Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 January 1919 — Page 2

The THIRTEENTH COMMANDMENT.

by RUPERT HUGHES

DAPHNE GETS THE BIG CHANCE THAT SHE HAS BEEN PRAYING FOR AND AT THE SAME TIME HAS FEARED.

Synopsis.—Clay Wiinbtirii, a young New A orkt-r on a visit tn ( ley-land,-meets pretly Daphne Kip. whose l»r«»tl|*T is in the same.office With Clay in Wall street. Alter a whirlwind 'hip they become engaged. Daphne goes t<> New York " iih t ■ mother tn buy het trmt<s,- : , n. Diinhne’s brother. .Bayard.T;;>s .hist .married and left fbr Europe with his bride, Leila.—Daph-He-iffie her met-ln-r-i-oslall themsel ves-44r*B;ryard s Hot-. Daphne meets T<»m I>uan<'. m:m-aboii<-t<'wn. who sAenis greatly ;ittracted To l|er. Daphne accidentally discovers that Clay Is penniless; except for his salary. Bqynnrd ami his wife’return to. New York unexpectedly. The three women set out on a .shopping excursion and the two younger women buy expensive gowns, having them charged to Bayard. Bayard is furious iwe-r- tiro, lixpimsn,—s.eeiug-lmrtk-limeAahead. Daphne., indignant. declares she wUI-wme-he-F-u-ttm-living ami-breaks ber-ougtigo--nient with Clay. Through an introdhetjon-by Duane, Daphne induces~Rehen- a thua*^t' , tth3mgttaxii.' to Trnstnrnr tn panics. Her first rehearsal js a tia.-co, but Ke be if. al Duane’s request, gives her another chance. .

CHAPTER Xl—Continued. "Well. I never!” he gasped, "And all this trip of your mother’s and yours ami all the expenses gone for ■■.nothing?'' wasJUg first doleful thought He remembered the second mortgage he had placed on one of his properties to get the money for the vitally important wedding festival. And now there was tb be no wedding. The son-in-law who was to have assumed the,burden of Daphne’s bills was Vanished. Daphne was again her father’s own child. --- He was glad to have her back, but he could have wished that she had not gone away, since he paid the freight in both directions. And now here was himself in New York and nothing to show for all the spilt milk of time, money and emotions. r At the critical moment Daphne mentioned. that the star whose understudy she was^would’eariiTfifty thousand dollars that year in spite of the hard times. "Fifty thousand dollars” had a musical sound to Wesley's ears. If Daphne could earn a tenth of that he < would believe in miracles. “Where were you planning to live, honey ; while you’re acting? With Bayard, 1 s uppose.” i “Oh. no." said Daphne; “we've ruined his honeymoon enough already.” “Who with, then?” ----- “Oh. by myself, I suppose.” “Good Lord! you couldn’t do that very well—a young girl like you.” "Why not?” she said. He turned pale. This was like being asked why babies were found under cabbage leaves. Hewas an oTd-Tasir-~ ioned father, and he had never been able to rise to the new school of discusAihg vitally imnprtant topics with ’ the children vitally interested* “Why, why.” he stammered, “why. because nobody dttg&-iL_hpnes\ Nice , girls don't live alone.” Daphne studied him with a tender amusement.. He was so innocent in his way, in spite of all he must know. She understood what he was thinking of. She was sophisticated in the imruner of : lie n:ce girl of her Time tmd she liked to treat stibilierged themes with clean candor. • She thought that prudery was a form of slavery. "If you’ve just got to sta.vTn New York and (just got to work your, mother could stay with you, I suppose.” “But what becomes of you and your home?” “Oh, Til get along somehow. I don't ; matter.” ' . J- ', This broke her heart.'She cried out: “But ytiji do matter, daddy; you matter terribly. Can't you understand, daddy: that I'm trying to relieve you. and make myself useful instead of a parasite? Thousands of women live alone—professional women, art students, music, students, college girls, normal-school, women, besides the women in shops and factories. It’s coming more and more." ~ "But you’re not brought up to a trade.” "I wish I had been.”’ “Well, that’s a new complaint, anyway. but —■■ well —of course you wouldn’t do anything wfoug; hut if you lived alone you'd be misjudged, and men would keep throwing temptation in your way.” “I had plenty of that when I was living at home.’’ * “Daphne!” He cried out in pain»at the very thought. * She went on, educating him with s Vengeance: “Plenty of temptation and plenty of opportunity, daddy. It wasn’t your fault. You gave me all the protection that anybody coul<|, daddy. But you can’t protect people all the time. And it was when you trusted me most that you protected me most. People are just beginning to realize that even in penitentiaries the higher the walls and the stricter the guards the more prisoners try to escape. They're sending convicts out to work 4»a roads now with no guards at ail. And they do their work and some

