The Horry herald. (Conway, S.C.) 1886-1923, August 10, 1916, Page SIX, Image 6
mtx
Novelized From the
of the Same Name
Copyright, 1916, by
SYNOPSIS.
Pierpont Stafford, banker nnd railroad
magnate, with his sixteen-year-old daughter,
Gloria, is wintering at I'aim Beach.
Gloria is a vivacious but willful young
lady who chafes under the restraining
hand of a governess from whom she repeatedly
escapes. Her childish capers
cause young Doctor ltoyee to fall in love
with her. She steals from her room
at night and in an auto plunges into the
surf where she leaves the car. Becoming
lost in the everglades she falls into the
hands of the Seminole Indians. She is rescued
and returned to her father, who had
offered a reward for her return. Gloria
falls in love witli her rescuer, Freneau. 1
Five years later she leaves school and
meets Freneau at the theater; ills attention
having been occupied with her sisterin-law,
lie has forgotten Gloria. Gloria
feels that her one dream is Bhutto-red.
Later Freneau persuades her to forgive
him. Gloria's sister-in-law. Hois, becomes
Intensely jealous and Doctor Royce discovers
in her an ally to assist in thwarting
Freneau.
FIFTH EPISODE
The Gathering Storm.
''Daughters are dangerous charges,
Pierpont." said Judge Freeman. The
two elderly men stood watching the
dance which was in full swing at
the coming-out party of Gloria Stafford.
The men were related to each
other bv j]1,arria^e?tlio of
Stafford's son David and Freeman's
daughter Lois?whatever relations
that made them.
Pierpont Stafford nodded a worried
assent to the judge's statement and,
turning his eyes reluctantly from the
grace and charm of his own girl, who
was dancing with an almost lyric poetry
of motion, enfolded in the arms
of Richard Freneau, Pierpont looked
iwi juuge r reeuian s gin, ivOis, to una
a specific cause for the judge's doleful
remark. What he saw puzzled
him considerably. Ho saw Lois, not
dancing, but watching Gloria and Freneau.
There was a look of unmistakable
Jealousy and helpless rage 011 her
face. He saw his son David speak to
her and put his hand 011 her arm, only
to have her shako him oft and move
away into tho crowd.
Pierpont folt suddenly terribly
afraid for his son's honor, and a gnawing
acho in his heart for Ixiis' father,
who stood besido him. But it
was far too delicate a situation for the
two men to discuss?yet.
"Children are hostages of fortune,
as Bacon, the playwright, said," Pierpont
murmured, putting his hand on
the other man's arm "Aftar nil v?r*w
little It is we can really save them
from!"
Gloria was being: watched Jealously
by yet another, Doctor ltoyce, who,
with the mixed feelings of a lover
Bp?'?:
WNffiM-MM. M>: My'MJ
I "
Her Ears 8tf 11 Tingled With the Buzz
of Compliments.
and an older guardian, felt cut to
the quick as she passed directly In
front of him in Freneau's embrace. He
could see the look of perfect joy in
her glorious eyes, and there was rap
r i ~
SSi
aKDT MI6HES1'
Motion Picture Play
by George Kleine
Adelaide M. Hughes
cure in the whole happy awing of her
youthful body. Anger at Freneau's
unworthiness of this pure being almost
choked him. When another
man took Gloria away from Freneau
for the last half of the dance, and
Freneau reluctantly walked away,
Royco asked for a word with him,
moving toward the library, where tlioy
could be alone. Freneau followed
with uneasy bravado. Onco safe from
observation, Doctor Royce let his rage
break forth. J
"You contemptible fortune hunter!
Five years ago I warned you to keep
away from Gloria. You lied to her
then and your life is still one long
lie."
Freneau's face blanched with fury,
?l? ? * ? i - ' '
itnu iiu ruiscu ins arm 10 siriKO itoyce,
but before (he calm contempt in his
eyes ho changed his mind. He decided
to forego the blow for the present,
and laughed as bravely as ho
could. Royce pursued him with an
alarming threat.
"What if I tell her of your affair
with a certain married woman?"
Freneau gave a surprised start, attempted
to speak, changed his mind
again. Ho was guilty of too much
to risk a challenge. Shrugging his
shoulders, ho moved sullenly off and
out of the room.
ltovce smiled to himself. "It was
a bluff, but it worked." Ho had
caught a glimpse of Lois' Jealosy and
a faint suspicion had risen in his
mind. Now he wondered if It were
confirmed.
