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The Seaforth News, 1929-06-20, Page 2The Gamble of Death By MAURICE REID, t. MOWS iavana sipped her liqueur and looked dreamily acrots et: her companion. The orghestra had just struolc up a waltz, and several couples were already gliding , acrase the reetaut'ant floor, "I wonder if I am taking the r18ht course, Dicky," she said. 'T some- how' feel that-,," "T know, dearest, you are thinking of what the people. will say after we are gone. Don't worry, I have made all arrangements, and no one will know that there is anything etuusual, except Tom, and he won't be likely to say very much for his owu sake. But,_ In any event, surely our happi ness will make np for the pain which the thought of any scandal here; might "'0?"I know that, but it is Tom I am thinking of." "Why should you? It must be pretty •obvious to you that you are both unsuited. How you came to marry aim hasalways been a mystery • to nee," "I was just a child, fresh from school, and he had come home with Daddy, Daddy was his C.O. in France,' you know ,and thought the world Of him. He seemed so big, so brave and so strong ,and I was mar- Suddenly a blaze of light flooded the rled to him before I realized what it veranda. Tom livens Walked slowly ' all meant. 011, I feel mean, treating acmes to the table and eyed the him like tills, but he doesn't under- others with a strange smile. Then stand mo. I just can't stand it may he seated himself quietly at the table, longer. , She jumped to her feet. The girl stared at him. Surely he "Let's dance this one, Dicky. I'm was not going to take this lying down. all on edge to -night. They made a striking pair—the girl, tall and slim, with fair, closely -shing- led hair; the man well-built, hand- some, and faultlessly.attired, Mir hits, ills wite% ctotherr lay neatly packed fie it in •preparatlon•for a voyage hem*. Feveriehir he examined all h1e wife's trunk, oulir to And that his there were all top welt founded. As it in a dream he returned to the: veranda, poured himself Out a stiff peg and sat down, Hie fleet thought was to hunt out Kingswell and thrash him. Later, however, whoa he had cooled a little, saner thought came« to him. He emlled•a little grimly as he rose and went to the medioine chest in .hie bedroom. A minute or two later he returned to the veranda, bearing in his hand a email vial containing some crystals. This he placed on a ledge ander the table, and leaving switched oft the light, seated himself in a sleeve chair at the back of the veranda to await the return of his wife and her escort. Ilow long he sat, lost in 'thought,. he had no idea, but some time later his reverie was interrupted b1 the sound of a car droning up to the house. Then he heard Daphne's voice. 'It is all right. Tom is fa bed, aud' the Whole place Is shut: up. Come on upstairs and have a 'split, but for goodness' sake don't make a noiss.". "All right, dearest, I'll be as quiet as a mouse," There were footsteps on thepolished floor. Presently came the sound of liquid being poured into At that moment she felt she despised him, "You seem to have everything ar- ranged, but I don't suppose• you mind discussing it with me for a few min - D• ick Kingwell, who was of the matt- utes. Take a seat." nee -idol type, had come to Singapore Tom was addressing Kingwell, who. some three months previously, and, also was quick to notice the chastened meeting Daphne Evans, had fallen in demeanour of the man he was rob - love with her, or, at least, said he bing, At the first shook of the un - had, expected meeting Kingwell'e face had Daphne had gradually become feed- turned pale and he had shrunk back mated, and now he was about to elope ready for flight. with him. When, however, the expected as - "That's better," she said, as the saukt failed to materalize and instead music stopped and they returned to he was quietly, almost diffidently, in- their. table, "Now you can tell me vited to sit down, his color and swag - what arrangements you have made for Bering self-confidence returned. Sit - to -morrow." ting down carelessly on the arm of a "We go down to Batavia on the chair Lb smiled at Daphne and then Rumphius in. the afternoon, and:I have stared insolently at her husband., arranged two adjoining cabins on a "Well, what do you want to dia. Dutch boat from there. Do you think cuss;" lee asked flippantly. "It must you can get your trunks and things be pretty obvious even to you what away to -morrow without Tom know- the position is, In any case, I love lug?,' Daphne better than life itself, and I "Oh yes, that will be easy enough. think I can speak for her, too." He is going up to Bangkok on buss- "Very gallantly put, but we will ness to -morrow early. But, Dicky, see whether or not you mean it" what about passports?" Tom took a pack of cards from a "I've fixed that, too. You can get drawer in the table, and proceeded to your• passport visa for Java in the snuffle them, i ,chair back morning and it Is all right for the Kingwell pushed his U.K. 