THE HEART OF VIRGINIA KEEP.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16375, 1 November 1916, Page 10

THE HEART OF VIRGINIA KEEP.

BY EDWIN BAIRD, Author of "The City of Purple Dr^ m! etc. (COPYRIGHT.) ' CHAPTER TiZfContinued.) ' F f R0 ™<™° * card-case Trude extracted . . freshly engraved car which he laid j the editors desk. Moffett adjusted 1 | spectacles, removed the tissue paper a, "A. Dempster Tbtoe The St. Louis Publicist Reportorial Staff." "I've overlooked nothing, Mr. Moffett And lost no time, I see. When d you intend to start*" "To-day," promptlv. Moffett sat back, filling his pipe agai out The policy ° the paper?" he thre out tentatively, eyeing *■*■ over ti steel-rimmed spectacles "Will re ma in unchanged. I i- a< y °T CapabI <' haDds ' ««3 i the hands of my lawyers, too, of course. After a thoughtful moment, however to fLf*lf Sr a "ffKetion from tin 5 SS%4S» n&w •«* fOT the iw youiSr- 841417 d ° yon ""» to P« ' I *tS? a £7 er So mor, I l start fl*t. And that's no joke, by th !S- u ?,**s? offic9 bo - v my last cen .Foohsh, eh? But I wanted to make 1 touch lor , m first assignment." 1 ro ;»? e 4 " 1, L itched himself fcrwar ! Sude"SSen b UeneSS and picked n at"tW^'" Baidhe '" I,llll^*loo | " Great

A 0 investogation proved bevon doubt that the odd,, sunny -tempere< rapid-speakmg young man was the parse he claimed to be. There were even new paper photographs to clinch the proof A I Ia&. satisfied. Moffett removed his spe, tacles, and while polishing the lenses c ?° -f. and t erch «i, regarded th youthful milhonan-e in open perplexity I can make you out at all " h anally confessed. Trade smiled. "Don - try. Useless. Mmd caiim your assistant, or whoever it is does th Jmng and firing? And remember? Ho-duig np I, warning fin « " secrecy '" his desk. n<Klded aDd pressed a butt °" ° WdlS boy. BenS t0 «*» h «"'' h aPP f red that Benson - the cif editor had s** yet arrived. Pending hi S3 Th Trade and Moffett improved th fame in beconrrn acquainted. «™L V Se ?> of m five and ei Kht. respec S??t A ™°i d . Trude and his sister Dorothea, had been left motherless. " toLZTrt J^* 1, father died « testate, the bulk of his fortune falling fc his son. Dorothea married well, « Ar nold went to Harvard, where his gift fo spending money and his ebullient 4est ii hvmg assured at least a bubble popularity and tho + wan J , « , l w »s in his blood and no spot could claim him long. Before finishing ins second year he left colleg! to join a polar expedition, and later, iv tog free ran to his adventuresome spirit he explored Africa, or a part of it, Whl ro a Latm-Ame-rican revolution, bought « Texas cattle ranch, roughed it i u th< Canadian North-west, toured the workin a palatial yacht, wrote and ' publishec —at his own expense—a book, and ther swooped upon New York to take a whir at society and Broadway. In New York the open-handed liberality which was ever his most salient trait surrounded him with sycophants who batkmed upon his money-Li like flie« about a leak v. a molasses barrel. Though always eccentric, he was never disagree ably so: and his mercurial temperamert led him to regard each new caprice as the long-awaited and onJv m e, and all the others that had gone before as mere preLeaning forward in his seat, blue eyes shining sun-browned hands flattened between his knees, he was telling Moffett that to play the newspaper game, penniless and unknown, should Drove incomparable sport, when the city editor, an alert iHrd-grained man of thirty, entered " Benson I want yon to add this'voun2 man—Mr. Trude—to vour force ' P-."t Slim on at once. Yon* will find him raw it nrst, bat he's willing to learn. lie las no references." " Your recommend's enough, chinf.'' "I hope jo, Benson; though I'm somewhat doubtful. Mr. Trade's newspaper .Tppnenr- touches zero. But do the best ?ou can vnth him.'' An the two started rom the office he added: " Yon'll have o advance him a dollar or so. He's »roke." Thos it came about that some time later v. Dempster Trude boarded a Maryland Hreet car and set forth on his newspaper hint Several blocks awav, speeding ■lentiy in her electric coupe. Virginia veep travelled a parallel rout. Both .'ere journeying to the same destination. As the street car rattled its way toward he •■rest. Tiude became conscious of a ■•".•• disappointnurt. Hp had expected i'lrietli.r.- hvelin- -a murder, perhaps, or . "an a fire. But to L -,, prying into the ■mate affairs of a respectable old banker iking impertinent Portions of the man's ■ roiW, beg-inß for " a picture of the if tJ>« 7r.T "- ." ' !: ' l ' l ' l ;ik " ' l - l! smacked t the scarinalm"ii!7e>>\\?;l}% pn f H w find himself already ££ »ng "aw?, he opened a copy of the jgbgj and hid hi. =hame Und it 7% Si'ior y V v -* to the "want hat b-ui arwed hi- »v» T>, '° moth u tn ? : >enkn,fe he , )t J , ho V -, Then with a aiefiiUy in his pocket l 1 v ir-uiia rwhH •>■«! n mmb, »j.e felt as a nwW.'t nust fee! when at the me, v ,* St n "rthlv hi^ top,M - te avv fc -wav t" maZe lnfi,W »C he, , :'l-m. AU'her •^,^.', •!. '-*' lhfe j 310 " va a sitting ~, cue Uiepho.l ? •-»' • '■ .un Lewi, olid Lewi- her atv-?- sc,;icit-.-.rs ' Hie parlouiiuaiU that Mrwas a-*a- hr n -I,♦ -r .. t ' • Ilg iionkl card v',-S f- ' T . rudes f '" 'wner in the hall near' tv." '' UmJl'th'. 1 ? ! —ent the inentabOity- Spacer !