Royce walked after Freneau and
had the satisfaction of seeing him depart
after bidding good-by to Gloria.
Royce thought he had won a signal
victory. He would have taken little
pleasure in it had he known that
Freneau left so obediently because
Gloria had already granted him a
whole afternoon to be spent in her
company alone on the following day.
Freneau folt so certain of his ability
to win a promise of marriage from
her with this opportunity that, he
could afford the seeming compliance
with the order of Doctor Royce.
As he descended the outer steps of
the Stafford home a footman signaled
his car to put into the driveway.
A tramp who had been loitering
on the street watching the gorgeous
crowd of guests, caught sight
of Freneau and seemed to go mad
With rage. Ho rushed forward, shouting
accusations. Freneau stritck out
viciously with his walking stick. The
tramp foil to the ground, while Freneau,
leaping into his limousine, motioned
his chauffeur to make haste.
He leaned out of his car as it turned
and smiled to see the tramp pick himself
up awkwardly and run after him,
rushing wildly through the traffic of
Riverside drive.
As Freneau's car turned into a side
street the tramp, still in pursuit, was
caught by an oncoming automobilo
and knocked sideways. One of the
rear wheels passed over his legs. The i
car was stopped instantly and the
occupants picked him up to hurry him \
to a hospital.
Freneau sat back in a daze at the
quick tragedy, lie could not tell how
badly the man w:?s hurt nor how
much lie could depend on his own roleaso
from danger in that quarter. It
ruffled him considerably to encounter
another relic of his adventurous
past, just as he was about to win a
beautiful young wife for himself; a
relic who had a just grievance and
might well ruin him by exposure. To
get out of his entanglement with I^ois
was delicate matter enough for him
to handle without this new ghost.
Truly, Freneau brooded, a brave
pleasure-loving free lance like himself
should havo a wider field to move i
about in. The smallness of this world
was cramping his style!
Arriving at his own apartment ho
threw his overcoat to his valet and
marched gloomily into the living room,
slamming the door behind him. If
only Trask should die! But he could
I not count on such luck. Trask would
prouuDiy escape witn a tew Druises
and an added grudge, and bo out
again in a few days to pick up the
trail.
A vision came to Freneau's mind of
Nell Trask, as he had last seen hor,
when he left her beside a stream near
a mining camp in the South.
Poor fool! She had pleaded so un|
reasonably that he should marry her
and save hor. When he refused she
had thrown herself down on the bank
in wild abandonment to her grief. As
he mounted his horse ho saw the'
girl's father pick her up and hold her
in his arms while apparently she sobbed
forth her confession. A look of
auch savage ferocity came over Trask's
face that Freneau dug spurs into his
horse. On reaching the town ho had j
boarded a train at once, leaving his
THE HO&KY
....
tew belongings behind him. For that
look on Tr&sk's face surely meant
death for him if he were overtaken.
And now at last he had been over
taken.
Soon, however, Freneau broke fro id
his reverie, dismissed it as an unpleasant
memory, smiled at himself for giving
It any place in his thoughts, and
turned his mind to Gloria?the bewitching
girl-woman to whom on the
morrow he would tender his heart
and hand, for all that they might be
worth.
Meanwhile Gloria herself, tired beyond
words, her pretty right hand stiff
from the endless shaking of other
hands at her reception, her tiny feet
weary of their satin slippers and her
ears tingling still with the buzz of
compliments poured into them, was
ecstatic as a full-fledged birdling after
its flrst long flight.
The last of the guests departing, she
threw her arms about her father's
neck and gave him a resounding kiss.
Swinging her feet free of the floor,
she kicked off her slippers. Then
sho hugged Aunt Hortensia and
thanked her, and, please did she and
father mind if tho new social leader
left them and betook herself to bed,
where they might send her crackers
and milk for her dinner before sho
toppled off to sleep?
Tliev lauelind thrnnr-h thnli* r??rr?
weariness as Gloria, gathering up her
cast-away footwear, proceeded to
drag herself up the staircase, bent far
over in imitation of an ancient cripple.
Reaching her own room, she
screamed lustily to Burroughs, her 1
English maid, to run a hot bath for
her, and for goodness sake to get her
out of her wreck of dross. As Rur- !
roughs fluttered between the two
tasks Gloria hummed the "Aloha Oc" 1
that had been played in waltz time 1
to her last heavenly dance with Pre- :
neau. She picked a rose from her
dressing table and went through the ;
ritual of "He loves me, he loves me
not." down almost to the last petal.