'I can hardly realize tbat you with a snort, "Good Lord," he exclaim - are giving yourself to me, darling. I ed. "You don't think I would gamble feel—I feel we have belonged to one for a lady, do you? I'm off—good another since the beginning of time." night, Daphne. I'll see you in the "Yes, dear, I feel that too, and it is morning," only because I do feel it that I can "Sit down!" Kingwell turned to find bring myself to leave Tom." himself blinking into the muzzle of a "Forget Toni ,dearest. Tom is al- service revolver clasped in Tom's ready of the past. The future is ours right hand. alone-" "You are not going to gamble for In the menutime, Tom Evans hav- a Iady. You are going to play for ing finished a lonely dinner, lit a your life," said the latter grimly. cheroot and settled himself in a chair "What—what do you want to do?" on the veranda of his bungalow. His Kingwell stammered, "Do you mean brow was wrinkled and there was a to murder me?" perplexed look in leis eyes. That "No, not if you do as I tell you, but afternoon in the Cricket Club, a on the first attempt you make to leave friend of many years' standing had this house, I will shoot you like the hinted that he would do well to keep dog you are he went on, "that an eye on his wife, and, although "`I am assuming;' there was no suggestion that there Daphne, for the present, at any rate, was anytling wrong,; a sound thrash- prefers you to me. If I was convent - leg might with profit be administered ently to die Daphne would be com- to young Kingwell to teach him that it was not healthy to cane married women to be the subject of gossip. Toni felt very sore, and resolved to put his foot down firmly in the future. At this juncture he became aware that the boy bad come on to the ver- anda bearing a tray with a decanter of whiskey and glasses. "Boy," ha said. "What time did the memsahib go out?" "About six o'clock, Tuan." "Did she say what time she would be back?" "No. Tuan, except that she would be late." So Daphne would be late. Well, he would wait up and have it out with her. troubled by parish dogs in the coma Then he remembered that he would pound. have to leek out some papers from a "Strychnine," she gasped. trunk in his . wite's dressing -room to "Yes, strychnine," her husband re- take with him to Bangkok in the morn plied with a grim smile. "You and Mg. He rose and went In eearoh of II will out, Kingwell. The loser swat - them. He opened the lid of the trunk, I lows that drink, and a waive of apprehension came; Kingwell essayed to speak, but the th PopOwiploger Suun'Telkkb MAI S+ rlq DUKE OF YORK RECEIVES FREEDOM OF ILFORD The Duke et York inspecting the guard of honoryn,his arrival at Iltord where he was Heade first freeman 'of e borough with appropriate ceremony at the town hall. words refused to come. He peeked up another glass from the table and, half filling it with ,whisky, dashed it down neat. Presently the liquor had its effect, and some of his confidence returned. "Don't be silly, Evans," he mutter. ed. "You can't frighten me. We are not living in the backw000ds. You daren't shoot me, and I'm not going to out cards with you for any stake, I'm going home." He rose unstead- ily. "Listen to me," Evans said. "If you would rather not avail yourself of• my sporting offer; I'll shoot •now." "No, no, I can't," he gasped ' "Cut!" came the laconic reply, and the finger on the trigger of the revol- ver twitched. "A minute or two ago you said you would lay down Your life paratively wealthy, and you might get married without any great fear of the future either financially or socially. "On the other hand, I feel sure that if you were out of the way she would be perfectly contented and happy to go on living with me. Consequently, oneof us has to die as quietly as pos- sible." Ile poured some whisky into a glass, and, taking the small vlal from under the