The evening world. Newspaper, April 4, 1916, Page 19

(Coprright, 1914, by Steet & Smith.) SYNOPSIS OF PRECHDING CHAPTERS Hagtings is weretary to, John Mare: @ constriction magnate, and “sa om odie gavaiter, Womtiy. | Adaip . Maraland’s rigitchand man, Sime Denny. Worsst nn enonnsen Inst declares that ti jad Uiat hile father was @ Motorious Wie, CHAPTER Il. (Continued,) What Happened at the Mars- lands’. bh ON'T say that again!” he exclaimed thickly, with trembling lps and voice, “If you've any spite to work off, have the cour- age and decency to come out against me and not slander the memory of a man whose shoes you weren't fit to clean! If you say my father was a thief I'l cram the lie down your throat! His record speaks for it- oor’ — “It does,” said Bergstrom, “and 80 these parlor heroics, Mr. Forbes, are entirely out of place. You can't ten me nor hide the truth any . I'm making no # hot ments; ur birth record’ in the Bureau of Vital Statistics, and I knew your father personally. I can easily prove you the son of Robert Forbes, And his theft is so well known that you'vo only to look up the back files of any paper, There's no getting round the fact of your father being a thief"—— Hastings's fist lashed out sud- @enly, and, blotting the smile from the other's eyes, sent him crashing over the tnble, scattering dishes and left with terrifying din. what happened subsequently Hastings had no very clear idea; the Jast shred of self control had van- ished, the wine was singing in his head, he was fighting mad, and neither saw nor heard. His one idea was to get hold of Adolph Bergstrom and kill him; all his latent dislike for the other, long smouldering, had broken out in this violent eruption. He had a hazy recollection of Mar: Jand suddenly taking hold of the ait- uation which, through evident aston- iahment, he had permitted Bergstrom to engineer as he pleased; of his look- ing very white and angry, saying the ecene Was discraceful, ‘and many other things which could not be con- strued as compliments, He remembered being almost urged Physically by Marsiand {nto the hall, where he struggled with hat and coat; of seeing the weighty Mra, Protheroe on the stairs, her wonted smile changed to a frozen expression of contempt and severe displeasure; of his attempting to apologize and ex- plain what had happened, to convey some Idea of the kind of man his father had been and what his mem- ory meant to him Then he found himself on the side- walk, almost !n tears, the cool night wind feeling grateful to his throb- ving temples, ' CHAPTER IV. His Heritage. ASTINGS walked home at night, the exercise helping him to regain lost mastery of self, The clock was striking midnis when he entered his apartment in the Gotham. He was still concerned wholly with what had happened at the Marslands’, and, Ughting a ye, sat down to think over ways and means of placating Dorothy and Mrs. Protheroe, There waa no doubt that liquor had been partly responsible for the disgraceful ecene, not only on Bergstrom’s part, but his own. Marsland’s “nightcap” had been very potent, and the botue | had been passing freely during the preceding festivit Also, I ings had been celebrating with various friends before ever reaching the Mars- lands’, For the first time it occurred to him that his native regard Suu whiskey had been develo with @ corresponding increase in cons sumption, He must stop it; now, on his twenty-first birthday, he could make no better resoludon, For it was midnight, and he was twenty-one, | This fact recalled the package he had brought from the bank, and, opening the desk, he took it out. There was soinething sacred about ‘this plain paper parcel, @ square box wrapped in manila and sealed with wax; @ sacredness which Dorothy had quite failed to sense, He could not have opened it even before her it was bis mother’s last gift, the last thing she could ever give “her boy;’ A message, as it were, from the ve, She had written his name on ie box, and at sight of the well- remembered, delicate hand a rush of bitter-aweet’ memories engulfed him; these rooms in which she had lived and died seemed redolent of her gen- tle presence, and he saw again the Kindly, careworn face with its brave eraatings sighed and refilled his pipe, then went mechanically to the