i i I Li O " '
4, mo
1
. AmJ Cia
I M O
Corighi,i9io by The- Aoiith me-rican Co
r'7AfOP55: Joscelyn Ware, a London
. journalist who is engaged in exposing
the wrongs of the laboring classes, be
friends Lily Childers and her baby son." Lily
has been married to a worthless scamp passing
as Hugh Childers. In reality . his name is
Noel Palliser. As the police are on the point
of arresting him for swindling he pretends 40
commit suicide, and thus escapes. Joscelyn
and Lily go into the country , near London,
that the woman and her baby may recover,
from the hardships they have undergone.
'Near where they are staying lives the
Pallistr family f which is interested in a tea'
house, company which Joscelyn has been inves
tigating. The head of the family has. died
but recently, and a large fortune has devolved
upon' the elder son, Clive, with a substantial
legacy for Noel. .-.-,.,
Lily recognizes Noel Palliser as her sup
posedly dead husband as he is bringing home
another' bride. She steks an interview1 with
Noel, and h murdered by him. The crime is,
however, ' attributed to 'a tramp:
Clive Pallher becomes much interested in
Joscelyn Ware, and promises to support Lily's
child. He is called to London by a strike of .
the employes of Kiosks, Limited, of which he
is memanagtng mrector. ; -
.., (CONTINUED FROM LAST SUNDAY.)
dressed 'the crowd, had been Interviewed, and was not
averse to her photograph appearing in the Pally Dial.
."Kltty," too, was a pretty name. It slipped glibly and
crisply from the tongue. ; Stephen Scooper, of the
Dally Dial, knew the value of these things. So he
had boomed "Kitty' for all oh was worth. But he
was reserving his heavy Are In the shape of Joscelyn's
and shoulders were' visible as he passed, and she saw
his features quite distinctly. But she did not associate
him with the missing letter. It was a letter of sympathy,
and offered help, with mention of cut flowers dispatched
at Clive PalUser's request, and only of valu to herself. '
"A pleasant-spoken gentleman," commented Mrs.
CHAPTER XIII
(Continued.) '
I 77s
v y J
is Mt- -4 MllJS fi&ittl-t
N MRS. FAULDER'S return
to 4he parlor, she found
Joscelyn Ware,, and gav
some account of the gentle,
man who wished to sketch
both the Hall and the cot
tage, before retiring.
Joscelyn had brought
witb her from the room
above both a letter and a
telegram. The letter, that
she had found awaiting her
on 'her return from the
funeral, was the one
penned by Clive Palliser In
the small hours of that
morning after ha had at-
Faulder, "and I shall be curious, miss, to see what Ik lis. j Ii rr-.'.' ,,, ' jl ;
,; . ,.,. ...... ,., . . - . , ,m , i ' '
c - I ....... i . -
"'Don't soil her name with your tongue!'"
ing of it had touched her
very deeply, though Just
for a moment the fact that
the paper on which It was
written was embossed with
'Kiosks, Ltd.," bad caused
the other side of the man's
nature to intrude itself un
comfortably upon her thoughts.
The very words, "Kiosks, Ltd.." stood in her sight
for oppression and the ugly tyranny of capitalism.
Yet what had been written below them " had given
her a deeper Insight into the sensitive thoughtful
ness and the penetrative, delicate understanding of
the writer. He. was becoming more and more of an
anomaly as he revealed himself to her. And tie was
undonbtedly unfolding himself to her with a remark
able rapidity, under the Influence of the humanity that
was being quickened within hi mi Their acquaintance
was but a matter of days, but big human and traglo
Issues had been crowded into the brief space of time,
and one stressful, hour is often sufficient for the forma
tion of a close friendship or a deadly enmity. No
man had hitherto made such an impression on Joscelyn
as he had done, no other man had ever furnished her
with so much food for thought He was compelling
her deep admiration, and at the same time awakening
most uncomfortable regrets by reason of the other
side to his nature.
And, vice versa, no woman had so far taken such a '
hold on Clive Palliser' imagination as Joscelyn Ware
had done. He had never been a woman-hater, but his
opinion of the sex had not been an exalted one. He
was as the phrase goes a most eligible parti. . Women
had. In plain terms, done their best to hook him, and
his penetrative nature had seen through their efforts.
