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About Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922 | View Entire Issue (July 31, 1916)
10 THE BEE: OMAHA, MONDAY, JULY 31, 1916. Gloria's Romance By Mr. and Mrs. Rupert Hughes The Floating Trap XoTtllMd train tto Mottom Ketnra Bnu of slut Some Inn lj avoirs atloina. raATvmnro m itotxb stab, kiss billzb bttbeb. Copyright, 1J18. by Adelaide M. Hughes. FOURTEENTH INSTALLMENT. "Think heaven, noboby knows of .jrour escapade," Pierpon Stafford was just saying to his daughter Gloria, She had declined to be frightened by his scowl and had almost won him to smile across his breakfast coffee cup when his eyes fell on the headlines of the morning paper. He nearly went over backward. The butler, who was stealing a glfrnpse of the headlines over hts master s shoulder, nearly west over forward. Pierpont threw the paper down in a rage. Gloria picked it ur, and what ' she read eased her mischievous smile "with one whisk. This is what she read: POLICE NET GLORIA STAFFORD Millionaire's Beautiful Daugh ter, Recent Debutante, Is Caught in Raid on East Side Dance Hall. Dr. Stephen Boyce Battered in Brawl. Gloria was stupefied. She sat in a daze while her fDther went through the other papers. Equally hateful headlines or worse were in all of them. He pushed them before her. She pushed them to the floor. Then brother David came in, his hat and overcoat still on. He carried a bundle of papers, too. He was furious. Gloria meekly waived him and his papers away. . fierpont giowerea at ner. uaviu eat down and glowered at her. The miserable silence was invaded by the second man who appeared and reported: ; "If you please, sir. there's an army of reporters at the door." Uloria threw up ner nanas in sur render. David sprang to hu feet. Pierpont pushed him back and stalked out in a towering fury. He ordered the newsnaoers raiders ott. iney bombarded him with questions. He had to take refuge in the house. He returned to the dining room livid with Wrath. He ordered the servants out. He thundered at Gloria. "Now vou see what would have happened if you had told the police about your delirium i He stormed on, oioria trying vainiy to break in. At last he was exhausted and she spoke: "But. daddv. it was no delirium. 1 saw poor Dick murdered. Last night proved it, for I saw the man who killed him. Why did the judge let him go. Why don t you want mm captured?" Pierpont stared at her, then took her to the window and pointed to the crowd of reporters. He shook the newspapers under her eyes, saying: f My one and only reason for silence is this publicity I it is norrioiei . To one of Gloria a training and po- ition the reporters were almost more perilous than the police. Uloria apologized anu incu w soothe her father by promising him that she would lead the most quiet of , i ,L...ftA tlnu.nl, V. J. TY. ( ih uvea uisrtiusi. uwui" w"w mental reservation that nothing should atop her pursuit of her lovers stayer. could not possibly wait I She banged the receiver on the hook and ran through the telephone book until she found the number of a large men's fur nishing establishment. A dainty gen tleman answered the telephone. His voice revealed awe, then delight, when he learned who was addressing him. "Send me several of everything a boy has to have," Gloria demanded. When the clerk ventured to ask what his measurements were Gloria an swered: "Measurements? How do 1 know? Do you have to have them?" When he said he did Gloria called for her maid, a pencil, a tape measure, a piece of paper, and ran to the ser vants' quarters. She was about to enter one of the doors when she caught a glimpse that made her re treat. Old Griggs, with coat off, sleeves rolled up, and a towel for apron, was just lowering the boy into the steam ing water. He dropped the boy with a splash and, whirling, flung him self against the door. He spoke through it in a shocked manner, mo tioning the boy to hide in the suds. Gloria explained. Griggs opened the door a little and clutched the tape measure. He took the boy's dimen sions and called them out to Gloria, who repeated them to her secretary jiiaid. Griggs had to thrust his arms into the water two or three times to reach the boy's knees and heels. He was most unhappy. Gloria ran back to the telephone and resumed negotiations with the clerk. When he had transcribed the numbers, he promised to deliver the goods in a jiffy. A jiffy is a long time to a boy just out of a tub, and when Griggs explained to Gloria that Stas' entire wardrobe consisted of a Turkish towel and two safety pins, she had more thinking to do, She solved the problem by sending her maid to fetch a pair of her silk pajamas. By and by there was a knock at the door, and Griggs