I back. Don’t you think women can be trusted as_f ar as co ll yh'ts?” “I suppose so,” he sighed. But he was convinced of the security of neither the convicts nor of the women ■under these new anarchies. He was ' convin<• e<l <>f o!i!y <>:ie thing. aud that wntrhis helplessness. Daphne took him home in a taxicab. At the apartment they caught Bayard just rushing for his office. He greeted irts father with whirlwind affection, but he knew that he would please Westey hett er by hu rrytng- on to—his .office than by neglecting ..his business for the purpose of Wesley took Leila by storm with lits lavish and whole-hearted praise. He had not seen her before. 11 e mit hop'd her to his breast, then held her out *a t a rm's len g .I.h t o praise her and to praise Bayard for bringing her into the family. Mrs. Kip did not delay long the assault on Daphne’s But Wesley said: “We’ve had a long' talk and I guess she’s pretty set in her way. She’s a good girl, • though, mamma. Andslie knows her own mind better than we do. Anyways, it's her own mind. Let her have her way and if anything goes wrong she dan always comq back lionfeT’ His wife boiled over. It made her feel as touch at home as an old kettle on a stove to have her husband there to boll over on: “WeSley Kip. are you going to set there and encourage that girl to ruin her life and her reputation without doing anything to protect her?” # - “Dh. I gm>s-s she’s not going to ruin anything. After all. the best way to protect folks is to trust ’em.” It was bald plagiarisjn, but Daphne made no complaint.. Wesley got into trouble at once, however, by making Lb.V--BU«A»‘AtiA»--Xhat.-4tis T .-.wjXe...xeiuain. as a companion for her child. Mrs. •Kim“tbok~il-as yslgn-ttet“ire"wTrnted tn get rid of her, and Daphne refused to take it at all. Wesley sat pondering in silence for a while; then he rose and, mumbling. "Be' back in a little while,” took his hat and .went out. They wondered what mischief he was up to and what folly he would commit; He came back in trait' ..an hour with a smile of success. “I guess it’s all right. I been thinking about all the different things been said. We don't want ...Daphne living by herself and she don’t feel like she ought tQ trespass on Leila's home: so I got ufi idea and went down aud saw the janitor or superintendent or whatever he* is, and I asked him mightn’t it lie there, was somebod'y=ta -thi%buiidihg wanted to rent a room to a nice gi rl. And he said there was a young couple fblt the rent was a little high and had ait extra room. Sb ,we went up and took a look, at it. Right nice yoarig woman, name of Chiwis or something like that ; said she’d be glad to take my daughter in. 1 was thinking that if Daphne was up there she Could see Bayard and Leila when slm was lonesome or anything,; and she7l be handy where they could heep an eye on her if she got sick or anything.” The three women looked at him in amazement. He had solved the riddle that baffled thtin all and had compromised the irrecnnvHaMesr “I’ll bet the place is a sight and the woman a freak.” said Mrs. Kip. “Let’s go have a look at her.” ' v ’ £ So all four went up tn the elevator to the top floor. They were about to ring the bell of one of the big front apartments like Bayard’s but Wesley checked them. “It’s in the back.” The women exchanged glancesv. and smiles behind the important shoulder blades of Wesley, the manager. He rang a bell and a young woman opened the door. As Leila said afterward: “She had the whole map of New England In her faee; and fier middle name was ’ ’ o But she''was young. In a placid. Pu-

THE EVENING REPUBLICAN, RENSSELAER,- IND.