He had despised them accordingly. He looked upon the
women who were crowding into the labor market from
another aspect, as representing a phase in modern polit
ical economy. They were cheapening the price of labor,
an obvious advantage to such a large employer ot human
labor as himself. Now a woman had come into his life
who had commanded his respect and admiration.' She
was a woman worker, but he had detached "her from his
general views. Directness was one of his character
istics. He never shirked an issue, nor flinched from an
admission where he himself was concerned. And after
the penning of the letter, which at this moment Joscelyn
was reading a second time, he had looked dlrectlSJ into
his own heart in his searching way, and (recognized that
she had installed herself In a place there. It had taken
him aback, as a man is taken aback when he suddenly
discovers an Intruder, whether It be In his heart or
hiding under his bed.
Joscelyn laid aside the letter, and turned to- the tele
gram, delivered what time Mr. Chart? Bowater accord
ing to cards was on the premises. It was from Stephen
Scooper, the editpr of the Daily Dial.
"Article appears tomorrow," It ran. "Must have
more articles on the same subject. See me some time
today, if . possible. Wire reply.!'
... In the word of one of Ute sub-editors, "Scooper was
going for Kiosks, Limited, bald-headed." joscelyn
article had whetted bis appetite for more. It had sur
passed his expectations. That was the kind of hot, live, ;
convincing stuff that he wanted. It had arrived at the
psychological, Journalistic moment, a most admirable
follow-on to the disturbances In the Tottenham Court
road and the Euston road.
Joscelyn' reply had been laconic:
"Sorry. Impossible'
- Who shall say what inspired that answer? At the
moment of penciling it she had told herself that she
had written all she had to write on the matter, and
the need of the child under her care claimed her im
mediate attention, There was o much to be done.
But she had also experienced that pricking so -suggestive
of an uneasy conscience. Waa he compro
mising, also, with her principle, under the Influence
of Clive Palliser'' very Jiuman, delicate letter?1 It was
a kind of double pricking on the part et tier con
science. .Under the circumstances, considering" Clive Pat.
User's attitude toward her and Lily's child, had she
done well and fairly In the- writing of the one article?
But, well or riot, the situation was beyond repair now.
And her face Hushed. Her principles and her cham- .
plonship of her own sex were intense things. She was
no banner-wagging, hysterical, self-advertising crea
ture of the kind that does a cause more harm than
good. The respect and the sympathy of the public
must be aroused, not converted Jnto disgust and rldt- ,
cule by unsexlike buffoonery. ;
Her conscience was again stabbing, In twin-fashion.
Was she a traitor to her principle in not going
on? Had he treated th ,man fairly; who was
'chemlng with such delicate understanding for Lily'
ch d? . ' " '
a-lanced at it. It was a copy of the Daily Dial. . The
first thing, after the big headlines, that attracted
Joscklyn's attention ws an Inset photograph, with
"Miss Kitty LaBcelles" printed below it. "Kitty,"
Whose personal charm, and enthusiasm had so appealed
to the man in the Street whee she climbed to the top
of the four-wheeler on the previous evening and ad-
article for themorrow. In this issue all that had
been written on the subject of Kiosks' disturbances
was In the reporting and interview style. The meth
ods of the company were not actually Indicted, except
by Kitty In her interview. The welght-of the paper
was not behind the matter. Scooper wa reserving a
leading article on the subject for the morrow. In hi
big campaign against -Kiosk he wa not relying
solely on joscelyn's one article. His Journalistic hawk
were out in quest of anything in evidence against the
company. - Employe were being Interrlewed. There
ended -to the ffaira---of wotrtd-ha no . heed, in thfs case, to stimulate corre-
Klosks, Limited. The read- spondence by writing the first letter in the office.
According to Kitty's Interview, the' trouble had.
originated, as follows: One of the girls employed aty
the Tottenham Court road branch of Kiosk had writ
ten to Mr. Dietrich Schneiderkopf, the company's man
ager, complaining of the bad and Insufficient ' food
supplied the employes of that particular branch, al
leging that in many cases It consisted of the scraps
from the customers' plates of the previous day hashed'
up. .She had also complained that, apart, from, the
food being bad, there was no time to attempt to eat
It, granted one had the (courage. The answer to her
letter had been instant dismissal. The food question
and her allegations, true or untrue, had not been
Investigated.
Joscelyn had a sensitive face, quick to flush. It
was hot to the eye now as she read. She had had ex
perience of the food supplied to Kiosks' employe.
