Show i THE GIFT WIFE 0 C RUPERT HUGHES HUGHES HUCHES SER a By B y RUPERT R UP U P E R RI T HUGHES HUG FlU G H E ES 5 SYNOPSIS SY On board the Nord Nord s. s with 0 Os Oa tend lend as his Immediate destination Dr David ld Jebb Is fa bound for America Ac Ac- AcC company C s lug 11 1 Is 1 ti old II QI Thatcher er his temporary ward On un the train they meet mel Big DUI Dill Gaines former classmate and fraternity brother of 01 Da Da- Davids Davids David's Davids vid's He lie tells teUs Gaines of his mission and of 01 his one unconquerable vice an vice an overwhelming desire for liquor Jebb feels the urge coming to 10 him again and wants to 10 safeguard the child whose whose fa fa ther Is dead and whose mother watts walli fur for her In America CHAPTER Continued I 3 Upon the leaden silence came the fluty fiuty ripple ot ol a childish voice Hello I And an exquisite face lace peering through a cascade of ol curls was thrust into the fog of ol smoke Dave e are you OU dere dereT Jebb leaped to his feet and caught the child chUd to him in alarm How did you get here herc sweet sweet- sweetheart sweetheart sweetheart heart I just come long de hall Dave She calls caUs me Dave he explained Its shorter than Mr Jebb Cynthia this is an old friend of ol your Daves Dave's Miss Cynthia Cynthia thia Thatcher may I present to you Mr William Gaines Theres There's a good deal of ol him but its it's all wool and a yard wide And it washes said Gaines He lie 4 knew better than to patronize the ther r young He Ill said without condescension sion sian but with wilh perfect gravity as he be put out his hand Im delighted to meet you Miss Thatcher Wont Won't you OU come and sit on my lap She looked at him in dismay His Ills fair round lined capon capon was like a globe She murmured Im lighted to meet you I but you got no lap to thet Chet on Then she took command If ll you move ober I l like to look out de devinda devinda vinda By all means Miss Thatcher And Gaines hunched his bulk aside far enough for the little littee queen to establish herself at the pane What did your Dave say your name was My name Gaines threw up tip his hands In hor hor- horror Thin thy Suitcase The child shrieked with joy at the big mans man's stupidity She corrected him as if it he were an overgrown In in- Infant infant fant fant lant was the name and no other said a beautiful name Gaines meekly the name for the girl I l ever saw She threw a look of ol confused van vanity vanity ity at nt Jebb then flattened her tiny snub of a nose against the pane most unbecomingly and watched the quickening sights as the train rat rattled tied into a village Behind her back the men tell fell to talking about her Cynthia Thatcher That's a great name for lor a child said Gaines shell be an nn old woman before she learns to pronounce It it But Jebb was gazing at her ber very solemnly Poor little tike Her history be be- begins begins gins with a rush She's only five eve and she has already crossed the ocean bidden her mother a long good good-by lost her father forever been left alone among strangers in ina ina ina a land whose language she doesn't understand And now she Is sent Bent back across the ocean in charge of ofa a a-a a a man like me Weve We've become great chums already She likes Ikes me and I I-I I I love her herIve herIve Ive never had a child of my own Billy I never expect to have But Ive I've helped dozens of children into the world and Ive I've had hun bun hundreds hundreds of them brought to me maimed and twisted and defective and wounded and sick They've been afraid of me and Ive I've had to hurt burt them And sometimes I couldn't help them at all and Ive I've had to see them slip away from me like little drowning frightened things This is the first erst child Billy ever put In my keeping that was sound and well and beautiful and not meant for lor my horrible knives I was so happy to have ha her ber I scorned the Idea of ol a nurse Of course my training has taught me more about children than all aU the nurses on earth And we set out like two children on a junket I r was her Dave e and she was my little Ittle Cynthy And then that sot lurched Into me damn him poor him no poor dog per per- perhaps perhaps haps hes he's like me a roe a decent fellow tenths nine of the time and heart heart- heartbroken heartbroken broken with an affliction he couldn't aty more help than a dwarf can help his size or Jr a rattlesnake his poison pulson But hes he's finished me Its It's a tough touch world Billy The only de de- decent deI decent I cent thing fate tate has done for me is isto isto isto to show shew me you He reached out and their hands met met met-in in no secret serret clutch but clutch but in the firm frank grip of ol the universal brotherhood It was some time be be- before before fore lore their clasp relaxed Meanwhile Miss Thatcher was try try- trying trying ing mg to drown the racket of ol the wheels lender vr r a s S f-S which she shouted into the pane with all the power of ol her ber lungs luns I had a po ponce po- po nce filth HIth name wath Dapple Gway Gvay dee 1 i rii t J To fo wide a mile mUe away She tipped him she lathed him She him the mire I would