IShe GIRL IN
THE CASE
Leads to the Finding of
a Wife
By STACY C BAKER
Copyright, 1910, by American Press
Association.
Rawlins, reaching for bis own infe
rior timepiece, found In Its place an
expensive watch with three diamonds
Bet In the rear case and the initials
W. A. W. engraved thereon. . .,,
Naturally Rawlins was surprised,
lie returned the watch to his pocket
carefully folded his paper and glanced
about In search of the philanthropic
person who bad effected the exchange.
The vinegary faced female wedged
In the seat to the right of hlin stared
back suspiciously.
A wheezing fat man, uncomfortably
crowded, sat at bis left and grinned
heavily as be noted the observuut eye
of bis fellow passenger.
"These street enrs are crowded sun
thin' awful, hain't they?"
Rawlins agreed. He couldn't accus
tom himself to the thought of this
mnn's pudgy fingers deftly Inserting
themselves in his waistcoat pocket on
a delicate mission of substitution.
He stared about hlin senrchlngly,
but the enigma was unsolved when
the condu.'tor called Twenty-third
street
In the sacred precincts of bis own
little used law offices Rawlins gave a
keener Inspection to this gift the gods
bad thrust upon him.
Heavy lines corrugated the brow of
the young attorney, and be pushed bis
thick black balr back Into an Im
promptu pompadour as his uilnd grap
pled with the problem. The slim fin
gers of the youth touched the stem,
and the ense snapped suddeuly open,
disclosing the pictured face of a ra
diant girl.
Rnwllns-.lohn P. Rawlins. Esq.-wns
young young enough. In fact to be
lieve In the Ideal woman, and this
likeness corresponded exactly with the
dream In his heart. The great blue
' eyes, the flnwless contour of the face,
with Its piquant retrousse nose and
determined little chin; ' the' wave in
the heavy hair, the peerless neck and
shoulders everything about the maid
summed up soul dear to the youth.
The sudden advent of that rara avis,
a client, compelled hlra to forego the
pleasure of lingering longer In admir
ing contemplation of the picture. Be
fore fludlng the likeness of the prob
able owner Rawlins had an active
mind the man who had come Into
such peculiar possession of the watch
bad decided to turn It over to the po
lice, but now
Now the united efforts of the entire
constabulary of the town could not
have dragged It from him.
And yet pnradox the youth wished
to And the owner. If possible, more
than ever. The riddle of how the lit-
tie timepiece happened to be In bis
pocket bnd gripped him wltlh an In
satiable curiosity at first; now, strange
ly enough, his sole thoughts were of
the maid In the case. He longed to
meet ber. He wanted to become ac
quainted with her.
The attorney was bothered with; no
clients that day, and In the afternoon,
with the fair pictured face of the mys
terious damsel propped before blra, be
compiled an advertisement for the
morning papers:
Found, under peculiar circumstances,
valuable watch. Owner can have same
by calling at Broadway and proving
property. Rawllna, fourth floor.
Rawlins was a wealthy youth 'of
good city connections. He bad grad
uated froni Harvard the year before
and was now awakened to the fact
that New York la overcrowded with
attorneys. Clients, from a pecuniary
standpoint, he dldu't need,' but the
ennui of a llHtless life was boring him,
stilling his ambition. This, little ad
venture, with the flavor of romance
so strong upon Iti bade fulr to give
life back Its relish.
The advertisement brought results.
Every faker lu the city seemed to have
bought a paper and picked the Raw
lins "found", as the easy money of the
morning. ' ' " '. '
The lawyer entertntmd the sly ad
venturers with tentative questlous on
their lips." keen searchers after lnfor
matlou tlint.. In turn, was to be given
over to shrewd .confederates, who
would follow up with better chance
of landing the prize, and coarse wo
men who attempted to wheedle the ad
vertised article away from Its holder.
Mint fiilllnir In llita full Int. m Vfu-nltii.
lory of vehement und lmivollte protest.
