Show V M N ERE RE Garver Carver an interior decora decora- le ie e Colton Construction com com- yes Detroit for California Cd d to cram every bit of ot exe ex ex- she e can into her two weeks weeks' it When the train stops in MargIe looking very cry bridei bride bride- i Vic Vie Wilsons Wilson's corsage and andelys andely's elys ely's wedding ring steps ic te e rear platform to be met Uge tige of ot rice and the un ex of a n strange man The i the platform are calling mis Is and Margie realizes think she is the bride The Theus Theus us ills stranger apologizes and argie for coming to his res res- gives her no explanation of UC ct before bolting Into one e C lux compartments I one of her fellow Dyer introduces himself 5 a conversation To add to Margie tells him the thc but ut her husband waiting In that her roommate and she have concocted of the wedding sass cass widow Vera insists that less afraid to be attentive who wears a wedding ring luncheon and bridge with tons Ions mother and daughter tier with Mr Dyer Margie C the mysterious bridegroom bridegroom- Omaha station Bob accorn er r to send a telegram and anda fa a bit ardent going back repulses him but he follows e observation car where the theus theus us Dennis manages to ex ex- largie argie from the attentions of rho roughly smitten Margie I o 0 efface face the fact that the at- at must be a brideI bride- bride I 1 I I C APT b TWO et between the tall taU stranger gie Sic Yes but one to which might never possess In ii her berth with the warm breeze blowing across Margie was thinking ng he goes all the way to San have two more j j Ill I'll only lad ind out great deal could happen In she reminded herself herselt hope hope- ee cc e what had happened in 8 o'clock this morning she sheen sheren en ren known the man existed 5 to do now was to get some quickly as possible so that d be fresh for another day e was too excited to sleep e did doze off she dreamed rover over again of that startling when o n strange man had tightly in his arms NAL you you an apology and a vote he said and left her feel feel- weak and baffled Instead as as a girl ought to be vas awake at when the ched Cheyenne but she la lay not to rise until Dyer had left left- the train She ed alone without even a af af af f the mysterious stranger time later as she sat in the theon theon theon on car he dropped into a aIde aIde aide Ide her with an impersonal arming oming responded with dignity He Heis Heis is impossible He was ig ig- hat had happened just as if She certainly er Jer occurred ake no advances but she wishing that he would ting tine as Bob Dyer had Some the scenery or the thc c i Almost anything would 1 y it must come from him frowned and twisted Veras Vera's ring She wasn't accustomed ight o of it t on her finger Inger and it nervously off and on on suddenly down n her lap cirss ciras cir cir- ss as the floor loor and come back the mysterious bridegrooms bridegroom's BIlLED BRIED it with a faint static smile lie ie accepted it blushing to toof toof toof of her brown brawn hair you so much You se see Im I'm to wearing it it id td d she said that Why oh ob sn m fl she especially wished to poised and sophisticated l ic ie make such a perfectly nark ok too much like a bride to Ing alone Dennis com corn ch she replied breathlessly not married really first time since she had seen him the stranger looked amused No ho he said and permitted the matter to drop Theres no use Margie thought feeling smacked down dowL He simply Isn't interested She knew now she would probably bo br forced to go to her grave with that tha kiss unexplained It would be one of those romantic stories nice old ladies Indies liked to repeat to grandchildren dren decided Margie She pictured herself hene a grandmother telling tc it BLUE EYES He released me and cried I 1 owe you an apology but he made no explanation ex cx- an this day daj my dears I cant can't tell you where he had lost los his bride She looked up to find his blue eyes eye fastened upon herIs herIs herIs her Is this your our first trip to Califor ala Yes isn't it ft silly Ive I've been to Europe Eu rope twice but have never seen my myown myown I Iown own country west of Chicago I was born in San Francisco h he said My name namo is Dennis Killian That explained it then His Irish I eyes and that inexplicable fascination which the thought of San Francisco had always given herAnd herAnd herAnd her And I am Marjorie Garver Buno But Bu no one ever calls me anything but bu Margie she returned As Mr Killian Kil KU lian remained silent alter after that burst burs of confidence Margie hastened to avert the danger of losing his interest inter Inter- est eat Are you living in hi San Francisco Fran Francisco