or notoriety had not crossed her mind. Now a as she thought of it, proclaiming broadcast her father's arrest, insidiously de;j - daring him guilty, shrieking with rumour ' and innuendo, she experienced no shock, »e nonew ffrief - She could suffer no more. ™_ He stepped toward her, his frank, blue it eyes kindling with well-bred admiration. ht'j, "This unpardonable intrusion—'' he * j began; bat she ruthlessly interrupted. tie' a" I don't care *° discuss my father's ~ i affairs with you, glancing at his "J card—" Mr. Trode." »n ," Perfectly right," he readilv agreed r observing how her satiny black hair, waved luxuriantly back from white temples and forehead, set off the slight 'J pallor of her skin. "But the boss com- '' mands, and I must obey." " She said disinterestedly : " I understand , your position, but I have nothing for vour > paper.'* very obviously she was waiting for him l * to so. * He moved uneasily. '• Well, if tha*',- your ultimatum, I suppose I'd better withdraw." So it would seem." 0 " I'm sorry." .1 " So am I." • She turned away. He drifted doorwards. ,* '' Miss Keep!" She looked around, saw him returning, a noticed him take something from his ~ pocket. ' v "I'd like to ask you about this, if you don't mind." He gave her the clipping. She saw it was her advertisement. '■ It's none of my business, of course, j_ but I'd give something to know why you . put that tiling ui the Publicist." j Studying the bit of printed paper, Vir ginia asked quietly: " Why do you sups pose '' "I thought—if you'll pardon my speakr ing bluntly —that it might have some bearj ing on your father's absence." _ j She folded the .scrap of paper \ j handed it back. A rapid reconstruction of J things was occurring in her brain. Hav--1 ing adjusted herself to the new condition, she met his eyes with : I " Will yon tell me just what too came i here for ?" j " Sura ! To learn the particulars— r of no gravity, I hopeconcerning your j father's departure a few days since." "And you have no ulterior motive?" ' Her black ringed - eyes narrowed upon 2 his. I ! " I'm afraid I don't understand." He was puzzled. I Virginia smiled with apparent reliei. , " Never mind. I'm awfully sorry I have slothing for your -paper, Mr. Trude." He noted that her golden voice waa en- ! i iched with a warmth that was lacking | before. ' i "1 hope your editor will be lenient." j " You haven't explained the adJet,'* he ; reminded her. " it means only what it aavs. Mr, Trnde -bye." ' j . With girlish impulsiveness she held out ; her hand—.-?iirn and lovely and —and ' tor , a second it 'ay in his bronsed palm. As he. looked into her fine, dark eves, he . Ir.-i I trob of his hearl 'ncreato. then , ?f»l<- back gradually to its aormal beat. ' ■ Nt- could V l,l f. of nothing to say except i n'°; jy< ; J? Mid il ' then he left. »e,ure he -Iv 0 uken a dozen steps a half dozen brilliant phrases leaped to his ' »agues but it was too late. It «lw"y" ' : lever «h' rfleCled ' H . e **** *OUght of ' I laying fe ' VnenthetimeWaß *™ for .

