerve!” ‘These were the three magic possessiona that must now be hers, Must be! Sho was fighting for her boy's future, Fighting—yex, it was fighting now, Her eyes blazed hotly, Men had foucht despicably for a throne, men great in the annals of history. She would fight—fairly, If she could, but fight somehow—to save her boy from knowing dimself the eon of a mur- dorer. She wrote briefly to Doctor Under- wood that she would arrive at the Sanitarium the next morning at eleven o'clock. She then called the housekeeper and gave orders for her to open the town house on the same day, and to close the Mamaroneck house as goon as could be done there- after. CHAPTER V. OCTOR UNDERWOOD, a big gulking man with little black eyes that squinted behind thick glasses, and a broad flat face, Chinese in its impassivity, sat opposite Gall in his private office, talking. “Mr. Orcutt'a is @ curious case,” sald he. “Not curious because of his recovering his sanity and falling to remember who he is and particular instances in his Ife—such occurs rences are common. It ts another aspect of your husband's cage that puzzles me.I have been told, and authoritatively, that he was a hard drinker, a fast liver, licentious, given over entirely to material pleasures “Why are you speaking of this Gall asked. “In hopes that you may be able to throw some light on @ very vexing question. Your husband ts elther the most maligned man of his time or else he deliberately chose to play a role. I cannot conceive of his ever being anything but @ gentleman, a cultured, honorable man of temper- ate habits and pure thoughts, “Yet—ho killed Lucas Emmet and— about woman,” “It remains a question who killed Lucas Eromet,” answered the physl- clan sharply. “I am not convinced that my patient did it. Her eyes met his scrutinizing ones unflinchingly. “The George Orcutt I knew was was not malixned.” “Mrs. Orcutt, your husband to-day is as different from the man the nowspapers described ag white from black, You will find this out for yourself in time. But now I ask you to take my word for It, and to meet him in kindly spirit. Let bim eee that you are his friend.” “You like him!” “I seldom meet with a man as in- teresting and as likable. I shall mise our discussions on psychology and blology greatly.” “Paychology—biology,” #he mutters ed. “Paychology!—biology!" “Ah! Then you did not know of bis interest in these subjects?” Mi she breathed, her voice @ whim of fear, “Ni Her face sank to her hand, Was it any use to struggle further? Had she not better confess the truth now, the awful truth? George Orcutt with an intimate knowledge of the eclences was too unbelievable for his friends to necept, And could #he force hor will on a man such as this? “Your husband has evidently kept his studious Hfe very secret indeed,” continued the alienist. He has hid his virtues and mado a parade of his physical dissipations, reversing the usual ord He has been virtually well for three months and yet mem- ory of himself and his personal ex- pertences is wholly missing. He has not lost the memory of written lan- Kuuge, nor of the subject matter of books he has read, nor of the arta and sciences he has studied, but he knows these only as they pertain to themsedves and not at all in associa- tion with himself and the part thoy have played tn his life. “He hasn't the faintest Idea of how or why or when he ever acquired ha knowledge, Ho ts like a phonograph Into which records have been read; you, veritably, for he seems to have 4s little actual connection with the many important and erudite facta enunclateas as a machine, T do not mean by this that he talks like @ parrot, no, indeed; he ts interested, enthusiastic, returning argument for argument, his brain as active !n mare OF SMUGGLERS, THE BLUE BUCKLE WILLIAM HAMILTON OCSBORNE DICTOGRAPHS, JEWELS, PLOTS AND Eid ES” ne Thompson shalling his subjects and correlating as he endeavored to guid his details as mino ts.” dled depth. “Does he remember about the — With @ cry of terror she flung hi things he does now?" asked Gall arm off and stoc ‘ vf. faintly. fee Stood erect, her eyes Yes; he is perfectly norma! as re- gards his present experiences. He will not know you for his wife to-day till he is told, but when you come here again he will remember as fully the events of to-day as I, Ah! when have you arranged for him to return home? He insisted that | should leave the whole matter to you.” . “Monday, I think,” she responded In « low volee, “Our Just now being opener scarcely be ready for oc fore then, That—will do “Yes, or later. No rush ts ne sary, Now"-—body bent forward, face lowered to a line with hers—“have you anything to say to me? Think carefully, Your husband is—your Husband, Mrs, Orcutt. The law Is with him, I am with him, in desiring this. He is expecting his wife. Do you think you fully understand?” 1 sat silent. She felt hor cour- age oozing from out her pores, leaving her sick with weakness, She could not go on, Sho had not calculated aright. To pit her woman's feeble strength against the law—against the ‘Don't touch me,” she sereamed, Sit down, please,” he entreated, then he stood looking down on het as she clung tremblingly to the arma of the rocker. “Do you feel faint? Shall I call br. Underwood? brought a glass of water. aie fey pat at nee " she eried mpulsively, then reddened yn house 18 rudeness she had not intended “and and could at his still searching gaze, a wpancy be- “I can't help it. ‘To tell the truth, I'm #0 befuddled I don't know just how to act. You're as strange to mi as though I had never seen you be fore-yet, you're my wife, my wife! He walked to the window, returned, looked down at her curiously. “You have borne me a child—you must have loved me once, And the boy—he loves me now. Yet it's #0 strange for me to contemplate my own wife that I can only look at her in stupid bewilderment, And to find myself rich, literally a man of mille fons! {t's staggering. Everything that represents my past life seems Utterly foreign to me—-wealth, a wife, penetrating mind of this alienist— 4 child, a reputation for sordid againat him, the other, who believed 4mours.” He walked the room again, himself her husband, and so believ- “It's woird this returni that romehow doesnt Ate \” * PMst “I should like to take you close 1 my arms and kiss you—but as @ woman that appeals to the man I am to-day, not becuuse of an affees tion that once existed between us.” Another expression lighted bis countenance, an intensity of longing. “Ah—the ‘paat!