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About The gazette-times. (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925 | View Entire Issue (July 30, 1914)
15 HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION SERIAL. A Fool and His Money By Geo. Barr McCutcheon Copyright, 1913, By Geo. Barr McCutcheon. HOME AND FARM MAGAZINE SECTION 8TNOP8I8 OP PREVIOUS S IM3TALLMEHTS. " In the opening instalments of "A S Pool and Hi Money," Geo. Barr Me- $ $ Ontcheon'i thartnins; novel, aerial 8 riS"H for which hare been specially f obtained for the Home and Farm - Vajtaiino Section, we learn of John 8 Bellamy Smart, the younj nan who $ S i tolling thia itory. He ha just 9 written hia first novel, and at tha & lama time haa fallen heir to an im- 9 menae fortune left him by hia uncle. $ Ho is 35 ycara of age. After a visit to London, Smart Q takaa a trip on the River Danube. a j'U ""ding n old-world town, ha Q di-vra an ancient castle, which lie jj purchases from ill owner, the Count. With hia secretary, Poopendyke, ha S takes possession of the immense J structure, which ii supposed lo be ? tenanted only by the caretaker and hia family, the Bchmick. Later Smart finda a woman who 1a in poaseaaion i S of a wing of the castle that is barred 3 to him. She eraata a brief interview, but refuses to leave. The servants 0 appear to bo in league wish her, and S Smart is in a quandary. J,tcr ho is Q captivated by the wit and bea-Jty of $ tho mysterious lady and no longer 3 X nntea her departure. i $5 $ $ . $ s BUT I was dumb. I stood just inside the door of tho inot remarkable apartment it has ever been my good fortmio to look upon. My senses reeled. Was i awake! Wns this a nart of the bleak, sinister, weather racked cartlo in whieh I was striving so hard to find a coiniortablo corner! "Weill" f-ho demanded relentlessly. "Hy tlio Lord Harry," I began, find mg my tongue only to lose it again. My bewilderment increased, and for an excellent reason. Tho room was completely furnished. bodecked and rendered halnlabb bv an i j - i i . .. , ..." uuuumi ana ono articles mat were mysteriously missing from my side of tho castle. Kugs, tapestries, curtains of tho rarest quality, chairs, couches, and cushions; tables, cabinets and chests that would have caused the eyes of the most conservative collector of antiques to Dulgo witti not wonder but greed; stands, pedestals, brasses, bronzes, por celains but why enumerate I On the massive; oaken centra table atood the priceless silver vase wo had missed on the second day of our occupancy, and it waa filled with fresh yellow roses. 1 sniffed. Their fragraneo filled the room. And so eomplcto had been the ri fling or my rooms by tho devotod vandals jn their efforts to make this lady cosy and comfortable that they did not overlook a silver framed photograph of my dear omthcr! Her sweet face met my gaze as it awopt tho mantel piece, beneath which a coal fire crackled merrily. I am not quite sure, but I. think I re peated "by tho Lord Harry" once if not twice before I caught myself up. I tried to smile. "How how cosy yon aro here," I said. "You couldn't expect mc to live in this awful place without somo of the comforts and conveniences of life, Mr. Smart," she said defiantly. "Certainly not," I said, promptly. "I am sure that you will excuse me, however, if I gloat. I was afraid we had lost all these things. Yon 've no idea how relieved I am to find them all Bafe and Bound in my in their proper place. I was beginning to dis trust the Schmicks. Now I am con vinced of their integrity." "I suppose you mean to be sarcas tic." "Sarcasm at any price, madam, would bo worse than useless, I am sure." Crossing to the fireplace, I selected a lump of coal from the scuttle and ex amined it with great Mrs. She watched mo curiously. "Do yon recognize HI" she asked. "I do," said I, looking up. "It has been in our family for generations. My favorite chunk, believe me. Still, I part with it cheerfully." Thereupon I tossed it into the fire. "Don't be ehoekedt I shan't miss it. We have coals to burn, madam I" She looked me soberly for a moment. There was something hurt and wistful in her dark eyes, "Of course, Mr. Smart, I shall pay yon for everything down to the small est trifle when the time comes for mo to leavo this place, I have kept strict account of" She turned away, with a beaten droop of the proud little head, and again I was ashamed. Never have I felt so grotesquely out of proportion with my self as at that moment. My stature seemed to increase from an even six feet to something like twelve, and my bulk became elephantine. She was so slender, so lissom, so weak, and I so gargantuan, so gorilla-like, so heavy handed! And I had come gaily np to crush her! What a fine figure of a man I was! She did not complete the sentence, but walked slowly towards the window. I had a faint glimpse of a dainty lace hankerchief fiercely clutched in a