Argosy All-Story Weekly, November 12, 1927 — page 71: what you’re looking at

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

QUEEN OF CLUBS. masklike old face. When Breedon’s words dripped butter and honey he was most. dangerous, He never came out with any- thing crude and raw. You had to listen to his words and then make up your mind what lay behind them. And God help you if you got his meaning wrong. One by one Breedon fixed the young men with his hard eye. “I want you to show her a good time,” he repeated. “ Flatter her, make her feel good; but don’t try to push yourselves forward personally. You are her dancing partners, nothing more, If she smiles at you kindly, don’t be misled by it. “We got to take care of this little lady. Take your cue from me. I shall treat her like a father. You're all.equal in this; if any one of you tries to make time on the others, it’s out for him.” He illustrated with an energetic gesture. They nodded again. ‘‘ Are we supposed to know who she is?” asked Chablon. “Sure!” said Breedon. secrecy about it.” “Her coming here will make talk.” “What of it? The more talk, the better for business.” Having dropped his hint, Breedon pro- ceeded uptown to get Carola. In his car he listened sympathetically to the recital of her troubles, and patted her hand. She quickly felt better. “You said you wanted to consult me,” he reminded her. “ Yes,” said Carola. “It’s about Mr. Minturn, He’s been calling me up all day. I suppose he wants to go on being my lawyer. I said I would see him to-morrow morning. What ought I to say to him?” “H-m!” said Breedon thoughtfully. “Tt wouldn’t be such a bad idea, Carrie. If we treated him rough, he might make a scandal.” “A scandal?” ““T mean, get us the wrong kind of pub- licity,” he explained dryly. “ You get your _ property firmly in your own hands, Carrie, and let the old boy go on playin’ round.” “ But how shall I do that?” “Put it in a safety-deposit vault, and you take the key—the only key.” 5A “ There’s no 345 ‘ All right,” said Carola. “And by the way, don’t mention my name to Mitchell Minturn,” added Bree- don carelessly. ‘‘ Me and him had a little trouble once. He don’t like me,” In the theater Carola was enchanted. It had the allure of something which had been forbidden. To tell the truth, there were some things about the show she did not like, and other things, at which the audience laughed noisily, that she did not understand. But she mustn’t be prudish, she told herself; it was all life. That was what she had asked for, and she could never get enough of it. Breedon, who had seen the show a num- ber of times, did not bother to look at the stage, but sat, half concealed by the cur- ‘tains of the box, studying Carola with a fond and fatherly expression. The odd thing was, that he really felt like that. Like other men, Breedon was a curious mixture. He was thinking: Dear lil thing—lI will protect her from the wolves of New York! And at the same time the thought of her money was always pres- ent in his mind like the heat of a pleasant fire. He would never have admitted to him- self that he was planning to get her money, but all his acts were directed to that end. If things went well, her fortune, or a good part. of it, would just naturally flow into his hands, and he would go on feeling fatherly and protective to the end. When the final curtain fell Carola sighed like a child. “Oh, I’m so sorry it’s over!” “Well, it’s over here,” said Breedon; “but the night is young. What say if we go have a bite to eat somewhere, and see another show?” “A night club!” said Carola. “I would love that better than anything.” “Ever hear of Elysia?” asked Breedon. She shook her head. “I never could get anybody to tell me about those places.” “We'll go there. It belongs to a friend of mine, and for to-night it shall be yours.” Carola was rather disappointed by the outside of Elysia, it was so plain. Just an old-fashioned brownstone house without any lights in the windows; not even an electric sign.- To be sure, one car after ; Gomichboo <S) (E@)