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en QIC? \/$K^7fahfdTkx] W v/ 1 II ????? I Novelized from the I : Picture Play of the name by George Kleii C?*yrt(fM, 191*. kr A4?UU? M. H?(Wi SYNOPSIS. Plerpont Sta.fford, with his daughter Gloria, Is wintering fit Palm Beach. Gloria* Is a vlvaclouB but willful young lady who chafes under the restraining hand of a governess from whom she repeatedly escapes. Her childish capers cause young I>octor Royoe to fall in love with her. Becoming lost In the everglades she falls Into the hands of the Seminole Indiana. Gloria falls In love with her rescuer, Freneau. Five years later she leaves school and meets Freneau at the theater; he has forgotten Gloria. I^ater Freneau persuades her to forgive him. Gloria's sister-in-law, Hois, becomes intensely Jealous and Doctor Royce discovers in her an ally. Freneau takes leave of Gloria. | She sees from her window an attack made | upon him. Doctor Royce convinces her it is a delirium. A telegram followed by a i letter, comes from Freneau. She replies | but her telegrams are returned. She accidentally sees the supposed suicide of Fre nesui reported in uie paper, uioria swears to find the murderer of lier lover. Royce tells what he knows of Frencnu to Mr. j Stafford. They seek to prevent scandal from enveloping Gloria. She accuses them of conspiracy against her. Gloria sets about to run down Freneuu's murderer. Royce warns MTilry to tell Gloria nothing. Gloria calls on Mulry and there sees Lois who is also worried. Gloria's suspicions are aroused. Royce endeavors to show her the difficulty she faces. Gloria goes to David's country home. She meets Mulry who flees at once. Gloria inF.isls on going to l'ulm Beach. Again she boos Mulry there. Me leaves for the North. She is recognized by her one-time captor, the young Indian chief, lie tells her that Roy< e and not Fivneau was her rescuer at that time. Gloria attends night court; she sees Mulry there, also the tramp who attacked Frenoau. But Judge Freeman releases him. She follows the tramp when he leaves the court and falls into the hands or hold-up men. She finds herself In a low saloon dance hall, and Is selected by one of the natrons as his partner. Doctor Rovce. however, follows her and when he attempts a rescue, calls down a riot on their heads. The hall is raided and the crowd, including Gloria and Royce, are arrested and taken before Judge Freeman. The newspapers feature Gloria's arrest. Reporters surround the . house. Castmir arrives with the child Gloria promised to adopt. She orders Royce to take Caslmlr's wife to the Stafford home. Sho follows Trask and lands i on a houseboat to hear him accused of i Freneau's murder. She confront*- him; he I imprisons her, but she ties him up and escapes. By many stages she arrives at home. In the. yacht Gloria ami the men pursue the barge. Trask tiros on them as they near him. SEVENTEENTH EPISODE The Tell-Tale Envelope. I Shots that are fired from Runs do not often hit the .people they are fired at. The coolest target puncturer grows excited when his target is a man, and more excited when it is a woman. Gideon Trask wus not an expert with the rifle. He had been crazy enough to take the life of Dick Freneau?to wring it out of him with his hands. He thought he had escaped detection until, with an appalling abruptness, Gloria Stafford?though he did not know her name?charged him with the murder and declared that she had seen him commit it bt-JV>re her very eyes. He had not been quite crazy enough or quite wise enough to kill her then and there when she was alone and at Ids mercy. He thought to repair the consequences of his delay by shooting her down now that she reappeared with an armed force at her back. So he fired at Gloria where she stood in front of the pilothouse demanding his surrender. They told Gloria afterwards she was brave as a veteran and faced the assassin coolly. Hut she told the truth when she said that she was paralyzed j with fear, so frightened that she could not even show her fright. When the muzzle of Trask's rifle spat at her, she hoard the bullet sing past her ear. Site was already wondering whether she were dead or alive, whether the next one would strike where she heard the first one thwack.! The pilot grunted and mumbled: "lie got me!" She forgot Trask and whirled round to see the pilot fall across his own fri. ? 