Show AT CR S two of bai artta e in one small toor poor family oy by MARTHA WILLIAMS Ao A disfigured Allon bya byo handsome mouth as he watched lura vano vane me hla cousin along the narrow street lura was plain as he himself was handsome further as staidly proper as aa he was waa wild therefore he fold him self belt inevitably she not noi he would inherit grandmother vanes lioney noney grandi grandmother nother had a clinging 6 her blood and had bad set her heart since upon making a snatch of tai the two unwisely she had bad tried to bring allonby up with that th in mind by nature rebellious also by nature beauty loving and wilful hohag he had been as aa nearly insolent Ina alent over ahe the matter as aa his fathers father son bon could show hi himself maeef his father was the one thing in life ho ha reverenced reveren ced and discourtesy to any woman john allonby allenby the elder could not forgive A real man said lie ho owed such courtesy to bims himself elf regardless of whether or no the woman an deser deserved vad it bo his son had bad only said imps ible bible granny flot trusting himself to explain the impossibility dad was told 1 I look at ai lura one year let alone my whole life throb through gh for all tho the money in the bank of england let alone gr annys little handful that waa was before the crash came by several years the crash beggared john allonby the older elder and brought a stroke that loft left him but a living shadow of himself but when after months of silence ho he could speak with difficulty he said son bon it Is worth everything to find you what you are Allws py muttered something gruff and turned away his his bead blushing like a girl later when his father slept in his wheel chair he got up from his desk and fondled the withered right hand as a mother might fondle her sleeping baby he had not been bred to work his profession the law meant years of starvation waiting for clients in extremity he had turned to writing tho the returns were precarious enough yot yet he could do the work and keep with hla his dear invalid the dear in must lack nothing As to himself it did not matter A small house ous r to shelb the sole polio it possessions fifie fi fie hel now cook ch amberman gardner 4 ibi and d man of all work the establishment lish ment kept going in a ramshackle fashion grandmother vanes weekly lamper hamper helped a lot oleo also her weekly dinners allonby allenby went bent to them by hla bb fathers express orders it is the least return you can decently make for your mothers mothers kindness said his elder lura was rarely at the dinners managing some way to have other engagements at first allonby allenby had been glad later he had come to resent her absences they were not cousinly and an d he was bent upon keeping up a surface of amity such as should prevail among folk of one blood he had not spoken with her tor for throe three months an aix impulse he did try to understand sent him to cross her path ile ho waited there still sneering a little but also smiling accept my feli citations ho fio said bald halt extending exten din to la hand this la Is no place to offer off er t tem lem that I 1 know well but you give me no other chance 1 I am not 0 sire re I 1 understand you lura said bald co cole ang 11 gf antly 3 fie was blight and dar I 1 with an oval face ace and eyes deep it t under heavy brows you surely h ve e not heard she went on break ig g oft off uncertainly allonby omi id d more confidently 1 I did not ne nae I 1 to hear he said it flashed ova me ma that thai you and dick helm were m ma ie a tor for each other the very vary minute I 1 law aw you together let me know chec the wedding Is to be so BO I 1 I 1 may turn you out a love verse having ving nothing ise be to 9 give im just a little afraid you will buffer from expressed poesy it if you wait tor for that occasion lura tin an cowered and n dw w she smiled but dont be downa arted lt it Is a secret but bat dick and asta sta mills have come to an under understanding sti anding at last there ta is no talk of ru arriago yet but I 1 dare say bay you will bo be warned in time when the ico i co undrel has been at your apron stings st ingo this year and tairel As your yo next of kin I 1 ought to call him to count allonby said bald the tha sneer w wai quito banished the smile gunny bunny 1 I was WAR jesting ho he ran orl on you anc knoy ff that thal you are not tho the sort eort of gir a man plays fast and beao boosa with 1 lid id you know about bosta all the t me a ag ana nd I 1 did m my y beet beat to bring them to tog the ther they had bad quarreled meled over sue BUC blittle a little thing lu lura ra wowe answered redo rn mat a tas M though to pass bo 1 allonby fluom ilu open the gato gate say eay teg entreating r dad weal wants to see eo yo you u are you big enough to shame me by becoming coming in lura laughed a low pleasant pheasant laugh you think im high and haughty still over your refusing me she said when the bhe could speak dont you know im grateful every day of my life think what it would be two of a trade in one poor small ama family allonby looked mystified lura laughed again we are surely play ing at cross purposes she sald said you dont know what I 1 came to tell you I 1 have won the first prize in the eraa story contest two thousand doll dollars arsi 1 really I 1 cant believe allonby allenby staggered BB as it he bo had been struck things were at a desperate pass with him not tor for months had he s sold old anything considerable ilia his hope centered upon this prize he be h bad a d sent in halt half a dozen tales he was waa blind sick shivering cold by supreme effort he steadied himself and held out his hand saying huskily so after all my felicitations feli citations are due that depends de pende laura said almost wistfully then coaxingly jack cant you wont you remember we are cousins ins please take this tooling prize money and spend it for uncle john dr green told me a little while ago there waa wap a chance for him if he could go to some wonderful cure and stay there three months Allon Allen bys hands went over his working face he also had bad been told a large part of the sting of losing lay in the knowledge and now the winner the plain girl garf he had condemned and rejected made this unbelievably generous offer he could not accept it neither could he be refuse it his father himself must decide brokenly he said so to laura she was trembling a little but held herself very straight as she went beside him into the bare place that was both workshop and living room john allonby allenby the older elder sat P propped with many pillows in the one easy chair a trail frail wraith dt 61 a strong ng man piteously feeble he smiled a queer twisted smile as lura took his hands in hers with swimming eyes she bent and kissed hla his forehead making somehow in low words and broken her plea to help him he heard with kindling eyes a taint faint color rising in his withered cheek you you say there Is a chance he be gasped at last and then his head fell back he had bad fainted from joy lura chafing hi bis hands shands and temples almost glared at his son eon it if you hest irate now you are a murderer 1 I she said oil 1 I feel like one already allonby rep replied lleo jow years ngo de dered red my chance fo tho it rarest happiness you mean you tried to lura snapped at him but she flushed like the dawn when the sick man came to he looked gondert angly from one to the other as if in answer to his pleading eyes their hands bands met in a close warm clasp copyright 1812 1912 by associated literary press |