o:llefonte, Pa., March 27, 1914.
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THE
neer-Do-Well
By
REX BEACH
Author of
“The Spoilers” “The Barrier,”
“The Silver Horde,” Etc.
fmzizaane
Copyright, 1010, 1911, by Harper &
Brothers.
a a A CA
| 20000000000000000000000
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SYNOPSIS.
K'rk Anthony, son of a rich man, with
eollnve friends, gets into a fracas in a
Wow York resort. A detective is hurt.
Je~orson Locke Insinuates himself into
the college men’s party.
I.ncke, aided by Kirk’s friend Higgins,
who thinks it a joke, drugs Kirk and puts
ttn nboard a ship bound for Colon. Kirk
ia on the passenger list as Locke.
“iiroke” and without baggage, aboard
the ship Kirk makes the acquaintance of
Mr and Mrs. Stephen Cortlandt.
(‘ortlandt is in the American diplomatic
»+rvice and is going to Panama on a mis-
s:»n. In Colon Kirk, as the son of a big
AR HE SL Oe oR
gloved hand. “Things are never so bad
as they seem.”
That afternoon Kirk received a for-
mal communication from the banker |
which filled him with dismay. It ran:
My Dear Mr. Anthony—To my extreme
| distress, I hear a rumor that Gertrudis is
to become your wife. I assure you that
neither she nor I blame you in the least |
for this unfortunate report, but since busy
tongues will wag upon the slightest ex-
cuse, we feel it best that no further oc- |
casion for gossip should be given. I am
sure you will co-operate with us. Sincere-
ly and respectfully your friend,
ANDRES GARAVEL.
A sense of betrayal crept over him as
he read. What the letter signified, be-
yond the fact that Mr. Garavel had
changed his mind, he could not make
out, and he resolved to go at once and
demand an explanation. But at the
bank he was told that the proprietor
had gone home, and he drove to the
house only to learn that Senor Garavel
and his daughter had left for Las Sa-
vannas not half an hour before. So
back through the city he urged his
driver, acress the bridge and out along
the country road,
Darkness had settled when he re-
turned, raging at the trickery that had
been practiced upon him. If they
thought to gain their point by sending
him on wild goose chases like this they
were greatly mistaken. He proposed
to have Chiquita now, if he had to
burst his way to her through barred
doors.
was time now to show his strength.
‘What folly he might have committed
it is hard to tell, but he was prevented
from putting any extravagant plan
into operation by a message from the
girl herself.
As he dismissed his coachman and
, turned toward his quarters Stephanie
railroad man. is taken up by Weeks,
A rmerican consul.
hirk’s father repudiates him, and Weeks
cats him out as an impostor. Kirk meets
A'in, a Jamaican negro canal worker out
of a job. The two are arrested by Colon
pice for helping to put out a fire.
« Kirk and Allan are treated brutally in
a <olon jail by young Alfarez, command-
ant of police. Allan's release is obtained
bv the British consul, but Weeks refuses
to aid Kirk. Mrs. Cortlandt gets a phone
eall
Mrs, Cortlandt obtains Kirk's release by
using influence with Colonel Jolson, head
of the canal. The Cortlandts are in-
trizuing to make Alfarez's father presi-
dent of Panama.
Kirk’s father casts him off finally, and
Mrs, Cortlandt obtains for him a position
on the Panama railroad under Runnels,
master of transportation.
The Cortlandts and Kirk plan a picnie
on the island of Taboga, near Panama.
Cortlandt is detained and his wife and
Kirk are marooned on the island.
Kirk kisses Mrs. Cortlandt and is then
ashamed to think he has violated Cort-
landt’s trust in him. Cortlandt, alarmed
by his wife's absence, rescues her and
Kirk from the island. In the country near
Panama Kirk meets a charming Spanish
girl.
The gir! tells him her name is **Chiqui-
ta.” He learns later that that means only
“little one.” Kirk begins his work.
Mrs. Cortlandt has learned who Jefferson
Locke is.
Locke (real name Wellar) is a swindler
and has disappeared. His description fits
Kirk. The latter tries in vain in Panama
to learn something of Chiquita and meets
Alfarez again
Kirk wins the capital prize, $16,000, in
the lottery. lie and Runnels make plans
for advancement. The Cortlandts, hav-
ing turned from the older Alfarez, intend
to make Senor Garavel, a banker, presi-
dent of Panama.
Alfarez’'s son, Kirk's foe, is engaged to
Certrudis, Garavel's daughter. She is
Kirk’s “Chiquita.” He meets her again
at the opera through Mrs. Cortlandt’s aid.
Kirk makes love to Chiquita. Edith
Cortlandt, infatuated with Kirk, goes rid- -
tng with him frequently.
She avows her love for him. Their ride
and talk are interrupted by her husband. .