The attorney's faith lu human na-
ture was sadly Jarred. t
The keen youth gave absolutely no
Information to the gleaner aloug the
path! of chance, and thus It came
about that none was able to come
later with sufficient Information . to
drawdown the trophy. Rawlins breath
ed hU relief at the end of the day and
again drew the watch from bis pocket
and studied the photograph. One longs
doubly for the unattainable. The
youth was In t perfect freusy to meet
- the girl.
Time passed. Several months went
by and at ill the young man was vainly
striving to meet the fair one of the
photograph. It boo a me a bablt with
him to stand before the window of bis
office and stare down luto the stivot.
In thts way there was a chance that
bU knowing eyes would flud the jwner
of the watch.--' ' - -
One day as be stood at bis usual
liia mntpmnlatlve
jfUlllb V. UMiUb1-) .. -
eyes on a lazy cab. tbe latter came
to a stop In frout of one of tue large
stores, and-oh. the sudden shock of It
she stepped out.
In a moment the long legs of the
youth were fairly flying down the
stalrs-he wouldn't wait for the ele
vatorand he was across the street
and into the store In another fast fol
lowing sixty seconds.
It took the attorney some time to
And the girl. The wonder of it is that
he found her at all in that huge bee
hive of struggling patroun and clerks.
She was on the tirst floor and at the
handkerchief counter. He patiently
waited until she had Cnlshed her pur
e-bases. .
"1 beg your pardon!" he commenced.
approaching, hat in band.
The girl stared at him coldly, hue
was a revelation in beauty all . and
more than the photograph had prom
ised. '
,"l' have bore." said the lawyer.
"Bnmptlilnir that I believe belongs to
you." He tflulled In what be eVidently
believed to be a courteous manner, but
which left au entirely different impres
sion on the ludy.
I do not know you. sir, she an
swered iu a well bred voice, the ca
dence of which thrilled ber, susceptible
admirer to the full of bis rapidly beat
ing heart "You have probably nils
taken me for another person." Her
eyes rested meditatively upon an ap
proaching floorwalker.
"I know we have never met," began
Rawlins Inanely, "but but"
"At an almost imperceptible' sign
from the girl the floorwalker joined
them.
"This gentleman." began the girl dis
tantly; "thinks be knows me. He
doesn't." She paused suggestively.
The floorwalker, wise of his kind,
eyed the attorney with small favor.
"You had better go. sir, else" He,
too, ended bis sentence with an elo
quent stop.
Rawlins, despite bis keen admiration
for the girl, was angry.
"One moment." he said authorita
tively to the official. He turned again
to the girl. .
."Perhaps you recognize this," he
aNked and held the watch before ber
eyes.
The maid gazed at It with some cu
riosity. "I do not." she said. "To my
knowledge, I have never seen It before
In ray life. Are you the er official
propounder of euigmas here?" '
The sarcasm was lost on the de
spomlent Rawlins, who, with the Iron
baud of the floorwalker on. his arm,
was being rapidly escorted toward the
door.
"I'm giving you a chance." explained
the latter,, "although 1 bndn t ought to,
The bosses here haven't any time for
fresh guys who antagonize the trade
Aq elderly woman with gray hair
and faded blue eyes came hurrying
after the pair and touched the deject
ed lawyer on the arm. ,
"Just a moment," she begnn breath
lessly. VMy niece has been telling me
about It You you must have my
watch!"
- "1 knew ' It." Interrupted the floor
walker. "I knew it from the start.
mndam. He's a 'dip.' old offender
probably. If you'll Just step Into the
ofllee I'll see that you recover your
property without any fuss, and well
end this party down."
The woman stared.
"You are rather officious. This gen
tleniau was attempting to do my niece
a fuvor. lie Is no pickpocket I am
sure of that." She spoke coldly.
She turned to Rawlins. "Tell me,
was the watch you Twlshed to return
set with three dlnmonds and did It
contain a little miniature?"
Rawlins nodded a happy assent The
girl had Joined them. The youth noted
with an appreciative eye the embar
rnssed flush dotting her cheeks.
