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Show "Tts WAirV Irs. Harry putfh Smith '""Howard, do run and get me a ., - murmured Miss Helen dl" , who had again strolled Sanders who had g out onto the ve cocktaUll ryo- can n! such a thin, ; in ' . .iib went on languid-r-Tnot, CthTng eXcept that nerfectly atrocious concoction your floor committee calls punch." Howard laughed. "I'm practically prac-tically there and halfway back wfi a champagne cocktail, Beau- UfHe" erred slightly, because he had not expected to be buttoned button-ed outside the bar by Jim Phll-"ins Phll-"ins "Heaven knows why," said Jim grimly, "but you can wreck Ruth Hetchcote's evening without half trying." -And what's that to you?" inquired in-quired Howard. "Just this," snapped Jim, you are going over there to ask her to dance or I'll push your face in Remember all the mean little tricks you played on me when I was a caddy and you could get by with it? If you think 11 wouldn't give meth amount of satisfaction ( H least amount of trouble t your fascinating couoil you're all wet." ti!fi The small silver tray . Miss Helen Sanders' coekun josed quivered slightly , V ard's grasp. "I'm not you," he said thickly "q ' I'll dance with Ruth.' I ffl(Z all along." "I'll deliver the cocktail " Jim curtly. "You're going to,a: right along beside me llkeai" man and dance with Ruth now or a punch in the jaw "You make me sick" Howard peevishly. ' Nevertheless he carried m, structions with Jim at his (C Miss Helen Sanders was still t ing against the railing o!; veranda staring pensively silver-gilt mauve sky when j ' with a flourish that was bravado, presented her in . cocktail. "Oh, it's you!" she muran, and eyed him with llstle)s posure. "Do you combine hop-tables hop-tables along with your othet'" , ties at the Club?" she In ; (To be continued) "She's such a game kid, thought Jim now, staring at her over Danny's golden head. "Come on. Sonny, time tor bed," warned Cathy. "Want me to carry you over and put you in your crib, Sonny?" Son-ny?" suggested Jim gently. Danny snuggled his cheek against Jim. "Yes, please." "I'll drive you down to the club, Cathy." Jim went on. Anne saw the light in Cathy's violet eyes before she remembered remember-ed to veil them with her short black lashes. "I don't want to put you to any trouble, Jim," she said softly. " 'Snow trouble." said Jim, "It's right on the way to the office." "I forgot, Jim," interrupted Janet as he turned toward the door. "You're supposed to take me to the dance tonight." Jim stopped short. "The heck I am! What's happened to that boy friend of yours? We never used to be able to step for him around this place." Anne caught her breath. Janet glanced at her-defiantly, and then at Jim. "Gordon broke a date with me for Prlscilla, If you want to know, but you needn't take me to the dance. I'll live without it." Jim departed carrying uanuj. whose- small head was drooping with fatigue. However, befo e Jim left to drive Cathy over to he night club he came out upon the Bauer back porch which was separated sep-arated from his own merely by the landing of the rear staircase, and called out to Janet. -I'll be back In time to doll up for the dance, Jan, old thing, old dear. Get my white nelsn there's a good girl, and see if ou can locate a decent shirt for me. Jim Phillips, that same evening, eve-ning, stood outside one of the wide French doors opening on the Country Club lounge onto a screened veranda. From his point of vantage he could observe without with-out being observed. He tried to fasten his gaze elsewhere, else-where, but he was unable to turn it from the scintillating person of Miss Helen Sanders. Howard Leigh was dancing only with Miss Sanders. San-ders. As a rule, Howard did not choose to carry his rudeness too far where Ruth Hetchcote was concerned. It was no part of his intention to let her escape him entirely. However, engrossing his I current affair might be, he usual-I usual-I ly gave some thought to Ruth s ii mil I ciiAPTuniv Synopsis Janet Phillips finds herself left out of things when her wealthier rrlcmls In liny ( Hy como home from tliclr finislilnK schools and colleges. I'rlscilln I,elgh at the moment interested in Janet's old friend (iol-don Key is making herself (llsagTceal)le. Jim Phillips, Janet's brother, has just met redheaded, red-headed, wealthy, Helen Sanders through pampered Howard L,clgh. Jiiii is suhbliiK as golf pro for the summer and offers to give Miss Sanders lessons. Although he doesn't like her, lie is fascinated. Meanwhile, Janet has returned home from her sister Berenice's apartment, wondering if. alter all, lovo means liltlo and money everything. every-thing. She complains of their lack . i . 