The Argosy, Vol. 90 No. 1 — page 181: what you’re looking at

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

THE FIFTH ACE. think this impecunious fortune hunter Thode is in love with you. I listened be- cause it-°was my duty to keep any member of the family from throwing herself away, and I wanted to see how far he would dare to go. I’m here now to tell you the truth.” ‘“T do not want to hear another word!” Willa cried hotly. “It is no affair of yours, and you shall not speak of Kearn Thode as a—a fortune hunter! He is the only real man in this whole crowd! If you listened, you know how proud and inde- pendent he is!” “T heard; but that was only his clever- ness; he knew how eager you were, and he simply led you on to almost propose to him yourself! That was good stuff about not knowing he cared for you down in Mexico until you were leaving. What would you say if I were to tell you that he made a deliberate play for you from the moment he reached that town? Oh, he’s serious enough! He’ll marry you if he can; that’s what he meant to do from the first.” “T think you must be mad!” Willa stared at her cousin in sheer wonder. ‘“Why should he have wanted to marry me? There were lots of other girls in town—”’ ‘“‘ Because he knew who you really were all the time! He knew before Mason ever found you, and he knew, too, what a for- tune you were coming into. You needn’t look at me like that, I know facts!” “JT don’t think you do,” Willa remarked simply. ‘“ You must have taken leave of your senses, or else Starr Wiley has been making you believe the silliest sort of lies. How could Kearn Thode have known who I was? No one did but—but the man who had made me his own daughter, and he would not tell me because he did not want to hurt me by letting me know what mean, contemptible snobs my people were, and how they had served my own father for marrying my brave mother! Kearn Thode knew nothing!” “What if I were to show you proof? Here is a letter in his own hand, telling all about you, and what he meant to do!” Angie pulled a crumpled wad of paper from her bodice and held it out, her whole 175 body quivering in triumph. “ Read it and then you'll know whether he cares for you or not! Read it, I say!” “And I say to you that if you don’t leave this room at once I will ring and have you put out! Don’t you imagine that I can see through a scurvy trick of Starr Wiley’s to get back at the man who beat him twice to a mere pulp? I do not want to see the letter; I will not read it.” “Then listen!” Angie smoothed the sheet of paper. “‘You shall listen! You shall know what that man is scheming to marry you for! There is only a part of it here, but it ought to be enough to open your eyes, blinded with conceit as you are!” “T will not—” Willa began indignantly, but Angie’s voice silenced her. ‘““* Except for him, of course, no one here knows her real name,’” she read, “ ‘ and jt wouldn’t mean anything to them if they did; but I spotted her at once, and later events have only proved the truth of my suspicions. She is the undoubted owner of almost boundless wealth, and when I have gone after her and won her con- sent—’ ) “* Stop!” Willa clapped her hands to her ears. ‘‘I will not listen to one more word! It is a lie, I tell you! A lie!” “There isn’t any more,” Angie an- nounced with a sly grimace. ‘“ That is the bottom of the page, but it ought to be enough for you.” “Kearn Thode never wrote a word of it!’ exclaimed Willa passionately. “I would not believe you if you swore it from now till you die! Go, before I make you!” “Oh, I’m going.” Angie shrugged, and the letter fluttered from her fingers to the floor. “I’ve no desire for a disgraceful brawl, I assure you! Of course I am not familiar with Kearn Thode’s handwriting, but I have proof enough to satisfy me that the letter is his. If you marry him now, you will have bought him with your eyes open, and have no one but yourself to blame if you’re not pleased with your bar- gain! I have done my duty anyway, mv dear cousin. Good night.” Her footsteps died away down the hall, and Willa dropped into a low chair before the hearth, covering her face with her oO Comicbooe S CO