Show Anne Herrick By John Patrick Lally BEGIN EGIN HERE ilEnE TODAY Anne Herrick Chicago school teacher teach er Is left to support her mother and sister Jane when her father dies sud sud denly It is a R bitter str struggle through the m months nUu when the ten teachers hers are arc not paid and experiencing after the degradation degradation deg deg- of po poverty erty the the the-Herricks Herricks are Ire cheered when Jane is able to get ajob a aJob ajob Job and Anne finds night work In the offices of ot the Major advertising agency Mr Major is keenly interested interest interest- ed in Anne and her family and I insists in slats that they occupy his Sheridan road rOld home when he discovers that Mrs Herrick Is in poor health Peter Nash in love with Anne realizes realizes realizes rea rea- lizes that she loves Dick Hardy and when Dick loses his job Peter gets gels him one ne as a 3 truck driver Anne knows Peter is doing it for her sake One night at the thc office Mr Major Majur startles Anne with the question Have you ou ever seriously considered marriage NOW GO ON WITH THE STORY INSTALMENT Mr Majors Major's question abrupt as i iwas il t was did not startle Anne She answered an Yes once You ou were in love softly Yes At least I 1 thought I 1 W was in it inlove inlove love Mr Major Her voice was was a whisper Her poise was tottering His eye swept her face He detected her reaction reaction re rc action and said Forgive me AnneI Anne I didn't mean to be prying His voice was heavy with wilh emotion all aU right Mr Major she said uncertainly I 1 dont don't mind telling tell ing lag you Id I'd tell you anything You mean Anne Anne- His voice was tva eager his eyes anxious I 1 mean Mr Major that I think you yot are re about as fine a man as a girl ever knew knew You and Peter Nash She stopped Something in his fact face ace stilled the words she intended say ing inc Contrition welled up in Anne Annei throat With it came the realization that Mr Major was about to voice his love of her Suddenly she wanted to leave tc to get away and think her way out o of what would become an intolerable situation unless a solution was forth com coming n She slipped to the clothes clothe rack and put on her hat then she said Good night t Mr Major I think Id I'd better go now She tried to keep her voice volee on an even keel He turned toward her Anne he cried and his voice shook please wait You know Id I'd be lost if I didn't drive you home She fell felt he was speaking the truth for she couldn't recall a night she had gone without his escort He donned his coat and nd hat opened the thedoor thedoor thedoor door switched off th the lights and with witha a gallant attempt to make her feel fee at ease said Ill bet youve you've got a lotof lot lotof lotof of ideas on the noiseless roller skate haven't you rou The change in him left Anne speechless speech speechless less for a moment then she grasped his ais import and said It would be a godsend to school teachers The The youngsters young young- near m my school make more noise nois than a fire tire engine when they skate I along the cement walks Well he quietly be doing humanity a e if we su suc coed c ed Ill put the great brain to work vork on it it Mr Major and by tomorrow evening we should nave have a 8 working w plan They tried to discuss various programs pro programs grams during the home In anxiety to spare each other they talked talk d excitedly and ana at times times some some what Incoherently but the conversa conversation tion was was' kept out of the emotional pitfalls that had caught Mr M Major Majorin jor jorIn in his hi office And when came cameto to a stop before the ho house se he owned and which was now now occupied bythe Herrick family he did not open the thedoor thedoor thedoor door aton c They ha hadn't nt noticed n a man mart man walking walking walking walk walk- ing down from Ja He had just stepped from the bus When h he came to the car he stopped and called Is that you rou An Anne Ane e Its Dick cried Anne Mr Major opened the door silt silently She turned and said Thank you OU Mr Major for driving me me home It was a plea pleasure ure Anne he re re- plied piled He closed the thedoor door and the car moved d away into the night Anne greeted Dick a little breath breathlessly lessly He turned and looked stiffly at Mr Majors car carr as M it S was vanishing vanishing vanish vanish- ing the into the dark a 8 curi curious us feeling of havIng been un unconsciously unconsciously un un- un consciously cruel to Dick He swung around nervously to her herand and said M My arrival seems to have been most inopportune Anne The implication irritated her She was about to make a curt retort but the magic of of th the vel velvety ety night was coursing through her supple body and she laughingly shrugged away th the impulse impulse im im- impulse pulse to tell ell him how much she ahe ad admired mired her employer Come on Dick she said after a pause lets go into the house All right he answered ans shortly Anne detected In his tone an unspoken un un- unspoken spoken reproach As they stepped to the porch Anne stopped halted Dick with a tug at his sleeve Listen she said Jane and Peter were