table, shook some crystals into the whisky. The woman stared at him in Horror, but seemed powerless to leave her chair. She recognized the bottle ae one her husband had procured some months previously when they had been never really meant to take her% Oh, let me go," Again he attempted to rise, but Ills eye caught the other man's, and he sank back in ,his seat, Suddenly a thought came to -him, He grasped the cards and commenced to shuffle them feverishly, "The best of three!" he exclaimed, `It's only fair; I never had a chance." • "How many chances do you want, you°skunk? You have had a fair deal, but"—TOBµ leant -forward and cut th'o Bards -"I'll give you an extra chancpoured himself out a drink. Present - if You are so afraid to, die.' There Le'' ly he heard a rustle behind him, Two my card, the flue of diamonds: ' soft arms were clasped round his With nervous fingers Kingswell lift•' neck. ed a card—the ten of hearts. "All "What; timedo we leave in the square," said Evans. ."Now, King- morning, Tom?" well, the last out and I will shuttle." "Leave for where, darling?" "For Bangkok—on our secoad honey- moon, you old silly," _ ai She Quacke himself looking into two angry blue eyes. "Daphne—" "Go!" the shouted hysterically. "Go! You coward.. I never want to see you again," and, sobbing, she fled to her room.,, Tom livens rose and •walked to his bedroom. From the medicine chest he took a large bottle marked "Epsom Salts" into which he emptied the con- tents of the small green vial. r He then returned to the veranda and He laid the revolver down on his for Daphne. To -night you have a knee and,proceeded very carefully to chance to do so.' shuffle the pack while he watched IUngwell's hand mover uncertainly Kingwell narrowly. towards the cards. Hardly knowing «Cut!" cried Evans at last, dropping what he was about, . he emit clumsily the pack on the table: Kingwell did and displayed the knave of diamonds. so. and displayed the seven of clubs. Great beads of perspiration stood out A groan escaped him, and trembling - on his brow as he watched the other 1y he watched Evans cut the three cut, and, as if through a mist, he saw of hearts! the card,the king of spades. From a long way off Evan's•voice reached him. For a minute, there 'was a dead sit - "Not good enough: Good luck to once; then Evans sighed "as he re ss your drink!" placed the revolver 1 .. his pocket. As There ns a duck in New York State, Dazedly he stared at the tumbler if in a dream, Kingwell watched Tom . A vain, conceited bird, with its deadly contents, Then in a raise the glass to his het. , Then a Her haughty air and mincing gait figure in white came between them 1flash his senses returned, and a look The farmyard thought absurd.• 0and the gass with contents horror came into his face. litcrash-She scorned those clucks whose eggs 'No! No! I won't die like this, I'll ed into the compound. were green, - go away. I don't want your wife. I! Kingwell rose to his feet and found And jeeted at them with dasty spleen And loud sarcastic quack. d Too Soon! (According to a newspaper, a farmer in New York State owns a duck which has laid black eggs for the past two yet e.) Looks Like a Big Bertha New Fashions Set ' Trouble Feared By Paris Decree. In Afghanistan She might have been a movie -star— The people came in Rocks By buggy, bits .and auto -car To gather round the box., In which she sat each day at two. To do her little whack— .To see the egg of nigger hue She laid with boasting quack Black Chosen by Courturiers (Ilvit war and general disrupt/en may break out in aoin0 et the Afghan provinces, it is feared by various In. dian observers, who vle)v the future of that country at ahowilig moth oa a reawakening oftribal lUoptitea and the re-establishment of tribal rule, Little news. has leaked out since Am- anulleh fled to Kandahar and Ghazl T•iabibuilali mounted the thione at Kabul, but now the Indian press 10' port that an armed force has left Kan- dahar, under the ioaderalup of K'ing , Amanullah, In orcler'to drive G11001 ZIabtbttllali out, Blit there„ is u0 nc- tuai discontent against the new ruler, ae Favorite Color URGE LONGER SKIRTS Knees Not Now Shown at All „Times of Day ,Says Cor- respondent Parts.