1.4 i . nuuui. llli: J'UC'Ill WIlVClTd illHI SWerVOU Ju its course. Gloria was the nearest to the pilothouse. She had been a pupil of the pilot only a few minutes before. She ran to him, lifted him i aside and seized the wheel by its projecting spokes, just in time to keep the yacht from crashing into the barge at full speed. She made a sharp turn, the yacht swerved and ground along the side of the barge. Gloriu meanwhile was alurmed more for the life ! of the pilot than her own. She began to call "Stephen 1 Doctor Kyce!" 15lit Doctor Iloyce wus too busy to 1 hear her call. Ills immediate interest wus not in a wounded man, but in wounding a man. When he saw that Trash was aiming ids rille at ifloria again, his whole being thrilled with a ferocity unknown to him before. To save Gloria from being hurt he would have massacred a hundred Trasks. fie leaped aboard the canal barge before the deckhands could make it fast. He sprang at Track and seized the rifle he held. He twisted It out fit Trask's hands before he could lire J * ' ^ : : - - * W5 t] tfCEI^erfcffu$\?S a second shot. But he was pounced upon at once by Jed, who pinioned his arms and Hung him to the deck. The captain of the yacht, following close after Itoyce, laid hold of Jed and dragged him away before he could harm Uoyce. But he left Itoyce supine on the deck, with Trask's fatal clutch on his throat. Gloria, wondering at Roycc's not answering her call, clung to the wheel till she saw the cable fast, then she ran forward to the edge of the upper deck and saw why he failed her. lie was in the baleful clutch of Tra.sk. Gloria, looking for a weapon of rescue, could find nothing but a life preserver tied to a rope. She began to swing it about her head in circles of increasing diameter, like a lasso, ft was revolving nt n vtnlrmt when it reached Trask. It smote lum aside and dazed hint into loosening his grip for just a moment. This was long enough for Royce to shake free and regain his feet, lie hurled himself at Trask, but Trask, seeing his victim erect and menacing, lost courage and ran. At the edge of the barge he slipped and sprawled. lie would have fallen between the yacht and the barge into the river if the yacht had not swung alongside in time to catch him. It held him up, but it held him as in a giant lemon squeezer, and it squeezed his bone and llesh with dreadful force. Gloria saw the agony in Trask's face and the sight was horrible. She saw the >acht swing free again. Trask's body dropped into the water. Now the life preserver that had served as a weapon returned to its original purpose. Gloria threw It to Trask. Suffering as he was, he seized it automatically and hooked Ids elbow through it. Now Royce also reverted to his purpose as he knelt down and clutched at Trask's collar as Gloria hauled him in like a groat fish. One of the deckhands fended off the barge and the yacht and kept them from closing In again like scissors blades. Another deckhand helped Royce drag Trasn to the deck. He was heavy, and his agony seemed to Increase upon him when the desperate necessity of swimming was over. He fainted the moment his dripping body was stretched out, and Doctor Royce laid, as It were, to save his life twice, first to bring him hack from the swoon of pain, and then to bring him back from the annihilation of his shattered machinery. Meanwhile Jed was locked in a ferocious wrestle with the captain of Pierpont's yacht, who called the engineer to his aid. As the engineer told Plerpont, "I had to knock him senseless before I could knock any sense into him." And now Nell Trask, who had r7 IF] u >l.yy.-.vy*AW.v.: M I / r 1 v HL I >f I 4 : 1 ; ^ She Began to Swing It. 4 turned from one Imttle to another, tearing now at Jttoyce and now at the captain, recovered from the stupor with which she had watched her father's disaster and, leaping over to the yacht, knelt by hira, calling to hira with wild appeuls and threatening ttoyce as his slayer. THE HO&BY HERJ Gloria Forgot AH Her Rcsentm< Gloria cnine running down from the ; upper (look and stood gazing at the result of her work with utter dismay. Trask was crushed and perhaps killed. Jed was unconscious, and Nell seemed to have gone out of her mind. liiorin felt that her head was covered with blood guilt. The sobs of Noll were heart-breaking. Gloria forgot all her resentments against Nell and her father. She forgot that Nell bad kept her prisoner. She saw only that Nell was a motherless daughter who saw her father dying. She caught the girl in her arms, bold her In spite