"This Is your property," came from
Rawlins. Once again he took the
watch from his pocket, and the eager
bands of the older woman accepted It
"Oh. how can I ever thank your
she gasped. "It really Is my watchP'
She turned to Rawlins. "And you rec
ognized my niece from the little pic
ture?" ; ; ',
. Again the happy youth nodded.
Words were beyond him. .
"But how did you get it?" she asked
wonderlngly. "I saw that great fat
thief who grabbed It from ray hands
run and Jump on a street car, and al
though 1 promptly reported the mat
tor to the police I really had given up
expecting the return of the trinket
long ago. .
"It was my first day In the city,"
she continued. "I live In New Orleans,
you: must know, and I am only visit
lng here. Marie she Is my sister
worries so over trifles that 1 dldu't tell
her. . Really, I never expected to see
it again. I"-
"But why don't you allow the gen
tleman to answer your question,
auntie?- laughingly Interrupted the
Ctrl.
i iTJpon1 Rawlins a great light had
dawned. The good nntured heavy-
wetght seated on his right In the car
had been . the pickpocket who had
stolen the watch. Evidently fearing
capture, he had shifted the thing upon
Itnwlius and taken the cheaper time
piece of the attorney In return.
. "It's a long story," explained the
youth "almost too long to" tell here.
I am a lawyer, with offices Just across
the way." He handed the older wom
an a card. "If 1 might suggest"-
"You must ride home with, us In our
carriage," eagerly Interrupted the
aunt, "and explain In detail. Realty.
1 wouldn't miss the, story for the
watch ' Or perhaps." she amended.
"yon can't spare the time Just now?"
"Rawlins glanced at the red cheeked
girt.
. "I will be pleased to ride home with
you," he said, '
The St
RECITING
Adventures of
AND DESCRIBING
Interesting Situations with Rapid Action
By LOUIS TRACY
Author of "THE WINGS OF THE MORNING." "The Pillar of
" Light." "The Captain of the Kansas." "The King
of Diamonds." etc . .. .
Selected for Our Use From a Hundred
Stories and Illustrated by Will Jones
Begins in this paper Next Week
TWO IN A GALE.
(Continued from page three.)
anything, then?" Sue seemed to
breathe a little sigh of relief. "Why
didn't you answer when they nsUed
what you thought of my masculine at
tire?" .
There was nothing to say. I Hap
pened to see you when you arrived on
the stage last night, and" lie paus
ed, as if embarrassed by a too eager
tongue. " ...
"And?" she suggested.
"I thought you didn't need any frills.
you know," he finished lamely.
"Thanks," she said simply, dropping
down to a sent on the rock and press
ing back the flying waves of black
hair from her eyes. "Rut that. Is uot
the reason why I wear plain clothes.
You see, I'm a western girl, and I wns
born nnd raised on a ranch. Kuther
and I lived alone. There were Just
two after 1 came, and I bad to be both
son and daughter to dad. lie died a
year ago, and so 1 had to come east
and make my home with Mrs. Bowker,
my aunt I hud private 'tutors at the
ranch, but of the outside world I have
been quite lgnoruut I am learning
rapidly that girls are girls and boys
ure boys, so a little later I'm going to
put on frills and fribbles. I'm wearing
these plain thlugs oh, well, because of
dad; you know. It seems us If the old
days were not so far away." She
choked over the last words, and her
eyes were drowned with sudden tears.
She searched vainly for a handker
chief, and Billy, full of tender solici
tude, drew a snowy square from his
own pocket, Bhook It out ami tossed It
Into her lap; then he turned away and
looked at dlstaut ridges that seemed
strangely blurred In outline.
"Thank you so much. I'm very sor-.
ry I made such a goose of myself."
aid the girl after, a little while,
"ouly"-
"You needn't say a word," Interrupt
ed Billy energetically. "After my
mother went why well 1 know all
about It It's a stlfflsh gale," he added
hastily.