Had the depots been properly staffed, there would
have been sufficient time for meals; but, as it waa,
despite regulations about meals and hour, it was a
case of snatching food when opportunity occurred.
And food good, wholesome food with time to eat It.
was a worker's right. It was 'iniquitous, In Joscelyn's
eyes, that this company, vhich paid S3 per cent should
deduct from the women's slender wage for the launder
ing -of their cuffs and caps six to twelve shillings for a
week's ,labor that frequently ran Into over seventy hours.
Joscelyn read on. The staff of the Tottlngham
Court road branch had demanded an Investigation and
the reinstallation of the dismissed employe, to be dis
missed themselves in a body. They had, however,
enlisted the sympathy of the public and persuaded
those employes who had been brought up to take their
places to refrain from doing so. The branch had been
closed temporarily. Kitty, evidently a firebrand girl,
but not nfuch of an organiser, had taken upon herself ,
in her Interview the responsibility of the later dis
turbance in the Euston road. She had, as she told the
reporter, suddenly boiled over, sprung upon one of
the marble-topped tables and, amid the cheers of sev
eral ardent male admirers, called upon her fellow
employes to show their sympathy by following her
from the shop. How she subsequently climbed atop a
cab. was arrested and balled out; how an admirer of
hers struck a constablo and went, proud a a hero, to
the station, has been narrated.'
When the Interviewer asked Kitty what the likely
outcome would be, she had shaken her "pretty" head
Dally' Dial readers liked little touches of that kind, and
were consequently supplied with them and replied that
the "Didn't quite know," and then added, with a charm
ing twinkle of violet eyes, "Perhaps I shall start a tea
shop of my own." .
Joscelyn smiled faintly, and looked again at the charm
lng photograph. Very fascinating. Then her thoughts
traveled to the plain, anemlc-faced girls, who were
not attractive, who did not work for pocket money,
who had not male admirers, for whom no capital would
be forthcoming to start teashops for themselves, to
whom a weekly wage of something between six to twelve
shillings represented clothes, lodging and partial board.
The employes of Kiosks were responsible tor their own
breakfasts.' ' " . .
And the flush on, her face deepened, and her mouth
grew tight,
She wondered how matters had progressed on this
day! Had the closed branches been restarted and opened
as usual? Would the employes have the courage and
the self-sacrifice to combine In a body? She did not
think so. Capital would probably triumph.
Clive Palliser was In London. She pictured' that strong
f aca of his, -with those very keen relentless blue eyes.
She had beheld tenderness in them, sympathy and great
pity." But at this moment she pictured them very blue
and determined.,, ... , ,
Then she found herself wishing that she had known
him more Intimately. She wai singularly free from self
conceit, but had she known aim more intimately, she
would have approached the subject. It occurred to her
that she might have done better by setting before him
the fact embodied in her article than by publishing
'them. : '."''''X -fk- . ': '" '
; What had happened? It would be possible to obtain
an evening paper from the village shop, though not till
late.
She laid aside the paper, and crossed to the table
remembering that she left .Noel Palliser' letter upon lu
The envelope was there, but not the letter; she
searched the room, and presently touched the bell But
Mrs. Faulder could pot remember having noticed th
letter. But had it been lying on the table, it should be
lying there now. Mrs. Faulder had touched nothlna
"I'm sure T left it on the table!" said Joscelyn
- "Well, miss," replied Jdrs. Faulder, perplexed, "there's
no on but you and me and that gentleman that 1 wa
sort ot a' picture he'll make, of the cottage, and I'm
wondering If he'd care for me and Tom to be standing
In the porch, just natural-like?" Then ahe looked
about ' her again. "Well, well, he's the only person
who's been In this room, except you and me, miss,
and he. couldn't have took the letter."
"I suppose I must have put It somewhere and for
gotten," said Joscelyn.
Then she listened. The child was awake, and she
went upstairs to him quickly.
Her thoughts wth In ariother-eh annel as she gath -ered
him up in her arms. What a wonderful thing a
mall baby was! What must It be like to possess one
of one' own?
Then a churchyard scene played itself .very vividly
before her eyes, and something splashed down on the
mite'' face. ' -
Presently Joscelyn told herself that she must force
her thoughts into a more practical groove. She must
make definite arrangements for the child's future along
the lines mapped out by Clive Palliser. Also, she simply
could not afford to neglect her work.
