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VOLUME XXXV. LAURENS, SOUTh CAROLINA, WEDNESDAY, MARCH 24, 1920. NUMBER 36 Houda .Whispers IDy"Willim mao.rC~iA Johnston rwi Myers CHAPTER I. She was far fron well. If anything -should happen to her, miy young 85k With an exclamation of annoyance tors had only mn to look to. IVhM I crumpled up the note from my gretit- these plea., 110( fniled to move me Tncle Rufus and lung it on the floor. she had not hesitated to remind inc My disappointment at its contents was that I was In her debt. the ono thing needed to complete the Unfortunately this vas true. My utter misery of a wretched day. years it college had cost ie more than Only that morning my roommates, my siiall patrimony. I had borrowed Birge and Roller, fortunate fellows, freely from her, expecting soon to be had been informed that their applica- able to repay her. Likc tll young grad tions for tie ambulance service had uates 1 till(] vastly overestimated my been accepted. Our year of happy earning capticity. Three yvars had companionship had come to an abrupt elapsed and I still owed her eight hun end. dred dollars. "Cheer up, old manl," cried the o "I do not see,,' she had written timistle Birge, '"your luck will change me, $'lw you can honorably feel free some thile." "Right," said Roller, as he stooped torgosh you ar Is ti debt. o to give a fiial tug to the straps of 11 m rs you funds atceg my new kit hag. "a chap ats crazy about economies. The girls are now reach Adventure as you are is bound to meet Ilg tn age wvh(n their expenses will 1) her soon." m for "Stop I," I cried in dlesperationi. "It m.h eat y cd th mn y Is you two who are to have the grea'it ick befoe you can do itospa opportunity. Si rp ls i tion and go off on wild-goose chases." sihrapnel hurit, airplanes battling,. r For tis trgument I could fnd no i'llents charging, hors dying. andI nwer. My oIi-gation to her was a I'll be sIttilig here alone in a hall- dbt of honor that must le p)b room, eating my heart out with lone soteiess und envy, spending my days fe I cotid be my ow mase Each at tinl unongenal desk, and my nights, lr God knows how, after you fellows have s, he( a it cu aehd gone." snie a mon order. "You never enn tell," chirped old Birge, "all kinds of strange thinga hap- Ibegn to read my mother's latest let pen right here in New York. You may ter. Tle first part of It repeated her le the one that has had a bellyful of niny arguments, She wrote: adventure before we return-if we do." "Two (ays ago I received a letter Hftlis last three words gave us a aas Iobein thuhte ee w a s ave us ie, ton, upon whom you called when you sobering thought. There was a chance, frtwn more than h chance, that tci etgA New York. e %ga1d on this earth would we three be to- about you and maleVe h plrb~oton gether again. Eight of our college concerning you. I did not venture to mates had preceded Dirge and Roller give 11m an answer. Your views and to the great battlefield. Already three mine are so seldom In accord. I gave of them lay in hero graves somewhere him your address and suggested that under the lilies of France. he vrite to you himself. Probably ho The silence of a sad parting fell on its done so by this time." us. The taxicab came and we drove Hastil I rescued my great-uncle's together to the pier with hardly a word crumpled note from the floor and spoken. smoothed it out. If Rufus Gaston As we shook hands at the gang- ivtl his millions and no direct heir plank old Roller spoke again, a glis- had made a proposition concerning me, ten of tears in his eye, something his letter took on a vastly more Inter most prophetic in his voice. . esting complexion. Careflly I reread "Nelson," he said, "I feel it in my it, seeking for some hidden meaning hones that something is going to hap- letween tie lines, but It gave no clue -pen to you soon, something thrilling." to what le had In mid. le merely "I wish to God something would!" expressed the hope that I would be