But finding tfiat it would come out
011 the tragic "not," she gasped, "How
silly!" threw the ruse away, casting '
a shy little smile at herself in the i
mirror.
Burroughs, having taken the woefully
wilted and shredded tulle frock
from her, wrapped her young mistress
In a dressing gown. And Gloria
went, still humming, to her bath.
In the midst of the splashing, while
Burroughs was straightening the
dressing room, she heard: "O Burroughs,
do you think my new fur-lined
driving coat looks very good on me?"
"Yes, miss. 1 do, indeed," answered
Burroughs, surprised at the apparent ,
irrelevance of the question.
"And, Burroughs!"
"Yes, miss?"
"What warm afternoon dress have
I that I look awfully nice in?"
"Why, the brown velvet from Lucile,
miss; you do look a perfect little
doll in that, miss."
He Recognized Pneumoni
Another splash in the tub and a
ripple of laughter.
"Thank you, Burroughs?you see,
I'm driving the pony and sleigh out in
the country tomorrow afternoon."
"Yes, miss?"
"And I'm not driving out alone,
Burroughs." J
"No, miss?"
After this Gloria was silent.
She hopped hurriedly into bed from
ner bath and ate her crackers and
milk like a good child, smiling every
now and then at her own thoughts.
Then she told Burroughs to put out
her lights and not allow her to bo
disturbed.
"You see, Burroughs, I'm a society
quumi now, ttuu i nave got 10 get my
beauty sleep. Good night."
"Quite so, miss, and good night,
miss," said Hurroughs, as Bho tiptoed
toward the door.
"Hurfroughs! Do you ever pray?"
MOh, yes, miss; always; night and
morning."
"Well, then, please pray for beautiful
weather tomorrow."
"Certainly, miss. Anything else,
miss?"
"No, nothing, thank you. Good
night."
On the following day, all arrangements
having been made by telephone
1LD. CONWAY, 8. O.
to the Stafford country place, Gloria
took Burroughs with her and motored
out. They were met by a glowing
and enthusiastic Freneau at the
railroad station. Gloria took him on
to her warm-weather home, which
managed to keep a majestic appearance
in its mantle of snow.
The dogs started a wild hullabaloc
of ferocity from their kennels when
the car drove in. They changed their
excited barks to yelps of welcome as
they recognised Gloria. But she left
them disconsolate, for a groom brought
up from the stable yard her shaggy ponies
harnessed to the little Russian
sleigh.
As she stopped to pet the noses of
the ponies Freneau lost for a moment
hte confidence in his own power to
win this small young beauty enveloped
in a great coat, which made
her seem smaller still, her eyes beaming,
her cheeks flushed with the cold,
her delicate pink blonde curls escaping
from the little fur-trimmed hat.
With this palatial background,
among the obsequious attendants, she
stood, more i^an ever for him, the
embodiment of power,?youth, beauty,
wealth. What had ho to offer in
exchange for that worldly trinity?
Spoiled by women as he was he felt
that however sincerely he wanted this
slip of a girl?wanted hor more than i
ho had ever wanted anyone else in his j
life?she might elude him.
umria turned 10 mm witu a nrignt
smile, and seeing the look of adoration
In his eyes, blushed an oven
deeper rose than she had been wearing.
,4I think we had better start at once
if we are to get our sleigh ride," she
said. "The days are so short now; I
we must make the most of this stingy
sunlight."
"Right!" Frcneau answered eagerly
as he helped her into the sleigh.
The ponies were champing at the
tits and Jingling the bells and waving
the pompons on their heads with
every impatient movement. Gloria ;
stepped into the driver's seat (she was
going to drivo them herself, wise ;
giil') and Frer.eau snatched the sable
robo from the hands of a groom,
saw that her little feet were in place
on the foot warmer, and proceeded to
wrap her snugly in. (How nicely lie
did things of that sort, she thought.)
"We will be back tn a couple of
hours, probably stop somewhere for
tea,'' Gloria called to Burroughs as
they passed the lodge door. She felt
the thrill of being a runaway once
more, and she was glad that her father
was not present to thrust a chaperon
upon them.
Out into the road and off they went,
youth, health, and joy of life in their
veins; love in their hearts. The ponies
pranced and cavorted, somewhat
too strenuously, Freneau feared, un- ;
til he realized how skillfully Gloria's
hands were in handling them. On
tney glided merrily, chatting of the
big nothings of young love, Gloria
pointing out paths and places of in%>,.
x. x >. > X..
