W n 'St&;tX;irrf&,r
EVENING PUBLIC LEDGER PHnJADELPHIA, SATUBDAY, OCTOBER
l) A
A BACHELOR HUSBAND
THE GUMPS Taking Ne Chances
By RUBY M. AY RES
Auther of "Richard Chatterton," Etc.
Cevvrleht, MO, tv IP. J. Watt 4 Ce.
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l WVt- J W TO- I TH WK ; Un IT IF 1 HVtT0 I
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r-HAPTEIt I
The had always adored him.
ty - ,
ilm mi linn nt tvu -- . - . .
cBepiBw. - -.- - w.-i, Chester naa
4lnw Mm the m'eBt wonderful person
W wirW. BhewMe4 or him
In' n we .,.. w.. his willing bend-
W.'l net mind at all when
"'-'in an unusual flt of eloquence,
t.J VnHdcd In him that she thought
fr ..! loveliest tune en eurm w
" aI lather young Christopher an
baTeJ riSest brutally that she "talked
jrtrvTyfnd that sister, were a
UW SSkrfnt her with a sort of con cen con
.iVfer a moment, then added: "Bo "Be
K wVre net brother and alster,
"rhey'werc net: but their fathers had
waWelenir friend-''. " when Geerge
Jflfr'8 wlfe Inconsiderately or se
ft," husband thought-died without
" ?.!.. him w th a son. and almost
ttfte t,me young Christopher
MwleM was left an orphan, Geerge
farter promptly adopted him.
l will de Marie geed te hrtTO e
Wither." he maintained, when his
BSrteaa C,,eatcr' Zh1, keptte,!
for h m. w18 ,nn oWectlen. 'Wb
?Li"iz!-i,.i(inrlv bdeI ed and a boy
Xut the place wllkneck off some of
hTeu Silitffi certainly did that
mneh. If no mere, rer in n ieruugm nc
hid terned Marie, who was naturally
rither hy nnd reserved, Inte a tomboy
-he climbed trees with him regardless
of Ifllary te life and limb, who rede a
eeb barebacked round the paddock, who
eH In fact, everything he dare or
ordered ner w uu.
Jdlaa Chester protested te Marie's
ftthr In vain. ... T
"Christopher Is mining her I can
da nothing with her newl She is qulte
a different child slnce he came te the
home."
Marie's father chnekled. He was net
a particularly refined man, nnd the
dilntlnws and ehynesa of his little
Atnrhttr had rather embarrassed him.
He was pleased te think that under
CJristepner s guiding nana no was
what he chose te call "Improving."
"De htr geed I" he uald bluntly.
"Whire's the harm? They're only
children."
But the climax came rather violently
irhen one afternoon Marie fell out of
tialeft into the yard below, and broke
he arm.
One of the grooms went running te
the rescue and picked her up, n forlorn
little heap with a face as white as her
frock.
"I fell out myself!" she said with
quivering lips. "I fell out all my own
Yeung Christopher, who had clam
bered down the ladder from the left,
broke In violently :
"Ehe didn't! It was my fault! She
made me wild, and I pushed her. I
didn't think she'd be se silly as te fall,
though," he added, with an angry leek
t UCt. OMU UUU . JUU UVUUIO W ll'll
lien about me."
The groom said afterward that she
bid net shed a tear till then, but at the
inrxy words she broke down suddenly
into bitter sobbing.
8be did net mind her broken arm,
1st ehe minded having offended Chris Chris
telhrr. It wnn thi c-intnt- ft-sti.M.. i.A
J hid ever known when as a consequence
vi ic atciuciu unnstepner was Rent
away te a bearding school.
Hereafter she only haw hlra by fits
and etarts during the holidays, nnd then
he lecmed somehow quite different.
He took but little notlce of her, and
It generally brought n friend home with
Mm from school. He mes getting be bo be
yend the "boy" stage, and developing
a wholesome contempt for girls as n
Whole!
rfSi r,aJcp"he went te n pbiic
jenoel, he forget te ignore her, nnl
tee te patronizing her instead. She
waan t such a bad little thing, he told
3" nw term if she liked the might
Marls knitted hinr two which he
mX?'!1 LSh w0,,,d ,mve Weckwl
tie slightest wish for her te de te.
Then. lMer .tin i, .
MA.. ..Ji 7 1 .. .w-"1 " '-am-W4w
and forget all about her. He
nardly ever came home ilnn vni
w0ri.w"k"eIu,s; h0 hl "nny
WWtts, It seeme.1, and was In great de
Band amensst them nil.
Marie rnniM n..i. u.ii .. -.