I answered bitterly. ablo to dine with 111 and his wife in Disconsolately I waved them a last rmally next Thursday evening. adieu from the dock. In a black mood What could It mean? It was at I railed against the fate that had left least well worth looking Into. Mr. me behind, poignantly lamenting the Gaston was seventy-four. le had made lack of the eight hundred dollars that a fortune In the South American trade, we-'ild have set me free to accompany retiring at sixty-five. There was only himself and his wife. Oi the Gaston shodhae thruhlloher, myun sis-r Two letters, thrust nder the door s hol m tl e In lodging-houte fashion, awaited my and I were the ofIly eld relations. hnmecorrilag. One of them T reog- it wondered If It cold be that old nid a one sm mohe's eeky Ufru atel thinig ofwakingrue Mys billt o god adicenaltosedasi eai-rs to thlee hacst millions ha to b ren whe I ws in~ btte Asmal pna ord.i ahpanceorof frame f min. Theotherwtsfieaeli dinn er, vita ting etrmne to cramedtiafmllttr taawrita. Abe to ryelfayo he. tLe ld ouplead picon s t th wrters ienttyearingom callit. Ahreev years aod flahedint riy mnd nd agely w~~elaps e desisloed her eoight ofun toreit pen.My reatunce, fti teid o weth bee,' sie had wrie asonwasan ldoldman Itmus coere "how ou ca ti wooaly o feern ing o meabou? Ruus Gston~ to sav it, you view hi ngeydeb. T It asmerlyaninvtaiontoilac mot r mstor (rcin e d h ahn)yt withhim nd hs wieDsgusedly noarives. foun myelf ar ppnorachn flug i aid. I cppe th cima ofting rnaeidenefm threensaers of b my istisaetoa it evryting mucthtr bfreatIle te i ney forie to he~V~ltidhee asISpailngt'othe. inThes poark fo as tew may nelontwetysix stonginphyiqu, ton Od gouti ron etlyos has ien savefor "fotbal ko" at hd ou this Aneremene anoud nofied bared e fom iliarysericethrst bi oe hofo thse mste apardthent lag or xeietutatlef behnd fnot e uiis cordbel iyon hm1aster Ehtis doepi ol rlatves I ad upmy ntoiee ird benc ptin caway fty, doit limn( rit o nsterthenoe.My ret-lagsandem as buachcumu rses Ia been( uncl Rufs cold u hng, or sllnodpngltae as mony is order. oar hismilion. Iwotld ot narWiin my gwasteatintg waftond. The !gh ofmy othr's~ettr l i toeant reveriey fmo iher watse to e tiim itwassh ~tlmohai prvet r sTte fst tart gon t mepethe ~uiiiii gong.Poormoter mhaan "aronmets Ih sairote: anly my ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~~~fomm father's dahwtl a on- "lnhe i' o bthe, croaed ste, I seme tomethlt awas to n, evil ho besid me.d hn o had pposd evryting!wlune fitrdo weoeng my foweYrs, IHurei to[e Aftr Ilef coleg sh ha forda find yoatd maesde me a mt-eedboitiori lathr'sfrindsin te lttl vs oncrn inen star. As dId ooe aetr hio Cit wiereourIlono asI hd bon e hbmgan crowder. oer vtwadme tw6yeas gttig aay o jin irg Plinly art s so inentiod to ouave and RollerhinwNoteorko Mouthomse1lfromrohebbench ~ a ha se hesel agins mygoig h erdoe'so ply of rome" tos t~ rnree.Rhqdi no beiev li rumpoter I noefro the," or su antd ~ ~ ojhisnletter took ottiaivastly morentnter -sigcmle n aeulyIrra here," lie retorted, blowing the smoke from a cheap cigarette in my face. "I got a (late here, and I'm going to stay, see?7" I ainswered with an angry retort and hot words followed. Ve had almost come to blows when the bushes op .osli us suddenly parted. I enught sight for jot seond of a Vllainous Ian-e. 1h of it IIa man about forty, an unforgeitable- face with a red scar :aro:s the left cheek. iHe rnised 'one ti 'w -.n.in impilerativo ?pesture, Signal ing. to mly un1welcolme comlpani onl Onl II b-neh. W il a profal exclamn1111 1t11n ol' disma1.y, theo ral-eyeri fellow tilg till 11o1l willk d ihastIly away IaIo:,.. th 1 poIark pa th1. Wondering v~lbat it wa, aill aboult, I waltchied himn wit of -iglt nrould a turning of the asphalt and tihen glanced toward the apartminot house where In a few min otes I was to be a guest. As i looked a young girl cane out of the h1ouase and walked slowly to ward tle park. At the corner she hesitated. She seemed