Opening the front door, he encountered three men in the vestibule, one of whom • he remembered seeine in the local room of • the. Publicist. "Hello!" holding the door ajar. " What's up ?" > " Wake up. old top!" advieed his fellow worker. " You're the cub Benson put on s ihis morning, aren't you?" Trude admitted be was that cub. i " Then stick around awhile and try to > forget your importance. Benson said I'd probably find you here. There's a hot one off the A.P. wire—Alfred Keep arrested in Toronto for double murder. » Punch that bell, fat, hard!" This last in sudden anger to a roly-poly youth near the door bell; for quite unexpectedly Trude had shut the door from within and the click of the latch told that it had locked. Turning, he beheld Virginia ascending the staircase; and as he hastened after her, calling her name, she paused, surprised and annoyed, tentatively awaiting him. He sprang up we intervening steps, and when he stood near her: " Reporters outside. They know—" " Well ?" as he halted lamely. "They knoweverything." She contracted her level, black brows. "Than that means you know—everything ?" J He nodded silently: and simultaneously both perceived Bartley in the hall below, hurrying to answer the frantic summons at the door. "Stop him!" he urged in an earnest undertone. Not knowing why, though vaguely impelled by his evident sincerity, she leaned over the baluster lad called to the hastening servant. Then she levelled a questioning gaze upon the young man standing I just below her. " You seem, Mr.—is it Prude?" "TrudeA. Dempster." Mr. Trude, you seem to have become rather a champion for my father." " I'd like to p.-otect you—both of you— as much as I can," ho said. " Why ?" " It's the right thing to do." She smiled. " Are all men of your calling so generous?" He matched her smile with a soft laugh that displayed his even teeth in a splash of whiteness against his tan. " Not all, I fear." " I was wondering," she continued, apparently without "weighing his answer, " if you weren't, doing this to ' scoop '—isn't that the proper word ?—to scoop your colleagues." I "I assure yon I have no such tnought." " And, anyhow," he added, reading- the ; scepticism in her level gaze, " I couldn't get a scoop in this particular case, because every paper in town knows of it by now." "Then what do they want?" motioning toward the door. " Photographsinterviews." "And you?" she interposed, resting % hand' against the baluster. " Don't you want the same for your paper?" " Not for a second '" But isn't that disloyal?" He noticed how heavily she was leaning against the baluster : saw a strange expression creeping into her eyes. "I don't care," he said roughly. " Yom > paper—the Publicist—won't it print as much as the others about what has happened ?" "I don't know, Miss Keep. 1 hope, not! » r . r (To be continued on Saturday next..) '