little hand. By nature I am chivalrous, even gal lant. You may have reason to doubt it, but it is quite true. Ag I've never had a chanco to be chivalrous except in my dreams or my imagination, I made haste to seize this opportunity before it was too late. "Madam," I said, with considerable feeling. "I have behaved like a down right rotter today. I do not know who you are, nor why yon are here, but I assure you it is of no real consequence if you will but condescend to overlook my insufferable " Sho turned towards me. The wistful, appealing look still lingered in her eyes. Tho soft red nether lip seemed a bit tremulous. "I am an intruder," she interrupted, smiling faintly. "You have every right to put me out of your your home, Mr. Smart. 1 was a horrid pig to deprive you of all your nice comfortable ehairs and" "I I haven't missed them." "Don't you ever sit down!" "I will sit down if you'll let me," said I, feeling that I wouldn't ap pear quite so gigantic if 1 was sitting. "Please do. The chairs all belong to you." "Im sorry you put it in that way. They aro yours as long as you chooso to to occupy a furnished apartment here," "I have been very selfish, and cat tish, and inconsiderate, Mr. Smart. You sec, I'm a spoilt child. I've always had my own way in everything. You must look upon me as a very horrid, sneak itig conspiring, person, and I I really think you ought to turn me out." Sho came a few stops nearer. Under the circumstances I could not sit down. So I stood towering above her, but somehow going through a process of physical and mental shrinkage the longer I remained confronting her. Suddenly it was revealed to me that sho was the loveliest woman I had ever seen in all my life! How could I have been so slow in grasping this great, be wildcring truth I The prettiest woman I had ever looked upon! Of course I had known it from the first instant that I looked into her eyes, but I must have been existing in a state of stupefaction up to this illuminating moment. I am afraid that I stared. "Turn you out!" I cried. "Turn you out of this delightful room alter you 've had so much trouble getting it into shape! Never!" "Oh, you don't know how I've im posed upon you!" she cried plaintively. "Yon don t know how I've robbed you, and bothered you" "Yes, I do," said I promptly. "I know all about it. You've been stealing my coals, my milk, my ice, my potatoes, my servants, my sleep and" here I gave a comprehensive sweep of my hand "everything in sight. And you've made us walk on tip-toe to keep from waking the baby, and "I stop ped suddenly. "By the way, whose baby is it! Not yours, I'm sure." To my surprise her eyes filled with tears. "Yes. She is my baby, Mr. Smart." My face fell. "Oh!" said I. and got Li further for a moment or two. "I I please don't tell me you are mar ried!" "What would you think of me if I were to tell you I'm not!" she cried indignantly. I beg your pardon," I stammered, blushing i the roots of my hair. Stupid ass!" I muttered. Crossing to tho fireplace, Bhe stood 'looking down into the coals for a long time, while I remained where i was, an awkward, gauche spectator, conscious of having put my clumsiest foot into my mouth every time I opened it and wondering whether I eould now safely get it out again, without further disas ter. Her back was toward me. She was dressed in a dainty, pinkish house gown or maybe it was light blue. At any rate it was a very pretty gown and she was wonderfully graceful in it. Ordi narily in my fiction I am quite clever at describing gowns that do not exist; but when it comes to telling what a real woman is wearing, I am not only as vague as a savage, but painfully stupid about colors. Still, I think it was pink. I recall the way her soft brown hair grew above the slender neck, and the lovely white skin; the smooth, delicate contour of her half averted check and the firm little chin with the trembling red lips above it; the shapely back and shoulders and the graceful curves of her hips, suggestive of a secret perfection. She was taller than I had thought at first sight, or was it that I seemed to be getting smaller myself! A hasty bit of com parison placed her height at five feet Bix, using my own as something to go by. She couldn 't have been a day over twenty-two. But she had a baby! Facing me once more she said: "If you will sit down, Mr. Smart, and be patient and generous with me, I shall try to explain everything. You have a right to demand it of me, and I shall feel more comfortable after it is done." I drew up a chair beside the table and sat down. She sank gracefully into another, facing me. A delicate frown appeared on her brow. "Doubtless you are very much puzzled by my presence in this gloomy old castle. You have been asking your self a thousand questions about me, and you have been shocked by my out rageous impositions upon your good na ture. I confess I have been shocking ly impudent and " "Pardon me; you aro the only sauce I've had for an excessively bad bar gain." "Please do not interrupt me," she said coldly. "I am here, Mr. Smart, be cause it is the last place in the world whero my husband would be likely to look for me." "Your husband? Look for you?" "Yes. I shall bo quite frank with you. My husband and I have separated. A provisional divorce was granted, how ever, just seven months ago. The final decree cannot bo issued for one year." "But why should you hide from him!" "The the court gave him the cus tody of our child during the proba tionary year. I I have run away with her. They are looking for me every where. That i3 why I came here. Do you understand?" I was stunned. "Then, I take it, the court granted him tne divorce and not you," I said, experiencing a sudden chill about the heart. "You were de prived of the child, I see. Dear me!" 'You are mistaken," she said, a flash in her eyes. "It was an Aus trian court. The Count my husband, I should say is an Austrian subject. His interests must bo protected."' She said this with a sneer on her pretty lips. "You see, my father, knowing him now for what he really is, has re fused to pay over to him something like a million dollars, still due for the marriage settlement The Count eon tends that it is a jus. and legal debt and the court supports him to this ex tent the child is to be his until the Gillespie School of Expression VOCAL, PHYSICAL AND ESTHETIC CULTURE LITERATURE, WITH ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETIVE RENDERING RHETORIC, ORATORY AND DRAMATIC ART A STUDENTS' CLUB FOR DRILL IN EXTEMPORANEOUS SPEAKING DEBATE AND PARLIAMENTARY LAW CONTINUOUS FORENOON CLASSES INDIVIDUAL WORK AFTERNOON AND EVENINGS A rUBLIO CLASS EVERY MONDAY EVENING Fall Term Opens October 13, 1914 Individual Work Begins September 9. EMMA WILSON GILLESPIE, Principal. 634 Morrison Street. Phonos Main 6034, A-4872. Portland, Oregon, debt is eJ eared up, or something to that effect. I really don't understand the legal complications involved. Perhaps it were better if I did." "I see," said I, scornful in spite of myself. "One of those happy intern tional marriages where a bride is thrown in for good measure with a couple of millions. Won't we ever learn!" "That's it precisely," she said, with the utmost calmness and candour, "American dollars and an American girl in exchange for a title, a lot of debts and a ruined life," "And they always turn out just thia way. What a lot of Withering f oola , we have in the land of the free and the home of the knave!" "My father objected to tie who! arrangement from the first, bo yon moat t not speak of him as a knave," she pro tested. ' ' He doesn 't like Counts and sueh things." "I don't see that it helps matters; I can hardly substitute the word 'brave' for the one I used," said I, trying to conceal my disgust. "Please dont misunderstand me, Me. Smart," she said haughtily. "I am. not asking for pity. I made my bed and I shall lie in it. The only thing I ask of you is well, kindness." She seemed to falter again, and ones more I was at her feet, figuratively speaking. "You are in distress, in dread of something, madam," I cried. "Con sider ine your friend. " She shook her head ruefully. "Totj poor man! You don't know what yon are in for, I fear. Wait till I have told you everything. Throe weeks ago, I laid myself liable to imprisonment and heaven knows what else by abducting my little girl. That is really what it comes to abduction. The court haa ordered my arrest, and all aorta of police persons are searching high and low for me. Now don't you see youi peril? If they find me here, you will be in a dreadful predicament. You will be charged with criminal complicity, or whatever it ia called, and Oh, it will be frightfully unpleasant for you, Mr. Smart." My expression must have convicted me. She couldn't help seeing the dis may in my face. So she went on, quit humbly. "Of course you have but to act at once and all may be well for you. I I will go if you if you command me to" I struck my knee forcibly. "What do you take me for, madam! Ilang the consequences! If you feel that you are safa here that is, comparatively safe stav!" "It will be terrible if you get into trouble with the law," she murmured in distress. "I I really don't know what might happen to you." Still he eyes brightened. Like all the rest of her ilk, she was selfish. I tried to laugh, but it was a dismal failure. After all, wasn't it likely to prove a most unpleasant matter! I felt the chill moisture breaking out on my forehead. "Pray do not consider my position at all," I managed to say, with a reso lute assumption of gallantry. "I I shall be perfectly able to look out for myself that is, to explain everything if it should come to the worst." I could not help adding, however; "I certainly hope, however, that they, don't get on to your trail and " I stopped in confusion. (To Be Continued.)