rltanical way, and she looked exeee< 1ingly clean and correct. Her v<-ry smile whs nent,’exactly adjusted f between those, of the gracious hostess add of the landlady. Mrs. Chiwis led tile wajf to the room TTuTTvvas ■foKJenF.' It t<»T>k I»a ph tie at otio*. Spc)tj_egsnebs is the first luxury in a rented rxauh and PiiriuuL..hmini.x,. has a*grace allAtJL^XnL^Tliegmuhogany bed withits twisted posts, the excellent linen laid the honesty of evAvon het^ completely. «=- She felt a s< iiSe~Of“relier from the rather gaudy tfl-auty of Leila’s apartweal. ..She felt tl,i;>t Mfk. ChivVift-wlmL showed such fine rest mint-jn. her .furniture, would be equally discreet in Hfinding her - “Fii. take tr,” she said; “That is, If' you’ll take me.” Mrsr-Chivvis said she Tvmrlrh —■Shtd said dt-with n Neiy EiTgliTncnsirfiarsF mony of enthusiasm, but her eyes were k I ndly amF Daphne decided that six* Thought nice things but lacked the courage to say them. Daphne moved at once Into the Chivvis apartment what belongings she had brought on’ fmm (Tevekiiul, and hvr~ lu °lher |>r<>mi->ed to dispatch the rest T»f them as. soon ns she reached home. Wesley not- be p< rsiia<led to 3ssaryiHg4Mv—4l+sbuslrtess~ was in a perilous condition. The mamnioth CjlWUChmJ_go.mi_ into ..bankruptcy owing hiin a Tmndlikely to recover. The failure also closed an important and profitable market for his calculating machines. It frightened his banks ;is well, and he had wrestled-like anotlier Jucob with an almost invisible cashier for Yet he slippiil a large bill into Dajihne's himd v> hen he-btide her goodby at the. station late -in the; afternoon, and he whispered to her she should have other re-enforcements whenever she called on him.

—Daphne reached rhe theater at seven o’clock and sat in the dark on a canvas rock, watching the stage hands gather and listening to their repartee. ; Ballers<>n itrrived at length; He was in one of his humane moods. lie asked Daphne if she had memorized her lines aiid she said she had. He told her that he would give her another rehearsal the next day after breakfast. “After breakfast,” he explained, was one o’clock p. m.— ——i— Next morning Daphne presented herself to Battvrson and endured one of his rehearsals, with his assistant reading all the cues in a lifeless voice. Batfersnn was more discouraged than she was. He showed it for a time by a patience that was of the sflrt one rshows-ttr-a- shytinbeeilfc- - He was so restrained that Daphne broke out for him, “Do you think I am a complete idiot, Mrr Batterson?” “Far from it, my dear,” said Batterson. “You are a very intelligent young woman. The troublejs that you are t< >o intelligent for tho child’s play of the staged It’s all a kind of big nursery and you can’t forget that facts are nos facts in tills toy game.—ls you could let yourself go aud be foolish an d pl a y d 6TT hou § e you mTghT succeed. It’s hard even you know how. Biit it’K impossible as long as you try to reason it out. It's like music and fiction and all the arts. You've got to pretend or you can’t feel and you can’t make anybody else feel.” —7---And that, indeed, was Daphne’s ag-ony;—She-eenrtd-not-releftse-her-lfiflf&gi—■ nation or command her clear vision to see what was-not there. Night after night she reported at the theater and left it when the curtain rose. On one of these evenings Tom Duane met her outside the stagQ. door. His apology was that he felt it his 'duty-tor look- after iityxrltdnt.He invited Daphne to ride home in his car. which was waitirig at the curb. She declined with thanks. He urged

She Reached the Theater at Seven o'Ciock and Sat in the Dark on a Canvas Rock Watching the Stage Hands Gather, and Listening to Their 'Bepartee. 4

that she take a little spin in the park. She declined- without thanks. He sighed that it was a pity to lose the moonlight. * L- - She said she would get enough when she walked home. He asked if he might “toddle along.” She hardly refuse without crassly insulting him. They loitered slowly up the quiet reach of Seventh avenue. He questioned her-about her work with aU the grateful flattery there Is in an appe-