not lend my pony wow now now wow Faw aw dat deeth la la-deeth la hi hi ahl ahi At about the twentieth repetition of the little epic the pony stuck fast in the mire for the train joggled up to a short stop Outside the window was a small station Some trifling accident or a train dispatchers dispatcher sig signal nal had caused the delay The crew did not descend or open the doors The guards had no explanations to vouchsafe though timepieces were whipped hipped out of ot pockets in all the compartments and passengers were worrying lest the halt compromise their chances of ol making the Ule boat to America Jebb was most nervous of all aU He lie raised the window and poked his head had out There was no one to question lie He went into the tile corridor to ask the guards Ins His only answer was a n blunt Weiss accompanied accompanied by a convincing cOn look of ol stu stu- Jebb went back to his seat scat and played a devils devil's tattoo on the thelea leather lea ther I hope to the Lord nothing hap hap- happens happens pens to hold us here long Billy he walled wailed almost elmost childishly Ill not feel leel easy till Im I'm safe on shipboard chipboard hf t threw his victim an as ugly look Of Ol course Ive I've got you now but I I. I want to be on board Ill I'll take tale the ships ship's doctor into my confidence and have him bim lock me up somewhere His fits all too experienced excitement was interrupted by the frenzy of ol the little girl She had bad discovered that the station had a refreshment room and the refreshment room had a window where fruits and candies were appealingly displayed Oh see de she cried wants must go get for lor poor ickle icicle Jebb answered Dave would love to to sweetheart but the train might start The argument carried little weight in the presence of the oranges run buy buy quick quick- come back wont won't let naughty old train go gol But Jebb shook his head and re re- repeated repeated re- re repeated his reasons The child chUd grew frantic Jebb was dismal I know just how you feel honey said Jebb but Im I'm afraid to risk it Gaines whose heart was as soft and big as his bulk smote emote his fat lat knees with his fat hands and rose Ill get you the oranges Miss Jebb checked him uneasily Non Nonsense Nonsense Nonsense sense Billy she doesn't need them She oughtn't to have them She She She- Nonsense yourself I 1 cant can't see eel a alady alady I lady perish like Miss Tantalus with I oranges Just out of her reach But Dut the train may start Ill bet my hat well we'll be here for fora a week This is just the sort ct et place where a train always stays a I along along long while Anyway its it's Just a few steps step He had squeezed through the door and was brushing both sides of the corridor before Jebb could restrain him The car was but Gaines knew how to manipulate thedoor the thedoor door from within The anxious Jebb saw him appear on the platform outside glance for forward ward and aft and satisfy himself of the trains train's intention to remain Then he be skipped as the fat skip to the refreshment counter The woman in charge was out if f sight She was not easily summoned She Shedid Shedid Shedid did not understand Gaines Gaines' German He picked out three orani orang s and brandished them with one hand while the Ule other plunged into his pocket lie He had no small Email money mone lie lund n a bill lull i The woman went for the change Her lIer motives for s rc irless' irless b r be suspected Gaines suspected them He lie kept calling her and dancing impatiently Eying the engine always he did not notice that a II guard passing through the train and finding the vestibule door open growled and slammed it 11 from within Suddenly the train started Gaines left the change to the wom wom- woman woman an dashed to the door found lound it 11 I closed without handle or foothold I Like Like- a melon on a B stream his I disgusted fare face was swept rpt past the window and past the staring horri horrified I fied fled face of ol ebb Jebb J Jebb ebb J thrust his I head out and watched the smooth long side of ol the train glide with In Increasing creasing speed past the bewildered Gaines who ho searched and clutched in vain and was left staring the costly golden apples dropping from from his hands and bouncing uselessly about the platform II In the hurrying crisis of ol his af at affairs fairs lairs the loss of ol his protector stam slam stampeded I I Jebbs Jebb's usual self self His Ills I sorrow for Gaines' Gaines mishap was noth nothing nothing ing to his sorrow for himself and the child He lie dashed into the corridor I shouting to the guard to signal the train to top step The guard was slow Blow to be found lound and end slower to under under- understand understand I stand and once understanding was I aghast at the lese majeste lese majeste of ol stop stop- stopping stopping stopping ping one of the Kaisers Kaiser's trains sim simply ply pi to pick up a passenger Be Dc- Besides sides had not the passenger all oil the theby theby theby by the government ordained rules disobeyed and from the iron road I wagon road without permission descend descend- descended ed Jebb would have