Kirk asks Garavel for his daughter's
hand. The banker wishes her to marry
Alfarez to advance his own ambitions.
Clifford, a man from the States, asks
Runnels about Kirk.
Kirk receives permission to call on
Chiquita. Young Alfarez challenges him
to a duel. Kirk laughs at him. Mrs.
Cortlandt asks Kirk to call on her.
Cortlandt overhears his wife make love
to Kirk, who tells her he loves and is en-
gaged to Gertrudis. Prompted by Mrs.
Cortlandt, Garavel forbids Kirk to call on
his daughter.
Kirk manages to see Chiquita. She loves '
him, but will obey her father. Mrs. Cort-'
landt blocks Kirk’s and Runnels’ path. |
Detective Williams seeks Kirk, known to
him as Locke or Wellar. i
[Continued from last week.] |
But Mrs. Cortlandt checked him, say- |
ing quietly:
“That is all right as far as it goes,
but you forget the other young man.” |
“Eh? How so? Gertrudis will not |
marry this Anthony.”
“Perhaps she loves him.”
“Love is a fancy, a something seen
through a distant haze, an illusion
which vanishes with the sun. In a
month, in a year, she will have for-
gotten: but with me it is different.
This is my life’s climax; there will be
no other.” :
“But how will you handle Anthony?”
Garavel looked at her blankly. “He
is in my way. He is ended! Is not that
all?”
“] am glad you are practical; so
many of you Latin-Americans are ab-
surdly romantic.”
“And why should I not be practical?
I am a business man. I love but two
things, madame—no, three, my daugh-
ter, my success and my country. By
this course I will serve all three.”
“Since you take this view of it, I am
sure that with Ramon’s help we can
dissuade Don Anibal from his course.
The general is sensible and doesn’t
want a fight any more than you do. If
your daughter will consent”—
“My dear lady, give yourself nc un-
easiness. She does not know the mean-
of rebellion.”
] let me look up Ramon. He
end I will approach ‘the general to-
yether® Ghe gave him her neatly
came to him out of the shadows.
“Chiquita is at the house. She wants
to see you.”
“Of course she does. I knew this
wasn’t any of her doing. I've been
hunting everywhere for her.”
“At 9 o’clock she will be in the Plaza.
You know the dark place across from
the church? If we do not come wait.”
Long before the appointed time Kirk
was at the place of meeting, but
scarcely had the city chimes rung out
9 when he saw two women emerge
from the dark side street next the Gar-
avel mansion and come swiftly to- |
ward him.
|
He refrained from rushing out to
meet them, but when they were close '
to his place of concealment he stepped
forward, with Chiquita’s name upon
his lips and his arms outstretched. She
drew away.
“No, no, senor!” she cried. “I sent
for you because there was no other
way, that is all. My father would not
let you come to the house. You will
not think me bold ?”
“Of course not.”
“I could not let you go until you
knew the truth.
it was my fault?”
“I don’t know what to believe, be- !
cause I don’t know what has hap-
pened. All I know is that I got a note |
from your father. But no matter what
it is I'll never give you up.” he de- |
clared stubbornly.
“Ah, I feared you would say those !
very words, but you must do it, just
the same. It will be hard for us both,
I know, but”’— She choked and shook
her head as the words refused to come. |
“Tell me first why I must give you
up?”
“Because in spite of all I am to mar-
ry Ramon,” Gertrudis said wretchedly. |
“Who said so?”
“My father. He has forbidden me
to think of you and ordered that I
marry Ramon. Sick or well, living or
dead, I must marry him.”
“I’m hanged if you do!"
“It is those miserable politics again.
If I do not obey, my father cannot be
president, do you see? Nenor Alfarez
is terribly angry that I refused to
marry his son. to whom since I was a
little child 1 have been engaged.
Ramon also is furious; he threatened
to kill himself.
then. If I will not bind myself to the
agreement, Senor Alfarez will contest
the election. I do not know how you
say those things, but my father will
be defeated. Perhaps he will be hum-
bled.”
“I won't stand for it. They're mak-
ing you a sacrifice, that’s all. What
kind of a father is it who would sell
his daughter”—
“No, no! You do not understand.
He is proud; he cannot accept defeat;
he would rather give his life than be
humiliated. Furthermore. he wishes
me to marry Ramon, and so that ends
it.” Her lips were trembling as she
peered up at him to see if he really
understood.
“Let them rave, dear. What does
it matter who is president? What does
anything matter to you and me?”
“He says I am too young to know
my own mind, and—perhaps that is
true, Senor Antonio; perhaps I shall
soon forget you and learn to love
Ramon as he loves me. I do not
know”—
In spite of the pathetic quaver in her
voice, Kirk cried with jealous bitter-
ness:
“You don’t seem to object very
strongly; you seem to care about as
much for Alfarez as you do for me. Is
that it?”