carried in Mas ter Stas. The pajamas were worlds too big for him, but he was almost unrecognizably improved white and pink with curls of gold and the eyes of a cherub. The laundries do not always send things back better than they went, but Stas had gone in a grimy pauper and he came back a prince. Gloria embraced him, called to the maid for a pair of her satin mules for his bare feet, and took him in her lap and combed his curls. He was her new doll, and she wept a lit tle into those curls to think that she would never have a child of her own. She remembered her own childhood and the nursery where she and her brother had been indulged in every toy that money could buy or ingenu ity invent. She hastened up to the great room which she had not visited for years. Poor Stas had never had any nursery besides the streets or any toy except some pitiful makeshift. He did not really know how to play. Gloria had to teach him. He was an apt pupil with the horn and the drum. He pounded and blew until Gloria cov ered her ears. He tried to climb the hobby horse with the drum still on. He got off head first on the other side, but he soon mastered the fierce steed. His attention was attracted by a picture of Indians on the walls. They a ?Ud?eZ 'window'a? two Forlo' f T doing , " ."c.lp-t.ngo about 'a 2?LA tl,Z .tSSlir!. un thV ? d?ivelwhit "P''ve- Stas wanted to know !.UrJ lSl$ rLA'Z Ull about it He had thought Gloria as if they had wandered irom inc liirna and were lost. Thev were the waiter, Casimir, and hia little boy, Stas, whom Gloria had befriended at the night court She had forgotten them and now they arrived at the most inopportune moment Caaimir had Gloria's card in his hand. He saw 'the reporters and grew uneasy. He pushed through and rang the doorbell. Gloria insisted on their admission and greeted them warmly. T Pierpon stared at the ahabby waiter in rfimiMt. He looked at his watch. He started to go. Gloria nabbed him. She told him that she had promised the waiter a job. Pierpont said he had no jobs for waiters. Then he or dered Gloria to lunch with him at the Bankers' club. "The very idea," she exclaimed. l"Ctt Casimir a job there." "In those clothes?" Pierpont ex claimed. i : "Buy him a new outfit," was Gloria s otution. r Pierpont was enraged, but she had her way as usual, and he motioned the waiter to come with him. Cas imir kissed Gloria's hand. The boy tried to follow him and clung to him in terror. Gloria knelt down and call edto the boy. Stas ran to her and let "Casimir go with Pierpont. Gloria led the child to the window. '.They waved good-by to their two par ents, ao different in character and es tate. Gloria laughed aloud as she saw her father issue from the house with Casimir, brush through the gnatlike reporters, and motion Casimir into his car. She was educating her father to be as democratic as she was. .Tha boy Stas looked about the room .aa if he were in heaven and Gloria the winged angel that flew there with ;him. He threw his arms around her acrain lest he fall back to earth. The butler in horror took the boy's dirty hand from Gloria's shoulder and tried to cleanse it on a napkin. It black ened the napkin, but the hand was not visibly bleached. Gloria laughed, put the boy in a chair at the table, and called for fin ger bowls. The butler brought two. Gloria called for soap and a towel. Thia was appalling. The butler almost mutinied. Then she washed the child's hands with the soap in the finger bowls. They turned out to be sur orisinorlv white. She drew a wet towel' down his cheek and it left a white canal. . She laughed again, but more soberly. She pondereed a minute, then made up her i j i .1. - ,....(.. mina ana muuuiicu iu inc , uunci. ."Griggs, what he ' needs is a bath. Yon mav give him one." c J Old Griggs muttered and shook his head. Gloria gave him one of the looks she ruled her father with. "Run 'Jong now, while I telephone for a comolete trousseau for him." . Griggs groaned. Stas did not want to leave Gloria, but she kissed him, ' carefully selecting the clean streak on , his face, and assured him that Griggs ant a nice man. She watched. while Griggs led the boy by one dean finger 4e the servants' wing and one of its bathtubs. Then she ran into her own -oom. She called up her father' tailor, '..only to learn that it would take three weeks to make the boy s clothes. He M f oo IN THE MAJESTIC BLUE DINING ROOM OF THE BANKERS' CLUB GLORIA FOUND CASIMIR AL READY INSTALLED. cause the streets were sparsely popu lated. The street sloped sharply down to the river. Moored to the wharves were a number of huge, cum brous barges. To one of these the Trasks clambered. They went down into it through a cabin door. Gloria was in a plight. She had traced her