stopped stop red the train himself him sell at whatever risk of fine and imprisonment but there was no bell bell- rope to pull and he had tailed failed fa lied to note the device installed Ills His wrath and his anxiety and the necessity of I putting them Into German choked him He lIe was frantic with fear not for himself but for the child whose destinies were once more entirely in his untrustworthy hands Cynthia had come out Into the cor cor- corridor rider and was staring at him in inI I such bewilderment that she forgot I m to bemoan her oranges Jebb's Jebbs face fare was pitiful He lie was in the ultra ultra- lonely and fearsome plight of one who cannot trust his own soul As he stood alternately wringing his hands and pleading with the wooden-headed wooden guard the train leaping forward toward full headway to make up the lost time took a sharp curve at ot high speed and ond lurched round it hurtling the child violently along the corridor Jebb put out one arm to catch her lie He put lima hia ther hand against the near near- nearest nearest est esl support to steady stady himself just justas as the whipcord snap of the cars sent a heavy door sliding shut Its whole Impact fell on Jebbs Jebb's thumb He managed to pull the thedoor thedoor thedoor door back enough to release his hand He was used to the sight of other peoples people's wounds but the vision of ol his own lacerated d flesh and the peculiarly exquisite anguish of ol a mashed thumb sent a queasy thrill to his stomach His knees turned to sand He fainted tainted and went toppling and arid bumping to the floor where the careening train rolled him like a loose barrel Cynthia screamed Passengers appeared at a t all aU the doors and jammed the corridor A woman wrapped her arms about the distracted child who was sob sob- sobbing sobbing bing Davies Davie's Davies Davie's dead A man knelt and raised his head heid lIes Hes fainted that's nil alt Has any any- anybody au body bod got any brandy brand As withdrawn from Cynthia was the scene S seeps i- i t. I t i fc a m i Frenchman nr M produced peg f a a flask Je nal pas de brandee mon moo monsieur roams malS voice oice du clu cognac conr Merne Meme chose mon eer said Fald the American as he pried Jebbs Jebb's set ct teeth apart and poured n II liberal po po- potion potion tion into his clenched throat A shiver quaked through Jebba whole length he strangled gulped opened his eyes looked about feebly the matter You smashed your ur thumb old oM boy and keeled over tr here had some brandy handy and I forced It j t on n you No no nol gasped helplessly not brandy brandI I Yes u and good too by the of It You look a n little green old man Move Have sums some more morr No Not Nol cried d Jebb ns as he pushed It away ay You better said Enid the Yankee holding It under his nostrils Yes Ys said Mild Jebb with a B deep breath He seized the flask k greedily and took a n generous drought draught l hl Ho lie offered It back but s I s the French French- Frenchman l Frenchman man put out his hand Jet b recon neon reconsidered and set the the- bottle bollie to his lips En bald the Frenchman ironically Jebb took him literally and helped himself liberally You must have hl a 1 lined copper throat said sold the tile Yankee to swig it Jebb gave gate a further demonstration tion of ol his prowess He Ill i sat LIlt at up on the floor of ol the car and winking conceitedly nt at his fellow country man drank his good health When the flask was again agam In his hands the Frenchman turned it up tip upside side Bide down with a n rueful counte counte- nance Only a n drop or two leaked from It With angry Irony he be said Jen J n sous ous Huh said Jebb The Yankee interpreted with a B laugh as ns he got Jebb to his fret feet Monsoon says hes he's much obliged for lor the flask nahk Jebb threw his victim an lIn ugly look drove his fist deep deep- Into his pocket and with a sneer offered a handful of money to the Frenchman I pay for lor what hat I 1 drink How much The Gaul understood without translation He lie struck Jebb's Jebbs hand aside and the money jingled on the floor Jebb was for trouncing him then and there but the Yankee re no- restrained strained him pacified him and guided guid guld guided ed him along the corridor to his own compartment Jebb swayed a 0 good deal but It may have hove been the train lie dropped Into his scat seat dazed dared But Dut it may have been the dizziness of ol his suffering The Yankee brought to him the scared little girl and the coin which he had gathered up In the corridor with the Instinct that leads people to pick up other peoples people's runaway hats ha ts for them Jebb thanked him for the little girl but waved the money away magnificently a little silver to me he said a trifle thickly The American laughed and laying the money on the scat seat vanished to his own compartment h With complete disregard of all his I aseptic ism Jebb wrapped his un- un sterilized handkerchief about his bleeding thumb It was shrieking and throbbing but an unleashed de demon mon within him was shrieking and throbbing too He lie was side sick sick too grievously tormented to bind his own wound properly TO HE liE |