cellaret, suddenly ramembered his new-formed resolution, and put back the bott Scotch highballs and a pipe had, by habit, become the sharers of his jows and sorrows He returned to the desk and opened the box; it contained some news- paper clippings ad letters, and nothing he toy ter was in his mother's writing that of the others he recognized in- stantly as his father's, for specimens of the latter's penmanship were ex- tant; in fact, at one time Hastings had tried vain acquire that sim- ple, legible, clerkly hand with- out some’ Vague premonitic what was about to be unfolded, Hasting: opened and read his mother's lette “My own dear boy: When you read this you will have reached man's estate, and I shall he no longer with . you, for I have known for some time that my ailment Is incurable, and at ‘the best, only a matter of months, not years. There is no cure for can~ cer of the stomach, Forgive me if T have kept it from vou until almost the last; the knowledge would only ave caused needless worry and trouble. Time enough to learn the fnevitable when we must, However, YT did not mean to speak of my ut of you The Mystery Romance of A Sealed Box and a Strange Heritage “Arnold, you are now a man; you have had your education, and are out in the world prepared to fight a man's battles, ready to give as well as receive blows—for life is a fight The time has come when you must | take your proper name, even though that name may mean disgrace. nur name ts Forbes, not Hast- ings. When you were six years old your father defaulted with seventy- five thousand dollars from the Chi- cago Second National Rank, of which, as you know, ho was cashier’ —= Hastings—or, to give him his proper name, Arnold Forbes—dropped the letter, his face suddenly old and | gray, So Bergstrom had not been | drunk! Rather, he had been true to! Nis character, aure of every fact be- | fore making a move, That conversa. | tion in the subway took on a sinister | significance, Bergstrom lad men- toned the gruesome discovery in the Chicago cellar merely as a means of bringing the conversation round to that city; he had known then the other's trie name and all about his past. He had been baiting him for his own amusement, gloating over mine he would spring eventually, Forbes also recalled Bergstrom's quest for a private interview, No doubt, the other had intended orig- inally to charge him with the facts but, learning of the Marslands’ party, malice had suggested a more appro- Printe method, Forbes pulled himself tomether, and with white, set face resumed reading his mother's letter, “I need not go into detalls about the theft. Tho newspaper clippings you will find with this letter go into the matter in a far abler and fuller man- ner than I can. It was a nine days’ sensation, and they made the most of it, of course, caring nothing about those who were left to suffer—you and I, Even in after years the mat- | ter was referred to in the press from time to time, You will seo that your father was traced to New York, and from there to Europe. I never saw him again fro moraing when lett for the bank at his usual hour, nor had I the faintest suspicion of what was about to happen The other letters you will tind with this speak for themselves; they aro his, written from the d ent cities of Europe to which he fled. You will see they kept up for six months, and then—you will know what the last one means. Other than myself you are the first who has knowledge of these letters, Even though they bear no address I was afraid the aut ties might trace him through them. Had I known your father's where- abouts, Where a letter might reach him, I would have begged him by all he held sacred to give himself up; this, however, I was unable to do, beet I could not think of betraying m. wily after your father’s fight my only ing me the si ted us both and given you your wtion, ‘This inheritance was very . for otherwise I would have been conipelied—though unfit—to do any work [ could find, No doubt L should have used the money iat honor pointed out, an ould not see my way to do 1 was not in good health—your by sister was born dead the follow month—qu ble of earning my daily bread, and 1 had your fu- ture to consider, Ail my friends, as i8 80 0} the case, had proved fair- weather ones, and 1 waa absolutely alone, at handgrips with deadly fact, not Il New York and took the f Has #8; you were but six, and don't remember when your name ceased to be Forbes, No ¢ you will blame me for havin: this step, and subsequently 1 reg ted it; yet at the time I thought L Was acting for the best. No doubt, jenind your fat through ill fered in Chic Ith and all I had suf- » from the public, I had an exaggerated idea of our pos! tion; at all events I wished to save you what I had come through, and to keep your young life free from bitierment. 