—to find it agate. Faco pressed againat the window, jis, baffling of memory ta Vance peered in for an instant, hia i!) He looked at her steadily. pad Mh Lr Pap hie ac. part of that rent y Regt mraand a hospital a ¥ . who, was conducting “hint te nig, Me Not to touch you ever a0 casually, ing-— Morris Underwoo. watched her from behind his thick glasses with their black frames, To her fevered conception he had the look of an ogr A denthly nausea aasatiod her. Doctor Underwood was waiting for her to speak—and she could not! “Mamm shall not promise to be friends ‘with CHAPTER VII. . t H 1 i il father. yet—I have been your husband and Her boy! AS aan annce ei / fore century and civilization and depend- yon Me er face from hair to ent porypeedrmes zee, blotted out boytah endormest fe tae ae ante rimal, a female defending — “Ah! , ‘mor the wtrength Iam no less hi mo ae. to fight a multitude, She clutched at’ thie opening Her Her manner was haughty, embarrasement lost itself in the too lerstand fully. And 1 thought of the battle yet to be won. nothing to gay to you but this: “No, you are no less my husband than you have been f ears,” i ch ante weeny ee home she uttered coldly “dix months ended e re. (iy « hail pieas not encourage him to think Phoalles (het g fo Insiated entrees ty . Will 1 e her nerigitnld, the doctor, and ted tell you a little tale?” she asked.” = er rough the hall to a door partly ‘About you and me? * oore uments her in and closed the “About George Orcutt and Gail Reveliing, Pe Macrae pen ae er eye! e it less guilty tow CHAPTER VI. him in using the subterfuge in @ low voice she to! of T the sound of Gail Oreutt’s ieee marriage and of her Pr! atep the man standing by ‘lusion. the window slowly turned nde? of Ted famed his either and faced her, He did not “It's a damnablo past to fall heir advance; nor did he, to, But in God's truth, Gail,,I am further, after a full view of him. She Het that man” stood stockstill, breathless with & wNot= “ip tone was authoritative, new amazement, He did not even “rt ts @ case of double personality. look ike George Oreutt. Save for the ee te we distinet Vandyke beard and the full brow all perso jes occupy my body—one, @ resemblance was gone. Here was Brutertne Motels ena not George's nerveless mouth, nor his @he laughed—a long, ehrill peal of flaccid cheeks nor vacuous expres- hysteria, sion. No; the mouth was firm, char- acterful, the eyes clear and strikingly intelligent, the flesh compact, glow- ing with the health of pure living, And he held himeelf with soldier-like erectness, “Gant" He flushed as he pronounced her name, his eyes on hers in somewhat abashed questioning. She aetarted violently and stepped back, stretched out her hands to push him away. But he did not attempt to Approach her, z “You are afraid of me?” he asked. “Why?—because you fear I em in- @ane and mav hurt yout” “No,” eho cried, and withdrew a step further. His eyes searched her features, dwelt on them one by one, swiftly traversed ber slender, shapely body. t is all very strange,” sald 7 ficker of humor about his lips. “But the ngest of all is to find myself poanessed of a beautiful wife—and not to be able to recollect anything about her, To have been your lover, bus- band, the father of your childand not to recollect one moment of It is inexplicable." vided for Vance’s minority His eyes were deeply admiring, his voice vibrant with tenderness. Gail felt herself shivering. His admira- tion had been the thing she had dreaded most and had felt would be the moat difficult to combat. “You fear me for some “Hasn't Doctor Underwood—told— you—about"— He folded his arma, “I have been told that I killed a man, my friend, and over a—woman Did I? .. . Ab! your eyes say ‘yes.' Well, now tell me t you did to drive me from you?” 1? What I aia" rip Abs "Yea—you. It is not tnoompatible with my judgment of myself that I should have killed a man, I can con- celve of incentives for doing that— ‘The man was now and his eyes were no longer mildly brown} they were black with anger. Yet he soe calmly, even with pleasing dig. “I contend that I am not the mag who dishonored you by his unfaith- fulness, I demand that you allow me to prove to you the sort of man I am now. I do not intend that you shall belittle mo in my son's eyes and in our friends’ estimation by punishing me for acta that I did not commit. You shall treat me with the respect yea, and without regret. But it im porte’? He peer oye eee REY we inconceivable that I should have beon we to be friends, my wifer faithless to you—and because of nome “Kn ie t refuse? Pitiable creature, Unless’ am asking only justice. I appre. What?" she whispered, almost ciate what you have suffered through without volition. the other George Orcutt. But he is a niess you goaded me to it by stranger to me——I should not be held your indifference to my_ lo But responsible for his sins.” there was still Vance, No! ask me Aguin she maintained a long all- ence, trying to find the beat meet his challenge, She wa to belleve anything but that T dis- honored you and my boy.” Sho felt herself reeling, She had fied at the mltuation she found hei @ Hot before thought of the cruelty of self in—the man's calm assumption imposing Goorge Oreutt’s past on an of being her muster, and his refusal innocent man, She tried to reach @ to | atify himself with Georga Or- chair, With quick hand he caught cutt's past. She felt her ground slip up the chair and pushed it toward ping from under her. her. Mis arm encircled her shoulder (To Be Continued.) COUNTERPLOTS This Book on the Stands Will Cost You $1 === You Get It for 6 Cents = se