The evening world. Newspaper, September 23, 1922, Page 14

ae ind ad — ACTORS IN THE DRAMA HENRY RANSOM, who had won distinction as an inventor and favor as a man’s man before he met the one woman. ELIZABETH VANE, who caught Ransom’s fancy the day he met her at a country club. JACK POTS and JOHN BARLEYCORN, who engage Ransom’s attention at the club. AN AMERICAN BOY, unnamed by the author, who has much to do with bringing the story to a close. | OMAN, if you chanical genius. But for nine years love your the spirtt of invention lay fallow. He was too busy having a good time, man and he wren he turned twenty-seven he in- Toves YOU, vented uo lubricator for’ gas-engines; ev @ rf Y ~ and in no timo he was drawing hand- thing will some royalties from his patent. turn out all Naturally he considered it time to right in the Set ™srried, which proves that he ., Was not without a leaven of com- end; but if mon-sense. He was handsome, and you don’t or something more, attractive, He was he doesn’t, worldly-wise and yet boyish. Every- pack up. Why body liked him, Indeed, he had no walt? What is the use of playing em but himself, a sadder tine than Whittier ever wrote. martyr to a gallery of two—your — Jonn Barleycorn and Jack Pots; maid and the cook? Why there's a pair for you. When Ran- weaken your eyes watching the «om first met John B., he was de- clock? Why dull your ears in Mehted with the old champion, who * * a threw ‘his arms across the boy's C wi vary listening to excuses which Vary jouer and vowed he'd show him only in their phraseology and life, the real ‘sort, none of your Sun- plausibility and never in their aay-go-to-meeting style. ‘Blood! substance? Do you abominate At college Ransom neither drank, the odor of strong drinks? smoked nor played cards, Fortu- Pack up! Sometimes it is wise Bately he went in for athletics, and Hf love be mutual, "S2 S'vavs more or tess under the to pack up, even if love be mutual, jestrtctions of the training-table. So as a kill-or-cure treatment for when after graduation and as ao certain male ailments which do newspaper man he began to dissipate, not require pills or powders. it took a long timo for it to show in the flesh. The zverage man is a fool ani- “wi, death of his mother made him mal, Ne finds the one woman in gtraighten up for a year. Ho re- the world, marries her, puts her newed his puttering in the workshop into a pretty cage and after the et home, and fell upon the lubricator honeymoon he goes back to nis ‘40. Ho was told that tt was « good club. He really means no harm. °e: 1t Proved to be, Abarat He was elected a member of the He is so sure of her. He has given oy, ana nis old newspaper friends her everything she needs—money, saw him only occasionally after that. house, clothes, servants and a very At the club John Barleycorn intro- fine clock on the mantel. It is duced Mr. Jack Pots, Pots lived at instinctive in man to acclaim that the club; the club made it posstble for him to exist, He was rather re- » not the he makes the capture, fy served until John B, took him in woman, and to prove it he 8S s.2n4 ana told him what @ rip-roaring abroad at night. fine chap Ransom was. By and by she sees the hands of Ransom began to play, desultorily the clock turn as far as midnight, at frst; then regularly, cigar in his then 2, 3 and 4 o'clock. She has teeth, @ pint of wine at hie elbow waited and fallen asleep with her sc pol Nanda ere ae sue head on her arms. She has tele- ee ie a iSite phoned—it does not serve. She game, with liquor at his elbow. has protested mildly, with gentle- 1 was not long before the scions ness, because she still loves. understood that Ransom played cards ‘And what does he do? He ‘or the relaxation, the excitement, the chucks her under the chin, tells iets Ee Sa unrates NEE a e cop ed * _~ and course the other men went home and on his way. He does not rave and oq their wives. storm about personal liberty. Why should he? He has it. . he found something which tem- So it comes to pass that some porarily diverted his thoughts fine (or drizzly) morning James, trom poker. He met Elizabeth Vane or John, or William returns from 4t tea at the Country Club one Sat- the club to find a little note pinned U'd#y sfternoon, ‘and she caught.his ‘ : with fncy instantly, She was charming, to the pillow. She has gone; ANS tere laa ced, ea laeetn nea. eth another man, mayhap, which is yeqprown hair. She was @ woman more often the case than not, OF of twenty-four; that 1s to say, one ‘back home to mother. But if she who knew her mind goes back to mother, he'll find her She had just returned trom a long aaa argue and plead and promise, ‘!s!t abroad, and Ransom did not re : _: recollect having seen her before, He perhaps with honorable tears IM vas not a man to dodder, but went his eyes, and if she loves him she