"It Is," she laughed through her
tears. "How horrid you must have
thought me, Mr. Satterly. but I heard
what you were all saying, ami 1 did .
feel so louely and unappreciated, you
know. Wasn't It silly J So I Just tl- i
toed downstairs and. flew up to tliU j
rock out of sheer desire to be alone."
owaway
THE
a Beautiful Girl
"And I've been intruding on your
privacy nil this time," cried Billy re
morsefully. "I'll run along down now
be careful when you descend; you
might slip on the pine needles ad
sprain your ankle. . One of the girls
did that the other day." He turned to
the path.
"Flense stay. Mr. Satterly," she urg
ed. "Y'ou mustn't let me drive you
away. ThnnU you." She pressed the
handkerchief Into his hand, and he re
turned It to bis poefcet silently.
"You are sure 1 won't be In the
way?" he asked, settling down on the
ground and takiug out his neglected
newspaper. " i :
"Not at all. And you may smoke
your pipe too. I don't mind It." she
smiled as he stuffed d tobacco pouch
back In his pocket..
"Thank you," he said gratefully,
"You do not know my name," said
the girl suddenly. "It's not fair when
I am acquainted with yours. I am
Rose Benworth."
"Thank you," said Satterly gravely.
After awhile the greedy wind tore
the paper from his bands, and they
watched it sail down the mountain
side until It reached the' lake, where
It became a white winged craft and
disappeared from view.
Then Billy showed Rose how to And
pictures in the sailing clouds, and she
scofflnclv tauirht him more about
cloud painting than be had ever dream
ed, for she was a child of prairie nnd
bill in the western country.
So they talked until the sun dipped
below the west peak, and then they
Tfn.if rpi'retfiillv down 'the narrow
' r:ill "thick to the earth out of the
clouds." remarked Billy as he helped
Hose Beuworth over the slippery pine
needles.
At the hop that night Dick Fancher
and Lester Pennington rallied Billy on
his long absence that afternoon. They
had, with ouf accord, fallen captive to
the charm of Hose Benworth In her sim
ple white evening frock. . She danced
to perfection. ,
"What's the matter with you, old
man?" they demanded of Billy. ."You
! look na If you'd been drinking!"
"I have." be Raid urbanely.
"Wbntr
"Nectar and all that sort of thing,
you know."
"Rubbish!"' Jeered Pick enviously.
"Tou're In love, that's what's the mat
ter with you."
And so It proved. . ;
AN ARCTIC
KNIGHT
Story of an Exploring
Party
By EDWIN B. ERHART
Copyright, 1910. by American Press
Association. -
Arters ceased biting his nulls and
rested a long, lean chin la tbe hollows
of bis hands. '
"I could tell you something that
would surprise you." he said, gazing at
me across tbe table.
I stared at blm expectantly.
"What?" I pionosyllabled.
Arters gloomed ' meditatively, but
allowed no disposition to answer.
The girl on the cot flung a pitifully
thin arm over ber bead and moaned
and murmured in ber sleep.
"Well, what?" I reiterated sharply..
The long trip that day across the mo
notonous, never ..ending white plain
had done little toward Improving my
temper. . .
Arters arose to his great height
squared his broad shoulders and tip
toed around the table. ,
, "lam God!" he whispered In my ear.
I saw that I had to do with a mad
man. "This is a strange world." continued
Arters, a ruminant note in his voice.
"Here we are come, you and I, to this
forsaken country in a quest for a lost
woman explorer and all for a miser
able pittance doled out to us by a Chi
cago newspaper." He brushed an im
pudent band across bis eyes. "My
memory Isn't all that It should be,"
be confessed. "I should have remem
bered who I was am and then this
trip would have been unnecessary."
Arters cast a furtive glance toward
tbe cot In the dim corner. "Is she an
angel." he murmured querulously, "or
Ituth Proctor, the girl we came search
ing for? I can't seem to remember
somehow." -
, "Both," I answered, and my com
panion was satisfied '-'".-.
It seenftd years since the Meteor
bnd assigned us, staff reporters nt tbe
time, to the hazardous task of finding
Ruth Proctor, -the Intrepid girl ex
plorer, who had set out two years be
fore to Und, the north pole and was
now supposed to be somewhere In tbe
vicinity of the ninetieth degree. .