1 thought it time enough to bear a man's troubles when you were a man, We can only be young once Phen as you grew up Ls the fact secret, and you believe on & business to tell you the truth when you came of age, but will live to be with you on your twen- -first birthday, “My dear boy, this is a sorrowful 1 i don't know if I've the right course even now. have had no one to advise me T wish I could have kept the truth from always, but I would rather you heard it from me than from an outsider, ‘Though fifteen years will have passed when you read this, things like that don't die, and they often rise up to confound us at the worst time pos- Your father's was a sensational , known the country over, and for it reason I thought the only hope of oblivion lay in J hange of name, At all ev whether T acted ghuly or wrongly, my obje was ate tained, a your youth ¢ least has been fre the handic imposed by @ dishonored name, You have edu eation, an ASsU position, nd many friends, and those the lat t who are worth keeping will not affected adversely by this dise they will rally round you help to soften the blow, our frie kept like Mr, Marsland, your employer, will offer nothing but sympathy and) un- derstanding; the othe are not worth know! " ner you find tt out the bett “Lask you not to Judge your father harshly, 1 have brought you up with love and veneration for his memory. With the exception of this single in- T found him the most honc able, considerate, and upright of men, n could have eared more for ‘amily and home, and though we never had any more money than we could use—the Second National tsn't noted for Mberality toward tts em- ployees—our married fe was with- a cloud until this awful blow fell, The whole affalr was so entirely for- elgn to your father's character as T Knew it—his desertion of me at such a time as well as the theft—that [ firmly believe he was me y irre- sponsible—a fact which bear out. Financial worry, overwork, and perhaps some little mental weak- ness—all unsuspected by me—must have produced an abnormal sta mind which prompted him to the The Evening World Daily Magazine, ° MY ELDEST SON PERCY THE PRIDE OF THE FAMILY, You SHALL SEE HIM ACT. ) HE IS A GREAT ACTOR. STAR HIM (IN ONE OF Your SHOWS > THAT'S MY SECOND SON BILLY. HE IS SO BACKWARD FoR HIS AGE HE'LL NEVER AMOUNT ) To MUCH — HE IS A GREAT | SORROW To US. HE ALWAYS ACTS SO Siu ete a A You Never Can Tell x2%tha, By Maurice Ketten fF ara HAVE SPENT A ORTUNE ON HIS Epucano; HE HAS STUDIED Wh EVERY DRANATIC ScHoot IN THIS COUNTRY AND Europe Gro AND WASH Your FACE BILLY | AND STOP HAMMERING SYour HEAD! DIDN'T 1 TELL You To HIDE WHEN We HAVE COMPANY BILLY, You ARE Just THE Boy FOR ME * IF You WILL Go IN THE MOVIES 1 'LL GIVE You 5 600000 A YEAR To ACT SILLY — In no other way can I account I believed the threat of self tion conveyed in his last I still Hved and would one day re- 1 have loved « man responsible to gave heard hig voic fancies, one will er’ ¢ y here tu-night he could explain it all away. Tf wis mental the crime of anothe action. would be your father as I knew him, I the evidence and the opinion of search of peace and a d the world, ean ask nothing higher of sleep, and «im convinced at |: Heaven than that you, my son, be for me at least, they aren't man as’ you Greater proof of love and faith a wife mother cannot give 5 The letter closed as only a mother's and all to no purpose, Hyver t of the day and night 1 exp 1 the hand of the law on who kne allotted time on earth is fast drawing to fe : nd, and whose every thought, shoulder, and 1 read ‘detective nd wish has been centred on every face I meet. Of course, A lump 1 young Forbes's throat, and the tears those of his father, ert Forbes made full confession to his wife saying he could not explain the