\ tile for another's autobiography. She, : found it easy to tell him or |ier diffl|cultie«; He extracted encouragement j or indirect compliment out of all of ■ them. ; L Win n .they.arrived at her apartment : bmise she said. “Sorry I can’t ask you p»[t. Imt I have no reception room, and .-I'm-Tirx-d aiU.lL.—_— , j “You bavq' wasted enough of your time on in<’,” he said. “I’ll see you to ; the elevator.” the hallway ■ she found (liny Wimburn wait|ing grimly. H/x-sprang to his- feeLwitix Duane mol hts thed iastnntly. Wimburn loved Daphne and wanted Tier for his own. Ho hud counted h<-r Tils afie engagement ring nor paid for it. Jrlapbne was more -pTeased with Wimburn’s misery than with Duane’s felicity. “Won’t you come up, Clay?” she asked. He murmured, “Can we be Alone for a little talk?” “I’m afraid not. The Chivvises, you kriow?” • “Will you take a little walk with me in the park?” “AH right.” she said as she led the way -ottt into-the-slreet. “I'm pretty tired, though. I walked home from —-r- - “With Duane!” Clay snarled. “You weren't too tired for that.” Daphne thought of the motor ride and the supper she had declined. She said, “Are you dragging me out here ..for the sake of-a fight.?!!—-A-—■' ' . —— .“T,here'll bo no Tight if you’ll cut out that man Duane.” —AAm 1. to have po friemls at a ilT*"~ “You can have all you want, provided—” —“Lot me give you one little hint. Clay, for your own information. Every time this Mr. Duane that you’re so afraid of meets me he does his best ToTielpTne"geTTnyTTTance- :iTTd“he tetis me only pleasant things. Every time you’ve come to see me lately you’ve been either a sick cat or a roaring tiger.” .... .

She was planning to urge him to help her and make their meetings rosier. But, lover-like, he took umbrage and pain and despair from her advice, and since they were, again at the vestibule he sighed, “Good night, Mrs. Duane,” and flung out into the dark. Daphne sighed, and the poor elevator man who saw so much of this sort of thing sighed with her and for her. CHAPTER XII. All this while Daphne was kept in readiness to take Miss Kemble’s part in case the illness of her child should result in death and in the further case that she should be unable to finish her performances. With the theatrical season in such bad estate and most of Rcben’s companies and Theaters losing money heavily, Sheila Kemble was his one certain dependence. He called her his breadwinner. Miss Kemble’s baby the crisis and recovered. And then the mother, worn out with the double strain, caught a little chill that became a blinding, choking cold. She went through the Saturday matinee in a whisper, but the night performance “was beyond her. And now at last Daphne’s chance arrived. The Saturday night house was enormous in spite of the heat. There were enough people there to make fourteen hundred doll'ars —twenty-five huiulred for the day. Daphne, trudging to the theater for her usual stupid rebuff, walked into" -Thhe-yrisis-fff-“her-dife. —— - Hejien himself knocked at her jdressing room d<>or where Miss Winsor was helping her With her make-up. He implored her to be calm, arid he was so tremylous that he stuttered. He told her that if she made good he would let her play the part till Miss Kemple -got well —He would oav her a handsome bonus. He would put her out at the head of a number two company next, season. ~ Batterson came’at last and ordered him off the stage. Reben obeyed him. Then Batterson talked to her. He told her that thelte was no reason to fear the house. A Saturday night audience was al ways easy. It wanted its money’s worth! It would help to get it. “I see,” said Daphne. “I’m not afraid of the audience.” “Then what on earth are you afraid of?” c ----- . “I’m afraid of me!” Batterson laughed scornfully. “Oh, you! You're going to score a knockout. You're going to make a big hit!”' “Yes.” said Daphue, “so you’ve always told me.” .. The curtain rose. Miss Winsor and the young man skipped onto their job; the butler stalked ; Eldon entered and made his exit. Mrs. Vining spread her skirts and sailed on, then Eldon went back. Finally Daphne’s cue came. ; She was startled a little as Battersou nudged her forward. She went to the door and opened it on ber new career to make her public debut with the all-important “How d’ you do?” c She saw before her the drawing room in a weird light. Beyond It was a fiercely radiant fog and beyond that an agglomeration of faces —the mass of tomato cans that she was not going to be afraid of. And she was not afraid. She was curious to study them. She was eager to remember- her lines. = And she membered them. Then cues came more or less far apart and each evoked from her mind the appropriate answer. She made never a slip, and yet she began to realize that Mr. Eldon seemed un-. happy. At length she realised that the audi-1