The - Meteor is not one to stint Its
embassies. We. the words of Arters
to tbe contrary, fairly reveled In mon
ey. and the essentials of the trip were
all forthcoming and were of tbe best
Our bout, tbe Lost Hope, was a marvel
of technical construction, made for
this -Very purpose' and for Our enter
prising Journal. '
Miss Proctor, the young society wo
man who h;id forsworn New York
nnd the callow amusements of her set
to do something really worth while,
bad been conspicuous In tbe limelight
on the eve of her departure and for
twelve months thereafter. Now if she
was referred to ut all In the papers
formerly enthusing over her nerve and
during she wus given no more than a
passing paragraph. Her fame bade
fair to be niched with that of her II
luatrlous predecessor, Andre, the fame
of failure.
But the Meteor kept an impatient
eye northward, and wnen tne rener
expedition came home without ber Ar-
ters and 1 were given tbe word to go
in search of the girl. -
Arters was the- Benjamin J. Arters
of much mnd scrambling on the part
of ambitious dallies that lusted for his
efficient r services. " He -was a writer
keen of bruiu and pen and one of the
highest salaried fact getters In the
world of smudge and cheap paper.
No college degree journalist was Ar
ters, but a reporter. ,
Smith, the managing editor, bad said
to . me. "You 'are to accompany Ar
ters" not on account of my stellar
position on the staff, understand, but
because I bnd been one of the adven
turers In that first rush to the Yukon
and knew my north. .
Our ship hud rare good luck, the Ice
drift allowing us at the last to come
within a quarter mile of the silent
Maid of Orleans. Rnth Proctor's boat
Of course it was deserted. The log
book was gone. We had no way of
.telling whether the crew had returned
to the trail after the original nrst ruse
toward the pole or perished' of cold. :
With four Eskimos, dogs and sledges
we. began the tall of our trip. Our
route In all probability was tbe same
as that of Ruth Proctor's party.
Fjkimos tire neeullar humans. Our
men seemed perfectly contented, but
one morning we' crawled out of our
sleeping bags to find them gone. They
had taken with them our fastest dogs.
two sledpes and a large supply of our
provisions. Wisely we decided not to
PUIUHP. ' 5 ' ' ' ' ' v
Fate muirt have planned our expedl
tlon with an eye for the melodrn
lnatlc. At any rate, when we found
the fur clnd maid explorer ahe was
alone, seemingly deserted by every'
bodv and half crazed and sick. She
bud food.1 but In order to make this
last she had been slowly starving her
self to death. She was moving toward
th nole! 1 fell In love with her
straightway, snd 1 guess Arters did.
Ruth Prtwr was a wlfrhlng thing
despite? hr i H-Jl.V. , shape destroying
skins, snd "te buner and snow fever
bad v her dainty face but that
murn more pathetically beautiful. De
spite her stern resolve to find the pole
aud the self reliance, of her. ahe wa
a most feminine person.
We turned back The girl, now thai
tfct incentive for keeping up was par
tially removed, grew seriously 111, and
after nine days on the back track we
came across a deserted shanty that
had been a vantage point on our pole
ward trip aud prepared to stay there
until she' was some recovered. We
knew nothing of ber struggle nor why
we bad found ber ulonei Her mind .
wns gone temporarily. .
I was worried, and bad been for
some time, about -Arters. His gaunt
face bad metamorphosed Into a
flinched, weird caricature of Its for- -mer
leanness, and If I spoke to blm
suddenly- be started curiously nor
deigned on answer. Occasionally he
broke out Into a babble of meaning
less' sounds apropos of nothing what
ever In our . arctic world He would
sometimes catch himself at this and
flush shamefacedly.
Art era was now aenin hack In the
rickety chair across the table from me,
mumbling Incoherently and with bis
great knotted bands clinching and un- ,
This deserted shack, erected by some
forgotten voyager who. Providence
knows how, had got timber enough .
together for that same purpose, was
.ha nAliit t0 yv Aim. fnr.A .rw.l. n
had now eaten down to almost the -
Inst of our pemmican. Tomorrow we
would dig up our treasure, enough to
Inst us until we reached not too dis
tant civilization. ; ...... s . .
