Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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?U ' We'll Charge a Fortune for a Tea Comes," S (JliJU uom ^{f~T\r. ?fc.. Novelized from the I Picture Play of the name by George Kleii Copjrnifci, I'JIo, by AdcUidc M Hu|hn $ SYNOPSIS. Plorpont Stafford, with his daughter Gloria, is wintering at Palm 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 Royce to fall in love with her. Becoming lost in the everglades she falls Into the hands of the Seminole Indians. Gloria falls in love with her rescuer, Freneau. Five years later she leaves school and meets Freneau at the theater; he has forgotten Gloria. Later Freneau persuades her t'j forgive him. Gloria's sister-in-law, IxjIs, becomes intensfdjr jc:lous and Doctor Royce discovers in ner an ally. FKdtfcau 'takes ledYe of Gloria. ep from her window an attack made upon illm. Doctor Royce convinces her it Is delirium. She accidently sees the supposed suicide of Freneau reported in the paper. Gloria swears to lind the murderer. Royce tells what he knows of Freneau to Mr. Stafford. Gloria insists on going to Palm Beach. She Is recognised by her one-time captor, the young Indian chief. He tells her that Royce v. unci not Freneau was her rescuer at that >iifne. Gloria attends night court; she sees Mulry there, also the tramp who attacked Freneau, But Judge Freemun releases ;lilrn. She follows the tramp when he leaves the court. She finds herself In a low saloon dance hall, and is selected by one of the patrons as his partner. Doctor Royce, however, follows her and when he attempts a rescue, calls down a riot on their heads. The hall is raided miu me crowu, including uiorta and Itoyce, is arrested and taken before Judge Freeman. Caslmlr arrives with tlio child Gloria promised to adopt. She orders Royce to take Casirnir's wife to the Stafford home. She follows Trask and lands on a houseboat to hear him accused of Freneau's murder. She confronts him; he imprisons her, bit* he tics him up and escapes. By many stages she arrives at Jtiome. In tUe yacht Gloria pud the men pursue the barge. Trask fires on them as they near him. In the tight that follows Trask is badly wounded. He Is taken to the Stafford home. Itoyce on* deavors to return to Lois her letters to Freneau. During a playful scuffle Gloria Bees and recognizes the envelop. Sin* suspects Itoyce of complicity in the murder. Itoyce tells her all. She sees one of Ixiis' letters to Freneau. Judge Freeman confesses his part. When Lois is confronted she flees from Gloria intent on suicide. NINETEENTH EPISODE Her Vow Fulfilled As Lois Stafford fled down the terraces of her father-in-law's majestic estate, her own life seemed to he symbolized in her desperate ambition to destroy herself. The flowers and the aromatic shrubs threw out their fragrance about her, but site would not pause. She was bent upon the tragedy waiting for her In the deep ravine .jtoward which the express train was plunging as if in obedience to her summons. The cries of Gloria, who pursued her frantically, came to her like the voice of conscience. She hud never heeded that voice and she would not hearken to it now. She had trodden the primrose path of dalliance and it had led her forth into the glare of ex posure. She would not endure the shame. It seemed better to her irre sponsible soul to run away from self denial. She had not cared what luwf of fidelity she broke and she did noi care now whut hearts she inlgln break. Her husband's tarnished honor her father's blighted career, did no win a thought from her. It was Gloria who thought of thes< things even us she followed. Glorit felt more guilt than Lois, for Glorh had confronted Lois with the proof of her perfidy, never fancying tha hois would answer the charge by pun labing herself with the same reckless ness that hud marked her sin. As sh? huw Lola running toward death wltl eagerness, she understood for the firs (time that it was in Lois' charade .to do everything passionately. Sh i . < |IPI1 Ijjj^ Biscuit and Bankrupt Everybody That aid Gloria. JAO f vNCEl\ipGrtf^l\G5 i same realized that Lois had always beer Lois, and that her fault was, perhaps ; uej> wuu jut ii I'uninii. i.uis Wili born without imagination of consequences and without an instinct of justice for others. Was Lois to blame for her failure to inherit such qualities? At the time, at least, Gloria