Again uneasiness pounced on her. For herself. It mat
tered nothing. But It was conceivable that her article
on the method of Kiosks, Limited, might react unfavor
ably on the child's future when the author' name became
known.
CHAPTER XIV
A
CERTAIN amount of grim satisfaction was1 ex
pressed on bis features a Clive Palliser prepared
to quit the head offices of Kiosks, Limited, after
having crammed two days' work Into one. On the
following afternoon he intended returning to Eldon. He
had been sarcastically amused with the Dally Dial's
account of the disturbances. It had been characteristic
of the paper's methods that it had thrust Kitty Lascelles'
picture In a prominent place and generally gushed over
her. The two branches had been restarted and opened.
There had been nothing approaching a real disturbance.
The dismissed employes had endeavored In a feeble kind
of way to picket the two establishments and prevent cus
tomers from patronizing them, but they were only a hand
ful, and the police bad judiciously moved them on. The
bulk, of the employes had remained unmoved. The
outbreak, as he had told Sohnelderkopt had been
sporadic Women lacked the power of combination,
and the majority realized on which side of their bread
the butter lay. Many of the papers had given humor
ous descriptions of what had happened. It had been
merely a flash In the pan. Clive Palliser had decided
not to send the letter penned on the previous evening
to press.
In his abrupt sarcastic way he had told Schneider
kopf that he anticipated seeing Kitty Lascelles shortly
starred at the music hails at a fabulous salary. She
would find that far more paying than running a tea
shop of her own.
The many clerks at the head offices thanked heaven
silently when the managing director took his departure
at a cqmparatively early hour for him.
He was a man of simple habits, and his town house,
one of his father's legacies, was far too big for Mm.
but he kept "it up as a matter of form. Its size and
loneliness Impressed him when he readied it.
When, after a solitary meal, he found himself In
the library, he went to the telephone and was put In
communication with Eldon Hall. His brother Noel
answered him.
"How's William Caull?" asked Clive.
t "He's still alive. They seem to think today that
he might pull round. The hemorrhage has stopped."
"You had those flowers sent?"'
"Yes."
"I shall be with you tomorrow afternoon," said
Clive after a .pause.
He put down the Instrument and lit a cigar. Then,
looking directly into his heart, he beheld the Intruder
, still there. He had been so busy, so absorbed in his
many enterprises, that lie had not had time to con
template matrimony. Also, no woman had so far pro
vided him with an ideal.
"By heavettf' he said, suddenly pacing the room
furiously, as If staggered at himself, "I'm in love!"
It was so, and with his usual quickness he had rec
ognized the fact.
It was late, when he went to bed, and then slept
never a wink. He saw her, beautiful, motherly, nurs
ing a dead woman's child id her arms; he pictured her
bravely fighting her way through life, a woman
worker. Joscelyn. Ware.
He was in. love. The ideal woman had come into
his life. But what place did he hold In. her thoughts?
That was the question he asked as he rose, early
next morning. It was not much past dawn. He went
to the window and drew back the blind"
A newspaper cart was rushing past, bound for sub
urbia. It1 was placarded on either side.' Stephen
Scooper himself was responsible for the wording It
occupied the whole of the bill:
' DAILY DIAL.
HE METHODS
ofcf -KIOSKS,
LIMITED.
CUve Palliser almostperrolUti(LJilmalf he-Mtsttfy
he sight. But his teeth clicked on it,
telling you about been in the room.''
josceiyn. aiier a moment tnougnt. - , and his mouth . went most uncotuuromisinalv hard
- Mrs, rauiaer raised the tableclotn andslooked below. So long as the Daily, Mall had been content to ln-
But no letter. She crossed to the window. Innklnr pk ten-lew Klttv LasrelW tmhllith . . h n..Mi
her. " . scribe the recent, disturbances is reoortinir umi-hnmn;!
"There the rent eman i was teutn nhnnH" h
Mr. Charles. Bowater on his card was on his way hack
to the "Eldon Arms,'! after falling to find Noel Palliser
at home. Joscelyn went to the window. The man's head
ous style. It had not mattered so much, thmic-h mifflpiontiv
annoying. But the contents-bill was sufficient In Itself
to explain to him the Dally Dial's attitude and purpose.
The matter was going to be taken up seriously.