of her resistance, murmuring: "Forgive me, you poor child! It's nil my fault, but we won't let your father die. Doctor Itoyce Is a splendid nhvsjclan. lie saved say life. Ho will save your father's. You can trust him." Nell also forgot all other emotions in that one necessity for hope. She turned eyes of prayer on Doctor Itoyce and beat him on the shoulder with imploring bands, urging him to bring her father back. It was not Itoyce, but, doubtless, nature that brought Trask back to consciousness. Itoyce received the credit and the gratitude, however, when Trash's eyes opened and his tortured lips moved. Nell and Gloria were overjoyed at the miracle, but Itoyce was the more alarmed the more he studied Trash's body with fingers searching everywhere and finding everywhere the hints of broken bones and internal ! lacerations. He pretended none the less to be confident, for the sake of all three, Trask and Nell and Gloria. A bucket of water restored Jed roughly to what wits be had. He come ! up yelling, us if the tight hud not been Interrupted. They hud to tie him up to keep him from continuing the war. Ii hud tuken this much time for the tugboat to round upon its course and come alongside the barge. The crew hud wutched the scrimmage with impatient envy. They cuine aboard now ready for carnage. They were armed with weapons of every sort, and with zest for blood. The yacht crew gathered Itself to meet the onset of these re-enforcements. Now came the opportunity of Plerpont Stafford to use some of the heaviest artillery of battle?finance. lie was too old and too little used to fisticuffs to attack roustabouts with blow for blow. He put up the shield of his pocketbook. The captain of the tugboat led his little army forward In a wedge, demanding with tugboat emphasis : "What kind of pirates are youse, anyhow, and what you beat in' up the old man fur? For two cents I'd?" IMerpont answered: i "That's what I want to know. What would you do for two cents?" "I'd t'row de whole bunch of youse into de river." "I see," said IMerpont, "and what would you charge not to?" This stumped the captain. He could not quite make out lMerpont's drift. As lie pondered, IMerpont gave liini a chance to look into the depths of a wallet fv'.l of hills of a size and number that had not been seen hitherto in his circle. IMerpont kept moving the bids under the tugboat captain's very iio^o. They had the effect of catnip to a cat. The captain began to purr, also to reach out for the money. "Let us understand the transaction," said IMerpont. "This man Trask is i wanted on a serious charge. He had escaped from the jurisdiction of Judge Freeman. lie was probably hound for ClKl.wl.. 1 4- ? * I -> uMiivut, i iiii|r|irnrii li> iwivt* 1 t'llIII lip , in my yacht, so I came lifter him. I'll ! take him hack and deliver hiin to the j judge. You take the barge on up the j river and deliver it to the consignee. Is ; that the agreement?" i "That's the agreement, sir," said the 1 captain, "pervidin' I'm took care of proper." "Would those take care of you?" asked Plerpont, holding out two bills. "What does 'C' stand for?" asked the captain. "I can only count up to 'double X.'" I "C stands for a hundred," Plerpont ; explained. ' "Two C's will just about take care of me, sir," said the captain. As soon j . as he touched the bill he touched his M.D. CONWAY. 9. 0. snt Against Nell and Her Father. hat, called his crow buck to the tug and set forth once more on his twice interrupted cruise. l'ierpont ordered Jed released to care for the barge. He asked Nell to go with him. but she preferred to stay with her father, at Gloria's invitation. Nell was sullen with Gloria, but Gloria was neither surprised nor reseutful. She would have thought less of Nell If she had been too easily plu- i I rated by her fa I Iter's persecutors. I Trask was no more responsive to ' I Itovee's ministrations H<> w;i? h.?