Arters suddenly ceased bis mad jum
ble of words. He pillowed bis head on
his arms and slept I yawned, and, '
despite my resolve to stay awake and
guard my mad comrade, the rhythmic
breathing of tbe two sleepers lulled '
me to an unconscious condition.
I was awakened by a gentle shake
of the arm.. The frightened eyes of
Ruth Proctor stared Into mine. All Ill
ness seemed to have vanished from her.
He Is dead," she gasped and point
ed an eloquent finger at tho still form '
opposite me.
An Investigative band touching the ,
Iced flesh of h(m testified to the truth
of this. - 1 . . (
With Infinite tact Miss Proctor came
forward and placed a soft little hand
In my own. . "I will be little bother to
you," she said simply. "The snow .
sickness has left me. ' What what .
shall we do with" Tbe tears sprang . .
from the black depths of her eyes, and
she turned her bead away, unable to
complete tbe sentence.
We must leave him here," I An
swered "We have only one sled, you
know- Later I will return for him." ,
"To think." came brokenly from tbe
lips of the maid explorer, "that be gave .
up bis life In bis effort to save mine."
Woman-like, she cradled ber pretty '
face In ber'arms and abandoned her
self to ber grlet " .
It devolved upon me to still tbe wall
In my own heart and be practical.
"Don't." I whispered, so close to her ;
that, I felt ber fragrant breath brush
my cheek , as she raised pathetic eyes
to me. "What Is done cannot be un-"
done." - '
In what, would be the morning 14
the Vnited States I went forth and
dug for our reserve food supply and
dug.ln vain! Some vandal bad pirated -it
durimr our absence. '
; With a heavy heart I returned to the -
saacK. lue K"1 murt uiieirugauvvtjr
at my empty hands.
IT ... I I nAnH,nu1 KiaHv What
ood for me to pt off the truth?
Eventually she would have to know.
f am annrv fn1 VfillP faatrA " flho nil
swered. and again an inexplicable look
"We must go -at once," 1 warned
"We have only enough provisions for
ebout two days."
After a meager meal 1 hitched the
dogs (Arters bad long -since been laid
at rest) and went back for tbe girl,
who was donning ber heavy arctic
coat and mittens. A noise caused me ,.
to leap to the door of the hut Just In ,
time to see my huskies, mad, lithe
streaks of gray, speeding across the
snow In pursuit of that .rara avis, an
arctic hare. . ' " ' ' 1 '
Yelping excitedly, they refused to re
spond to my cries in fact It Is doubt
ful if they heard me. With a heavy
heart I remembered that everything
was packed In the sledge.'
I turned despairingly. Tbe dogs were
goue. They might return; more likely,
they would not. The arc-tie husky
more wolf than dog Is an unknown
quantity.
In the open door, as I raised my
eyes, I saw tbe girl. I knew from the
pallor of her face that she bad seen
all, but I attempted a brave smile. -
"They .will return," I spoke reassur
ingly. ;
Ferhaps," she said softly. "1 know
them and their ways, you must re
member." She smiled at me bravelv.
- Suddenly my arma were about , her.
I know not how It happened.
"My love," I said passionately, "must
we die here" Just i.wheu - We have
found each other?" At last I hod
ratnomea me secret m tne eyes or uer.
"Dearest', she said, looking np at '
last from my shoulder, "you will never
know the snow as I do. Search again .
fnr ffMir anm.1la I tuiv a hAllaf T
can't tell why that yon will find
them." . ''''.'' ' .
I looked, sure enough, they were not
two feet from where I had hunted
Luck now cloyed us with her favors. ;
That night the dogs came Whining to
the door, and oh. marvel! the sledge,
though overturned, was with them.
.."Ruth," I philosophized,. "some good,
came out of It, for. I am sure bad tbe
dogs bot run away I would not have
had the courage to speak." ,
And the llpa of ber came close
closer! - -.
The trip was done In safety. The
maid explorer was given over to ray
ship a maid no longer, however, but;
tnanka to a venturing, gaid hunting