Show 9 T TELEGRAM FICTION r U Spite Marriage I By KATHARINE TAYLOR HAVILAND I L SYNOPSIS Bob Powers ha has left his Ilc incurably I ill m mother in the car card o of his wife Marsha and gone to Mexico to finish finish fin fin- ish his work there Marsha Mariha and he had been on the verge of divorce they have decided however that Mrs Powers must not know of their trou frou ble Marsha still sUlI in love with Bob has even learned to knit washcloths to please her gentle mother in CHAPTER 30 10 I That evenin evening Mrs Powers wrote Bob a. a as ac if Sf he were 14 and rather given to robbing birds' birds nests or to washing little girls' girls faces with snow She did not show sho the letter to Marsha It ran ran after the start I wish ish 1 I could be certain that you understand fully the rare qualities tics tics' your I want to feel feet that you will always be be- deeply considerate of her needs RobertHer RobertHer Robert Her life has not been happy She cried today wh when n I told her of my deep and growing rowin aCl cUon for lor her Her aunt had called I I. cannot like Miss Moore Her nian er is both stern and bold She is knitting a 8 washcloth for you Robert Robert-n Robert Robert- Rooert Robert understood that t this i last t applied to Marsha and not to Marsha Marsha's s aunt and while the work is not I write in confidence the best I want you to remember that it itis itis is Ls her first washcloth She has hns tried very hard to make it nice so o please write her enthusiastically enthusiastically of h her r washcloth She knit it for tor you OU Considering I think the work is exceptionally good She has had no training whatsoever in th the housewifely arts Miss s Moore Moor Is a person who serves upon committees She spoke to me rue loudly of a work with women which I 1 would not mention even to you my myson son 1 I requested Marsha to leave the room telling her to fetch my shawl I then I fear lear abruptly led the conversation to safer channels Struggling Success I III have written that which I wished to write but I want you to consider consid r Marsha's needs She loves y you u in a manner that makes her perhaps too dependent upon you ou At t times as asI asI asI I I speak of ot you her eyes ees are arc extreme extreme- extremely ly wistful I sometimes sometime worry over having parted you Robert but she he assures me she could not be elsewhere with me n jt trifle ill and in need of her and that you would wish her by my side I t am certain Rob certain Robert rt that your choice has lias b been en wiser than you kno know On my knees I thank God each night for this da daughter you have given given ien i en to melhe dearest daughter Rob Rob- ert 4 4 And the writing was a little lous bus Marsha laughed a little as she began Degan began be De- gan to 10 wrap up up the washcloth nd then because tears and laughter are sometimes not far Jar apart she wiped her tier eyes on it ft quickly before she turned th the desk and toward Mrs Powers Po It is strange a a. a ver very looking thing said Marsha and he will be sure to 10 laugh at at- it iU Oh Ohno Oh no o dear He Me wont won't I have written to explain that it is your first work 1 J think perhaps perhaps- a twinge of conscience tro troubled bled Mrs Powers I I did not show that letter to you He will Vm be very pleased full tun of or air holsand holts holes and l lumps and jar or some re reason o- o that Marsha could not fathom it had acquired th the shape o of a skull cap that h had d be been n designed for a a human who wore an adult wen I r shall write Robert Roberl directions for stretching it to shape after alter use we said Mrs Powers It Itcan can be done donet And Ana Marsha laughing unsteadily had said that j if it could Bob was more of a genius than even she had supposed him to be Bob did not laugh at the washcloth washcloth washcloth wash wash- cloth his mother was correct in thinking he w would uld not Instead he grew v violently tender over the air holes and the lumps Jumps and the shape which made him think of an orioles oriole's nest Th There re are ure men who i feel el such emotion as as' as they look on foolish useless use use- less things over which the women they love have ha struggled He held it closely between hIs J hands For a n second he held the I abs absurd rd thing to his lips Then he lie saw it again holding her close kissing her r That made him drop the washcloth washcloth wash wash- cloth to the table to at It ItHe itHe it He put it in the top drawer U of a crudely wrought ht unpainted bureau the habit of taking it out each night before going to bed to look at iL it Marsha Has lIas Knitted The idea o of Marsha's knitting tr troubled him absurdly He became obsessed by the feeling that the new life