Picture Show (Nov 1919-Apr 1920)

5 The Picture Show, January lid, 1920. DESTINY (Continued from page 6.) luickly, and I never was much of a letter-writer. This, 1 am afraid, is my only excuse. ' We have come to London for a few days, and 1 have brought Eric with me, asl know yon would like to see him. He is a dear little fellow but I do not think very strong. i am writing you at your old rooms, as I suppose you are still there. ' I will bring Eric along on Saturday. " Your affectionate daughter. " Dl.ttfA." Diana addressed the envelope and sealed it. The die was cast. For her boy's sake it was imperative that a change should be made. If needs be, she could live again with her mother. The money for ihe house could keep them •Viite easily, especially now she was settled at her business. Yet she hesitated at going out to the post. A thousand questions surged up through her Drain. Mrs. Harris was right. .She should send Dicky away. For two years he had been her faithful fo'i >wer, ever gentle, kind and true. Whatever :-he told him, he believed implicitly. She had said she was a widow, and until a year ago he had been just the kindly friend. Hut Diana trembled as she remembered that eventful night, when lie had declared his love for her in a manly, passionate outburst. He !old her that she had always been his ideal, just what a girl should be, that he had never < bought of anyone else. And she had had to push away the manly arms which would have encircled her, and tell him in faltering, miserable words that she could not listen to him. And be, thinking, be had spoken too quickly, •vas humbly apologetic. He had been too hasty ; ho would wait. In his strong, clever way he had talked of other things until she had recovered. She had never had the courage to confess the truth, because her heart was just crying out to him. She loved him as she had never thought herself capable of loving. She had never known what passion was until that night, and then she bad had to beat it down, cast it away from her — this most wonderful love winch held her in its allpowerful clasp. She had fondly imagined until that moment hat she had loved George. Now she knew she never really had ; the "iere thought of him returning, of her winning him back — which until then had been the one desire in her life — was now obnoxious to her. If ho had never left her she was, of course, ,uite certain that she would have cared for him, Vo doubt she would have been satisfied with life, and gone on to the end in peaceful ignorance, knowing nothing of the wonderful possibilities which love has in store for those who are willing to wait until the one woman and the one man appear on the scene. The girl, seated at the table in her humble little room, knew that Dicky hoped to win her one day, and, knowing all that he meant to her, .-.he had not had the strength of will to confess to him the truth. She was so afraid he might go out of her life. Ho was so upright and honest, so manly and truthful. The barrier between them he would consider insurmountable. Yet the thought now of George coming back to her filled her with dismay. En »'aln she reasoned with herself. George was the father of her child ; ho had »!ways been considered a good husband, and if b« came back . Her thoughts refused to go further. She gave a little shudder, and buried her face in ber hands. A Threat. MRS. LONG sat before the tea-table in her large if somewhat sparely-furnished fitting-room, pouring out tea 107 her visitors. Eric was running about the room, his quick '* •'■errant eyes dart in:; from one object to another in delight and perpetual astonishment. Mrs. Long had grown .stouter, and altogether more comfortable in appearance since she and Diana had last met. The three pounds n week had brought her complete comfort. " When are you and George thinking of coming home, Diana ? " she asked, suddenly fixing her daughter with her keen, dark eyes. Diana made some vague remark. Mrs. Long sat suddenly forward. Diana knew instinctively from past experience that her mother had something of importance to say. "Did Mr. Fisher let you know how the railroad people have been worrying him for your address '! " she said eagerly. " They want to buy the lease of Glan-y-mor." " Oh, do they I " Diana was interested. Mrs. Long beamed at her. Yes, dear. I believe Mr. Fisher has been dying to put them off, but, as I said to him, if you got a good price for it, it would very likely pay you to sell." Diana involuntarily glanced at her child. " What an opportunity to get some ready money, and give Eric a glorious holiday. She could also take a nice little house nearer town somewhere, with a garden for Eric to play in. " Yes," she said slowly. Mrs. Long poured herself out another cup of tea. '* I was thinking it would be a good idea," she said brightly. " You see, dear, you and George are not getting anything out of the house at present, are you ? It might sell for fifteen hundred, or perhaps two thousand, pounds. I know an awfully safe investment which would almost double my income." Diana glanced at her mother. " I am afraid George would not agree to that, mother," she said. " You see, George is not doing as well as he used to, and we find the Argentine does not agree with Eric. I have come over to make some arrangements to settle down again over here." " Oh ! " Mrs. Long's face fell. " Perhaps you will tell me at once of your arrangements, Diana," she