sudden impulse to theft except that one, Of necessity my appearance has the constant strain of trying both end¥ meet on his small salary while handling tt sands of dollar: had proved finally a beyond endurance. He in his life he would enjoy him- that he didn't care the’ grave, wrote Robert Forbes, minently, selfish, cold- blooded letter, containing ne {4 disgrace approaching the unborn babe, It fist on the desk, taught to revere had loved with all a child'a y ate, unquestioning ardor! ‘This was — No doubt existed in young Forhes's a hind that, contrary to his mother's f belief, the sinister purpose outlined his was the in that last letter had been carrir her had com 6 last, excusing and con. mitted sineide and lay in an unknown doning to the point of fatulty! She grave among London's oucasta. unsuspected further from 1n it he wrote: vnd shall even @ person as my unworthy eelf. y again he was 1 v deliberate thief, as pe for all his actions, sand happ! n y, and yet I have mystery must Le se, and that if hell, far worse than all my drudgery at the bank, My ac “lt 0, pleat ef hel e her, found this side of the & ‘h ghts of reli dissipation to the heli s that her me ad en in this reason | am a pariah of p > make changed greatly. 1 am liv) Ke faulting bank cashier, anc He was due and customary pert a serves, 1 might come. He “Ret yele a rest of th yee break down, for the r H ness"— Tennyso urope than a tter six mon cations for forgiveness, and fare At the bottom was a large blo the writer's tears had m the ink, that ink which, penury and drudg- woinan he had left but yesterday nd her It was a harrowtn trial; not a word 9 stranger to read the father whom he by the river, and finally—~ asion- hia mind revolted, tragedy of retation ail, she had Ino effect; that his fa could ask nothing higher of Heaven than that he be such another man as to the time of receiving his this! I, of course, refused to put onstruction on his absence briefer than t! as that of the bank offictals and po- full of could not believe him guilty even when I received his full contes- A photograph stood on the desk, where it had always stood since as far back as Arnold Chicago bank every ¢ could remember. e next five letters were much It was ne first, and though still if—Forbes complaining that his head burt him strangely and that he could not sleep they showed some Nor during all these years have concern for his wife's condition an A tearene | Heaestrnes inquiry after his son, ‘The final letter, pn dated from London, spoke of sulcide, ly and sinc had often found courage and inapira- tion toward the high many things. Hot with the memory of his moth- er's tragedy he graph as !f to te stamp it underfo look, he bu: the pleture pressed close to his face And the dawn found him thus inst hope that “This is the last you will hear from now took tl me or of me, and the best thing you and the children—if the baby lived— 1 believed in your can do is forget there ever was such ed hy foynd there's no such thing ese in this world, { that, contrary to my idea, they are not to be bought with money, Absurd ‘The past six months have been ears of on has brought ius own punishment, iniint that 4¥ Beater than any society could de ‘rresponaibie Vise. What does bodily comfort and even luxury signify if the mind ts a bad a night's rest as Arnold it : er half Hurope in pits Mee wen neren Oven 3) an nights you had such a dan- gerous temper!” he exclaimed, walk- speaking in an irritable voice, “You tried everything, from the depths of oe @ very grave charge, I'm sure it I ejected you murder would have been done, The — Jorbes left the office greatly cheered whole affair was disgraceful, utterly disgraceful!” afraid to speak to the veriest stran- in his eyes when, at length, he ger, afraid he will speak to me, side the letter and brought out — “{ now think I must have been mentally unbalanced when I default- were six in all, the first ed, and certainly of late I've hud rea dated from Cherbourg a week subse- son to doubt my sanity. 