singing Both were on the piano bench Peters Peter's aim arm was around Janes Jane's shoulders His head was close to hers hers Anne caught the melody It was Happy Days She glanced at Dick He seemed to see nothing significant about the song But to Anne it brought a rush of memories of golden days when they lived on Touhy avenue She pressed the belL belt She heard footsteps racing down the hall The Thedoor Thedoor Thedoor door was opened Jane still singing Happy Days cried Welcome home pilgrims welcome homel home I Why pilgrims demanded Anne No reason whatever exclaimed Jane I just feel eel dizzy that's alii ally She whirled away from them and reentered reentered re re- entered the living room where Peter with one finger in er was trying to display y his of the pianoforte Anne hung Dicks Dick's hat in the hall Neither spoke Jane and Peter had resumed their song The approach of Dick and Anne was not noticed until Anne gayly cried Well Peter Nash ash has It come to pass paS that y you no longer recognize other members rs of the Her Herrick Herrick Herrick rick family Peter sprang to his feet strode t tAnne tc Anne seized her hand and while holdIng hold lag Ing it spoke to Dick How are arc you O Dick Good evening Peter Petery replied Did Dick qui quietly U Lets have a quartet suggested Peter Really Anne cut in Dick Youl have to count me out I 1 cant can't sing anyway And Id I'd go crazy if I trice trier to sing now n w. w His words were clipped nervous and as he finished speaking he threw himself into a a chair anc and anda lighted a l lAnne Anne pretended not to notice hb hL agitation She knew the cause of or i il iland it and resented his attitude Although he hi had refrained retrained from voicing his views Anne was aware of his antagonist antagonism where Mr Major touched her life She looked at him with amused tot tol tolerance erance then said to Peter Move over and well we'll sing sing we we three They went through the verse ther then the chorus Dick w was left to his owr own morose thoughts and he didn't enjoy enjo the ero role As they finished Anne said with quick contrition Jane did you Iou close mothers mother's bedroom door Yes Anne before we started tr to sing Dont Don't worry mothers mother's sound asleep by now Jane turned her head and asked Dick How did you like the song Fine he answered flatly II It seems a shame to waste so much talent tal tat ent though I Oh I it wasted said Anne swiftly Happy da days s 's have returned returned re turned to the Herrick family And J J I never tire of ot the song 1 She swung back to the piano anc and said Lets sing it once more Aw Anne dont don't begged Dick Its a 1 grand night Lets Let's go out along the lake please She jumped up All tI right Dick Lets Let's go As thc they were were leaving she said to tc Jane and Peter Wont you two please try to learn another song ong before we eve come ome back Maybe Dick will sing with us w if it you do Okay Anne called Peter lightly tightly Jane and Ill I'll start practicing right now v. See that you practice singing Peter Pe Pea Peter Peater ter said Anne wrinkling her nose at al him Jane crimsoned Anne and Dick strolled along SherIdan Sheridan Sher Shere idan road walking south toward Touhy Fouhy avenue His self absorption remained remained re re- with him The witchery of ol the night held Anne for a few min minutes utes then her thoughts returned to Mr Sir Major and their talk earlier carlier in inthe inthe the he evening Though she was no advocate of ot the theory of thought transference the name tame of her hr employer had scarcely passed through her mind before Dick spoke Anne do you think its it's altogether alto gether nether right for you to work with this chap Major Some perverse strain possibly inherited in from a sturdy New England ancestor caused Anne to draw Dick Dickout out tut Without revealing a trace o of the anger she felt she asked What do you mean Dick Dont be dumb Anne You know what I mean ow I mean I dont don't think its it's right for you ou to be alone with him in his office at night Anne bit her lips to restrain the angry words that fought for utter ance nice Unconsciously they turned caston east cast ast aston on n Touhy avenue and before either spoke again they were standing orthe ot or the sandy shores of ot the lakeWell lakeWell lake Well Well said Dick bluntly why dont don't you ou say something Anne trembled her hands closed I and her deep blue eyes narrowed But Bui Dick saw nothing at all of this He was consumed by his burning thoughts Her silence should have warned him to desist Instead he blundered on And then this evening there then were t the e two of ot you in his car car right in front of the house Then he added bitterly Making love I s suppose Dick I Anne snapped How dare you say such uch a thing to me Her words flamed like darting sparks parks Anne Anne forgive me mel he pled d- d cd ed I didn't mean menn to 8 say say y that He spoke brokenly He put his arm around her shoulders and drew her herto herto herto to him She pushed him aside violently vio So- So and stepped away from him To Be Continued Copyright 1933 Chicago gO Dally Daily Da News Copyright 1934 Register and Tribune Syndicate |