to be debating whetler- to continue on down the ave nue or to turn into the park. Appar ently thev lurlt of the greenery won her, for she :11-m0 on slowly toward where I was siling. As she drew nearer I .)bserved her with interest, for she was one of the prettlest ;rirls I ever had seen. li fr slim figure, her dainty ankles, her carriage, everything about her suggested the patricIan. Her face, rosy and youthful, was set off by a jaunty feathered toque, from under which a )air of soft, black, roguish eyes, shaded by long lashes, looked out above a '. aty nose, Just a bit tip tilted, on either sido of which a fugitive tllmple played. To my great amazement she walked right III) to tme and stopped short. I observed then that she seened to be greatly agitated. Involuntarily I sprang to my feet and removed my hat, feeling certain that she had mis taken ie for someone else. She looked straight at ne with an odd tightening of the lips. Into her great dark eyes came a look in whIch pride and fear seemed to mingle with utter loathing. "I am here," she said. In my confusion I mumbled some thing, I hardly knew what. She look "You Were to Wear One, Too." ad me up and clown with a puzzled air and raised her hand to a red carna tion site was wearing. "You wore to wvear one, too." "I don't undlerstandl," I answered. "Didn't you," she asked hesitating ly, "didn't you comae here about the papers-" "WVhat papers?" "You know-" "I don't know," I replIed. "I know nothling ab~out any papers. You must have mIstaken ime for soimeoneO else." "fldt this was the pinac-this bench -the first bench?" "I sat, down here quIte by accident." "Oh I"; she exclaimed wilth a sigh of relief. "And you'ire not wear-ing a redl carnation, either." I recalled thea wIth misgivIng that the ill-favor-ed youthi who Just a ma ment-ago had dlisputed the benach with me1 had~ been wearing a red carnatIon, and that lhe had miiutter-ed something about having a date. Yct it (11( not seenm posibl~e that a girl of thIs sort wvould be having a rendezvous with a scamp likec himt. I dleter-mined If possible to ascertain the girl's nhis sion. "I am merely waIting herec," I hast enedI to explain, "until It Is tIme for me to keep a dinner engagement with some relatives In the apartment housa from wvhieh you camne." As I spoke I noticed that, the fear and loathing had vanished fraim her eyes and that she was lookIng with relief at a little college pin I wvas wearing. She wvas blushing now f raim confusion at, her mistake, and the ris ing red in her cheeks added greatly to her. exquisite loveiness. "I was to meet someone here," she faltered; "you quite understand, don't you?" "I understand perfectly," I answer ed, and recalling the scar-faced man who htad been lerking in the bushes, IUhutried on to say. "but if I' can be of nay serile-"w "No, no,' she sobbed, apparently overwholmed by whatever it was that was besetting her. "It's nothing nothing anyone can help." "Tell me about the man you were to meet here." "Who are you?" she demanded, her suspicion suddenly riaing at my ques tion. "You're not a detective?" "Far from it," I answered 'amused ly. "I'm just plain Spalding Nelson, on my way to dine with my great uncle Rufus Gaston." "Oh !" she said, relleved, "their apartment is on the same floor as ours." "Tell me about the man you were to meet," I insisted. "I may have Seer him." "Did you? What was he like?" she domanded eagerly. "Don't you know him?" I countered. "No, I never saw him. I don't even know who he Is. I only know that there was to be a man waiting bore on this bench this evening. We were both to wear red carnations. I was to come here alone, to see him and to get the-" She stopped abruptly and tearing off the flower she was wearing, trampled it viciously under her foot. "Not so loud," I warned her, fear ful lest they might still bo lurking about and overhear is. "There were two of them." "Two," she whispered, turning pale. 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