1 canne the writer's flight. The sieep, 1 cannot eat, 1 cannot even others, posted at Paris, Berlin, Vien- think. And so it has come time for na, Rome and London, followed one understanding, not censure, “I euppose It was dis, admitted apathetically. “Idon't think breaking tho engagomont. I'd have lost control of myself if 4 cloud, however black, been quite sober, : cuse I can make, though | know tt That's the only me to pay the piper with the list intervals of about @ thing | nave—my life, I a In the Cherbourg letter Rob- all else, but he is not eatisted money {a about done, and 1 must find sleep, even though ft be the eternal ee) Marsland rat Inferring you got in any condition in my house, "ha continued, P rgatrom, either; he chara should have chosen @ more appropri~ wee and time. the slander as ug here in lodgings under an assumed name, an 1 wands upon thou- when the river police find my body in the Thames—probably off Lam use Reach—none wil ever know underpatd and overworked, and to be tat of Robert Forbes, the de- was coming to 1 the harder. sick of the whole hopeless game and had made up his mind that for onc@ here—tt will find in would have enough grave the oblivion it < to kil worry and enre, Vor jagt ¥ will have found unbroken rest, and, if there be such a thing beyond peace and forgetful- Rerestrom ald in true,” utmed Marsland, paus- morgue—or mortuary, a8 they call It unknown were horrified, nd he defanited with sev Rut Bergstrom — Worbes folded the letter, and placed cally in his pocket, eyes Here Robert Forbes anpeared was full of endearing terms, suppl! said T knew all about tt jt 4 sumed the name of Hast- star n told of the let- ning with an tr despite the asingl® years, looked as if it had been penned g lotter for even nd tt left the boy white and trembling, He could ple~ ture his father penning that farewoll Forbes struck his clenched letter, sitting tn the cheap London his face gray with lodgings, alone wih his conscience This was the father, this the and the shadow of his impending nemory he ha@ heen fate, Then of the cold, bleak walk y random on the pad ailence became \nhearable, and finally orbes broke tt. I don't know tf this will have any hearing on my engagement,” he sald T mean she tan't that kd nity of breaking it off secret— as the heroine of while to read it. and obviously on the arrival of her niece, Nor did Dorothy come rushing downstairs with gay impetuosity and A Kreat flutter of allke, The house was dead and allent like @ tomb, fit setting for Forbes'’s own thoughts and emotions, At length, after a due decorous tn- terval, the door opened, and Dorothy entered, looking more beautiful and winsome than ever, Forbes started up, then halted as he met those honest blue eyes, calm and serene as a summer morning. Hitherto he had [never noticed sthem capable of such | shallow brightness, It struck him also that Marsland bad been quite right lin saying Dorothy was ber own mis- tress; she looked not only perfect mistress of herself, but of the situa- tion, entirely composed and collected, “Thad boped, Mr. Forbes,” she sald composedly, with neither coldness nor warmth, “you wouldn't consider it necessary to come here for discuss. ing the matter is only a waste of time, I seo you have my letter, He stared at her; this girl who looked him #0 coolly and deliberately In the eye was sho who, twenty-four hours ago, had been voicing all the dear intimacies that only sweethearts can utter and understand, It seemed as if he really never had known he she appeared immeasurably olde: experienced than himself, ouyou n't mean you tatend [breaking tho engagement simply be. jcause of what happened last alight: jhe blurted out. “That ix precisely what T do mean |nho replied dispasstonately, “You are not the man I thought yo! I would } 44, my future to not trust my happ! [a man who possessed a temper he could not control, such @ temper that |leads inevitably to violence and even lerime, A man who could #o far for- | get himself and the respect due hia th ‘owt and flances aa you have done is not the sort of man I care to merry. He had become very calm, very pale, very steady of hand and eye. “You don't know what passed last night between Mr. Hergatrom and elf, and yet you have prejudged me? g “{ don't know what happened, but. that has nothing to do with it, B's enough for me to know you almost committed murder, conducted your. here in my father's house aa if you were @ rowdy tn @ barroom. Nothing can condone that! There can be no excuse.” n other words, you nevar loved me. She shrugged her exquisite