That contents-bill spelt a leading article and a special
correspondent '-.to Clive." He might belittle the power of
the press, and overvalue the power of advertisement as
an Influence with editors, but he was compelled to ac
knowledge the power of the Dally; Dial to, boom or
"damn." The editorial weight had not been behind the
matter "of the previous day. But this contents-bill pro
claimed It to be there now. Let the public take these so
called grievances of the employes seriously, let the em
ployes themselves realize that they werebelngtak
seriously and had public opinion at their backs, and the
strike that he had dismissed as Improbable might become
reality.
Shares were sensitive things. There were any number
of so-called humanitarians In his sight meddling busy
bodies ready to espouse any cause on mere hearsay
facts, and rush into print and pamphlets and exaggerated
language about white slavery and the need for combina
tion of unions and so forth. In the drapery business this
was already being done. An outcry had gone up against
the "livlng-ln" system, a union had been formed, and em
ployers were showing a tendency to trim their satis to the
wind. But the cry of the jteashop girl h&i.not yet been
raised loudly enough to concentrate serious attention upon
her conditions of life.
Clive dropped the blind. Dawn had not long broken.
He was not the kind of man to be flustered. He be
longed to the order of cool, hard-hitting fighters, whose
brain was behind his blows. But he recognized now that
he was in for a big fight Clive Palliser, chairman and
managing director of Kiosks, Limited, vs. the Dally Dial.
A moment before the passing of the newspaper cart
he had not only admitted the presence of the Intruder
who had Installed herself In his heart and recognized her
effect on It, but also In his direct way be had looked
beyond. He was no sentimental youth to make a mistake
as to the nature of his "feelings. He was In love, and the
issue of such love was marriage or not marriage, an Issue
whtch rested normally, at least with the woman. He hid
not slept a wink during the night, but his thoughts, had
not been of a vague, philandering, goalless, sentimental
kind. He was a dominating nature, spoilt by and some
what self-conceited from success, but he 'had not to do
him justice decided that the fact that he loved her was
sufficient reason In Itself for Joscelyn to marry him. He
would make love as strenuously and directly as he trans
acted business, and put the matter to the Issue at the
first decent opportunity.
This had been the trend of his thoughts when the
newspaper cart passed. And It was a tribute to Joscelyn
Ware that CUve Palliser, as a rule the most certain
and arrogantly confident of men, had not ventured to
decide what the issue would be beforehand. He had
never known such a wretched feeling of uncertainty, such
vague, dismal pessimism, on any rememberable .previous
occasion. But of this he was sure; The Ideal woman
had come Into his life, and the meaning of the word
"love" had been revealed to him. And his love wa not
proved the less intenss by the fact that, hard upon Its
revelation, he had immediately proceeded to look Into
the future practically.
But the passing of a newspaper cart and a contents
bill had changed the tenor of his thoughts. One of the
reasons ot his success was his power of detachment. He
pulled down a thought-proof shutter on love, sentiment
and Joscelyn Ware, and concentrated on Clive Palliser vs.
the Dolly Dial as he went to the bathroom for his cold
tub. He was considering the same conflict as he snaved
himself with his usual methodic care.
There was no undue rushing to obtain a copy oc the
paper. He was always an early riser. When he entered
thelibrary, one of his private secretaries, looking as if
he would have welcomed another hour of bed, was await
ing him, prepared to get through an hour and a half's
work before breakfast. Almost at the same moment a
manservant entered with a budget of morning papers,
and proceeded to spread them out on their proper table.
Clive crossed the room and selected the Dally Dial. He
opened it deliberately. Haste would have been an ad
mission of weakness.
"THE CRY OF THE TEASIIOP GIRL" was set lii
larger type and topped the wording already displayed on
. the placard "The Methods of Kiosks, Limited."
Clive did not immediately read what followed. His
eyes, very blue and hard, traveled to the space in the
paper devoted to the leading articles.- Here the heading
was more laconic, simply "Kiosks, Limited." On ths
opposite page, amid much matter on the same subject
was the portrait of Kitty Lascelles, It had proved so
popular on the previous day that Stephen Scooper had
uecided to repeat it.
But there was nothing frivolous about the tone of the
leading article, though Kitty s charming portrait might
hardly suggest slavery, bad fodd, under-pay and over
work. No humorous description about the leading article.