- ! wildorod with pain ami tcrrillcd by ! his captivity. lie was as little grate- j fill as a lion that has been trapped and hound. To Royce ho was doubly a mystery, both as a patient and as a criminal, i It' ho wore guilty of murdering Fretioau, then his life belonged to the state, and it was Royce's curious duty, as a citizen physician, to save Trash's life so tlint the state might take it. Royce had done what he could to j keep Gloria from investigating the : murder. Ho had lied to her, knowing that Freneau had been killed by soiue ! person from some motive unknown to ______________________________ nstantly She Recognized the Envelope. j him. He had told Gloria that her ac| count of witnessing the murder was only a delirium, lie had lost her conlldcnce and her respect, and they were precious to him. He did not know that Gloria was tormented hy a dual emotion toward him, one of suspicion and rancor, one of gratitude and affection. Gloria was helpless in the ! quarrel of her emotions. She could ! I neither love nor hate Uoyce perfectly, neither trust nor distrust him. 1 While Gloria was at a little distance ' Itoyce was questioning Trask in a low I tone, trying to persuade him to speak | i the truth, warning him that he might j j not have a long opportunity to un- j hosoin himself of his crime. ButTrask's j j mouth, distorted with suffering, was | 1 also twisted with a sneer of hate. He J would not even answer Koyce's questions. l'ierpont had drawn Gloria to one : side, and he said : "Well, now that ! you've got your man, what are you go- : ing to do with him?" "Find out why he killed Dick," Gloria said, "and then turn him over to the police." I "In spite of all the publicity?" Pier-1 pont asked. "In spite of all the publicity," said Gloria. Pierpont gave up the light. He loathed the prospect of a newspaper j scandal, but if it had to come, he must brace himself to endure it. He had done nil that he could legitimately do, and more than that, to thwart the police, and now that the necessities of the law compelled him to give the law the right of way or suffer the consequences. He resolved to turn 1 Trask over to Judge Freeman as a representative of the law and let the Judge assume the future responsibility. I The Fight on When (he yacht reached the country house at length, Pierpont sought for Judge Freeman, He had left the house. Pierpont would have sent Trask on after him, hut he was too weak to be moved farther. Besides, ltoyce was Inul^nni In ?t..ln~ fH.. ?- ll * llioioicut 111 ^1 > lllg i 1 HSR \IIC I llll 00110" tit of his medical aud surgical knowledge, and asked for a guest room to lodge him in. Now Trusk was stupefied indeed. lie had e.xo'vtcd that his enemies would throw him into a prison cell. And they had installed hliu in u luxurious Chamber In a palace. And his daugb ter was established in an adjoinin) room whose lit tings would have sal is fled a princess. They almost terriflcH the poor habitant of a canal boat. Itoyee decided to motor into the cit to fetch Iiis surgical Instruments aim bring out his assistant. While he was gone (lloria stole into Trask's room J t?> question him, but he had passed into a state between sleep and coma, and , she dared not trouble him. She found I that Nell hail fallen asleep, too, worn; out with emotions of every sort, Gloria stole awsiv to her own room. Sin4 ( was tired out, too. She felt that she 1 was on the brink of discoveries imit would tin an everything to her. She , was a little afraid of them. She paused at her window, and, seeing Doctor Koyee Just stepping into his car, she mused on him. lb4 was an increasingly interesting mystery to her, very much at her beck and call in some ways, and absolutely beyond her control in others. lie looked hack and waved his hand. She thought he waved to her and she uii.-switi'u ins saiure. Tiii'ii she Raw I that ho was signaling to someone also | and had not soon her. It was a worn- 1 an ho was signaling to, for ho lifted ' his hat. Gloria wondorod who it was, j and folt an odd quirk of Jealousy." It needled her like a stitch in the side. She would have felt a sharper stab if she had known that Doctor Itoyce J was waving at Lois. Lois was with Cnslmlr's wife, reading to her and com- , forting the sick woman as best she I could. The sight hud startled Doctor Royee, as much as it pleased him. The wild and ruthless Lois had given up her perilous intrigues, indeed, if she could give herself to the monotony of ministering to the lonely and the sick and take pleasure and pride in such service as a substitute for a social lawlessness that laid made her hateful in Itoyce'e ?yes. As he rode on into the city he felt a great elation. lie was not a religious man, but he loved a wholesome, healthful soul as well as a body that was clean and well. He had kept Gloria from learning of Lois' affair with Kreneau for Gloria's own sake. Now he believed that under! cover of the deception Lois' own soul hod been enabled to redeem itself. He felt that Lois had earned the right to