shoul- ders. “If you mean I never loved you Robert Forbes Another thing, I don't know when we to the point of blindness and fatutty arnest, kind- time in them Arnold xreat solemn y. "L never exp r, nobler thing. Suoh a turn to affair tho aymbol of focging your matter solely you. She's } never interfere {n such th 4s you say, and rightly, photo- ps and it to p 1 on arn something for which you aren't blame, looked diz Marsland arose, “I'm very, very sorry for you, my boy,” he said, wit X qoleanity.” "t hover expected Forbes with concentrated bitterness As for it af that's @ honest n Dorothy and “St own Inistress, and [ shallow blue eyes on fire xs. But, "Yes, your honesty!” he repeated, i ign't the ¢abling her letter with shaking hand, Instead, after @ kind to be affected by this, for it's ‘l to As can be married, for | must pay that —not Unlike most women, I prefer nt of the sev- to recognize the truth—no matter how a hand- enty-five thousand if it takes @ life- hard tt may be efore It's too late, If. man f# brutal before marriage, be worse after.” admire your wisdom,” sald ‘T wish T could say as much for your Sho drow herself up, the ok at that! Here you address ma Mr. Forbes,’ not ‘Hastings.’ Evt- dently that was a_siip a didn’t “Now if [ were you I'd run up and know you'd made, Why not at least ae see her to-nigbt and tell her all be honest with me, sny you do know CHAPTER V. about it. Keep a atift upper lip and What happened last night, know all 7) 7 don't let this thing down you.” The Ladder Is Kicked From “yy \* Dorothy know anything Mr. Bergstrom Under. about what happened last night MARSLAND looked worried and distressed, as ean what Mr. Bergstrom. #: Jobn Marsland shook his head, about my father, and believed what 1g without first I waiting to hear what I might have to say? Why not tell the truth and ad- ‘No mit your love isn't great enough to more than that you and ho quarreled admit of marrying the son of a spent almost as and that you--er—acted as you did, thief!’ He flung this out with all the Jt was Impossible to keep that from angulsh and bitterness of his soul. hor, Ww for the F n, espe NK iris like Dgyrothy, o: pt such things,” he added and I'm afraid you may find rather hard to square you ber 1 eket ral the office, and by main force, things that really count.” would, [t was great to have # nin, As h m1 the roof, Knowledge of the fact that lly carefully nurtured vertently, sh n't fors inst 7 riously, Marsland had acted as he knew ho assur ch a and who knew what your father was! Forbes had expected aympathy and friend, Dorothy, too, would show You who posed as a miliionatre and nothing but love and sympathy and won my heart under false pretenses! raceful,"" he {ndignantly scorn any suggestion of I meant to spare your feelings by ery fraying nothing of all this, but now ite silver that you've #o malictously distorted and this one waa no exception, my motive we may as well under- is mother had predicted, {t was stand each other, You'll find I'm not inad- had written “Forbes astings” robbed Dorothy sure and the lofty role of h r com! it she had elected to play. She could no self with longer plead ignorance of what had 16 other matter--about your passed the previous night, nor bang Bergstrom; a4 It father, 1 mean--won't weigh @ par tho cold blooded Jilting-on the excuse you've injured him sert- ticle, ‘Women are funny that way; advanced yourself open to they stumble and make a fuss over « YOUFSSlE OOH to Tey ile ings of ith aad cise. tke lip bec soldiers to the big troubles, the yixenish She had been caught tn a sing falsehood and her full under ne sullen, her eyes somewhat by ‘You're @ nice ono to tale to me of honesty!” she exclaimed, “You who 1 @ name you'd no right to, showing him already the true friends euch # fool as you seem to think me, m not faith, the strength’ and nobilty And you should Har pee de- ming frivolity, ore, Arnold Forbe when that afternoon, at his hom ter from his flancee Dear Mr, F you m gree with me th Kagement ts 1 cannot cond an exhibition as of,* Lam sorry, but really, I Iternative. our en tter at an end old man. “Yes. her ¥ Robert Chieago Second ne and mouth ag ything until iy best friend, His ye not wh ‘s emotions 1% can be better imagined than described nothing to me if you had been the