The Argosy, Vol. 90 No. 1 — page 165: what you’re looking at

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

THE FIFTH ACE. only just returned. May I bring her to call to-morrow?” ~ “T shall be delighted.” Willa paused, regarding him with a puzzled little frown. “Do you know you have changed, some- how, Mr. Thode? You are ever so much thinner, and pale beneath your tan, and you look—oh, almost as if you had been suffering! Am I imagining things, or have you been ill?” “TY had an accident just after you left Limasito. It was nothing serious—just a slight concussion—but it laid me up for some weeks,” Thode replied easily. ‘‘ That is what delayed my work and prevented my return before.” He looked beyond her as he spoke, and his face darkened swiitly. Willa, noting the transition, glanced over her shoulder to see Starr Wiley, smiling and urbane, standing just within the doorway. ‘Another reminder of Limasito,” she re- marked. “A most unwelcome one. But tell me about your accident. I am so sorry—”’ His hostess claimed Thode at that junc- ture and bore him away to fresh introduc- tions. Willa started across the room to Mrs. Halstead, but Starr Wiley intercepted her coolly. ‘““How do you do?” he asked. Then, without waiting for her reply, he went on: ‘But that is a superfluous question, isn’t it? You are looking as_ distractingly charming as ever. So our knight errant has put in an appearance once more! He looks a little the worse for wear.” “Mr. Thode has been ill,” Willa re- marked through stiffened lips. ‘“‘ There was an accident—” “A hootch bottle in the hands of a jealous senorita becomes an effective weap- on, but I would call it more like fate than accident.”” Wiley laughed unpleasantly. “There were some _ interesting rumors afloat about our friend’s conquests after your departure from Limasito. He’d be an expert porch-climber if his practise in gain- ing access to certain balconies on certain back streets counted for anything. I could have told you before, but I did not want to shatter your illusions concerning the local Paul Revere.” 159 “You are trying to now, however.” Willa looked straight into his eyes and then quickly away in immeasurable disdain. “I have no ears for idle, malicious slander, Mr. Wiley. Please let me pass.” “Tt does rather jar on one, doesn’t it? A reminder of the low, primitive life down there is out of place in this highly esthetic atmosphere.”. He made no move to step aside, and a shade of deeper meaning crept into his tones. “ It would be a pity if one were compelled to return to it. The charms of Limasito would pall, I fancy, after all this; yet such things sometimes happen.” “I trust not, for your sake,” Willa re- sponded. ‘“ You would scarcely find the climate of Limasito a healthy one, if your activities were fully comprehended there.” “TI was not thinking of myself’ — he smiled once more — “ but of an old fairy tale which I mentioned to you in the park. You look a very confident Cinderella, but midnight is not far off; and only you can stop the hands of the clock, remember.” “Tam not fond of riddles.” Willa shrugged and turned away to greet her host, who came forward with one of the inevitable callow youths in tow. Dinner was announced almost imme- diately, and Willa sat through it with the food untouched before her. Wiley’s in- sinuations against Kearn Thode she had dismissed utterly from her thoughts, but his renewed taunt of the morning filled her in spite of herself with dread foreboding. Could Fate have indeed been playing with her, after all; and was it possible that Wiley held within his hands the strings of her future destiny? She was Willa Murdaugh, of course. Mason North and the Halsteads had satis- fied themselves of that beyond a shadow of a doubt. But what if Wiley had really stumbled upon some facts unknown to them all which might throw a shadow across her title? Was it an idle threat to coerce her, or a very tangible menace? She raised troubled eyes to meet Kearn Thode’s smiling ones across the table, and her native courage came back in a swift rush. Surely she had nothing to fear; she would meet Wiley and beat him at his own game, and then— She smiled again into oO Comicbooe S CO