It referred the reader for detail to other columns, and
proceeded to a general indictment of the company and
its methods. Its general tore wa9 that of a weighty
judge, reviewing the evidence against a Attendant, at the
same time summing up dead against htm on the strength
t it. The writer called the reader's attention to the cur
rent quotation of Kiosks shares In tue financial column
and pointed out that the last half-yearly dividend was
equivalent to thlrty-threje jer cent per annum; that this
'same company paid Its-employes wages varying from six
to twelve shillings for a week of nominally slxtyw hours,
but which In practice ran Into over seventy, sometimes
eighty f hours. Again the-writer referred the reader to
older columns, to the opinions of employes, but chiertyta
the elequewti IMngi suit Is. w'tll Its apprPpmte"WleTT
"The Cry of the Teashop Girl," by the Dally Dial's special-lady
commissioner, whose -moving articles on "London,
by Night," dealing with the .outcast women of a, great
city, had made such a profound sensation. '
Clive Pslltser turned to the columns In question, and
read what Jo&rclyn Ware had written and the editor of ,
the Daily Dial ha amended, strengthened where h
thought it would stand strengthening, and added high
color where high color seeTrned commendable,, to tar
nothing of. Interspersing the nmttc.
with big-typed captions at Interv&'s
The authorship was covered by "Om
Special Lady Cortimissloner,"
Clive Palliser read it slowlv, rei
every word; read the 'description-,; a
day In the life ot one of his employ)
as Joscelyn had experienced it; rt&a
the : restrained but throbbing appeal
for . fair conditions for ths woroat
worker, and happened ;! upon th
phrase that the woman worker of to
day was , the mother of tomorrow.
Factory and workshop had been, leg
islated for,, but not the woman clcrs
and the teashop" girl. Economic con
ditions were daily; driving more and
more women Into the labor market,
.but conditions. Of. labor and llvini
that helped to unsex them and unfil
them for1 motherhood because they
worked they did - not cease to be
women were a sin against God I
most wonderful design of creation.
Clive Palliser read on, his moutl
hard and his eyes very blue, ,,' ' j
Women might . work, arid wer
compelled to work.'but, though a few ;
perverted creatures might try to fly j
in the teeth of eternal design and gtve
the lie to a truth, wifehood and moth- j
crhood were Included in every true j
woman's aspirations. ; '; , ? C ' I
And then CUve Palliser read ol I
the ugliest side of underpaid woman's
labor under joyless conditions, touched
upon most delicately, but set down
fearlessly. j
He breathed more quickly. Love
had not long dawned upontarn, and
with the dawning of love and an Ideal
woman revealed to him, the nan's
thoughts had been raised to a higher
plane, not only with regard to ona
woman, but the sex. It Is gener
ally so. '. . '..'.' '
He read on. His lips hardened
suddenly. What followed was a thinly
disguised personal attack on himself.
He did not know that the special lady
commissioner had not written it, that
It had been tacked on to her article.
enibodled with it, by Stephen Scooper
with a 'view to uniformity and gen
eral effect. ''-'''".if
It roused up all the fight in his nature. It Prt
of the article had given him food for furioui JoJt
If love and a woman had somehow become mixed up
with his thoughts and softened and weakened him, and
caused htm to consider the possibl Hy of another
policy, this personal attack stiffened all that was stub,
born In his being. The Daily Dial had flung, down the
glove, had challenged him and his methods before
the eyes of the public. To climb down and accept this
whipping JlkaJLachoolhoyand-whlmper that he would
try to be a good boy and mend his ways in future;
he. Clive Palliser, managing director, the man to
whom shareholders looked and counted as an infallible
god, bend the knee and do penance In public at the
dictation of a paper that was trying to get even with
him for transferring the bulk ot his advertisements else
where! No! '
He Jerked the paper from him. But the publtc, "the
great public, Is the jury in such cases, and an alert One,
when once It had been well prodded In the ribs and thor
oughly awakened.. It 1 the waking that takes the time
and trouble. The public would have been content to smile
amusedly at Kitty Lascelles and approve of her personal
charms, and have dosed off again. Kitty Lascelles had
tickled, but this article was of a kind that stabbed into
human feelings deeply. : ?
CUve Palliser "realized that It had pierced his outer
hide and got home; but to admit himself wrong at the
dictation of a newspaper, change his policy and bend
the knee! ,:. t
He glanced at the clock; but it was too early to fc
put In telephonlo communication with his solicitors. Aa
extraordinary meeting of the directors must be called,
but they were puppets and would take their tone from
him. The question of a libel action could only be decided
after legal advice, and could not be settled offhand.