joiq1y toward his goal, whatever tt will be fool enough to return, to face the same thing all over again It takes more than a hasty trip to business teaches and that 1s directness iee’s to clive your man of purpose. You cannot run a news- moines y z paper by doddering and sidestepping. E lost about six thousand, when ppened to be at the time, rhere is one thing the newspaper hy ra Mrs. Henry Ransom did not run 46 asked if he might call. She de- away with another man; she Was murred a little at first too wise. Neither did she return “Isn't this sudden?” she asked, “Not for m have never been abroad, and you tell to her mother; she was too prou.t You interest me, I She had given Ransom that “one chance more” so many times that she suddenly tired. He had tailec. you write’ Once forgiven, man entertains the “Goodness, no!"* idea that there is no bottom to “Well, you ought to.’ the bag of forgiveness. But he aac tenia aga call whether J Jearns ‘ 4s Mrs. Ransom had an inde- wmendent fortune of her own, she your stories with so much zest that a chap feels almost on the spot, Lo certainly shall." “Come Thursday evening, then.’ For several weeks he neither drank “pooked under an assumed name °F Played cards, He was really tind-sailed for Europe. And there ™atly !m love. And ho was an Ideal lover, full of unsuspected charm, al- you are. Ways gay, always humorous N the beginning Ransom been No matter what her moods migh ] @ newspaper man. His real tal- be, his were nlweys a tonite, T ents, however, did not lle !n that jon. He wee really ¢ fine me ce. . sort of man {s generally irreatstible When Ler friends heard of fhe en ae <v, gagement they swooped down upon her. It must never be; she must break it off at once, “Why?! she asked of her friends, calmly, “Why? Don’t you know? Haven't you heard? He is terribly dissipated; he drinks and gambles and losos tre- mendous sums at the club, He is clever, yes; and he makes a lot of money; but you cannot marry a spend- thrift. Don't be foolish; we know; you have the same idea that all women have over men who attracted them; you belleve you can reform him. “Well, I am going to try,’ smiled, confident {n her love, she T 1s a fact that when a woman wants @ man, calumny only strengthens her desire for him. Subconsclously the mother in her is aroused to defend, to protect; for all women are mothers till they die, sweethearts only upon occasion. So she married the wastrel. open? First, because she loved him; second, because in every woman there is that fine sporting instinct to best John Barleycorn and Jack Pots, But it 1s a long shot to play against such @ field, Perhaps live. head, Still wrote: “Humanity ts But he was late. the troglodite had discovered that. For six months they were inord!- They went abroad, They saw beauty and humor in the samo were more than man and wife; they were comrades. When they returned to the pretty home he nately happy. Their pleasures were mutual. things. They TH Y By Harold 4: Love that Survived a Marriage to Reform. She was not the sort who wail and repent. She married Ransom with her eyes you recognize Elizabeth and Henry, no matter where you may There was once a French phi- losopher who woke up ohe morning with a marvelous discovery in his under his nightcap he ran to his desk, seized his quill, and universal.’’ In the stone age THE EVENING WORLD, SATURDAY, THE EVENING WORLD'S coM had fitted up for her this happiness was still unabated. Of course, her friends were bit- terly disappointed. But wait, sooner or later, {t would happen. At least they hoped {t would. Not that they wished to hurt Elizabeth, but that one and all of us hate to be proved false prophets. At the end of the year Elizabeth went to spend a*fortnight with a school girl friend. Being lonesome’ Ransom naturally drifted up to the club. All he in- tended to do was to to dine, play a game of billiards and say howdy to the boys. But the boys made a great hullabaloo over his reappearance in the fold. At 4 o'clock in the morning Ransom was wondering whether to draw one card to his four sevens or to stand pat. Many highballs had stood at his elbow. In this manner he returned to his club, his bachelor ways. Elizabeth's friends wagged their heads sorrow- fully. They had warned her! Sometimes the telephone would ring. The boys at the table would stop talking. “Night-night, manchild."" She al- ways called him that. ‘But please come home e ‘Before twelve, honest!” He al- ways meant it. That's the plty of it. He always meant all he said—at the time, But the riffling of the cards and the click of the chips were the waters of Lethe. He never thou ht he was acting dishonorably, that he was doing any- thing underhanded. He never neg- lected his work. Betty had everything she needed, everything but her man. Sunday morning atter Sunday morning, at 