'x v-x i
h - J ill
^ v lie' , ? >
: t?ftlf?frik?
a Without Difficulty.
tcrest, Dick Freneau seeing them
only as they wero mirrored in her
eyes, since ho could not bear to turn
oway from her lest ho lose ono fleeting
expression of her face.
After several miles of "up hill and
down dale." Gloria turned her ponies
olT the main road into one less used.
"I'm taking you to the dearest oldfashioned
farmhouse, where wo can
have tea and the nummiest apple butter
you ever tasted. Shall you like it?"
"I shall like anything and everything
in this world, so long as I have
it with you," Freneau breathed earnestly.
"Then that's all right," chirruped
Gloria, happily. "You shall most
certainly have this tea with me, and
I'm famished."
When they reached the farmhouse,
! which called Itself an inn, tho plump
I lanHlaH V VrantnH Clniiln nrUK nlanan#!
qi vvvvu \jriv/i ia tt nil j/icaouu
recognition and ushered them into the
parlor, saying that she would hasten
with their tea and bring the table to
thom there by the fire. Freneau
helped Gloria out of her great coat?
; how well he took off a coat, she
thought She emerged like a goldenbrown
butterfly in a velvet gown.
The biasing logs In the deep fireplace
gilded the beauty of a truly
charming old room. Gloria fingered
1 f I
3iK^^v^5nWl^tB^BB8^>y^w^;^ff^BBBHK^L'Ml
She Became Suddenly T
the qualilt pewter pieces on the mantel
and Freneau waited restlessly for
Mrs. Bailey to hurry In with the tea
Things and hurry away. Soon they
were left alone, seated opposite each
other, the little tea table between.
Gloria learned his sugar. She became
suddenly timid and embarrassed. it
did seem very intimate and daring.
It was the first time she had ever
askoil a man about his sugar all alone
with him! I
Dick perceived her shyness nnd divined
the causo at once. lie must
speak now. Me would never have a
better chance, he thought. Putting
down his cup, ho reached across the
table for her hand.
"Gloria, dear little Gloria," he
sighed, "my five years of probation are
up. I've waited patiently and always
hopefully. Mayn't I have my reward
now? Please say that you will marry
me quickly and put nie out of my
misery, will you?"
Gloria could not answer. She hung
her pretty head and wriggled back a
little farther' into tho grandfather's
chair. Perhaps she did not want to
end the luxury of keeping him anxious
with a too immediate yes. Ho would
not dally. Ho picked up tho little
table that stood between them and
putting it aside dropped on one knee
before lier, like tho true artist in love
that ho was. lie clasped his arms
about her and she closed her eyes and
gave him her lips.
They heard the untimely hostess approaching
and he sat back In his chair,
twirling his mustuche, while Gloria
tried to look as if nothing had happened.
Nothing had happened except
a short flight to heaven.
On tho way home they chattered
merrily of the every things that would
make up their new life. The scenery
was the same, yet hew different! They
were betrothed now. For many reasons
FVeneau was impatient to have
her father's sanction to their engagement
as soon as possible. Gloria decided
that she would drive him homo
with her and beard her parent in his
lair without delay.
*** *
Piorpont Stafford was not unprepared
for tho "Will you let mo marry
your daughter?" speech that Ilichard
Freneau made him. He had given his
own word five years before that if Pre
neau ana uiona round themselves in
tho samo frame of mind at this date ho
would raise no further objections. Ho
gave up tho fight now, and took his
defeat like tho true sport ho was, graciously
concealing his own sad heart.
Tho radiance of his child and tho
evident sincerity of Frencau almost repaid
him; at least they made him
hopeful for her happiness. One stipulation
only he insisted upon, that tho
engagement should not be made public
at onco. Ho knew that engagements
were not necessarily certain to
end in marriage, and ho wanted to test
Freneau a littm further. He insisted
upon guarding his daughter's name to
that extent. If anything went wrong
with them they should not have to
take the great American public into
the secret. Froneau agreed to this,
the more readily sine? it would give
him the more time to propitiato and
get rid of Lois. And old Trask might
have to be given his quietus in one
way or another.
While Freneau and her father held
their council of war Gloria had gone
out to tho hall to wait its outcome.
There Freneau found her huddled up
on the lower step, hugging herself as
if she were cold. He rushed to take
her in his arms for a kiss. She battled
him with mock resistance, before
she ran up the stairs to play Juliet to
his Romeo. Then, throwing kisses,
they parted.
wnen sne reacned tier room Gloria
found herself shivering with a violent
chill that all the warmth of her heart
could not subdue. Burroughs was Instantly
alarmed. She summoned
Gloria's father, who was even more
alarmed. He made her go to bed at
once, ordered her covered with many
blankets, and had hot-water bottles
filled.
