Argosy All-Story Weekly, Vol. 123, No. 3 — page 75: what you’re looking at

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

‘was the matter with Mary now? a : - BEWARE OF stepped away, into the Happy crowd, out of Thomas Henning’s life! . The victim in the far doorway leaned weakly against the casing. It had hap- pened before his very eyes, and with him-. self as powerless as a man in a trance—but at least it was over.. He smiled dizzily for an instant, but the smile ended in a shiver. Henceforth for an indefinite period, un- less he had misjudged Dolly all these years, ' there would be little in his existence to smile about. There are girls, perhaps, who can be affronted quite safely. Dolly was not of these, and—Thomas shivered again. Peter, whatever his mysterfous subse- quent motive in himself engineering Mary to this spot, had been right: it was better to beware of this particular bride! _ Still, it was Mary. Thomas softened a little and’ looked toward her. She would move into the crowd now, and presently, in her smiles of gratitude, he might glean some meager payment. And—well, what The knightly nerve seemed to have fatled, after all; the armor had faced about and was scraping back toward him. " “Tommy!” came brokenly from within the~helmet. ‘‘ Did you hear?” “ Oh, yes, I heard,”: Thomas said grimly. “1—I’m so sorry!” “It was just one of those things that happen, Mary,” young Mr. Henning re- plied as lightly as might be. “It Tl have to be patched” up later, of course. You'd better get out and mix with the crowd, now.” “After that?” Mary gasped. the same thing might happen again!” “It will not, my child,” sighed Thomas. ““T wasn’t engaged to more than one girl. Go ahead. Time is getting short.” Risk notwithstanding, the mailed hand pushed up the visor and Mary gazed forth. Her face was white and stricken and fright- ened, “yet there was even more in its ex- pression.. Although such a thing ap- proached impossibility, it almost seemed that an accusing light flickered in Mary’s eye. “TY can’t!” she said. “*'What way?” “In this horrible tin can, Tommy! “Not this way!” jJ— Digitized by Go ogle ‘What, - THE BRIDE. $57 I’m afraid! I can’t see, and I can hardly walk, and I’m afraid of falling over some- body and having the whole thing come to | pieces!” — “Tt can’t.” “Tt can! It’s frightfully loose in spots,” Mary stated agitatedly. ‘“ It—of course it was a lovely idea of yours, Tommy, and I’m ever so grateful, but it’s so—so crazy and impossible. I can’t go on pith it!” CHAPTER XIV. THE WARRIOR BOLD. — LTHOUGH he smiled, Thomas A breathed quite deeply. ‘Well, just what else would you like to do, Mary?” he asked. ‘““Go back there and change to my dress again, of course. And then, when we come out, if Horace is near, you'll have to take him bodily — playfully, you know — and just push him along somewhere and keep him there. That’s what we should have done in the first place.” , She waited, impatiently. Thomas fa- Vored her with a strained smile. “Very well, Mary,”- he muttered. suppose we can manage it. Let’s_” And here he stopped, gazing toward the doorway; and he smiled suddenly and flipped down the visor! Even his tone had changed altogether as he said: ‘“ Down with the mask, Sam! Don’t give yourself away!” “What do you mean?” Mary gasped. ae | '“T think the large gentleman just enter- _ ing, more or less disguised as a buccaneer, is Mr. Thorndyke himself!” " Thomas said _ loudly. Just behind the armor a fat chuckle sounded, as the lord of the mansion him- self came to a standstill, and after the chuckle a yawn and: “Good evening, gentlemen. \Ho—hum! Is this thing a frightful bore or am I get- ting old?” Thomas laughed his gay deprecation. ‘Not the latter, certainly. the evening, it’s the most wonderful one Braydon has ever seen!” said he. “It is? Everybody happy, eh? The And as for. Iriginal fro HE OHIO STATE UNL ao JOO S C@ 4 _