“Yes, senor,” she said bravely.
“You are lying!’ declared Stephanie,
suddenly.
The girl burst into a perfect torrent
of weeping that shamed him. Then,
without any invitation, she flung her-
self recklessly into his arms and lay
there, trembling, palpitating like an im-
prisoned bird.
“Forgive me, dear,” he exclaimed,
softly. “I knew better all the time.
You mustn't think of doing what they
ask; I won't allow it.” She looked up
with eyes gleaming through her tears
and said, brokenly:
He had yielded to their left’
handed customs out of courtesy. It.
You do not—believe '
So it comes to this '
“Senor, I love you truly. You see.
1 cannot lie.”
Her breath intoxicated him, and he
| bent his head to kiss her. but Ste-
phanie tore her roughly from his arms.
| The woman showed the strength of a
| man. and her vulture-like face was
: working fiercely as she cried:
| “No! She is mine! She is mine! She
! is a good girl.”
| “Oh, T am wicked.” Gertrudis said.
| “I love you. Keerk—yes, I love you
| very dearly. but my father—he re-
| fuses—1 must obey—he has the right.
and T must do as he wishes.”
“Come with me now. We'll be mar-
ried tonight.” he urged. but she only
clung to Stephanie more closely, as if
to hold herself from falling.
“You are very sweet to me,” she
said, with piteous tenderness, “and I
shall never forget the honor. but you
see I caanot. This [s more to my fa-
ther thao his life. It is the same to
all our family, and I must do my
duty. 3 could not let you go away
. thinking this was my doing, so I sent
‘for you. No, one must obey one’s
people, for they are wise—and good.
But one should be honest.”
| The tears were stealing down her
cheeks, and she thrilled to his plead-
ings as to some wondrous music, yet
‘she was like adamant, and all his
lover’s desperation could not shake
her. Seeing that his urging only made
matters worse, he said, more gently:
“You are exalted now with the spirit
' of self sacrifice. but later you will see
that I am right. I am not discouraged.
A thousand things may happen. Who
knows what tomorrow may bring?
Let’s wait and see if we can’t find a
i way out. Now that I know you love
me I have the courage to face any-
thing, and I am going to win you,
| Chiquita. I have never lost in all my
life, and I don’t intend to begin now.
|
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My
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|
| /
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TK)
-
~~
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—
A Darners ™
“Kiss me once so that | may never
forget.”
I'll see your father in the morning,
and I'll be here again tomorrow
night”—
But at this Gertrudis cried out: “No,
no! I cannot meet you again in this
manner.””. And Stephanie nodded her
agreement.
“Then I'll see you the next night— |!
that is, Saturday. You are coming to |
the big ball at the Tivoli with him
and the Cortlandts. I must see you
then, so make sure to be there, and
meanwhile don’t give up.”
“Oh, there is no hope.”
“There is always hope. T’ll think of
something.”
“We must go,” said the Barbadian
woman warningly.
“Yes, yes! Is is of no avail to re-
sist,” came the girl's choking voice.
She stretched out her little hand, and
then, looking up at him, said uncer-
|
again alone, senor. and I must pray to
—cease loving you; but will you—kiss
me once, so that I may never forget?”
He breathed a tender exclamation
and took her gently to his breast,
while the negress stood by scowling
i
Stephanie bad melted into the shad-
ows he stood motionless under the
spell of that caress, its ecstasy still
i suffusing him. Then he turned and
made his way up the street, *but he
went slowly, unseeingly, as if he had
beheld a vision.
CHAPTER XXI.
A Business Proposition.
DITH CORTLANDT’S inter-
view with the rival candi-
‘dates for the Panaman pres-
. idency formed but a part of
her plan. She next held a long conver-
sation with Colonel Jolson, to the end
that on Friday morning Runnels heard
| a rumor that threw him into the great-
est consternation. It was to the effect
that instead of his succeeding to the
office of superintendent he was to re-
tain his old post and that Colonel Jol-
son’s brother-in-law was to supersede
him. Although the word was not au-
thoritative, it came with sufficient di-
rectness to leave him aghast. If true
it was, of course, equivalent to his dis-
charge, for it meant that he could not
even continue in his former position
without putting himself in a light in-
tolerable to any man of spirit. If he
did not resign voluntarily he knew that
his new superior would eventually
force him to do so, for Blakeley would
build up an organization of his own.
Inasmuch as his assistant was con-
tainly, “I—may never speak with you !
and muttering. Even when she and |
cerned in his threatened calamity. Run-
nels made haste to lay the matter be-
fore him.
“Then this would seem to end our
fine hopes. eh?” said Kirk.
ly. “I've worked hard. Kirk. and 1
deserve promotion if anybody ever did.