fugitive to his home. But his home was about to move. A tough-looking tugboat with a tough looking crew was already fastening a towline to the barge. There was no policeman in sight anywhere. The men loitering about the barges did not appeal to Gloria as desirable Samaritans to ask for help. Another of Gloria's impulses stir red her feet almost against her will. She ran along the wharf, crossed a plank to the Trask barge, and went to the cabin hatchway. She heard voices of anger coming up. The girl was upbraiding her father for desert ing her and accusing him of a fur- J ther crime. She was crying hysteri-. cally: "You killed him. He is dead and you killed him." The old man denied the charge with frenzy. "He laughed at it, awore that he was innocent. The girl was already persuaded and this so en raged Gloria that she darted down the steps and cried out at Trask: "You did kill him. I saw you." (To Be Continued.) Advice to Lovelorn an angel before, but she grew still more wonderful when he learned that she had never been honored by being tied to a stake. She saved herself a little by explaining: "I might have been worse than tied to a stake if I hadn't been rescued by Mr. Fre I mean, Doctor Royce." Then she fell into such a deep medi tation that Stas could hardly recall her to finish the story. It was not yet ended when the butler and the second man marched in with two tow ers of pasteboard boxes Stas' trous seau had arrived. Now there was excitement, indeed, and Gloria and Stas forgot the mere Indians in the thrill of dressing and being dressed. Gloria began to fear that she had adopted a hopeless top when she saw how Stas strutted in his finery. In his knickers and frilled shirt, his starched collar, silk tie, pat ent leather shoes, and derby hat, he looked like a pocket Beau Brummel. And then her rapture turned to alarm. The boy began to cough, to turn red ana purpic in wc imc, emu w with paroxysms. ' U, dear! U, dean tjioria moaned ; "he's had a bath, and it's given him pneumonia. The doctor! Quick, I must get him to the doctor I' Dr. Stephen Royce was trying to practice the proverb, "Physician, heal thyself.". He was dressing the wounds of battle he had received the night before in Gloria's defense. He was plastering nis nst ano approving it for its good work when a caller was announced. It was Lois Staf ford. She had repented of her affair with the dead Freneau and was try ing to live it down. Idleness was both temptation and distress. She wanted to know if there was not some work she could do. Royce told her that there were always poor peo ple in plenty and lonely sick. He gave her the address of some of his patients who would never pay, but whom he treated with none the less care. As she was leaving she met Gloria coming in with the boy. Royce wa disgusted because Gloria looked an gry. He should have been delighted at the hint of possible jealousy. Gloria coldly informed him of the boy's bath and its terrible consequences. She made the boy cough for the doc tor. Royce did not seem to be as much impressed as Gloria had been. He set the boy to laughing and got mm to put out ma luiiguc uy malting faces at him which the boy mocked Then he' said: "It's nothing. Just a little tickling in the throat, ehr "I guess so," Stas confessed. "I am tickled all over." ' He . gave the boy a ( jujube for medicine and turned to Gloria. She asked him again why he had tried to deceive her about the delirium. "Why don't you tell me the truth now? What is Lois to you?" Royce protested that Lois was nothing, to him and that a doctor has his secrets like a priest. Gloria was furious. She gathered up the child and was about to storm out, but she paused, meditated, whirled, and went to him impulsively. ' v. . "Forgive me. You saved my life twice. You fought for me then, why against me now?" He answered sadly, i am not fighting against you, Gloria. Some day you will know it, but not from me." Gloria went out sadly and Royce indulged in a little delirium of his own, cursing his luck in managing alwnvft in have his devotion misun derstood. He was glad that Lois re peated his liaison with freneau, put he wished that she had chosen some other person for father confessor or some other time to call. In the majestic blue dining room of the Bankers' club, Gloria found Casimir already installed. Pierpont's influence had secured the engagement for him and money had provided the neat costume that changed Casimir almost as much as StaS had been changed. The captain waiter placed a cushion on a chair for Stas and mo tioned Casimir to lift him into it. Casimir had not yet recognized his own boy, disguised as he was with a bath and rich men's clothes. But Stas recognized his father and hugged him with vigor