The Argosy, April 1916 — page 113: what you’re looking at

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

A LADY IN DISTRESS. reward. I just told her you’d been. hurt a little in an accident. You can give her the good news. i “The doctor says you aren’t really -hurt enough so that you can’t talk. You got grandly shaken up and an awful bump on your head; but you'll be around in a couple of days or a week. Ah—” Bernice! She looked at the handared head on the pillow and emitted a gasp. But Elsie was quick to reassure her. “He’s not at all seriously hurt, Miss Meredith. The doctor says he’ll be all over it in a day or two. I’Il—leave you now to congratulate him on his escape.” Elsie was gone. Bernice came toward him. She emitted a sigh of despair. “Of course I’m glad you're not hurt worse. But I can’t help feeling it will be better for you in the long run if you’re hurt badly enough to make the adventure a last- ing lesson. I could have told you those were not nice people, that the man was drugged or drunk, that the woman was an adventuress, an utterly unfit person for a decent young man to be seen with. | “But you must override my judgment, even without giving me time to express it. Now I hope you realize that you’re too utterly impractical. If you don’t, we'll simply have to cancel our engagement.” Barry eyed her wretchedly. She was a splendid creature, so competent, so know- ing, so—so infernally superior. 7 “Vou wouldn’t do that, Bernice,” he groaned. “Ves, I most certainly shall do it, unless you'll promise on your word of honor never to act without my direction. I couldn’t think of having a husband get mixed up in an automobile wreck with a pair of bank thieves, or doing something else equally foolish and perilous every day of my life. It would turn my hair gray.” “ But, Bernice—” He would tell her of the reward. She had helped him a lot to believe that the scene was real. ““No—you must promise,” rupted him to insist. “But, Bernice, wait a moment—let me tell you—” ‘Promise first. tant thing of all. you know.” Oh, he was awake all right. He could feel the hurt in his head. It was mean of Bernice to come down on him when he was she _ inter- That is the most impor- It’s for your own good, 108 hurt. He had a right to be cross about it. He wouldn’t have it. ‘No, I won’t promise. I got—”’ ‘Very well. I was in hopes you would have learned. Here’s your ring.” Listen, Bernice, “Bernice! Why, Bernice! You don’t mean—”’ | “T certainly do mean it. Unless you want to promise me—” “T don’t! I won't! some looking after. Maybe I can get into trouble rather easily. I’d rather take my chances. I can stand being helped out of trouble and steered away from it; but Til Maybe I do need be hanged if I’m going to have any node telling me about it all the time.” He was frightened at his own words. He was thoroughly angry, a little more incapa- ble of doing the right thing than ever, per~ fectly aware that he was doing me wrong one—and too mad to stop. ‘“‘Would you mind letting me have my pin back?” she asked him. “It’s not the value of the thing, but, since we’re no longer engaged, I’d rather not have it worn by—” “Elsie will give it to you,” he said with the white calm of anger too deep for vio- lence. ‘Elsie!’ he called in a louder voice, though one still under the control of his powerful emotion. “Your pin?” the landlady’s daughter ex- claimed. ‘Why, it’s down at police head- quarters. It was found on -that woman. When I was down there I looked over the stuff, since the pin was gone when you were carried in here. They wouldn’t let me take it; but, no doubt, you can get it.” ‘‘Good heavens! Did she frisk me, too?” gasped Barry. Bernice turned a pitying glance upon him. “You really need a nurse,” she said. III. An hour later Barry had got enough of the story to fill in the gaps. The blond lady, alias Big Lizzie the Pippin, after con- ducting the automobile raid on the Red- dington Bank, had engineered her compan- ion into a road house and administered knockout drops. He, feeling the on-coming influence of the drug, had insisted hurriedly on starting again for a rendezvous of his friends, hop- ing to beat its effects and_keep her from getting away with all of their loot. He had not succeeded. MICLOOOK C@