Argosy and Railroad Man's Magazine, Vol. 107 No. 3 — page 133: what you’re looking at

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

THE DEVIL’S RIDDLE. friends or relatives. Or if one does some- thing big—paints a great picture, writes a great book, or performs a great operation. That is the only way, unless one is born - to it. ‘“‘ Your way is right here in your grasp. You are lucky. You have no pull; you have done no big thing, you don’t even have to go out-of Elvira for your chance. You are especially favored of the gods. There’s: nothing you can’t do, nowhere you can’t go, when Dr. Barnes has come into his own. You can’t afford to be foolish, my dear, and throw away your one big chance—perhaps the only one you may ever have. Let the doctor’s past alone.” — ‘“‘ But this is mot his past. It’s happened since we have been engaged.” ‘“‘ Shut your eyes and your ears and your heart to it. Think of your future. This is something that must sooner or later come into every woman’s life.” “Has papa—have you—”’ “* Yes, dear.”’ Aline was silent. But that night she called off a date with the telegraph operator and phoned Dr. Barnes to come over. She made no reference to the thing that was uppermost in her mind, but chat- tered of everything else sH@ could think of. ' Strangely, he mentioned it. “ Aline, I think I ought to tell you that there’s been another woman,” he began haltingly. She was silent. Had he told her that the night before she would have flown into a rage, broken the engagement, and proposed an elopement to the telegraph operator. Now she bit her lip and waited. They were sitting in a big swing on the broad lawn near the house. Her heart pounded wildly. *“* I—I loved her, Aline.” The man was plainly embarrassed. ‘I still—” “You needn’t tell me unless you want to,”’ she interrupted softly. “ T think I ought to tell,” he began. ‘“‘T don’t. I understand, and if you don’t mind I’d rather not hear.”’ Her voice was very gentle; but it was a hard, cruel little face that the soft spring darkness hid. In her heart she wanted to bite and scratch and tear him. Saal 475 “Very well; as you say.” And after a little while he went home. “The great big brute!’’ she cried when alone in her room. “ To ask me to marry him, and then think he could tell me a thing like that! I hate men! MHate’em! Hate "em! They must think a lot of themselves —these men—to think they can do such things, and then tell us about them! And expect us to love them!” She raged and stormed around like a caged panther. “ But wait-till I marry him! I'll show him that two can play that game! ll have a lover, that’s what I’ll do!” Her mother could be sweet and shut her eyes. if she wanted to, she reflected as she . cooled down a little; but not Aline Potts. If it wasn’t that this is the best way to get even with him, she wouldn’t marry him. But, as her mother said, he was sure to be a great doctor and go to a big city to live, and she could have everything in the world. “TIT hate him! I hate all men!” she raged again. ‘“ The doctor is the biggest bore I ever saw. He never has a word to say—just sits and let you talk and talk until your tongue is about ready to drop off, and then he gets up and takes his hat and says: ‘I must go.’ And I suppose he thinks he’s shown a person a nice time! Oh, how I hate him! And he’s never given me a single present except a measly little old ring.” . She went off to bed in a fury. Dr. Barnes did not sleep. His last hope had vanished. Dimly he had hoped she would release him; but she had not cared to hear. She had accepted his confession as a matter of course, and seemed entirely satisfied to go on with things. And last, but not least, he wouldn’t bolt. He was not built that way. CHAPTER XXI. “‘ GOOD-BY, FRIEND.” ~ AUL EVERS was charmed with his new model. He made several sketches of her that afternoon. “Her color! Glo- rious!”’ he exclaimed as impersonally as if she had been a Venetian vase. ‘See, Phil- ip, that wonderful hair against the white NOO > (C(O) S (C(O) mM