was convinced that Lois was like one 1 born blind, more to be forgiven than hated. Gloria felt only pity for her ; sister-in-law and she accused herself , of cruelty in deuiuudlng payment of ; her. Gloria ran as fast as she could, her i 1 heart beating till she was ready to fall down with the pain of it. She ' was about to give up when Lois, glancing back for a last look at the beautiful earth she was about to leave, stumbled and went to her knees. She rose at once and sped on, but , Gloria had been enabled to gain on | her. and to overtake her at the very edge of the ravine. With loving ruthlessness Gloria llung herself on Lois | and dragged her back. Lois fought with insane ferocity, tearing Gloria's hands loose and writhing out of her clasp. Hut Gloria seized I noid again and again. Lois carried her back to the brink and the turf at the edge gave way under their feet as they wrestled. Gloria had now her own life to light for as well as Lois', for at any moment both women might m I ^ ' She Was Still Surrounded by Hostih a Friends. i ? go hurtling down the steep hank t< t the rallroud tracks. . j They were still battling when th< r engine roared past. The trainman e leaning out of his window, stared u| h at them in amazement. They wer< t: still struggling when the last coacl i flushed past. 11 It wus only then, when her weapoi % THE HORRY HE! of suicide was gone from her reach, that Lois gave up the fight. She fell to the ground weeping. She was more ! afraid of fucing life than death, and she sobbed with terror if uot with re inorse. Gloria knelt by her, begging her not to cry. At last she offered the final bribe in her power. She drew the envelope of letters from the bosom of her gown and held it out to Lois, saying: I "I forgive you, dear. I have no right to judge you. I can't take that responsibility. Keep your life and your past and make what you will of them." Lois rather saw the prize than heard the counsel and she snatched at the i letters with the Instinct of a child. ******* Gloria felt her heart harden again. She could not keep back a feeling of contempt for the selfish pettiness of Lois. Gloria was afraid to speak lest she waste further rebukes on a soul that could not profit by any other chastisement than sacrifice and fear. So Gloria left her and climbed the terraces. She noted with relief that no one had seen the brief drama thsit might have startled the whole nation. She was afraid that she had done everything she ought not to have done. As she was entering the house to go to her room the hoy Stas called her. He was lugging a picture hook of foreign paintings. He knew nothing of any of them and he asked Gloria many questions she could not. answer. One of the pictures represented Christ kneeling and writing on the ground. Near him lay a contrite woman in shame and tears. In the background n number of men were turning away shamefaced. The picture was labeled, "Neither Do I Condemn Thee, Go and Sin No More." Now, Gloria felt that she was justified in laying aside her impulse to exi act a penalty from Lois. She told Stas that the picture was beyond the understanding of a child, and that he was lucky to be a child. She wished that she had never grown up. Then she went to her room. Looking from Lmm *?*t twl nlw> .....1 b. itv i n linion , oilC LUtllU lilt* CilliUIUK" ment where she had won a double victory over Lois and herself. Lois was tearing the bundle of letters to bits and scattering the pieces upon the railroad track, where she had nearly , hi?Mi lorn to nlnouo 1?/?? ...,1 <* Gloria felt that one riddle at least was solved. She felt sorry for David and his choice among women. Then she remembered the judge's accusation against David. According to that her brother was guilty of a more heinous crime than Lois. Me had taken a life or, with even greater wickedness, had persuaded another man to commit murder for him. She could not rest till she had either cleared David ( of that suspicion or warned him that his secret was known. ******* The reason that the duel between Gloria and Lois had not been observed , by anyone but tlie fleeting eyes of the ^ tireinan on the express engine was that the Stafford estate was a little i world in itself. David had heen conferring with his business associates by telephone. I'ierpont had heen inspecting the prize cattle with which he jealously expected to confound his rival neighbors