Wif.. . i ...''""'. u'eve it. one was
WV7; Xa,",0 ,V,cbe unknown
wfc,.nd lndrientalJ- of the tirters
wch the was sure some of them must
AtbrV,' h00,,Jle". and
UU Si, V" hnJr wns tlwl in n p's-
vV, m iarse. bow at the end.
... .I.eu wen have te nut veur hnir
& ,?wlM ffl8t. Marie," Miss
? :At0 her rathir sadly-w1"-"
BhVwfinned.n,t,hr',e, ,n the 8'a-
r.V !flr. tytrem conceit she could
xenebeautv In h n.i. , j " .
atogether'with'hernamee
KreSmehher.,lnd InhCritCd frm
ilaSii "kc ,,7,,n.t!ler- A"ntle Madge?"
&?? .urn'ether'n ryes."
"xV'PJ?ekc1 reflection cnin.
hV.i i . very Pretty, wasn't
. e.Was very pretty."
t Marl. Blghed. ''Of ,?;.. t .,.
helidT"?t'y:'.'I.,?.,ri8 "n'HB these
Mlaa Cheftp,. shoel c'her I.ph.i
Knights!" S t0 Seetla"(' with th.-
Mttrln A..,.!.. ... .
the ,.m "..".'. 'J!"tf the Knights."
ttem bun . "?: .T"' ""I ,PV',' ""
one and i.vr,,i ' . '" "",0" ('Nri'y
P from b?rlh,,,B wll leek Chris'--The
follewi,:. ,.nr
Mhereherf. ' ! SI"1",' nn(I whlle 8l,,
A X ' fl,tilcr Jl('(1 suddenly.
' "d "ffri rrem KnK'"'"1 '"te nn
''Mke?'.",,;'"'
10 her. thou!! i. ,h VnB Rr(,nt Brief
AVnen te u, , , ,"" "ne "u"
, fr he hi," drB 'r fl,,i fr H that she
'lev .),. . ,"."fnp for her. hut nnv .1 ,
!.. " Ulllllt lint. 1, , , : .-
"""Channel L 1? "u,,ftK l,,bln "" "w
tn ei XI,? r ""' Hli te the
" Wm te eemVV ? mi tUy wlreil
wai? Mme '"""e 'rem wherever
'pent h Vi ' ;? doing or hew he
f ? ay in i V "U net knew. All
Jew een "l e XL,'ll him- wondering
?'"r diramni ?u'fW, M,! hlm' b"t he
rn, and the ,ii 'W",(l meet tl,
"W flattenn CM,1"B deH" ,1,c
Una. ... v??y .n" and verv much
lxtr?St .Tery chlldUh and insignificant
t.i ."'8 "nagnlflcence as shu walked
with Mm te the waiting car, for the
house ln the country had long slnce been
given up, and Geerge Chester had lived
in Londen for nome years befere his
death.
"Have you get your ticket?" Chris Chris Chris
topher asked, very much as he might
have asked a child, and Marie fumbled
in ner pecxet wiuj lingers that shook.
"I nearly lest it once," she volun
teered, and Chris smiled ns lib answered:
ics, that's the sort of tiling you would
ae."
He looked down at her. "Yeu haven't
altered much," he said condescendingly.
"You're still Just a kid."
Mnria did net answer, but ber heart
swelled with disappointment. She was
eighteen, and she knew that he was but
six years elder.
Tears age that six years had net
seemed much of a gnp, but new. looking
up at him, she felt It te be an Insuper
able gulf.
He was a man and she was only a
schoelelrl with chart sklrta nnd h.r
nair down her back.
They sat opposite one another in the
car. nnd Chris looked at her consider censider
ingly. "It's a long time nlnce I saw
you," he said.
"Yes, eight months," she answered
readily. She could have told him the
date and the month and almost the
hour of their last meeting had she
chosen, but somehow she did net think
he would be greatly Interested.
"It's rough luck about Uncle
Geerge," he Bald awkwardly, and Marie
nodded.
"Yes."
She wondered If he thought ahe
ought te be crying. She would have
been amazed If Bhe could have known
that he was hoping with all his heart
nnd soul thnt she would net.
He chnnged the subject abruptly.
"Aunt Madge would have come te
meet you, but there Is se much te see
te. She sent her leve nnd told me te
say she wns sorry net te be able te
come."
"I don't mind," said Marie. She
would Infinitely rather have been met
by Chris. Her dark eyes searched his
race with shy adoration.