—Paris dressmakers and mil- liners have deeroed during this spring of 1929 to put a definite.. stop to the "flapper woman" reign, The new type of woman which they have mads fa- shionable nowadays 10 the area 1t seems, and the Glutei's followers woman." She has' already conciuered remain loyal. With ea/toned skeptic- ism the Caloutto "Statesman" Hetet Peshawar reports that 00,000 soldiers are following ;King .Amanullali, svho ran away from Kabul a little over six months ago with only 2,000. Prob- ably the truth Is that Milanuliah has not 60,000 soldiers, but about 0,000,,' thinks this•neempaper, and that they are tribesmen of various kinds re.. eructed from the neighborhood of ICandahar, A regular garrison, it is suggested, no more existed at Kan- dahar than d1d one at Kabul, and we aro further informed; "It may be remembered that no mention was made et troops to re•' oeive narrived at Ifancla'harhim, Thewhen .ptheeopleIcireceivedg him with respect, for he was their king, but there was no special enthusiasm. Prior to the Raman no attempts' were made to recruit any fighting tribesmen, but thereafter a good deal - of money oeoms to have been spent on. inducing people to rally to the royal standard. We believe that sell, eral thousands did so rally, and that an armed force has actually left Kan- dahar, under the leadership of the king, in order to drive GImzi Habibul• lah out of Kabul. How far that force has actually advanced' is open to Question, One ropol't says to Ghazni, and addsthat a battle .with the Ghazi's forces has already been - fought and won The story may be true, but wehave to remember that people who come from across. the frontier into.Peshawar with tales are very well aware that Peshawar is al- most• fanatical .in its support of the icing, "The transfrontier Pathan is hardly such a simpleton as to relate in the bazaar any but stories that would be elle paddock at Long:Mamps and Au- teuil race courses and; the dance floors pf all the smartest restaurants and theatres. With an easiness which may astonish psychologists, the fe- male population of the French capital has undergone a change 'imposed upon 'them, . Their line, tli,eir poise, their walk, their looks \have been transformed as by magic. They have now lost entirely the impulsiveness of the prime of youth that was so fash- ionable a few years ago, that boyish frankness and sportive walk of flap• per women, But they have acquired a gentleness in movements and a quiet poise, 'gliding walk and alluring air of femininity. The smart ladies of 1929 do not all seem any more to be seventeen. The fashionable ages have become 25 to 30—an age at which women have already acquired a certain knowledge of life and men and have tasted the joys and sorrows of love, There Is an atmosphere of mystery around them. It is chiefly created by tae way they dress. To- day's women aro as slim as their pre- decessors and. perhaps slimmer. They have a cinuoue line, a flexible waist, longer hair and longer skirts. They do not show their knees any more at. all times of the day—they merely let their legs be seen from time to time tlu'ough slits in their - skirts or through vaporous clouds of transpar- ent tissue. Their attitude seems full of promise and of delusion; they are attractive and impentrable alike, mer- maids of legends' and myths. - They also look more spiritual than did the tapper women, probably because. most of the spiritual part of women's faces—the eyes and brow—are left uncovered by the new type of hats worn this :spring. And these hats -add romanticism to them. • The transfer- well received, All reports emanating mation of women's looks have been from Peshawar during the tact few entirely achieved. by the dressmakers t' -youths have been favorable to the art. The dressmakers worked for king and have cast doubts on the abil• ity of the Ghazi to maintain- himself. We were, given the -,impression that the Ghazi was a mere robber who, at - ter he had'. looted Kabul, would hasten back to his native hills. But Kabul. has not been looted, and the 'robber' has maintained hi, position with great dignity and much self-restraint, There has been very little ponfisca, tion and .no wholesale .massacre--orr th9 kin'g's adherents. "The latest foreign refugees front, Kabul say that, though supplies are scarce, there is no actual discontent' against the new ruler. The Ghazi'a followers continue to be loyal to him. But how marry followers has he? Flere we arefaced with the same trouble that we have in estimating the king's followers. In both cases we must 'come to the 08.1310 conclusion. Aware of the Patifan `inability to resist speaking in thousands, we must di- vide bazaar estimates