at the , next county fair. Stas had been looking at the big picture books on the huge table in the great living room, llis father, Casimir, had been working among the rose bushes with the head ( gardener. Judge Freeman had been , involved in one more conspiracy, which lie firmly hoped would be the last. It was Casimir who first interrupted Gloria in her search for David. ! Casimir bad hardly believed that there i were as many roses in all the world us there in the Stafford close. He j ' could see his wife lying in a reclin- 1 ing chair in a sunny nook and it occurred to him that one of those rosea j would cheer her and serve as a bit of gallantry. So he plucked one. The i gardener saw the deed, charged on ( him with a roar, and snatched the j flower from him. The deep thorn bite ; he received in bis thumb did not pacify him. H<' stood sticking his thumb and swearing when I'lerpont strolled by. I'ierpont had lost his temper at the dairy because the head valet to the cows had not brushed t heir teeth to his satisfaction nor manicured their hoofs to perfection. When tho gardener explained that Casimir had dared to pluck one of the famous and priceless I'ierpont roses which had never failed of honorable mention at the annual exhibition of tlie Garden club, I'lerpont was more wroth than the head gurdener. Casimir quailed before the onj slaught, and Gloria, drawn to the spot by tlie noisy voices, found him craven with confusion. Site took his part at once, and when the gardener and ner father explained the atrocity he had committed Gloria also turned on him: "In heaven's name, Casimir, what did you mean by taking the only rose my poor father has?" "I did take it," Mees Gloria, for to geeve my poor rife. Better I should go a way now, yes?" "You took a rose to give to your wife, did you?" Gloria cried. "You e ought to he ashamed of yourself." "I am it! Oh, I am it," Custmlr protested. > "I should think you would he," Gloria stormed. "Taking one rose for 5 your poor wife. The next time you < want flowers for her you take as many ? as you can carry." B While her father and the gardener 1 and Oasimlr gaped like dolts, she snipped off a dozen of the Pierpont a I I EtALD, CONWAY, 8. ft roses with the gardener's own shears.1 She laid them In Casimir's aims and' said: "Maybe she won't care for thel Pierpont roses. I don't think much of them, myself. So take her some of; each of these varieties, and And which j she likes best. Then if the gardener j bothers you again, tell me and I'll snip; his head olT the same way uud you can have his place." She gave the gardener his shear*, pushed Caslmlr out of the Inclosure,\ and followed, turning to suy: "Thanl: you, father." lMerpont and the gardener looked at each other and both said, "Whew I" Gloria went along to make sure that Caslmir's wife received the flowers with no hint of their hazardous gathering. Then she went to the house to lind David. She was encountered by her aunt,' the great Hortensia, with a bevy of ther great ladies from the country-. side. "Give us tea, Gloria, for heaven's sake," said Hortensia, "and come lis- 1 ten to our scheme." They dragged Gloria to the Japanese tea garden, whither the servants brought tea and all its accompaniments across the lawn. Aunt Hortensia gathered in Doctor ltoyce as well. Aunt Hortensia explained that it was about time to "get up something." Each of the ladles had her pet charity i which needed funds and everyone talked at the same time. Gloria's mind was too full of her own problems to! feel much interest. She beckoned to j Casimir and sent him with tea and cakes for his wife. When lie came back with the china she piled up a little midafternoon banquet for himself. lie took it shyly, then stared at it.! and shook his head and offered it back. Gloria asked why. He hesitated, then exclaimed: "In my I'o- . It< ml mi lliiinc! <il' ...... .1.. i iiuiiiMtio vn *??