Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 285, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 November 1912 — WINNING OF DOLLY [ARTICLE]

WINNING OF DOLLY

Thrilling Encounter With Bandits Puts Pompous Italian Count - to Rout. By H. 8. CANFIELD, JR. J Arnold was already heartily .tired •of the disguise* It was his nature to do all things openly and above board; and it irked him to have to stoop to subterfuge, even in the struggle for the hand of the woman he held above •all. Besides, for a man who had never answered to the call or the. craze of the petrol, goggles, high-collared •coat and bunglesome cap formed a •discom fitting rampart behind which to hide features and form. WMh a growling imprecation against stubborn fathers and fate, who kept him fighting for his share of the world’s goods instead of endowing him with such at •short notice, Arnold swept the big, Takish-looking car in a viciously short curve and brought It to a panting standstill before the Leonard mansion in the Upper Drive. To his associates and enemies alike on 'Change, "Old Bull” Leonard was the personification of what all good mothers warn their sons against growing up into. He was Just as merciless and cruel as his rise to fortune was sudden and spectacular. The one •oft spot in his heart was,, for Dolly, and her request for an imported car of fabulous horsepower and an instructor in its ways and tricks of locomotion, was granted readily. The recognition of struggling young Arnold had been the one request againßt which the old broker had hardened his heart. The Influence of a young man, well liked for his personal qualities, is sometimes as far reaching as that of an old man well munitioned with gold, and Arnold had experienced no difficulty in landing the place as instructor in auto driving to the beautiful Dolly Leonard. 1 s ' Arnold had no chance to step from the car after it had stopped. His heart warmed and his face flushed happily at the suddenness with which Dolly threw open the doors and almost ran to the curbing In response to thp "honk, honk” of the horn. Dolly had admitted her love for him when Arnold had first poured forth his story of his passion for her; and she was not ashamed to show that Bhe had been awaiting him just as eagerly as he had whisked the big car along over the boulevards. It was the lesson in love, all the better for the subterfuge and evasion of authority, which appealed to the girl, not the dry, technical explanations of this and that part of the steering gear, through the impartation of which Arnold was supposed to be earning the dollars of her father. Dolly was ravishing in her auto toggery. The carelessly drawn veil hid Just enough of the pink ear nearest the begoggled Arnold to make him long to press his lips just below it, a desire which imperiled both occupants of the car as they sped along. Incidentally, Dolly learned that such a thing as a clutch existed somewhere about the brightly new machine and that certain twists of the wheel did certain things; also that the gear box wasn’t under the hood. She soon forgot even these vague intimations of mechanical knowledge upon the part of her lover. But the things she did not forget were the long, sweet silences following short, half whispered sentences as Arnold brought the machine to a snail’s pace along the cool country roads and slipped one arm around her waist and half up about her shoulder so that she might lean her head close to his. Through the long summer the rides cdhtinued. It was not until in the splendid autumn that the Count Rivoli put in his appearance, in search of some fair American girl with whom went a handsome dot to repair the financial standing of his family. With the advent of the Italian, impecunious as his rival, Arnold’s pains and pangs began. The evident pleasure evinced by Leonard pere in having a nobleman as a suitor in his daughter’s train acted not as a balm for the wounds of the young broker. It was bad enough for him to know that it was the Count Rivoli who almost nightly enjoyed the hospitality of the Leonard mansion or occupied a seat 1n a box beside the charming Dolly, without having insult added to injury by the presence of the Italian fortune seeker as one of the motoring party. As the afternoons passed in speeding over the roads, with Arnold bound by the restrictions which surround ordinary chauffeurs, while the Count sat snuggled up with Dolly and insisted upon murmuring his tender speeches for her ears alone, the situation became almost unbearable to the American. At times the muscles In his shoulders became taut and strained against the power of his self restraint as some few words ot the Italian’s reached his ears. Once, when Rivoli took it upon himself to give the orders for the party in a tope and manner insulting to even the most regularly employed chauffeur, it was a hurried, surreptitious touch on his arm from Dolly’s slender fingers that kept him from striking out with his clinched hand and knocking the arrogantly sneering foreigner to the ground. He seldom caught a word with Dolly now since her titled suitor, under parental sponsorship, had monopolized her every leisure hour. Dolly cared not a whit for the Cqunt; she liked his companionship even less; but the workings of the. young lady’s mind were many and involved and she knew where was drawn the line over which

