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Show CANBY HUNTER ARRIVES FROM WISCONSIN TO VISIT HIS UNCLE EN ROUTE TO NEW YORK Telegram Serial Seasond Timber I it, I kissed my hand to the bank too. That was swell. I fold 'em just what I thought. I brought up a deal or two I d helped them manage and a thing or two I'd helped them hush up. The Banking Bank-ing Commissioner was there. I called him a name. Gosh, that did me good. Well, before that, I'd realized on everything I had, and put it into travelers' checks. So here I am, free, male, white and twenty-seven, with the world before me as long as five thousand thou-sand six hundred and seventy-four seventy-four dollars and sixty-one cents will last me. Well, what can ycu, do with a capital of five thousand six hundred and seventy-four dollars? dol-lars? I ask you. All that came into my head was one of these world cruises there was a folder about it on the counter In the place where I got my travelers' checks. Maybe I'll find me a job in Indo-China. Or Constantinople Istanbul now, isn't it? I wont to get in some skiing somewhere too, I've never yet had enough. Maybe I'll go to Norway." "Well, anyhow, we've got to get to bed tonight," said Timothy. Canby picked dp his suitcase and followed him towards the stairs. Alone In his room Timothy pulled a chair up to his table, fumbled for paper in a drawer, took out his fountain pen and began be-gan in the large square handwriting hand-writing familiar to two decades of Academy students, "My darling Susan: I am just back from your (Continued on Following g ate a dozen. I gather that Lottie still survives?" Timothy nodded. "You and she still ships that pass In the night?- She come in the morning after you leave, and go away before you get back?" "I don't think I've laid eyes on her since you were here last." They had found the bantering tone which had been their habit with each other. Canby chuckled. "I suppose you must be wondering what brings me here?" "Aunt Lavinia told me." "What did she tell you?" "She told me you'd given up vour lob In the bank because you SYNOPSIS Timothy Hulm. 44-Tar-old principal prin-cipal ol CUMord ecdn?. ltim In toe houM allotud to him. with bu Aunt Levlnta, now an untidy old woman, Interaated la little but muale. Timothy Tim-othy was married In hi youth but. alnce the death of his wife. BUlle. haa daratad blmMlt to hla aunt, grateful grate-ful for sacrifices aha made te provide pro-vide for him and hla younarr brother. Timothy la In ka with Suaaa Barney, taaeher In the primary pri-mary school, but. constantly reminding remind-ing hlmatlf of hla middle as, haal-tatea haal-tatea to tell her of hla love. Neither dnaa ha tall bar of hit early manias. When nl aunt caauaily mention It. Suaan abow euch oonftulon that Timothy take couras. Hla young nephew. Canby Hunter, arrival unexpectedly un-expectedly from Wlaconaln. CHAPTER IS "Well, Uncle Tim, where In heck have you been?. Here, let me take your coat." "Oh, I . . . why, I . . . Just stepped out for a walk. And I forgot to take my gloves. Well. Canby it really Is Canby, Isn't It? How In the world? Just poke up that fire, will you? When did you begin to wear glasses? But see here, you can't leave your car out all night with the thermometer ther-mometer where It Is." "I've got antl-freeze In the radiator. ra-diator. It tests down to 25 below." "But your grease would freeze so solid you couldn't get It started from now to June. You take It right around to the put your coat on! don't go without your gloves! back of the Academy next to the furnace room, there's a . ." "What the heck. Uncle Tim! You don't need to tell me where to put a car for the night here. I'll be bark In a jiff." Bent over the fire, Timothy listened to an explanation of Can-by's Can-by's appearance from Aunt Lavinia. La-vinia. "I'd gone to bed well, not to bed, my light was on. That was why he knocked. If he hadn't seen a light he'd have gone on down to the tavern at the depot. He hasn't any heater In his tar, and he was all but frozen. He says he's left Wisconsin and the bank for good because of the girl he was engaged to. And he said It was by an accident that he came here at all. He Just happened hap-pened to think of us on his way to New York to take his ship." "Hla ship!" "For one of those round-the-world cruises. I asked him if he had money enough for anything so expensive and he laughed and said he certainly had not. But U he hasn't, how can he?" "Did you gather that Canby had got fired from his job?" "No, no. Not at all. He was getting along all right In the bank. I told you It was because of the girl he was engaged to." "Did