Adventure, January 20, 1922 — page 107: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

- Men of the Night “How did she happen to attract this Holder? You say he is very rich.” . “Oh,” she answered carelessly as if think- ing of something else, but getting this in- formation out of the way, “he was slum- ming or something and found her nursing a lot of sick dago babies. They weren’t hers, so he thought she must have a good heart. She was always crying over some- thing—other people’s troubles. But you tell me—”’earnestly—‘“‘how did Holder get my father’s papers?” “He didn’t get them.” She looked outraged by such a stupid at- tempt to deceive her. “He did.” “No. Just copies of certain “Oh! Now I know!” : Something had struck her that seemed to illuminate all that had been puzzling. She drew away from him, anger glittering in her eyes. “Vou didn’t sell them—you gave them. I have been a fool. You might have got any price you wanted, and you gave them. You did it for Javotte. You love her!” | There is no checking the anger of sus- picion. Leela went on: “Now I know. Now I do know. You weren’t man enough to admit.” Scornfully: “Dear sweet little Javotte! love to pose as her protector!” Middleton asked— “Would a denial be of any value to you?” “No. No!’ She stamped a foot and snapped a thumb and finger. “You can lie from now till some dago’s knife gets to your throat—I’m a dago, too— and I wouldn’t believe you. Why else did you do it? You don’t know Holder. You know Javotte. Father has a temper— You—you Black Devil, you wanted to help Javotte.. Oh, I should have known. You helped her before. You love her—don’t you? Don’t you? You do!” Middleton was maddeningly uncon- cerned. He had no anger at all and scarcely any interest. He made no protests. If wishes were potent he would have fallen dead at her feet, then and there; though by the potency of the same wishes she might have stood him up again on his own feet a few hours later. She did not realize that she had over and over seen with What composure he con- 93 You do so 105 cealed his feelings; but she felt that he was indifferent to her, to her love and to her anger, and this sense of outrage increased her resentment. ‘“‘When I came into this room,” she said rapidly, her eyes wide and full of fire, “I would have laid down my life for you. Now I will kill you!” She made a gesture toward her breast; but Middleton, with eyebrows slightly lifted and a bored, weary expression on his thin, aristocratic face, seemed so much like a spectator at a dull show that Leela checked her dramatic instinct and con- tented herself with abusing him. When she paused for breath he asked, unruffled, if she cared to have the use of his car in returning home. “With you! I let you take me anywhere! I wouldn’t—” she poured out the sentence; itself an echo of some retort drunkenly made across one of her father’s tables—‘“I wouldn’t let you drive my hearse to answer roll-call on Judgment Morn!” “T take it from that you would prefer to have Silkeen Harry “That thing! TU kill him.” Her way of saying that was different. She was no outraged woman, but a woman with a feud. Silkeen was in her eyes a com- mon gutter variety of gangster. Middleton put out his hand to the tele- phone. “Shall I have a taxi?” “There is that Billy. He seemed a gen- tleman.” “Oh, yes.. Yes. Very much so, indeed. Mr. Wingate it is. William Wingate. Known as Billy the Dude, so you see that his—ah—the gentlemanly quality you rec- ognized is fully appreciated. I will call him.” As he turned toward the door Leela stared dumbly at his back, wondering just why she felt that she had been insulted. It was not quite clear, but she was sure that she had been. Anyway when Billy came in she was sud- denly pleasant. It was with the briefest of casual glances that she paid any attention at all to Middleton as she left the room. The wolfhound followed her to the door, but she did not notice him. And if, as some people think, it means the loss of the immortal soul to give over one- self to the blandishments of a woman, Billy in the small hours of that chilled morning threw away his chances of Paradise. -It was COMmMicloooks (E@