11ni tun- that it was dark. "Heavens," she cried, starting to her feet, "we should all be starved!" However, no one betrayed an apppetite although .there was a delicious aspic salad and a plate of cold roast beef and baked potatoes po-tatoes which Janet had scooped out and mashed and then set back in their shells at the last minute to brown with paprika and cheese. Jim usually acted as if his long, gaunt body were hollow, but not on this occasion. "I met Howard's newest girl friend this afternoon," he announced an-nounced apruptly. "Helen Sanders?" was Janet's inquiry. Her brother nodded. Anne looked look-ed at him quickly. He was red clear down inside the collar of his soft blue shirt. on park benches and washed dishes dish-es in cheap restaurants before she secured a place in the chorus of a third rate road show. The company made brief stands on what the profession labels the tank circuit. "You remember the theatrical couple in the play 'Lightning?' " asked Cathy. "The ones who got married in Peoria and it rained? Something like that happend to Danny's father and me. He was a chorus man and neither of us had any folks and it snowed all that week and everybody was blue. It was anything for a change." They were married and the company com-pany gave them a wedding supper on the stage after the show. Dan was a good kid, but he was not strong and he was never much of o ,i,ior whpn business erew or ruiKts ro iht iiiwm. r out Mrs. Leigh's and "How she has got on!" "It depends on what you want out of life." said Anne. "She was . never the least in love with Henry. She was supposed to be quite wild about a young man who worked in her father's butcher shop. I think he's still working in somebody's some-body's butcher shop, although I doubt if Jennie Leigh has thought of him in years." "There you are," muttered Janet, Jan-et, recalling Berenice. "Love does not last. In a year or so it doesn't matter whether you married for love or not, because, if you did, by then all the thrill has gone out like a light." "The thrill didn't go out," said her mother with a catch in her voice. Janet drew a long breath, as if she had been granted a reprieve. "It didn't tor you, did it?" she asked unsteadily. "Never." Anne laid her hand over her daughter's and Janet clung to it. "Thanks for being you," she whispered. whis-pered. There were tears on her cheeks. Something has struck at her emotional emo-tional roots, thought Anne and had a fierce desire to catch Janet in her arms and protect her from everything which menaced her. "How about a little food for the man of - the- house,?" shouted Jim, flinging open the front door. Anne was astonished to find "Prlscilla says that ieien is the prettiest girl and the worst snob that ever lived," remarked Janet. "She's a spoiled brat who needs a good going over with a bundle Qf sticks," muttered Jim, but he still did not meet Anne's eye. "Hi, Jim!" exclaimed a small piping voice from the direction of the rear porch. "Come and get me! " "You bet!" cried Jim. The interruption ended a disagreeable dis-agreeable tension. Anne detected relief in Jim's face as if he was glad of an excuse to leap up from the table and from the disturbing topic of Miss Helen Sanders. He got down on all fours and when with some assistance Danny mounted, his steed proceeded to buck and cavort around the dining din-ing table to Danny's vast delight. He was hiccoughing with laughter laugh-ter and Jim had about run out of breath wrhen Danny's mother came to the rescue. "I don't need to ask if my son is here as usual, making a nuisance nui-sance of himself. You can hear him down the block," said Cathy Wood in her low slurred voice. Jim picked up Danny and swung him high into the air. "Tell your old lady, Sonny, that the only thing we'd like better is twins just like you." Janet was gazing curiously at Cathy. It was strange to think of Cathy as a mother. She was only like a mere child. She had been left an orphan ''when she was fifteen. She had, she said, slept j worse he would undoubtedly have been let out, except that by that time Cathy was expecting a baby and the manager felt sorry for both of them. "I worked up to the last two weeks because we needed the money for the hospital bill," Cathy Ca-thy explained. "Of course the company had to go on to the next stand. Danny cried when he left me. IMaybe he had a hunch. But he went because his job looked like the most important thing on earth to us right then. He wrote me every day to hurry and get well. Hesaid he was dying to see his son. I didn't know he was actually ac-tually dying until I got the telegram. tele-gram. "You see, he caught a heavy cold. He should have been in the hospital himself. But he went on dancing every night in order to send me the money. He went on even after he was delirious. He was trying to do a cartwheel when he fainted. They carried him off. It was pneumonia and he didn't have a chance." For six months Cathy had been dancing in the floor show at the local night club. The salary was not large, but she did not have to go to work until eight in the evening eve-ning and she was finished shortly after twelve. She had a room in the flat across the hall with an old German couple. Grandma Bauer was glad to keep an eye on Danny when his mother was away. Cathy paid extra for this service and for kitchen privileges. |