have hack the letters she had sent to Freneau. Whether she would wish to destroy them or keep them as a reminder and warning from her evil ''' *? ' V v^'^'$: #. L5r*V ^ H Royce Questioned Trask in a Low Tone. , . Is ! | the Barge. \ past, they belonged to her and to no one else. Certainly Royee had no further use for them. When he reuclied his office and -gathered up his Instruments he took the package of letters from the safe and put them In hLs pocket. Then he returned to the motor and sped back to the Stafford country home. !t was a long ride and he was trou* b*ed about many things, about Gloria's oe-ormination to probe into the se<vet? that could mean only a cruel disillusionment tor her, about the chances-' for Trash's recovery, and the dangers that threatened the St affords if the newspapers or the police learned with what independence of the law the prisoner Trash had been captured ami' held. lie wondered at his own connivance in the matter, and he shuddered to think how many illegal acts are constantly committed by the most respectable people. When he reached the Stafford estate he stopped the driver of his car and got out, tolling the man to take the case of instruments up to thehouse. Rovce had seen Lois strolling about the lawn in a mood of solemnity., lie felt that the time was appropriate' for the surrender of the letters, lie wondered if he had the right to deliver them over to her. Vet he knew that he had no right to keep them. It seemed tiftat he had so tangled himself in the net (ff the Freneau affair that anything soever he did was hound to he wrong. He hurried to Lois and called to herShe turned to him sadly and weakly. He knew too much about her for to face him without shame. He brought a little smile of relief to her along with a swift blush of guilt when he said: "Lois, I have decided to give hack to you the letters you sent to Freneau. I read only one of them, and I have forgotten, 1 Think, what it said. I think you have earned them hack, and I advise you to hum them up at the tirst opportunity." He took the long envelope from his pocket and her hand was just moving forward to take it when he saw her blush vanish in a Hush of pallor. ' "My husband!" she whlsnered. Royce thrust the envelope back in his pocket .lust before he felt David's hand on his shoulder and turned to look into David's smile of comradeship. Ro.vce had to play-act with all his might to pretend a cheer that he wa3 far from feeling. Once more the loathsome phase of deceit was uppermost.; He could not control himself under David's eyes and he made un excuse to move on. "1 was looking for Gloria,'* he said. "She's over by the marble pool/' David answered. Royce moved on, know-* ing that he was watched. He did not want to meet Gloria with those tetters in his pocket, but he must go on with the role. Gloria seemed a figure In a painting as she stood at. the edge of the blue water in its white frame, with the formal shrubbery and the graceful colonnade back of her. The boy Stns was on one knee at her feet. He was sibling a tiny sloop on the tiny ocean. As soon as Gloria saw Royce she beckoned to him with a cordiality that she regretted at once, remembering that someone else had waved to him before. Having just seen him speak to Lois, she felt sure that it was to Lois that he had waved when he left the house. When St as saw Doctor Royce he left the sloop to its fate and ran whooping to hiin. Royce caught the child in his hands and tossed him high, then brought him to the level of his shoulder for 11 tillf* nrwl trico ITn ?1 - ...,0 m 1VVCU Cilll" drcn and children loved him. lie did not notice that the little* groping hands of Stas had happened on the envelope full of Freneau's letters and lifted it stealthily from his pocket. When he set the boy's feet on the ground again Stas ran away, brandishing the envelope and challenging Royce to a game of tag. Royce's heart bounded with alarm. If the child had carried a stick of dynamite in his hand it would hardly have been more dangerous. "niwo tna IK/* ?? " ** vi>tc 1.11*3 iuiuT) my ooy,' itoyce said, putting out his hand. Stas laughed and ran a little farther off. Itoyce followed, demanding. The more anxious Itoyce was the more Stas liked the game. Itoyce was In mortal terror lest the letters fall from the envelope and somehow Gloria would learn their nature. He made a dash for Stas. Stas whisked behind a Juniper and circled It. Itoyce chased him through a cluuiu