%> I'ri'inr^ ill i* U,\ " ing because tlioy have not of bread, i And should I to eat of cake? No, 1 could not, please!" Ciloria respected his feelings too much to force him to eat, but she , turned to the committee and, claiming the floor, asked the house to liston to a delegate from Europe. She made Cnsimir speak. lie was tongue-tied i at first with embarrassment, but ho warmed to his theme and told of the a 11 -itii . < a |,i beloved 1:: i n I. over Gloria Flung Herself on Lola. which vast armies had fought back and forth again and again till tlie i wealthy and noble were living in cellars and eating husks and the poor , were dying in herds. When he had finished every eye was wet and every heart afire for Poland. When Gloria proposed a mammoth lawn festival for Polish relief there was unanimous assent. "We'll charge a fortune for n tea biscuit and bankrupt everybody that comes," said Gloria. "Then I'll take ! the money over to Poland myself to make sure that it falls into the right hands." "And I'll go along with you," Doctor Kovce spoke up, "to make sure that you don't fall into the wrong ! hands." Everyone applauded the impudence, but Gloria answered it with one of ' her blackest looks. Doctor Itoyce waft still under the ban. He had confessed I ; too much and duped her too well to be forgiven in haste. Hut her rebuke | was ignored in the excitement of the ! convention. A mammoth lawn festival for Polish relief; there was no dissent. \nw (iiwfi Trw?r<? ninrln If ffoo tn seek David. She found him, hiding* he said, till the women got away. She asked him to follow her. She had perfected her scheme for testing his innocence or his guilt. David had not been present when the yachting expedition set forth to run down Trask, nor had he been present when Trask was brought in. David was thoroughbred enough to rule his own expressions and to pretend ignorance of Trnsk's existence. But Gloria felt sure that if she could bring the two men suddenly face to face one or the other would betray a guilty knowl eoge. So she said to David: "Come with mo. I've got a surprise for you." David followed her up to the guest room where Trask had been installed, i She led him to the door, knocked, opened the door, and hade David enter. A screen stood before the bed and she drew it aside quickly, keeping lu?r eyes on David. She saw surprise iu j his face, but not of the sort she ex "And I'll Go Along With > pected. Ills surprise was blank wonder. She turned to see how Trask took the confrontation. Trask was not. there. The bed was empty. Gloria ran to lind the nurse. She met her .hist coming in from a motor ride. She had taken her two hours oi nneriy, she said, leaving Nail to cure for her father. She was stunned by the news of Trusk's departure. He was to<> weak to ri.*e and walk. It seemed Lnpossiblo that he could nav? been carried out without attracting tin attention of a dozen servants. Gloria felt bewitched. She ran to seek Doctor Uoyee. David ran after her, asking: "What's It all about? What's the little surjjrise von had for me? It seeius to have caught you first." "Don't bother ine," was all Gloria would say. David seemed so amused by Tier dismay that she began to suspect him of kidnaping his confederate. But she dared not accuse him lest, if he were innocent, she would reveal to him more of Lois' guilt than she felt it her right to divulge. She stood off David and hurried on to find Doctor Royee. She met Judge Freeman on the lawn, and told him what had happened. He expressed surprise, but when she had lert itim she began to feel dissatisfied with the oliw.....!? ?. 1.1 ? -? .-niM iii,) 111 mrs a iiiii/.i'iiicii I. JLM1C SI1C could not pause to investigate further. When at last she found Royce, she forgot that he was in her black book still. It had been her habit for so many years to run to hini with her problems that she ran to him now, and, laying her hands on Ids arm, cried : "Oh, Stephen, Stephen, they've stolen Trask ! I've lost him again and I don't know what to do." "Stolen Trask !" Itoyce exclaimed. "It's impossible." "Of course, it's impossible," said Gloria, "but it's true, too." Royce set out to pick up what trace there might be of him. Gloria tagged along. Royce asked every servant he met where lie had been. Several of them had been on the lawn serving tea. Judge Freeindn had sent others on various errands. The cook and her crew had been.busy providing for Aunt Ilortensia's mob. Royce called for his own chauffeur, lie had been in the kitchen, lie confessed, as a guest at a tea party below stairs. Judge Freeman was not to be found. As a matter of fact lie was the principal offender. After he left Gloria lie bad wandered about In a deep and gloomy meditation. He was convinced I that Gloria, with her impulsive and unmanageable temper, was set upon .unraveling every knot In the tangle. He was sure that her inexperience with the