by ten. In other words, the battle for the Pea. session of Kabul will be fought be- tween two forces, each of abput the . strength of a brigade. The restof a the population of Afghanistan, ,in- cluding Gen. Nadir IChan, now wait- ing at Gardez, will look on." India's neutral stand in Afghan af- fairs, which is often declared, despite' rumors to the contrary emanating from 'some Russian and some German sources, is emphasized In an official communique issued` at New Delhi, in which itle stated that there appears to be "some misunderstanding over the nature and purpose of the regu- lations which ,,the Government have , laid down regarding the crossing of the Afghan frontier' during the.pres eat crisis."- The -communique con- -. Unties , in parte - '"These are dicated by the Govern- meat's declared policy of •non -inter. vention and neutrality, and by their determination to prevent our frontier districts being •; used by ;any, of the contending parties in Afghanistan as a base for furthering civil war, and in particular to frustrate efforts that are being madeto embroil our front ler tribes in it. Permission 19 in no case given to British subjects to cross the frontier into Afghanistan. "Afghan combatants, regulars or ir- regulars, who seek temporary refuge . in India are disarmed on entry and required to move' back into Afghanis• 'tan within a reasonable time;'in what/ ever direction aid by whatever route they please, Their arms will be re- tattled until there is an established • government in Afghanistan to whom they can be rettu.nhd. "While -movements of ordinary Af- ghan tribestnon are left unrestricted, entry auto India of high personages, likely to attempt to settle in India ae political retugeos, ie discouraged, but transit is given freely for direct jour- ney to the frontier' destination." "Parttime" clergymon, wile would Uo orcialned and servo under licence ;Whatout payment while carrying on their ordinary work, le one suggestion r'Ia4 clorgy She grew so proud of what she'd done She shunned the farmyard folk; A peacock was the only one To whom she ever spoke. • ' "Please tell me, clever duck," he prayed, "Why alt -your eggs are black?" n.Cos that's ' the very smartest shade," She answered with a quack. But pride e'er goes before a crash, Be men or ducks concerned; Upon the scene came old Dame rash.;, The tables then were turned. • For Fashion said: "In '29 I mean to change my tack; To palest green I now incline." (Dismayed, . our duck cried, "Quack!") As lady readers know so well, Tho Dame must be obeyed, So other ducks lay eggs whose shell Is quite the late3t shade. Our heroine is in despair—. She's lost her vogue, alack; She wears a, sad, diminished. air- A duck without a quack!—L. PI. V. The kittenish maideh lady was try- CHIMNEY ryCHIMNEY IS RAZED TO MAKE ROOM FOR, HOUSES ing her best to draw out her glum partner, a cynical . bachelor. "Were Great chimneys of the old Milwaukee bresver was removed recently to you ever disappointed in love?" make room for the new dwellings. Workmen battered out the foundation "'Course not. You Now I never until the huge stack caved in and fell. married:' three years to oust the boyish sil- houette. They have succeeded only this year in having finally moulded women according to the shape they wanted. Longer skirts, loose panels, complicated' cut of clothes, pinches in the waist, uneven hem, undulating brims of hats have made a miraculous change, nit only in women's silhou- ette but also in their character and movements. Black is the color that has been chosen this year by the Paris couturiers as their favorite in order to make a transformation more comiilete. It is a color that suits par- ticularly women of 25 who aro still young but' with ,a certain amount of experience. It flatters their skin and gives. a flash to their eyes. It is the color of -the "femme fatale," the ideal at which women will strive to arrive during this year's season. 'Drifters with the downward cur- rent generally end Up the river," S'MATTER FOP. 'GiniIWl(IIItIIIIImlllimlllitlliMlillllisF • �. vv�t1'q `r�.1 'i3OO`aEq Its i-• N A`t' IIII "),./%� I~o III 'k Ily 114 1J r e'l P�.35� - er DAF 4-1,- 6' I N U. G • 6 �, e,3 Cat ' / t om i� 0 r' ' r— • ,/ is1ps • O... isq ,,L -„a e,1 . IN Dz'r7 {ND NOW i -ET US •I AVE „ CAI -M AMM UN Tal ASE.'t' SIS CUSSION -OF T4E. 13:: 107 Whim INIfEN'Te, 'ROWING C'IfrtreS 1'012 11+a -13e-'I'Room ori -1l- to -i}, s11!:dA 1 UMle `tER s+111,1 ? 3"