to the amazement of Aunt Hortensia. who had been in vited to the luncheon so that she and Pierpont might agree on some new interest for Gloria. They agreed to postpone the task till after luncheon. By that time Gloria had flown, and she never did learn what Aunt Hor tensia meant to propose. As the luncheon neared its last course, Casimir was beckoned out by :nu.lnnkinff waiter. When he returned he was evidently suffering a great emotional strain, ne maae klnrfr and was so excited that when Pierpont rebuked him Gloria took pity on him and asked him what the trouble was. The captain was .i RVir a waiter to have personal troubles during a meal was as bad as for a soldier to stop a battle to write a letter home. But Gloria was "she who must be obeyed. Casimir told her that he had just received word that his wife had been nt hack from the hospital, ne broke down and clung to the weeping Stas. Gloria could not understand. She said: "But I should think you would be glad to have your wife sent back.' "No, no," sobbed Casimir. "Poor people who are going to die are sent away trom tne nospnai so mcy win not die there. Gloria was furious. She proposed to investigate the hospitals and turn nut th fiends in charge. Meanwhile she insisted on going to casimir s home and taking Casimir with her. She paused only to telephone Doctor Royce to meet her there. He was difficult to understand as a man, but as a doctor he was ideal. So Gloria dashed away with Casimir and Stas, while Hortensia and Pierpont held up their hands in despair of her. When Gloria's chauffeur and foot man heard the address she gave them they thought they had misunderstood She repeated it in most positive tones. They raised their eyebrows in a way that insinuated, "What next?" Coincidences do happen now and then in real life not quite so often or so gracefully as in fiction, and yet once in a while. In fact, coin cidences make life what it is. And so it chanced that the murderer of Dick Freneau, whom Gloria had fol lowed from the night court, had found a hiding place in the same block where Casimir lived. Gloria recognized the region as her limousine turned into it. She recognized the saloon and dance hall where she had found and lost her man. But she did not recognize the murderer's daughter in the crowd that gathered about the unusual limousine when it drew up along the garbage cans. . Nell Trask was looking for her father, and she paused to see the fine lady descending from the palace car. In Nell's arms was the child of Rich ard Freneau, a beautiful creature like its father. Gloria, hurrying through the crowd, could not help pausing to admire the baby and to tweak the lit tle finger it upheld. There for a mo ment the two women paused with Dick Freneau's child between them: and neither dreamed that the other had ever heard of him. Gloria passed on into the tenement and Nell went to seek her father. When Gloria was led up and up a gloomy staircase to the one dismal. barren room which Casimir and his. wtie and their child had had to call home, she felt that she had no right to romplain of any woes that had be fallen her. a iic sick iiiuuicr was oucsiretcned on an old bed by a dark window. A neighbor's wife, who introduced her self as Mrs. blattery, thank you kindly," was sitting by her. Casimir ran to his wife, and gasping with ter ror at her appearance, dropped on his knees, bhe embraced mm with long white arms so gaunt that thev fright ened Gloria. Stas ran to the other side of the bed and clambered up. His mother turned, stared at him, and only realized after a long look that he was hers. Then she gathered him to her poor bosom with a sob of pitiful rapture. ' Mrs. Slattery rubbed off a chair with her apron and invited Gloria to rest herself, but Gloria went to Casi mir's wife. The wretched woman clutched her hands and held them to her cheek, while Stas and Casimir both explained to her who Gloria was. They told her what miracles Gloria had performed and they, plainly hoped for another, but Gloria was filled with a dread that money would be useless here. She promised glibly, but her heart felt helpless. Dr. Royce came at last and she had some hope that he might redeem the life of the victim of life. He made his examination and spoke cheerfully enough, but Gloria was sure from his tone that he was lying, too. She led him out into the hall to question him. He shook his head gloomily. Gloria protested. "But surely there must be some way to help her I" "Not in this cavern," Dr. Royce in sisted. "Of course, if she were in the country somewhere in the air under the. sky but what chance has she of that?" That was so easy that Gloria laughed aloud. "Oh, if that is all, I'll furnish the air and sky. I'll take them all up to