She was aulte sure there hnd never
been anybody se geed-looking ns he
ln nil the world; that there hnd never
been eyes se blue, or with such n
twinkle ; that nobody had ever had such
a wonderful smile or such a cheery
laugh ; that there was net n man ln the
whole of Londen who dressed se well or
looked se splendid.
As a matter of fact, Christopher was
rather a fine-looking man, and perfectly
well nware of the fact. He had mere
friends than he knew what te de with,
nnd they all, mere or less, spoilt him.
He was generally goed-temperod, and
nlwnys geed company. He waR run
after by all the women with marriage
able daughters, though, te de him jus jus
tlce, se far he evinced very little In
terest in the opposite sex.
He looked new at Marie, and thought
what a child she was! He would have
been amazed could he have known that
beneath her black coat her heart was
beating with leve for him, deep nnd
sincere.
Faithfulness was a falling with Ma
rie, If It can ever be cnllcd n falling.
There was something deglikc ln her
devotion that made change imposslble.
Her best friend at school hnd been un
kind te her manr times, but Mnrlc'H
affection had never swerved, and all the
tyranny nnd bullying she had received
from Christopher ln the past hnd only
deepened her adoration. In her eyes
he was perfect.
There were many things she wanted
te say te him, but she was tongue-tied
nnd shy. It seemed all tee seen that
they reached home nnd ChrlsteDhcr
handed her ever te Miss Chester.
Miss Chester took Mnrie upstairs nnd
kissed her and made much of her. She
took it for grnnted that the girl wns
broken-hearted at the death of her
father. She wns n sweet, old-fashioned
woman who always took It for granted
that people would de the right thing.
and she thought It wns the right thing
for any daughter te grleve at the less
of a parent.
"Yeu grew se fast," she said, os she
nnld every time the girl came home.
"Yeu will hnve te put your hair up."
Marie turned eagerly. "Oh, auntie!
Tonight, may I?"
Miss Chester did net think It would
matter, and se presently a very self
conscious little figure ln black crept
downstairs through the silent heuse and
Inte the dining room, where Chris
topher was waiting Impatiently for his
dinner.
He turned quickly ns Marie and her
mint entered. He was a man who hated
being kept wnlting a moment, though If
It plensed him he breke nppelntmcnts
without the slightest hesitation.
Conversation wns intermittent during
dinner. Naturally there was a gloom
ever the house. It wns enlv as they
were leaving the table that Miss Ches
ter said. Rinlllne faintly : "De veu no-
tlce that Marie has grown up, Chris?"
"Grewn up!" he echoed. He looked
at Marie's flushing face.
"She hns put her hair up," said Miss
uneaier.
Christopher looked away indifferently.
"Oh, hns she? I didn't notlee."
The tears started te Marie's eyes.
She felt like a disappointed child.
CHAPTER II
"All men kill the Ihlnic they love,
l)y all let thin b heiml.
The coward rtoen It with a klm '
There followed n terribly dull week,
during which Mitrle hardly went nut.
Miss Chester believed in seen days' un
broken mourning, nnd she kept the girl
te It rigorously.
Christopher came and went. He
iecmt'd very busy, nnd was constantly
shut tip In the library with men whom
.MKs ( heater snlil were 'lawjers.
"There nrc u cent many tlilnas te
settle, vmi knew," she told Mnrie.
'J our fntlicr hnd large properties and
much menev te leme.
Marie snfd, "Oh, hnd he?" nnd lest
Interest. As yet money hnd net much
significance for her, but shu watched
the dosed library duer with anxious
cjeh. Would it never open?
It wiw quite lute tlint evening before
die saw Chris again, and then he came
into the ilrawing-renm. where she wns
trying te rend nnd trying net te listen
Fur his step, nnd, cinsslng te where
she sat, steed looking down at her.
It was getting dark the June eve
ning wns drawing te a close and she
could net see Ills face crj illstlnctlv,
iiiciiiKn sue ten in some curious way
thnt there was a different note in his
elee when he spoke te her.
"Hew old are you, Mnrle?"
She looked up amazed. Surely he '
"Hem in Knew ner age wncn tney had
grown up together? Hut alie nnHwered
nt ence: "I was eighteen last May."
"And n kid for your age, tee," he
sulci abruptly.
She closed her book, a faint sense of
hurt dignity In her heart.
"I knew- a girl who wns married nt
eighteen," she said.
ClulMephur Inughed. "I can't Imag
ine jeu married, nil the same," he snld.
"Why net? I don't see why net,"
she ebjected, effendedly.
CONTIXUKifeMOXDAY
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SOMEBObrS STBNOGWhat'B the Uset ,
Copyright, 1021, br Publle Ledger Cempanr
By Hayward
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