world would keep her from foreseeing the consequences and that she would compel a complete revelation. This would end only in a public scandal, an enormous and irretrievable disaster. David would be put on trial for bis life and Trnsk would turn state's evidence against hlin to save his own life. David would perhaps be sentenced to death, or, if he escaped that, lie would escape it in some pretense of Insanity, with all the aftermath of endless serial scandals. In any ease, Lois would be disgraced before the world, and if David's wealth could bribe an acquittal, it would purchuse a divorce. Another consequence would be that the judge himself would be impeached or forced to a resignation under tire, with his ermine dishonored. It is only fair to say that the Judge's fears for j his own suffering had less weight with him than his fears for the wreck of I ? I .. a __ ? 0 * M _ M M VY illh uaugnier s uie ana or uaviu s. tie loved David as If he were his own son. He had a deep affection for Plerpont, and he cherished a great fondness for Gloria. He respected even the motives that were so perilous to herself as well as all the others. He wundered. disconsolately about the lonelier portions of the Stafford demesne and found himself at the outer gate. There he chanced to see the bargeman, Jed, come up the road. Jed asked if he knew where the Stafford place was. Judge Freeman told him that it was before him. Jed asked rou," Said Doctor Royce. if a badly hurt man-had boon tnkon in I there with his daughter. The judge nodded and asked what ho Know of the pair. ! Jed said ho didn't know much exI eepl that the old man's daughter was | his girl and going to marry him some I day and he was afraid she was In I trouble. So he had left the barge to I nurry ;>acic ana see it lie could lie of ; some use. The judge questioned him cautiously and finally proposed that the best tiling to do would he to get the old man out ! of the hands of the Xt affords, who meant him no good. Jed seized on the suggestion hungrily and the judge ofj fered his co-operation. Me led Jed by j a little frequented path to the rear of (he house and hade him wait. He went in and sent Nell out to speak to Jed arid make sure that she wanted to escape with him. Nell assured him i tluit she did. The beauty of the home oppressed her. While Nell was talking with Jed i Judge Freeman was ordering his own chauffeur to bring the car up to a corner of the driveway shielded from the house by a clump of ancient rhodododendrons as large as trees. Then the judge, surprised at his own craftiness and bringing into play all the j lore lie had acquired from hearing thieves' confessions, set about the burglarious art of eleuring the house. Most of tlie servants had been 1m pressed Jnto the serving of wholesale tea at Aunt Hortensla's convention. The rest Jndge Freeman Kent on various errands with messages to dlstunt laborers on the grounds. When the coast, or at least the stairway, was clear, he called In his chauffeur and Jed. They hurried up toTrash's room and, lifting him In his sheets, hurried out into the hall and down the stairs with him. The old man suffered agonies froin the Jolts and Jars, but he smothered his groans somewhat. The Judge went ahead as y a scout and warded off one maid who, ran in for Aunt Hortensia's parasol and a man who hurried back for a social register of the county to be used in making up a committee list. Thus Trask was, as the saying is, spirited away without being seen by anyone except his abductors. The chauffeur run his car from the grounds I , by the tradesmen's entrance and , Judge Freeman, lingering, saw the cloud of dust the machine raised as it dashed north. He remained to keep watch and to do what he could to turn pursuit in the wrong direction. | He felt disquieted by the pullor of ' Trask and by his extreme exhaustion. He was afraid that the old man would ! not last long. He hated himself for the thought, but he could not dismiss the belief that It would solve all problems if the wretch would pass away in silence. If he spoke he might coni demn himself to death in the chair I and take David with him. ! Judge Freeman abhorred his own deed and regretted that he could not punish himself publicly as severely as I he would have punished another judge who violated his honor so. But he Ml I I "I've Got a Surprise for You." 1 had brcn a father before he became