ence xtas strangely quiet. A sense of vaulty emptiness oppressed her. f?he went on with h4r lines*. She under-' stood at last that she Was getting* no laughs. She was not provoking those roars that Sheila Kemble brought forth. The audience had evidently trad a hard week. She decided that sire 1 must be playing too quietly; she quickened her tempo and threw more vivacity into her manner. She moved briskly about the scene, to Eldon’s bewilderment. He seemed unable to find her. and spoke every line. But the audience wasrnot with her for a moment. She used all her intellect to find the secret of its pleasure, but she could not surprise it. She tried harder aiidF harder, acted with the intense devoTion of a wrestling bout, but she could not scor’e a point. The • company looked worried and fagged- The audience would not rise to anything—humor, pathos, thrill. When the play was over everyone seemed to avoid her. She rubbed off her make-up and resumed her mufti. As she walked out

“Go Home and Get Married.”

on the darkened stage she saw Batterson. He tried to escape, but she checked him. “Tell me frankly, Mr. Batterson, what was the matter with my performance tonight.” “Come to the office Monday and we’ll have U Itttle talk,” “And I’ll get my notice.” " “What would you honestly advise me to do?” “I understand that you don’t have to act. Go home and get married.” “I won’t.” “Then go home and don’t get married.” “I won’t go. home.” —“There’s one other place —to go. Good night.” He walked off and she was left alone. She had the stage to herself. She stood in the big void and felt alien —forever alien. She shook het head. This place was not for her. She had been tried in the balance and found wanting. She wondered if there were anywhere a balance that she could bring down. ’ She dreaded the forlorn journey home to her dreary room. As she stepped out of the door someone moved forward with uplifted hat. It. was Tom Duane. He looked very spick and span. His smile illumined the dull street an<f his hand clasped hers with a saving strength. It lifted her from the depths like a # rope let down from the sky. Daphne would have been more content if Duane had been It was Clay’s duty t-6 *be there at such a time, of all times. ; Of course he did not know that this night was to be crucial for her, but he should have known. Mr. Duane knew. It never occurred to. Daphne that Re.ben had warned Duane of the debut of his protegee and had invited him —in fact, had dared him —'to watch the test of her abilities. All she knew was that Duane was proffering homage and smiles and the prefaces of courtship. Daphne might have failed to gain the hearts of her audience, for all her toil, but here was a heart that was hers without effort. Perhaps Duane was her career. He was at least an audience that she could sway. And she was miserably in need of some one that would pay her. the tribute of submission. So now when he said, .“Won’t you let me take you home ( ir my car?” she could hardly snub a heaven-sent messenger. . She said, “Thank you-—you’re very kind—but—" , Oh, all right!” And she bounded in. When Duane said: “You must be hungry after all that hard work. Aren’t you?” she said, “Yes, I guess I am—a little.” When he said, “Where shall we eat?* she answered, "Anywhere.” “Claremont?” he suggested. 1 This startled her, gave her pause. Yet there was something piquant about the proposal.

Her theatrical career cut short, Daphne turns to Clay. live in some fashion on Clay’s meager salary. The next day a new blow falls. The future . again looms dark and uncertain before the discouraged lovers.

(TO BE CONTINUED.)

“PIES”

By S. BROMBERG.