his girl take the position away from him?" "Don't be an Idiot, Tim. It war because of her. He resigned of his own accord." "Oh, she threw him over." "No, he threw her." Timothy stooped, suppressing a groan at the pain In bis back muscles, and began unlacing his shoes. "Well, It doesn't make sense. But It's his affair.. Hello, Can, did you find the place?" "Good grief! Uncle Tim, think of anybody's being hardy enough to take a walk on a night like this! Here, let me get to that fire. I bet I've frozen my hands." "I told you to take your gloves." Aunt Lavinia yawned and went to bed. From the top of the stairs she called down, "I've put the sheets for Canby's bed on the banisters." "Make it blankets!" Canby Implored Im-plored her loudly. They . heard her chuckle. Her door closed. There was a peaceable silence. The clock struck a half hour half past eleven, "Want anything to eat before you go to bed?" Timothy asked his guest. "Had eorr.ethlag. I went out tn the kitchen and there stood the cookie jar as if I'd never been away. And when I took the lid off. there were those same sugar cookies, looking as if I were still seventeen years old. It all but made this strong man weep. I had broken your engagement. I failed to see the connection." Canby nodded seriously. "There was a connection. That's no Joke. That's the way It was. It was terrible. See here, Uncle Tim, since It's you, I'd kind of like to have you know the straight of It" Canby stirred In his chair, reached for the matches, lighted his pipe and began his story. "Well, I guess there's no doubt about it I gave Mildred a raw deal, and I'm sorry for that" Timothy, recalled from his dreams, asked himself blankly, "Mildred?" and then, "Oh, yes." He turned his head to look at Canby as he listened. Canby heaved a long sigh and shook his head, "Am I glad I'm out of It! Night before last in Cleveland I dreamed we were still engaged, and the hotel clerk had to come and pound on the door to make me stop groaning and hollering In my sleep." "What ever was tne matter with her?" "That was the point. There wasn't anything the matter with her. She was the -world's nicest! What's called a 'perfectly lovely girl'! Say, Uncle Tim, did you - 'mow a "perfectly lovely girl,' and U you did, God help you, .... ,d escape spending the rest of your life giving her and her children your life blood to drink?" "But, Canby, how did you ever get engaged to a girl that didn't suit you any better than that? Did she grab you?" Canby groaned and slid farther down on nis spine, "No, I did the grabbing, such as 'twas. Nobody was to blame but me. She's too much of a lady to grab anything, let alone a man. Good grief! I never want to look at a girl again. Anyhow, not another nice girL Not one of the sweet homemakers. They're awful. And breaking away from them is awfuller. That was terrible! I'm going to get along by myself from now on. You've known how to turn that trick all right Uncle Tim, I bet I can. Why not? But if I can't I'm going to hunt me up a poisonous gold-digger, with "steep hill, narrow nar-row bridge, dangerously slippery when wet proceed at your own risk' posted all over her. But I don't want any of them. Not any. Once is the last time for me! I'm never going to take my hands off the steering wheel again, never!" Timothy looked down from the lighted window of his warm safety, and- said patronizingly, "All this means no more, Canby, than that you weren't In love with her." That's what you think," said Canby. "What's all this about a trip around the world? Did Aunt Lavinia La-vinia dream that?" "No, I told her. Why, the point Is, I'm off the banking business too. I don't like it From the worm's eye view I got of It I'd just aa soon for my own taste never step Into a bank again. I never had liked It so when 1 got up my nerve to wave good-by to Mildred, why, while I was about Seasoned Timber (OsaUaaat Fna rnoatbuj Psa old home yet I went all the way up to the old house on foot and the reason I did was because , . ." After a moment's hesitation he tore up what he had written, thinking think-ing as he pushed away from the table, "If there Is one thing a man wants to say with his own voice and his own arms, and one thing a woman wants to hear and feel, not read off a piece of paper . . His bent knee had ossified. He Was barely able to straighten It enough to hobble to the medicine shelf In the hall. After he had undressed, he sat for some time on the edge of the bed rubbing the aching Joint with liniment But he waa not thinking about liniment He was smiling. Even sfter the light waa out he Jay still smiling In the dark. (To Be Continued Saturday) |