Part 1

IN HER OWN RIGHT

JOHN REED SCOTT

Author of "The Last Try," "The Woman In Question," "The Princess Dehra," Etc.

With Illustrations in Color By Clarence F. Underwood

A. L. Burt Company Publishers New York

Copyright, 1911 by John Reed Scott

Published May, 1911

DEDICATED

S. W. C

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I. Broken 11 II. Good-bye 23 III. Clarendon 35 IV. Parmenter's Bequest 51 V. Miss Carrington 68 VI. Confidence and Scruples 88 VII. Greenberry Point 104 VIII. Stolen 120 IX. The Way Out 135 X. Pirate's Gold Breeds Pirate's Ways 150 XI. Elaine Cavendish 170 XII. One Learned in the Law 185 XII. I Could Tell Some Things 203 XIV. The Symphony in Blue 217 XV. An Old Ruse 232 XVI. The Marabou Muff 247 XVII. A Handkerchief and a Glove 264 XVIII. The Lone House by the Bay 281 XIX. Robert Parmenter's Successors 298 XX. The Check 310 XXI. The Jewels 321

ILLUSTRATIONS

Page

"TELL ME ALL ABOUT YOURSELF," HE SAID Frontispiece

LEADING THE WRONG ONE, THROWING THE WRONG ONE, MATCHING PASTEBOARDS, THAT WAS ALL 86

HE WENT OUT ON THE EXTREME EDGE, FACED ABOUT, AND STEPPED TWO HUNDRED AND FIFTY PACES 112

IN HER OWN RIGHT

BROKEN

"The expected has happened, I see," said Macloud, laying aside the paper he had been reading, and raising his hand for a servant.

"I thought it was the unexpected that happens," Hungerford drawled, languidly. "What do you mean?"

"Royster & Axtell have been thrown into bankruptcy. Liabilities of twenty million, assets problematical."

"You don't say!" ejaculated Hungerford, sitting up sharply. "Have they caught any of our friends?"

"All who dealt with them, I reckon."

"Too bad! Too bad!--Well, they didn't catch me."

"Oh, no! you're not caught!" said Macloud. "Your father was wise enough to put your estate into Government threes, with a trustee who had no power to change the investment."

"And I'm thankful he did," Hungerford answered. "It saves me all trouble; I need never look at the stock report, don't you know; Government bonds are always the same.--I suppose it's a reflection on my ability, but that is of small consequence. I don't care what people think, so long as I have the income and no trouble. If I had control of my capital, I might have lost all of it with Royster & Axtell, who knows?"

Macloud shook his head.

"It isn't likely," he commented, "you wouldn't have had it to lose."