O-upyrtKUt, 131 b, by McClure .Newspaper ; J , J. “Mother, how you make such wonderful pies is beyond me,” said Tom. smiled pleasingly at uer oulJ"Bonr’This wasn’t the first time this little mother had been complixuented tiy her son for pies. ~ —“I solemnly -state on this apple pie In the presence of you and dad that I shall never marry a girl who comeupto your piebakingstandard.’’ Mr. W laughed loudly, and—- “ Tom, you keep quiet,” Mrs. W just said, i’Go ahead, Tommy, get your prate, and leave it to me to teach her how to bake,” Taking a piece of pie, he kissed his mother and went off to the club. “Oh, I hate it! Detest it! I never will know how to cook.” With her hai r all mussed up, tears streaming down her face and her hands sticky with' dough, Mary A sat down disgusted with cooking and baking pies. Her mother came in, and upon seeing her, cried out, “Mary A , get up this instant. A young girl of eighteen should know better than cry over such a trifle. Patience, my dear, you'will know bow to bake soon enough.” “But I don’t want to know how,” replied Mary. “I wasn’t born to be a cook, anyway.” - if there was any day Mary really detested it was Saturday, when her mother let her do all the cooking and baking for the entire day. It’s true Mary made a pretty bad mess of things, but then if she really put her mind to it she could have been a little expert at it. Mrs. A saw that she couldn’t do anytalng ternoon, anyway, so she let her off “Just wait, Mary dear, when Mr. Right comes along, and he’s the kind who can be reached by the stomach, you will be mighty sorry that you didn’t take my advice more like a dessert than a medicine.” Mary *vas hurrying home with eggs, and was just turning the corner when she collided with Thomas W . . Dowm went the dozen of eggs, making & yellow stream on the young man’s shoes and on her suit. When she Came to, fob she thought she had fainted, she was as red as a beet, and stood there begging his pardon and all that ceremony. Tom meanwhile assured her that all was well, and wiped the egg off. All this happened to the amusement of the numerous passersby. Everything appeared so funny for the moment that this youthful pair Just couldn’t keep back the peals of ( laughter and off they went after Tom secured Mary’s permission to accompany her home. Mrs. A saw them coming and walked oven to the—gate. Mary for the first time realized that they did not even know each other. She explained everything to her mother, and good-natured Mrs. A laughed heartily, and after names were exchanged, etc., she invited Tom to come down too dinner next Saturday. He thanked her for her kind invitation and promised to come. Saturday was an ideal day for a stroll. Mary thought, but since “the egg hero” was coming down, she decided that she must help her mother with the cooking, much as she disliked It. At /5:30 all was ready. Mary had telephoned for a few more friends to com e also, so her mlnd being full of the coming dinner the day passed much faster t ha. she-thought a Saturday ever could. Wonder of wonders! To celebrate the event, the four apple pies she made were a success! In fact, the best she could ever wish for. When they were all seated at the table, Mrs. A- told about the eggs, and this caused the young people to ripple with laughter. Finally the pies came around. Tom took one hite._and decided then and there that he liked it. “Well, at last, Mrs. A ,” he said, “I have found a pie equal to my mother’s. I must congratulate you.” She was about to say who deserved the honor, but nbticing the grimaces on Mary’s face decided to keep quiet. Tom was telling them about the pie pledge, to the immense enjoyment of thosepresent, Mary turned a deep red, and-Mrs. A smiled again. This friendship between the two developed in time into love, and one evening while walking through the woods Tom suddenly halted and Ipoking squarely at Mary lie said hesitatingly : “Mary, dear, surely you must realize how much I love you.” “Oh, but Tom, I can’t cook, and you remember what you said about your pie pledge.” “You little dear, why that was only a joke. Do you think it would ever, matter to me,” Tom said enthusiastically. "Tommy, dear, really you didn’t mean lb!" “No, sweetheart,” he said. On the way home Mary pulled near and said: “I have something to confess. Tom.” . “Go. ahead, dear,” he said. “ ’Fess up—l’ll forgive you anything.” “Well, it was I who really made those apple pies that you liked,” said she Smilingly. Tom laughed heartily. “As If you could deceive me." he lied bravely. “Why, the pie was so sweet that I couldn’t help knowing you made it.” Fie is still a .favorite in the W-% — household, and little Tom. junior. Is his dad over again, even to eating pies. Yes. and Mary sure is a spiendia Tittle' w-jer and ■ too. . .