2, at 3, and sometimes at 5 o'clock, he would steal into the house, drop into bed, struggle up for a breakfast he could not eat, and Ite blithely as to the time he had come in. He never mentioned cards; it was always pool or billiards. Ind he always made {t a point to play a game of pool or billiards so that he could at least tell half a truth. To be a good Mar you must remem- MARY ROBERT SEPT EMBER 23, 1923. ber all your previous lies; and Ran- som was @ poor lar, For a long time she believed him, And then some one had to tell her. I belleve {t was her best friend. TILL, she clung to what remained S of her happiness. He was al- ways gentle and’kind, even tn his cups; and this fact, oddly enough, made the burden all the more diffi- cult for her to carry. She, herself, was the soul of honor; and a lie, an unnecessary lle, was @ horrid thing. Ho was his own master, the money he wasted was his own; there was no need to Ne about his card play- ing. If he preferred that to her society, there was nothing more to be sald, At length she came out {nto the open. She spoke without anger. If sho over learned of his card playing again she would leave him. Confronted with the knowledge that she had known all along, he confes- sed, repented, and promised on his oath to stop. “A HAND TOUCHED HIS SHOULDER AND HE TURNED. PLETE NOVE MAN sat down at one of the tables {n Ciro's at Monte Carlo and while he was look- ing over the carte du jour he was distracted by a sudden commo- tion at the door. Waiters who were not busy—and !t was early for Ciro's —scurried hither and thither for a good table by the glass partition. “Who is coming?’ asked the man of his waiter. “A Grand Duke and his ballerina?" “Oh, no, monsieur,” the waiter an- swered, smiling indulgently, “It ts only that mad American. He dines ‘and sups here every night." “The mad American?" The stran~ ger was interested. “He has been here a week, mon- sieur, and he has broken the bank four times; and the more he wins the greater seems to bo his depression."* “Depression? Why, that sounds as {f he did not want to win!" cried the stranger, greatly astonished. “That 1s the general impression of all who watch him, monsteur."” “Well, well! A man comes to Monte THEN HIS “HEAD WAS SMOTHERED IN LACES, DELICATELY PER- FUMED WITH OLD LAVENDER.” “T shall not give you another chance,"’ Nearly a year went by. He neither drank nor gambled. He kept away from the club. She did not ask him to resign. He became the old lover once more. But in her heart she waited and waited and dreaded and dreaded for the hour to come. She was resourceful. She engin- eered fishing and hunting trips; used every art at her command to make him understand that she loved him, but what she waited for came to pass. He went back to the club. One Sunday morning he came out at 7. It was in autumn; a haze lay over the world. His throat was dry and hot from innumerable cigars and whiskey and his head ached from tne fever of the play. Suddenly he turned, gazed up at the windows of the club, bowed tron- ically, entered the taxicab which had waited six hours for him and was driven home. He sat down at his desk in the study, wrote out his res- ignation from the club, mailed it and went up to his room. He was through. It was nearly 8. He could hear the cook stirring downstairs in the kitchen. He saw a note pinned to the pillow. He sensed nothing wrong. Often she pinned tender little “night-nights” to the same pillow. He opened it, ashamed. “MAN-CHILD, THIS END. I HAVE GONE." 1s THE E PAPERED DOOR RINEHART THE STORY OF A WOMAN’S SENSE OF DUTY AND A MAN’S LASTING DEVOTION TO HIS EARLY LOVE ORDER YOUR EVENING WORLD IN ADVANCE Carlo with the express purpose of los- ing?” “Oh, they all come with that pur- pose, only they are not aware of tt." “You are a philosopher, I see."* “We waiters in Monaco naturally are, monsieur. Besides, as I have said, this young gentleman {s mad."” “There are no ladies with him?” “Oh, no. And that 1s another pecullar thing. Hs rebuffs them all, but smilingly, But he ts mad," the water reiterated shrugging. ‘Why, it was only last night that he went through the streets, giying handfuls of Napoleons to the poor. The police had to interfera or he would have been hurt or robbed, He gave away 100,- 000 francs."* “A hundred thousand francs? Then it 1s no jest; he ts really mad."” “At least with his monsy, mon- slour.”” “He has a system ?"’ “Oh no, He plays roulette, color and number, and always the maxt- mum, If he has system, no one has been able to discover how it works.” This mad American was Ransom, and he was here in Monte Carlo for @ purpose, so mad, so bizzare, that the authorities would have taken him in charge had they known. There are varieties of madness; sometimes a single idea becomes all of that. He had come to Monte Carlo to die, but he could not die till he had acoom- plished this purpose. He was truly mad. Since that unforgettable Sunday NEXT SATURDAY’S COMPLETE NOVELETTE LETTE morning, two years gone, he had searched Burepe in vain. Not a drop of Mquor, not a card had been touched. That had deen final. + © © © 6 @\6 H® general run of men would have straightway plunged into all eorts of excesses. Ransom stayed at home, worked and read end thought. For six months he lived in sealu- sion. To those who inquired, he re- plied that Mre. Ransom had gone to Burope and that later he would go over himself. From her dankers he learned but little, At the Post Office her mail was accumulating: and ehe had not yet sent for it. She had taken away four letters of credit for twenty-five thou- samd each, her entire fortune, And while he knew what all this nified, still he waited and hoped. At the end of six months he could stand {t no longer; and then he began his bitter pilgrimage. She had been abroad many times, and he recalled to mind her favorite haunts; but she had not been to any of the: She had vanished as smoke in the wind. He knew. She was hidden snugly away in some village, a needle in a haystack; and only pure luck would lead him to her. Then, on a brilliant February day, in Nice, he saw her drive up to wu hotel and enter, dignified and beautiful as ever. The blood rushed madly to his throat, and for a moment he thought he was going to fall. He was like a General who, hav'ng marched weary days to his enemy's stronghold, suddenly remembers that he has no definite plans of assault. For a year and a half Ransom had tramped through ten thousand towns to find her, urged by love. And now, what should he say to her? By what words, arguments, pleadings, might he crumble the gran- ite bastions around her heart? He could not say: ‘‘Come home; I'll be good." Nor: ‘I promise!'’ Such phrases would not even sum- mon the garrison of her heart to its defenses. They were mere powder without shot. His voice, when Re addressed the hotel manager, sounded like a rattle. The manager eyed him coldly. “Will you be go kind as to take this card up to the lady who has just entered?"" “The name of the lady, if you pl “Mrs. Ransom.’ The manager looked at the card, and his brows arched. ‘Indeed, Mon- sieur, indeed! Shall I show you up to Madame's apartment?" “No. Merely announce that I am in the writing room."" ‘When the manager returned he was frowning. He extended the card loftily. ‘*Madame declines to see you, Monsteur. I regret.’ “You are sure?’ “She used the word absolutely, Monstieur."" Ransom turned to the writing table. His hand trembled so violently that he feared she might adduce from this fact that he had been drinking heavily. However, he was able to pen a few jumbled sentences. The answer came back: “IT am very sorry that this has happened. I gave you your chance, and you failed. My determination is irrevocable. You are a ‘man’s man’; and you have your club, your club dinners, and your poker parties, your liquor. “I will give you credit for this much: there was never any other woman, Sometimes I wish there had been, It would have proved that your defection was my fault. “Do not write, Dé not attempt to see me. I warned you. When I left it was for good. I knew that you would not keep your word. I know it now.” Ransom put the letter away, delib- erately. He went out into the street. Elizabeth saw him from behind the window curtains, his shoulders bent, his cane dangling on his arm. She saw the haggard face, too, and knew that she was right. But nevorthc- less her palms became strangely wet and her lips hot and dry. ‘As for the man below, he realized that he was at the end of his rope. to Monte Carlo, One wild fling, and then—good-day! He was mad, This day's work atop of all the worry and misery of the past two years had snapped some delicate nerve-wire in his head; he could not tell what nor where. He became obsessed with a single dea; to save @ life in order that he might take his own. If this isn’t madness, what is? The first night he ordered a bottle of wine. When the waiter brought it, he paid for it and waved it aside. From another fable a handsome woman smiled, and he beckoned. When she came over to his table he rose, indicated with a satirical ges- ture the wine, and departed. He prowled about the park and the terraces; but xe saw no ace that night to serve his purpose, All the next day, during the hours of play at the Casino, he studied the faces, the joyous, the haggard, the pale and the pink, the young and the old. He followed men and women outside, but nothing ever happened. On the third day he noticed a pale youth, an American, who was losing eadily and heavily. It was a gambler's face; Ransom had seen enough of them to recognise Fes Nice he proceeded directly it at a glance. lost the unchangeg hopefully; and in excuse to watch the boy ho played himself, thousands at poker, Ransom won at roulette. about the game, odds, which added yearly to the cemeteries, excitement, and won and won. At* o'clock the banker smiled and raised his hand. their rakes. at the banker's elbow was einpty.