The chill did not abate. Tn a panic
he telephoned from Gloria's own room
to his old family physician, Doctor
Wakefield, and was fortunate enough
to reach him and be assured of his
^ggyy^*CWwWWI^J||^B^M^H
WZy-ZV&M |^^*?;^:5g::?FS^^ i
- ^ ... >s^j j
imid and Embarrassed.
j immediate attendance. Doctor Wakoj
Hold was a fussy medical man of the
| very old school. He had taken good '
| care of the Stafford family, but lati
terly ho had let science outrun him.
Still ho recognized pneumonia without
difficulty. Ho whispered the dreadful j
word to Stafford and ordered in two j
trained nurses and no end of medicines.
Pierpont Stafford was frantic with 1
j anxiety. He telephoned for Gloria's
I brother and for Aunt Hortensia. Hurj
roughs told them of the stolen sleigh
! ride and Freneau became less popular 1
with the Staffords, father and son, than
ever before.
Days and nights of harrowing fear
dragged over that household, Wealth
had not dulled affection, nor could it
seem to bribe death. The fever lino
mounted on tho nurse's chart like a
mountain side, and Gloria grew weaker,
except, in her deliriums, when she
seemed to be inhabited by demons of
ferocious strength. '
At length David felt that Doctor
Wakefield had been given all the time
to experiment with Gloria's life that {
could bo afforded. He was for calling J
in a young man of tho newest school
of medical art. Ho called for Doc- .
tor Koyco. Kovco came with no hesitation
over medical ethics or cour- '
tesies. Gloria was more than a pat
? v.:? 1 -u j
Lit;hi, llj iiuii, anil uiu >v tiKOiieiU was
less than a doctor in his eyes, after
ho had questioned the Staffords as to
the manner of Doctor Wakefield's
treatment. Things were, as he feared,
all wrong. It was lifo or death. Doctor
Wakefield could not cope with the
disease. He must be dispossessed as (
politely as possible. j
Doctor Wakefield, he learned, was in
the sickroom above. Royco would not
mince matters or wait on professional
etiquette. Ho felt the eagerness of
a lover in coming once more to the
rescue of his idolized Gloria. j
He ran up the stairs and walked into
the room. Ho hardly knew his Gloria
when he saw hor. She was in the
throes of a wild delirium. She imagined
herself once more among the
Seminoles who hud held her in bondago
when she ran away in Florida five (
years beforo.
In her tormenting fancy sho was
again dressed as a squaw and set to
the task of gathering firewood and
subjected to the worse task of enduring
the old squaw's hatred and the
young chief8 love. She begged him
; to kill her rather than marry her. and
she fought with all hor fury, seizing
! Wakefield's white hair with one hand
and the nurse's black locks with the
other. 4
I There was no quieting her outcries.
| "Take me home; my father is rich!
, lie will make you rich! Oh, they don't
i believe me! Help! Help!" Then she
smiled and cried: "Dick, Dick, it's
you! You'll save mo! Blessed, beloved
Dick! Oh, I'm so glad, so glad you
found me!"
Then the frenzy left her and she
| sank back exhausted, but content. Doctor
Royce realized that he had two J
antagonists now to light?Death and I
Richard Freneau?ooth of them try- ;i
ing to take from him the girl of his J
heart. }
Death was the first to fight. Royce
waB too desperate to treat Doctor
Wakefield with much formality. He
asked a few questions which * roused
the ire of the old physician. He examined
the patient, throw off the
smothering blankets and exclaimed,
"Fresh air is the best and only treatment
for pneumonia." He flung up the
window, shoved Gloria's h?d it
I
and let the cold air from the
river sweep into the room and into her
tormented lungs.
Almost at once her breathing became
less labored. Doctor Wakefield
left in as dignified a rage as he could
manage. Royce threw away all the
Wakefield medicines and gave the \
nurse a new set of instructions. The
nurse, at least, whom Doctor Wakefield
had prescribed, seemed a capable
one. Royce welcomed her as a 1
valuable aid in the gruesome fight.
He arranged to stay all night, and allayed
poor old Stafford's fears as best
he could. Rut his own head was near i
to breaking with terror for the safety
of Gloria's sweet life?and for her happiness
if she lived.
i