He stepped up to his secretary, picked up some papers
dealing with another company In which he was Inter
ested, sad dictated In his usually calm, coherent,
businesslike manner. There was no clue to the fact that
the affairs of Kiosks, Limited,, were occupying 'his
thoughts. He waa blessed with a dual brain, ..; . . j
He ceased, with his usual punctuaUty, as the hands i
of the clock pointed to half-past 9, the breakfast i
hour. He was crossing to the door, after a laconio in ',
structlon to his secretary, when Mr. Dietrich Schneider
kopf tumbled Into rather than entered the room.
"You haf seen the Dally Dial?" be cried hoarsely, I
gesticulating almost deliriously with Lis 'Splayed-out '
hands. "I know who write It I find out I waa rlgad,
Mr. Clival I vas rlghdl " v , ; : j
His foreign accent and his mispronunciations always I
became exaggerated under stress. I
"I tell you I tlnk dot I see a Miss Summsrs-raa I
come to Eldon I was righd! I hat found out she Is a
Dally Dial spy. She vas a Miss Summers at se Strand
branch of ze Kiosks. She Is -also a Miss WareMiss
Joscelyn Ware she Is the Dally Dial's lady commissioner.
It was Joscelyn Ware who wrote those 'London by Night"
articles. I haf trace it all I haf work It oud. Bat
Mein Gott!" 0--.s. ; -Ir;
And Mr. Dietrich Schneiderkopf slavered a Uttla round
the corners of his loose, working lips. He was in great -terror.
It might be that Kiosks, Limited, would require
a scapegoat, and fix upon the manager for the part '
"What?" said CUve Palliser. i,t-''.-O'
"I baf trace her, Mr. CUve. Miss Summers) of tkt
Strand Joscelyn Ware of the Dally Dial and the cottage,
Eldon. So! And dot Is not all. The women vlll htrlk-.
shtrike me dead, but dey vlll,' onless and de publlo vltl
cheer and break de windows. De depots Will open all
right, because de sheeps of women will not haf d tims .
beforehand to put their heads togezzer, and talk about
de paper. But ven dey haf done that, dere vlll be trooble,
so much trooble! Ach! Donnerwetter und blltzen!"
CUve had turned his back. He was standing over
against one of the windows. His face was Invisible, but
his attitude somehow suggested that he was not paying"
the slightest attention to Mr. Dietrich Schneiderkopf.
of Polish, German, Semitic extraction. r
"Ach. Mr, Clive, something must be done at once!"
Schneiderkopf crossed to the figure at the window,
and laid a tentative, appealing hand on the man
snoulder. ' :
Clive turned.
"Get out-go! " v
Schneiderkopf shriveled up Into himself In a remark
able way that seamed to reduce his bulk gnerally. v
. "Ach!" he Whimpered, clasping his hands together
like a man praying. "I haf been true to de initial
o( da company and you, Mr. clival You will not Jay
de blame ot dis on me. - Dot cursed woman spy"
He b-'oke I off into, a scrtain, Ciiv fjui.,ir 'ln,.l
to have gone 'mad suddenly. He hud gripped schr-idr
kopf by the throat and was shaking him., ilia privet
secretary was on his feet, doubting hi eye. . , ,
"Don't soli her name with your tongue!" , ,
CUve almost spat the words luto ttokineiderkopf.'t aha
face. Courage was not part of the manager's common... i.
tan heritage.
"Go!''
Schneiderkopf went to put ft rolloqulallyllke 'grew1
lightning and to mix metaphors with a dog's t,all
tween his legs. CUve Indicated the door to hi ssioumi'-d
secretary. He had himself in hand again to ths -ou;.
ward eye. .
l want to be alone," he ssfd.
: v As the door closed, he crossed to a table sitd Ur!
nt.-brt un the Dally Dial. :
ill faea 'was anHe'l'iMinW!i
im hn.i. humiliation, bltternoss. tru:rlnon til h!!i.lt
mixed thmselves up Into a kind of whirlpool.
A woman had dealt hltn the hardest blow ef hfs Jif
so far. It would not have htn so hard but tit t
revelation of the previous night-
The actual bustnesa-at Kiosks.. L!m:tedC!lv ';t?f
vs. the Dally Dtal were forgfitn.
"A blow over the heart I tbwort kind nt bhw,
(CONTINUED NEXT KUVI'.VY )