he man I thought you. But you decetved found awaiting him the following let~ rbes: After what an YOUr happened last night [ know you honest blue eyes will neredulous, ike one who " Worbes eyed her In silence a iddenly and without warning stagger been struck between the eyes by his was the girl he had loved, the girl he thful ignorance had endowed with all the virtues and y con- of the world, his boyish faith in the none of the failings of her sex! Upon d his brows, “I hope from the false. It would furnish “Yeu, I did belleve everything Mr, Dorothy with the opportunity of re- Bergntrom sald, and my father and At the vealing her true self, all her jove and aunt believe it too; so there! Mr. of Bergstrom isn't a man who tells un- r which he knew lay beneath truths, and he proved all he sald— proved it up to the hilt. But your ver belong a thief would ha meant me from the test: you never satd a word about your father's record and never would if Mr, Bergstrom, a true friend, hadn't done It for you. And you who have only a few begmarly thousands pretended to a fortune, and your marr With me merely meant « way of profiting through my father You didn’t care about me, about offer- me a falas name, or being in no ition to support a wife, And yet talk of honesty!" it his at his own blindness goodness of ail things was fast dis- whom he had lavished the best that earn the Marslands’ 4, in tw acquired @ new acuteness of perc tlon and. s#ensitiveness of vision; seribblitr rhesm, t t \to the drawing-room with sort of chaste, mute disap Nor did Mrs. Protheroe pr usual prompt and bear running in for a mon won't w! ttle arch bandinage with her "di ft the house, and went up- his actions, 1 nty-four hourm, had as tf tt at to exchange salary and In 4 ar As for the rest, all Mr. Bergstrom may care to share, Arnold,” and chen flying precipitately sald 1s quite true except that I knew And when Forbes had fintshed there appearing, He had yet, however, was tn him: who had been the goal of burst of sympathy and un- AS Nits mother had proph- nd sat in silen ei] nourished » his honest blue eyes while all his efforts, the mainspring of all now read the selfish» ness and materialism of her little soul nd reveuled; he understood vad spoken the words that as if she he his lack of fortune was the true and Mis elbow. The noticed that the maid, who opened to only pivot on which the whole case his ring, an obsequious individual who revolved 1 profited immensely by hi “I'm sorry," he said slowty, and d now become now without bitterness, “that there ngely distant and formal, show- should have beon this misunderstand- ® Ing al it my financial position. I'm sure I never meant to appear richer than T am I never considered the patter very closely, and thought my n » would be suffictent. If you should find a scrap of amber in a enowdrift— And if you should find it was the clue to a terrible You would find yourself in the same odd position THE SECRET IN THE SNOW By MILDRED VAN INWEGEN Next Week’s Complete Novel in The Evening World This is not quite like any other “love-and-mystery” story you have read. It is more than worth your nothing about It. I came here, after an {interview with your father, to tell you what, it esems, you know already and to offer you your releases, All this, however, you have saved me.” Some bint of what all this meant to him, of all he was going through, must have reached Dorothy’s mate mal little heart, and this, towether with whatever exiuous growth of affection or physical appeal she had experienced for him, caused « tear to gather in her blue eyes. She dabbed at {t with a scrap of per fumed lace again and again, as if posing in the limelight of a theatre. ‘ou have spoken to me dreadful- ly!" she exclaimed. “You have de- liberately distorted all my motives. You don't consider at all what I have suffered. You don't seem to under- stand my side of it.” He looked at her steadily for a mo- ment, a amile of fron tn his tired eyes. “On the contrary, Miss Marsiand, understand—perfectly, Good niget and goodby.” He bowed with the utmost courtesy and formality; en attitude which supported him until he had gained the outer darkness, darkness no blacker, barren and dreary than thet which was in his own soul, Marsland was still in the offices when Forbes, intent