cisco now she inquired She had heard that remark in the station about his having been three months In Detroit and she was dying to know whether he was really living there and whether he actually was a bridegroom Perhaps just a joke on his friends in Chicago BEGINNINGS No Detroit But that's where I live she cried delighted to find they had this much in common I adore Detroit dont don't you I 1 like it better than I did Chicago when I lived there he evaded Of course courso I prefer San Francisco Margie MarCie said she understood San Sari Franciscans always felt that way feel fecI that way too after youve you've been there he assured herI herI herI her I I haven't been back for almost five years Not since my mother died She felt that the mention of ot his mother was a distinct concession to their Incipient friendship I haven't any mother either Mar gle gie confided But I have a brother who is married and has hag the most adorable little girL Her name is Daphne She was as possessed with a desire to tell him all about herself About the lovely mother who had died when Margie was five about the lonely childhood and that bitter period of her adolescence when another woman had come into her fathers father's life lite She didn't do it They talked instead instead in in- stead the banalities which are arc customary cus cus- tomary ternary on a train but with every word he uttered Margie felt herself hersel more interested in knowing the man himself and why on earth those people people peo peo- pie had been showering him with rice when there was no bride in sight A CYNICAL FACE She was conscious of ot a heaviness of ot spirit which did not match his alert attractive face Even while they were talking a weary cynical expression expression sion ston came into his eyes as if he suddenly suddenly sud sud- denly remembered that after all nothing noth ing lag much mattered A moment later his eyes were sparkling with amusement amusement amuse amuse- ment at some sally she had made It was like playing a game to see how many times she could chase the gloom from his dark face By the time timo they reached Laramie she knew his name and the tho fact that he was an electrical engineer employed em cm- by the Detroit Edison com corn pany She knew too that he drove a cream colored Pierce Arrow and had v visited sited at Lake Angelus where Edith and a n select group of Detroit residents had summer homes Its funny Ive I've never met you there he hd said Ive been out quite often This is only my stepmothers stepmother's second second sec see ond summer there Margie ex cx Ive been there on only Iy once myself OLD FRIENDS Fearing lest he think her too easily interested Margie returned to her herom own o section long before noon She lunched alone but at 2 o'clock she was once more seated at the desk Inthe Inthe in inthe the observation car writing a note to Maury This Is the most exciting trip Ive I've ever had in my life scribbled Mar gie The scenery is wonder wonderful ul and the thc whole atmosphere of ot the train seems to be different someway It certainly is living up to its adver adver- Using She signed her name namo Devotedly yours Margie and glanced up to find Dennis reading in the chair nearest the desk He smiled as if they were old friends I Do you want to post your letter Were We're caming earning into a town Will we be hero long enough I 1 think so Well We'll ask the porter They scrambled off oft with tIe the other passengers to stretch tired limbs and breathe deep draughts of the bracing mountain air LEFT Margie was childishly y proud of the headed bare-headed dark haired man who strolled beside her They passed the Peytons mother and daughter Mrs Peyton looked disapproving but Margie Margie Mar Mar- gie thought Mary looked wistful as asIf asif asif If she would have given anything to have been in Margies Margie's place Margie did not realize that what Mary really coveted was not Dennis Killian but the flushed Hushed smooth skin the eyes like blue stars and the glori glo- glo ri riUs flawless youth of the girl who i walked beside the man Chattering gayly glad just to be alive Margie was like a tonic to the disillusioned man He was turning to her deliberately a as an antidote to pain Letting himself become ob ob- ob In her overflowing free care exuberance Neither of them was ever able to tell exactly how it happened The They were laughing and talking walking away from the train Neither heard its ts warning whistle Neither realized Just lust what had occurred until they saw it pulling out from the little station sta sin tion tim leaving Dennis Killian and Margie Mar gie Garver staring dumbfounded after it To Be Continued Copyright Register r and arid Tribune I I Syndicate |