This other fellow is a dub—he has
proven that. Why, I've forgotten more
railroading than he'll ever know. Iiv-
| ery man on the system hates him and
{ kes me: and on top of it ail 1 was
promised the job. It's tough on the
wife and the kid.”
He stopped to swallow his emotion
and went on:
“l zave this job the best I had in
me, for [I had the idea that 1 was
doing something patriotic, something
for my rcuntry. That's the way they
used to talk about this canal. you
know. I’ve put in four years of hell;
I've lost step with the world; I've
lost my business connections in the
States, and 1 haven't saved up any
money. I can’t quit, and yet I'll have
tc. for if I'm fired it'll mean I'll have
to go .wck there and start at the bot-
tom again. ‘hose people don't know
i anything about these blanked politics.
They'll think 1 made a failure here in
government work, and I'll have to live
it down. What are you going to do?”
Kirk started. Oh, I don’t know. I
was thinking about you. 1 haven't
spent much of that lottery coin. It’s in
the bank, all that Allan hasn't used,
and half of it is yours if you'll take it.
You and Mrs. Runnels and the kid and
Allan and I—and one other party—will
hike back home and get something else
to do. What do you say?”
Runnels’ voice shook as he answered:
“By Jove! You're the—real stuff, An-
thony. [I'll think it over. Who is this
‘other party?”
“My wife.”
“Good Lord!
You're not married?”
“No, but I'm going to be. You talk
about your troubles. Now, listen to
mine. I'll make you weep like a fog.”
Briefly he told his friend of the blow
that had so suddenly fallen upon him.
“You are up against it, old man,”
agreed Runnels when he had heard all.
“Garavel has set his heart on the pres-
idency, and he’ll pay any price to get
it. It's the same all over Central
America. These people are mad on
politics.”
| “But the game isn’t over. I carried
the ball forty yards once for a touch-
down in the last ten seconds of play,
and Yale won. I had good ‘interfer-
ence’ then. and I need it now. Some-
body’ll have to run ahead of me.”
Runnels smiled. *1 guess you can
count on me. What is the plan?”
For the next half hour the two talk-
ed earnestly, their heads together, their
voices low.
“I don’t believe it will work, my
boy," Runnels said at last. “I know
these people better than you, and yet—
Lord, if it does come off! Now, don’t
mention this rumor about Blakeley. I
want to see Steve Cortlandt first.”
“Cortlandt! By the way, do you
happen to remember that he’s to be our
guest for supper tomorrow night? Kind
of a joke now. trying to thank him
for what he’s done, isn't it?”
“Not at all. It may be our one
chance of salvation; he may be the
| one person who can help us.”
i “Well.” Kirk reflected, “I fave a
i good deal to thank him for, I suppose,
outside of this, and I'll go through
with my part.”
He proceeded at once to put his plan
into execution, his first step being to
rent a room at the Tivoli. taking par-
ticular care to select one on the first
floor in the north wing. That evening
(he and Allan moved. Runnels tele-
| phoned during the evening that he
; had been equal to his part of the task,
| so there remained nothing to do but
wait for the hour of the dance.
\ * * {I * * *
It was considerably after dark on
Saturday evening that John Weeks,
American consul at Colon, received a
caller who came to him direct from
the Royal Mail steamer just docked.
At first sight the stranger did not
impress Mr. Weeks as a man of par-
ticular importance. His face was in-
significant, and his pale blue eyes
showed little force. His only notice-
i able feature was displayed when he
removed his hat. Then it could be
seen that a wide, white scar ran from
just over his temple to a point back of
his right ear.
He made his name know as Wil-
liams, which, of course, meant nothing
| to the consul, and while drinking one
| of Weeks’ highballs, inquired idly
{ about the country, the climate and the
people, as if in no hurry to come to his
point. He studied the rat man and
when he had satisfied himself, came
out openly with these words: ,
“I'm looking for a chap named Wel-
lar. He landed here some time late
in November."
“Friend of yours?” :
“Um—m—not exactly.” Mr, Wil-
liams ran a hand meditatively over
the ragged scar on his scalp, as if
from force of habit.
‘“Wellar? I never heard of him.”
“He may have traveled under an-
other name. Ever heard of a fellow
called Locke?”
The consul’s moist lips drew to-
| gether, his red eyes gleamed watch-
fully. “Maybe I have, and maybe I
haven't,” said he. “Why do you want
him?”
“I'm a detective, and I'm after Wel-
lar, alias Locke, alias Anthony. He's
wanted for embezzlement and assault
and a few other things, and I'm going
to take him.” The indistinctive Mr.
Williams spoke sharply, and his pale
blue eyes were suddenly hard and
bright.
Weeks stared open mouthed for an
instant.
“I knew he was wrong. HEmbezzler,
eh? Well, weil!”
[Continued on page 7 Col. 1.1
“Rather!” Runnels broke out bitter-
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