on winding up the whole unpleasant matter, re- turned In the hope that the other had not left. It was late, and Miss Wil- loughby pagsed him on the stairs: she walked hurriedly, and her eyes looked red and e@wollen as tf with crying, Forbes passed on into the office. He remembered he had not spoken to Marsiand about Miss Willoughby's vacation, How much had happened since the previous night when he had thought himself nearing the topmos: rung of the ladder of success! Now the ladder seemed to have been kk ues ee byt him. el?” ant jand, glancing up from his deak. Hi face, aa reveatod in the are of the @reen-shaded light hanging overhead, looked cold and ex- bressioniesa, “Miss Marsiand has broken the en- agement,” said Forbes simply. Marsiand affected astonishment. “Not because of your father!” he ex- claimed. “T know better than that That wouldnt weigh with Dorothy « Particle. Was it because of your be- havior last night?” “So Miss Marsiand eaid.” The other nodded, pursing his lips and looking very solemn. “I was afraid so. I'm sorry, Forbes, but T tather expected this, I told you wom- en can't overlook such things, and you've only yourself to blame. ‘They look at them differently than we men do, ‘There's nothing I can do; my daughter te her own mistress in such matters, and I wouldn't think of tn- ferforing.” “I’m not asking you to Interfere,” gald Forbes quiet! He noticed that now tt was "Forbes" and “my daugh. ter,” not “Arnold” and “Dorothy.” He looked steadily at Marsiand. “Why did you pretend you didn't believe what Rergstrom said? Why did you say yo daughter knew nothing about my father?’ Marsland's massive face grew hard and impassive; the mouth became grim and inflexible, and the honest blue eyes lost their reniality, a look almost cruel and relentless creeping into them. It occurred suddenly to Forbes that thia man might be capable of going to any extreme tn achieving & settled purpose, and that, If crossed, he might prove both ruthless and tm placable, A lot of brutality and venom might lurk beneath th. mountain of flesh and jovial, easy-go ing manner. And, in Dorothy's case, it also occurred to him that per- haps he never had known John Mare. land, near and intimate as they had been, He was now reading the other in the light of recent events, with eyes that had been newly opened— but yet not fully. “What do you mean?’ demanded Marsland, with a look that had felled many a subordinate. But it only served to arouse in Forbes @ latent antagonism, “I mean," he replied, “Mise Mara- land was fully acquainted with al! that passed last night; that she and you and’ Mrs, Protheros believed all Bergstrom said. Miss Mersiand hes said so herself, Marsland closed end locked his desk, took out a cigar and dit off the end. right,” he gald coldly “Mr. Bergstrom ved everything in his usual methodical way; he came armed with proofs none & fool would have dented.” ‘The smile of tron had returned to Forbes's eyes, He was reading the father as accurately as he had read the daughter. “I understand, Mr Marsiand. It was very considerate of you; however, I must let you know why the engagement was broken Not because I acted as T did, not be cause of my father's record, but sim- ply because my mother, unfortunate- ly, left me only a ‘few begeariy thou- sands'—the words are Miss Mars- land's—and not the half milion or # it was confidently thou 1 pos sessed." Marsland grew very red. “You for get yourself, Mr, Forbes! How dare you impute any such base motives to me and mine! Is this how you repay all my kindness and consideration, all my"-— “It's the truth, and you know It's the truth!” interrupted the other bitterly, “It's a matter of dollars and cents, that's all; and to try and put any lofty construction on it ts only hypocrisy! I see now where I stand with you, and where I've always stood, So long as I was supposed have half a million or so and capita to Invest, I was eligible; but when it turned out I had only a few beggarly thousands’ "-———_ He laughed harshly. “It fen't the faote themselves fm kicking against, but the {dea that you still think me fool enough to believe the excuse put forwant. I would hawe understood if only "4 come out and talked to me Nke @ man. I'm never afraid to hear the truth'” (Te Be Continued.) ee rt end ER Ser ee res,