A Lover's Quarrel, or Marion Marlowe's Deceitful Friend — page 28: what you’re looking at

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

“Marion is right! It is Miss Fredericks!” said Bert, under his breath. “Arrest her, men; but do it as slick as possible! ‘There mustn’t be a scene in Mrs. Stetson’s par- lor!” } “We'll manage that,” said one of the off- cers, as he winked at his companion. ‘You be at the door, Dick, when I bring her out. She won’t refuse a good-looking fellow like me when I ask for a glimpse of starlight.” The two moved on, while Bert and Marion stared at each other. They had hardly come to their senses and returned to the gay throng when the woman with the gold butterflies embroidered upon +» her dress swept slowly by them upon the arm of the detective. CHAPTER XIII. ~ CONCLUSION. “What a relief to know that she has been caught! IJ’ll never trust an innocent face again—never !”’ Mrs. Burnside made the remark to a group of people who were all crowding about Mar- ion in the hotel parlor at eleven o’clock the next morning. | “And Lena says she’ll never trust me again,” exclaimed a happy voice, and ‘Bert _ put his arm around his sweetheart as he made the statement. “The idea of his believing that I wrote that note,’ retorted Miss Ellis, diseustedly, as she held up a piece of paper. “Just fancy my writing him that I wished to be released from my engagement! Oh, I could scratch the eyes out of that wicked Miss Fred- ericks !” _ “Was that why you were going to release her, Bert?” asked Marion in a relieved voice. “Oh, you dear boy! Do please forgive me! I might have known you had a good reason, _ but I was too upset to think of it.” ; “The note is written in Miss Ellis’ hand- “Oh, won- _ writing,” spoke up Captain Canfield. I assure you that fellow McGillin is a _ derful mimic!” e. “Did he confess?” asked Mrs. Burnside, in an eager voice. 3 “No; Miss Fredericks broke down and owned up to the whole thing, so she’s a baby after all,” was Bert’s disgusted answer. “I know some one else who was a baby, or a kid, or something on that order,” laughed Miss Ellis, gayly. “Oh, Bert, the idea of your being taken in by the little treacher- -_ Ous creature! I heard you myself, you ~ know, when you promised to give her ~ money!” = Rats! _ distress, Why shouldn’t I help a woman in I’d like to know?” Bert retorted, a a8 4 » ‘ ~~ Pie MY QUEEN. _ Burnside, thoughtfully. 25 cheerfully. “How the deuce was I to know she hadn’t been burned out of everything? I gave her a hundred dollars, and I’d have done the same for any one—the scrub woman, the laundress, or any one that needed ity.” : “Bert is not to blame. She lied to him,” said Dr. Brookes, promptly. “He was only acting upon his usual generous impulses when he offered to help her. Any gentle- man would have done the same if he could afford it.” . “I do not blame Bert for that,” said Cap- tain Canfield, quickly; “but I am glad, in- deed, that my son’s reputation has been saved at the bank. Everything has been explained to them there, so his credit is allright, and I have also been able to keep the matter out of the papers. Bert has had a valuable ex- perience, but we have recovered nearly two thousand dollars of the money. The girl, Miss Fredericks, had it hidden in her clothes.”’ “But which one of them was it that cashed the checks?” askéd Miss Ellis, eagerly. ““Was it that little minx, or her companion?” “Barney is responsible for that, and he did it cleverly, too,’ spoke up the house detec- tive. “That fellow has more disguises than you can shake a stick at. He is really very clever at imitating a woman.”’ ‘“There’s just one thing more,” said Mrs. ‘Does any one know how Miss Fredericks got to that ball? I am just dying of curiosity to know how she did it.” Bert had already denied Miss Fredericks’ story that he had agreed to take her to the ball.- Miss Fredericks had told this yarn and had made Bert pose as her lover, feel- ing sure that Marion and her friends would not learn the truth until after the ball, when Miss Fredericks expected to be many miles away. Dr. Brookes looked away from Marion's sweet face long enough to answer: “Exactly what Mrs. Stetson asked me at four o’clock this morning, and thet she set herself to work to discover how it was man- aged, and at nine she wrote me this startling bit of information: A sort of cousin of here has been employed by Mrs. Stetson as chef for a little over a month. He gave his name as Fred Corley, and, of course. the fellow must have stolen the ticket, and so made it easy for Miss Fredericks to ‘enter society.’ ” “Well, she made about as mean an exit as she did entrance,” said Bert, with a glance at Marion. “She came in via the cook and went out by way of a detective.” ke o . . Her ambition to see ‘society’ was her un- doing,” said Marion, soberly Gooolkis'co im