Argosy, Vol. 118, No. 2 — page 49: what you’re looking at

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

FIXED BY GEORGE. that could have happened to us, everything considered. I'll carry you over the puddles, and—”’ “ George!” gasped Margery, and her eyes grew wild suddenly as she clutched him. ‘We're caught!” ‘We are! Arthur’s here! He’s walking out there on the veranda!” She reeled against George Dare. He steadied her and, scalp prickling a little if the truth be told, listened—and then he smiled abruptly and grimly. “ That’s not outdoors; that’s aunt walk- ing up-stairs,” he said softly. “ She must have been out in the big bedroom at the end of the south wing. That’s why she didn’t hear us. It’s, all right, though. I'l fix it, Margery. She—oh, she’s coming down, isn’t she?” he whispered, as the steps sounded briskly through the upper corridor of the big old house. ‘‘She—she doesn’t walk like an old lady!” “No, dees she?”’ George muttered. ‘“ She must have taken a new lease of life out there; she always shuffled.” The steps stopped. “Oh, Gracie!” called an entirely strange voicé above—a very melodious voice, too, which unquestionably belonged to a woman much younger than Aunt Amanda. “ How in the world did you get in?” Open-mouthed, George stared upward. As yet the ‘person was not visible, but he knew quite well that she was a total stranger. “ Tt—it isn’t Gracie!” he stammered. ‘“Tsn’t she with you?” asked the voice. ‘What detained you? You said you’d be here before—” And she appeared! Aye, she appeared at the head of the stairs just then, and she began to descend, and while a lady with a lighted bomb or a lady with two heads might have sent a con- siderable shock through George Dare, nei- ther of them could have produced a much more profound effect than this lady, who had no bomb at all, and only one head. She was young; she could hardly have been past twenty-three or four. She was beautiful—or she might have been beauti- ful, had she been content with nature’s 199 work. But as she appeared just now, paing had covered what fine skin powder did nof conceal; her large, deep eyes were black-~ ened heavily, and their brows seemed fairly to have been plastered in with India ink! Her crimson lips had been worked, all by hand, to the perfect curve. Nor were even these hideous manifes- tations quite as bad as the gown she wore! For a moment, that gown fairly stopped George Dare’s breath. He had seen eve- ning raiment of a really daring description upon ladies, but he had never seen any- think like this. The low cut of its front ele- vation caused his eyes to bulge; the back, however, suggested that the lady had pre- pared, not for dinner, but for-a spinal oper- ation of the most desperate and radical character. Spangles glinted, where there was enough black satin to fasten spangles! And yet—and yet there was something fine about that face—somehow* The fore- head was broad and high, and very’ intel- ligent; the nose was*straight and fine, and the chin quite full of character, The thought whirled dizzily through George’s brain that if this woman had chosen the straight. and narrow path she might have amounted to much. But—well, she had not. No electric sign could have pro- claimed more clearly than did she herself that this female was a wanderer on the broadest part of the primrose highway! And ladies of that stripe,are mor@danger- ous when intelligent, as was this one!- Neither a child nor a prude, a Jittle chill of horror ran through George. He glanced quickly at Margery and found that she had tottered agamst the doorway of the living- room, and she was staring, round-eyed, at — the -woman, as one might stare at a pecu- liarly dangerous snake. Who she was, how she came to be there, did not matter. What she was seemed al- together too far beyond question. Nor did _the mud outside matter, even if it came up to their knees! George gripped himself and ceased his gaping; there would have to be the swiftest kind of apology for their in- trusion, and then headlong flight, and— why was she smiling at him? There was something hideously signifi- cant in that smile, as the creature suddenly (E(0) NOOLKS AMG co