said in a small voice, as she clasped her hands in her lap, as though to give herself a little extra support. Diana leaned forward and kissed her. The wonderful love which had come into her life with Dicky had softened her nature. It made her kind and gentle to those with whom she now came in contact. " I thought you, Eric and I might live together for a time somewhere near London," she said. " You could look after the house and Eric, with the help of a little maid, couldn't you ? " >• . Mrs. Long thought she could, but she could not help a little sigh escaping as she remembered the happy daydreams she had been weaving the last few weeks. "' We will go and see Mr. Fisher this evening," said Diana. " If the railroad peopie really do want to buy, of course we shall sell." . " Oh, they do. They have been agitating for months. Surely Mr. Fisher must have written you ? " " Perhaps he did," said Diana, ever on her guard before those bright, eager eyes. It was twilight as Diana and her mother JUNECAPRICE, the delightful cinema star who smiles at us from the opposite page, has two interests in life outside her motion picture activities — her home and her pets. Until three years ago June's dolls received the small star's caresses and attentions. Then when she went into pictures she thought that she was too grown up for dolls and went in for cats and dogs instead. At her country home there is a collection of lost and strayed animals that any zoo might envy, gathered from the ranks of those i hat heartless summer cottagers have abandoned to their fate. When Juno began her latest picture, " Little Mother Hubbard," for Paths, her director begged hor not to live in the country, but to take an apartment in town for the winter, where she would be accessible to the demands of the Studio, photographers, interviewers. No apart opened the gate of Glan-y-mor, and walked t>; the entrance. There was a light burning in the hall, but no one came in answer to their knock. " He only has a daily girl, my dear. I'm afraid the place must be in an awful state," whispered Mrs. Long, as she craned her neck in the hope of getting a glance through the cur tained window. They rang the bell, and it echoed dismally through the silence. Why, there he is ! " said Diana suddenly. " Look ! . Down there under the trees ! " Leaving her mother waiting in the porch, Diana made her way towards the solitary figure who was pacing thoughtfully to and fro in the gathering darkness. He did not see her until she was close upon him. " Diana ! Mrs. Meadows ! " he cried in astonishment. Diana gave him her hand. " Yes. You did not expect to see me here, did you?" she said. "But my mother .has been telling me about the railroad people. 11 appears they want to buy Glan-y-mor " " Oh, but you would not sell it ? " cried the man hastily. "Suppose — I mean — er Don'i you think that would be inadvisable ? " " No ! " said Diana decidedly. " I think it'-a very fortunate chance. I should like to gei rid of the house and grounds, and I 6hall go and see the people about it to-uiorrow." Bertie Fisher stood quite still. Ho was staring at her with a strange expression on bilivid face. " You would not let the railroad come through here ? " he said in a curiously high falsetto voice. " You really mean that ! Yon will sell Glan-y-mor ? " "Yes," said Diana steadily. "I know rjuit ■ well now that George and I will never want t' live in it again." Bertie Fisher gave a peculiar little laugh. "No," he said. * Perhaps you are right. You want me to turn out just as soon as I can then, I suppose ? " " Well, I don't say that," said Diana thought fully. " I will tell you to-morrow night, alter 1 nave had an interview with the people. Thi y may not want it, you know, after all." They were walking towards the house. Bertie Fisher suddenly stopped. " I shouldn't think any more about it," be said. " Take my advice, and let things go on as they are. You are all right v aren't you ? " " Yes, but there is my mother— and — and Eric. I shall have to tell my mother some day. She has always been suspicious,"' said Diana in a low voice. Bertie Fisher was staring at her thoughtfully. He did not appear to have been listening to what she said, but a sudden gleam came into his hollow eyes. " Ah, yes ! " he said hoarsely. " Well, do a« you like. You know your own business best, Diana." Was it the words, she wondered, or the sinister way in which they were uttered. Somehow they seemed to contain a threat. (Another Splendid Instalment of this Thrilling Life Story Next Monday.) THE STAR WHO LOVES ALL ANIMALS. ment being available just then, Miss Caprice went to live at a big hotel. She arrived writh her luggage and four baskets of assorted cats and dogs. The manager refused them admittance. June's heart was broken, but the animals had to be returned to the country. That evening while on her way to the hotel, June came across a two months' old kitten on Broadway mewing and hungry. Tliis was more than the girl's tender heart could bear. Securing a shoe box, June tied up the kitten and smuggled it to her rooms in the hotel. There she kept it until it was discovered by the maid. Weeping, June presented the maid with one or two of her best hats, and the overjoyed young woman took the kitten to her own dwelling, where it will have a good home as long as it lives. But June had this portrait taken ljefore she let her pot go. JUNE CAPRICE