lite might be too much for her that sh she she- break down to settle into a nervous condition And if she did that he knew that Geoff Tarleton would throw her over He had not needed that thal letter from his hi mother in iii which he had been asked risked to think of Marsha's needs Tarleton wasn't the sort who could love a n sick woman or or be pat patient with her Bob lay awake vake too many nights worrying over the possibility of this Then he decided th that t if she did grow ill HI and Tarleton did throw her over he Bob would ask if he might care for her e explaining that he would prefer to care for her and that the care would be most impersonal That would quiet her fears lears any fears of ot hers made by the thought that he might bother her in irs any way He felt lightened by the he decision de- de de do- cisi n and it started the kind of dream dreim that even a wholly balanced man may indulge when worked over and lonely and divided by tropic jungles jungles jun jun- from the world where he belongs The fabric of stretched torn and shocked and loneliness helped him to make his pictures He saw himself sitting by Marsha's bed and reading to her you been sitting up rather long he heard himself say aloud one night It appalled him Hed He'd known one chap chap on on a job n n the East who East who had begun by babbling and then then then- But he could not stop the dreaming although he could keep it from slipping slipping slip slip- ping to words In lii dreams dr he drew her negligee close around her he saw the white smooth loveliness of or her throat Once and und again dreams ended by his sitting sodden with despair his head in his hands Dreams will sometimes end in th this s way He wrote in parenthesis Dont wear yourself out knitting please The rest resl of the letter Jetter was tremulous with gratitude and the letter should have been encased start stait to finish finish fin fin- ish by that thaL sign she he had informed him would tell h her i of or his sincerity He h had d two weeks later her flippant flippant flip flip- pant reply I I 1 know he he- read that it looked as if jl I did dd it on a a. crowbar but I didn't and you mustn't agitate yourself over the thc strain The Thel people who ho receive them are more to b be bC pitied When you ou drop rop the needle and they are very slippery these funny looking holes get gel in 1 I. wanted anted t to td put on patches but tut ut your our mother says says it isn't done After that he st stopped worrying about the nervous breakdown that In iii his poor tired mind was oddly connected with knitting but he found lound another nother subject for anxiety in Geoff He wondered how Geoff would tr treat nt Marsha Marsna He knew a g good od deal of Geoff and Geoff had in iii the past been known to deal rather harshly with people women people women to be exact exact- who bad had worn his interest rest thin Judge Jur Jury Defense After Affer Bob c considered d this from all angles an he decided and he meant it that he would kill Geoff if he didn't tre treat t M Marsha well and then h he dismissed dismissed dismissed dis dis- dis- dis missed that particular r phase of the thc Marsha Geoffrey complication n to 10 go goon goon goon on to another J JIt If It she had thought him somewhat the the entirely knowing devil and the keeper of or his secrets would she she have have married some one else to let to-let let him kiss her Perhaps but he d did d not want that that nn an affair Perhaps even married to him she would have loved him If she had felt him to be something of the rake He the judge and jury and the defense de de- de tense weighed all aspects of the case What might have happened if he had kicked this stone 3 aside ide or orif orif if It he had rolled this boulder in front of 0 her to block her path If It he had said to Geoffrey Tarleton for instance instance in in- stan stance e up upon ri that that day No you cant can't have her herl And to Marsha You are my wit wife C But of ot course course- that particular boulder boul der w was ii impossible for him to roll before her het in order to to block blod her path no man man would hold a woman against her will And yet perhaps he would Bob stra strangely ely felt that pe perhaps haps Marsha needed Just that that holding holding against her willI will will- I Again the ghost of or Tarleton rose before him Kim What wo would 6 ld Geoffrey have bave done one in that situation Bob could uld see him tossing aside a girl to te whom he had grown n necessary ces ar with without out a thought Oh well vell thought Bob one is not made to ones one's own specifications like a bridge He lie was as no Tarleton that was sur sure Copyright 1934 b by K Haviland- Haviland Taylor II To be continued |