our country place at once. You get them ready. I'll go tell my father that we are expecting guests. "But what will he say to-" "What does it matter what he says?" said Gloria as she ran back into the dingy hall to scatter good news like flowers. She ordered Royce to attend to the details of transporta tion and hurried away to inform her father that she had invited three strangers to his country estate. Glor ia's feet skipped down the stairway and she was humming as she stepped into the limousine and told the foot man. "The officel" The car started and was checked almost at once by a tangle of trucks. Gloria, looking about impatiently caught sight of Nell Trask and her father just leaving the opposite tene ment. She was dumbfounded. As she gazed, they were lost in the crowd. She saw that the car could not be turned around. Every mo ment was precious. Impulse told her not to lose this precious chance. She obeyed impulse. Without pausing to inform the chauffeur, Gloria opened the door, dropped out, and ran after the Trasks. She picked them up again after a while. She saw a policeman. She resolved to order him to arrest the criminal. As she hesitated, she saw Trask stop and tenderly relieve the weary Nell of her baby's weight. He fondled and nuzzled the child with a grandfatherly foolishness. Gloria turned away from the police man. She followed at a little distance, wondering what to do. The best thing would be, she felt, to find out where he lived. She followed for blocks. The Trasks climbed the stairs of the elevated. Gloria went up after them. She took the next car on the same train. It seemed that they would ride on forever. Far uptown they got out. Gloria got out. She trailed them at a greater distance now be- Marriare Announcements. Dear Mtas Fairfax: We have been se cretly married for almost two years and are now desirous of announcing our mar riage. Can you advise Just how to do this? Is there any form of announcement which could be sent to frionds, togethor with "at home" cards? IN DOUBT. The bride's mother or nearest liv ing relative is the one to announce the marriage. Any stationer will give you the proper form of engraved an nouncement. Send them out as if the marriage had occurred just now, but, of course, date them properly. At home cards may be included. Insane Jealousy. Dear Miss Fairfax: A cousin of my fian cee Is soon to be engaged to a young man who used to pay attention to my fiancee before I met her. For some reason my fiancee gave this young man up and he promptly started to court her cousin. He Is very friendly whenever he sees my fiancee. I protested against this friendship, but my fiancee does not like to give up seeing her cousin (and this young man who comes to see his friend very often). I am sure my fiance loves me, but It makes me unhappy to hear about them or see them, and we both therefore suffer a lot. and quarrel. T. MORGAN. You are unreasonable, selfish and jealous a bad combination, don't you think so too, now that I have put it bluntly? Why shouldn't your fiancee see her former friends? If you have so little faith in the woman you love, you will make a nightmare of your marriage. Chaperones Are Needed. Dear Miss Fairfax: A certain young man'a club, consisting of six men, has rented a bungalow for the summer at one of the seaside resorts and have invited aome of their girl friends to visit whenever they feel Inclined. These people are all very friendly, having known each other's fami lies for at least four years. Would it be proper for these girls to go to the bunga low on a week-end party over Saturday night; the bungalow to be occupied only by the girls? PERPLEXED. It would be highly improper for the young women of whom you speak to visit these boys at their bunga low unless they are chaperoned. I can see no reason why the parents of some of the young people or a mar ried couple could not arrange to go with them. Any other course would result in unpleasant comment, which, I am sure, you would all prefer to avoid. Visiting an Invalid. Dear Miss Fairfax: Would it be consid ered correct for a girl to visit a man suf fering from Injuries and confined to a private ward In a hospital? And In the way of a token or her sympathy what might she bring him. PUZZLED. There is no reason why you should not visit a sick friend, just as you would go to see a girl who was suf fering. A book, flowers, fruit, or bet ter still, a little bit of home cookery would be perfectly appropriate offerings. THE PLAZA NEW YORK World's Famous Hotel Opposite Central Park at 59th Street ok to All Theatres and Shops SUMMER GARDEN and Outdoor Terraca Cool and Refreshing Place to Dine Wrilt jet Rtunttkn 7Woy FRED STERRY. 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