~ broken the bank. dilapidated cabby; dropped a handful _ of ‘Napoleons flower girl; gave to any one who hap- pened to strike his fan with never a smile on his face. HUS, Monte Carlo began to talk Te Henry Ransom. ‘That mad American! They follow him through the streets, into Ciro’s, inte the Cafe de Paris, to the door of his hotel, and back to the Casino, exploit. to give away the money! sieur would bo worth watching. All Americans were tore or less R be sure; but this one capped them alll nse slowly from his chair. into it. hind him came Ransom. for he was not much over twenty— gazed calmly who wonders {f it will rain to-more: row. the park, but hesitated. statue. the cigarette described an arc of igh and vanished over the parapet. put his hand in his coat pocket and withdrew it. caught the light of the street lamp and threw back a sparkle @ grip of iron, and the metal thing fell with a light thud upon the turf. voice. moment I laid eyes on you."’ am,"’ said the youth calmly, make it all the harder for me. have to do it elsewhere. It s not pos- sible for you to prevent that." wrist. thousand pounds, dollars.’* high and thin. Had he been tn norm frame of mind, shuddered at the sound of it, had. I've had my fling, and I've got to Pay the price. I am a thief, I struggle furiously. you, who won and won and won! For God's sake, let ma go!"’ put yoy on your feet? Would it clear this fool business out of your head? Would you take the train to Parts, which leaves in twenty minutes?" once, matter so long as you find a seat to craw! into. are a hundred and twenty thousand francs in this, package. the notes that dream of his disordered brain. nerve breaking at last. no time to spare." Jad by the sleeve and dragged him to- ward the steps. warned.” the twinkling lights of the yachts In Whether he won 4 's expression remained So Rangom watched him tear to have an bo: Fato has her jests, After losing He knew nothing at all its intricact ite of the futile systems nothing He played recklessly, but without The crouplers laid down The little compartment Ransom was informed that he haa Later he stuffed the pockets of into the basket of @ and all this Everybody was amused. It was an To break the bank and thea, This Mon- mad, On Friday night he saw the bey A fat, gross-visaged man plumpe@ The boy left the Casino. Be= The boy— up at the sky as one He made as though to go te The boy stopped near the Berflom He was smoking. Presentt: He Something in his hand The hand was suddenly seized in “It is useless to struggle,” “I knew it in my said a soul the “Well, sir, you are stron; Ransom still held the other by the “How much have you lost?" “A hundred thousand francs, four twenty thousand The boy laughed. The laughter Ransom must have “All you had?’ “Yes, Ten thousand more than ¥ “You sea? Better let me finish it. recognize youl’? He began “Be still!" “It 1s you! You, Y played against, “Be still. Would twenty thousand | “God knows, “Come; yes!" we'll go to the station at First or second, it does not Here is the money. There Be careful.”” The lad was assured by the feel of this was not some “God bless you!"’ he cried, his tron “Come on to the station, We have Ransom took the “You are young. Be FTER the train had departed, Ransom returned to the upper terrace, to the Berlioz statue, and picked up the fallen revolver, Then he found a segt by the para- pet and stared out at sea, down at the basin, up at the twinkling lights in the sky, at the dim outlines of the mountains which sheltered Monaco, that viper hidden {n a gilded box. He had no wish at all to die, He had suddenly become sane; and re- alizing this fact, he laid his head on his arms and Jaughed, and there were tears in that laugher And thus she found him, after a frenzied rush about the hotels, the restaurants, the gambling rooms, the Park and finally the terraces “Henry A hand touched his shoulder and he turned. Then his head was smoth- ered in laces, delicately perfumed with old lavender “For the first time in two years T had mail from home to-day. And then I learned what you had done, thought I was so wise!’’ he heard her whisper, ‘But I've lied, too, lied to myself. I can't live without you, O manchild, {f you gamble again, let me; if you drink, let me! ‘But al- ways with you, always with you! My man, my man!" And she sobbed | with her cheek against his head, The revolver slipped from hts fingers, and all he did was to cup her ch®& in his palm, as in the old days when she leaned over his chair, (Copyright, 192% by the Bell Syndicate, Inay