she must not step in openly opposing the wishes of her father. It was Count Rivoli who proposed motoring to the inn far out along the lake shore, supping there and returning late by moonlight. To Dolly,-psy-chologically, waa conveyed the Italian’s Intention to put his future happiness—or financial standing—to the test; Arnold had become too grumpy and saturnine to be open even to the ;most openly Intimated purpose upon the part of his rival. Self aggrandizement was not the least Important topic to which Rivoli devoted his musical voice and captivating accent. The Italian was a splendid talker, when his words reached only the ears of women, and with an air of modesty cloaking his utterances, he contrived to dwell at length and at all times upon his heroic achievements. According to th'e Count Rivoli, the courage of the Count Rivoli knew no bounds; for Mees Doll-ee he would dare any danger, go to any length to win a smile from her lips. So It was as the three, Dolly, the Count and Arnold, sped back over the roads, white in the soft moonlight. Dolly had ceased to answer even In monosyllables, allowing the Italian to run on, building up the pedestal upon which he was to take his stand. “I am glad that you have no brigands here, Mees Doll-ee,” he was saying In a tone which promised reminiscence. “But when one comes right down to it, It is not good to have no opportunities for excitement save for dodging death in these terrible streets of yours. Just before I left my home in Italy, I myself escaped death or capture at the hands of what you call hold-up men. Had I not been so prompt and cool of action, shot one man where he stood and put the others to flight, I would have—” A growling curse burst from Arnold. He threw on the brakes with grinding force and Dolly and the Count were abruptly huddled together by the gear-tearing stop of the car. With an impatient, explosive Italian word, Rivoli sprang up. Suddenly, with his face gone to a sickly pallor, his Jaw dropping till his mouth gaped open, he sank back weakly upon the cushions. “Ah-ah-ah-ah —” he mumbled unintelligibly, and then sat In quaking silence. “Come on there, the three of yoti—up with your paws!” came the rasping command. Three men, the weird moonlight making their faces pal? where they showed below the masks, stepped close to the wheels of the panting car. Rivoli’s hands went weakly trembling above his head. Dolly In—quiet fear, never taking her eyes from Arnold’s profile, showing as he half turned, obediently raised her daintily gloved hands. Arnold fumbled for a moment somewhere about the car, and then too shot up his arms. A terse order sent two of the men to the Sides of Arnold and the Count* The leader turned his attention to Dolly. The girl obediently stripped off her gloves. For the first time she seemed to notice Rivoli and a glance of contempt was his share. The first bright ring came off without difficulty, but the second brought forth an oath and a cruel wrench. Involuntarily a little cry escaped from between Dolly’s clenched teeth. Quick as a flash Arnold’s hand came down; quicker still he turned hack to where the r leader tugged at the girl’s delicate fingers. The cry of warning from one of the men in the white rad came too late. The girl remembered ever after the fierceness of the cold rage in Arnold’s face. The heavy wrench flashed up bright in the moonlight and then came crashing down. The leader sank down without a groan. With a feeling of sickening revulsion Dolly heard the cry of almost feminine terror that escaped Rivoli’s lips. Arnold was out in the road now, grappling desperately. He tore himself free and sent one of his assailants spinning to the macadam. As the two fled, one paused a moment In the shadows. There was a vicious report and Arnold clutched weakly at the air as he turned sick from the shock. Then his knees buckled under him and he sank down In a huddled heap. It was Dolly who bore the greater part of the burden of lifting the wounded man and propping him up on the cushions in the tonneau. Her hands were the ones that held the wheel In the mad Vide back to the city. To policemen who signaled her to slow up the girl gave a significant nod toward the unconscious man beside her in the front seat and let out another notch. When Arnold awoke, he wondered for a moment at his surroundings. A pressure ol something soft in his hand and a suspicious wetness on the back of his fingers cleared away the clouds. With a smile hiding the shooting pain in his shoulder, he turned his head till his eyes could feast on Dolly. Neither cared to speak. Arnold understood that she had brought him home, to her home. • "A-a-ahem! ’’ broke in the- pompous, warning cough of “Old Bull” Leonard. Arnold tried to free his hand; but Dolly held to It with gentle firmness. Her father pretended not to see. “Something of a fighter; yes, something of a fighter," rumbled the voice of Leonard pere, and he actually smiled down upon the astonished Arnold. "Young man, I am looking for fighters to aid me," he rumbled on. “I need young blood to brace up the old in my struggles. But, of course, you wijl not be fit for some time. Take your time, my boy, take your time." With an absence of his habitual frown? he Ignored the creeping of Dolly’s other hand into Arnold’s free one and walked quietly from the room. (Copyright, 1312, by W. G. Cba^manJ