Show THE HOPE CHEST B By Y M MARK ARK LEE LUTHER Lit II e. e UlI V c. c CHAPTER 47 But ho had returned Sho could hear him splashing In the bath Presently ho he looked in and wished her good morning Sh She Sho asked no questions but he hc that ho he had slept on the yacht It was so Infernally hot hol ashore he added And besides I 1 didn't want ant to disturb you Sho She felt that his latter l reason was an afterthought Surely he hel knew that she would be bo tho the more disturbed by his absence Was Vas this the tho Tom who declared that they should never nover pass a night apart His action had shattered something something something some some- thing precious and Irreparable They were no longer loner wedded lov lov- ors ers They Thoy had become like lIko the humdrum millions they scorned merely man and wife She prayed for some word some sign that would provo prove her wrong but Tom Torn finished dressing In silence and went out before her s But But if It yesterday yesterday yes yes- es had slain romance h it t had spared that Incorrigible romanticist romanti romanti- cist cist Daddy Joe Joo Her thoughts flow flew to him for tor comfort There thero was no telephone in her rooms and hurrying into her clothes she ran to the Instrument in the lower hall hail to Lo find that Roger had forestalled her Good news he greeted her hor I lOr lOrjust just had his nurse nure on the wire and she tells me mo that ho got through the night far better than they expected You can see him between eleven cleven and twelve Tom will run run you over Torn Tom In a doorway withdrew his eyes from the garden sarden Im not going to business ss to today today today to- to day then I I 1 I I I Hi His HI fathers father's face taco altered Not If Jf I know it What kind of ot ofa ofa ota a firm do you ou think youre you're workIng working working work work- ing for tor You'll do what you can for Sheila You dont don't need to put it as 83 a ft command said Tom They loft left tho the house before either cither Mrs Irs Ballantino or Ethel Ethol came camedo do down n but Sheila knew that Tom had seen his mother that morning and was no less certain that she had said things thIns which Increased his unrest He was solicitous to help but she missed tho the tenderness tenderness tenderness tender tender- ness he had shown In the tho shadow of ot disaster Ho was by her side because he felt that he ho ought to tobe tobe tobo be bo there It was his duty as her husband wish he ho Ill come In If It you offered as they reached tho the hospital hos hos- pital But Dut perhaps you'd rather go alone Much rather she said She Sho entered d her fathers father's room resolved at any cost to cheer him I but as always It was he ho who put putI I heart in hw hN He had a smile for tor forI I her from tho the first made light of or orI I his hie sufferings and cut short her questions with a chuckle I Ive been laughing hero here by myself my- my self ho told her The Tho nurse thought I was off oft my nut I guess but I didn't let her In on the joke I r was saving It for you honey and Its It's a scream Im I'm Insured Aro you 7 said said more ready to weep than laugh How splendid Dadd Daddy Joe Just by the skin of ot my teeth ho he continued Off Oft and on on Ive I've carried earned accident Insurance for twenty years paid out a a. slew of ot money and never got back a red If It the tho policy waa In force torce nothIng nothing noth noth- ing lag happened If I let Jet It slide there was something doing straight off tho the bat That's the tho way It was waa when I took sick in Bridgeport and as aa soon as aa I could toddle out I nailed down a new now policy for tor a ft thousand Talk about luck luek Luck LuckIs Is my middle name This loaf wont won't cost roo mo a cent In fact I stand to make mako by It And then theres there's the railroad company That sido of ot it slipped my mind at first I was so tickled over o getting setting even oven even with tho the insurance crowd Of course the tho railroad will wUl have to anto ante up I I. I Bh shouldn't wonder if It they thoy had ii a lawyer camping on onI I the doormat now They have havo to toj step lively to got get ah ahead of or the tho ambulance am am- j chasers you know Maybe Maybo May May- bo be theres there's a bunch of ot shysters on the tho doormat too She smiled because sho she saw W that he lie wished her to smile and was silent because It was plain he ho her merely to listen Watching her face tace ho he dilated on his hla good fortune gave her Iser such lI lighter news of tho hospital as tho the bedridden glean Slean described his breakfast tray to the tho last meager detail mimicked the tho brogue of or ortho tho the scrubwoman who ho cleaned his room and tho the paternal manner ol ot of had met tho young oung she sho last night Tho The wreck went un- un mentioned How Ho Hohe he ho had escaped escapee death what he ho had endured and seen others endure she could oni conjecture Sho herself herselt might have havo been the tho Invalid In so careful was ho hoto hoto hoto to shun the sinister and the de de- de- de pressing A nurse C came camo to the door Shucks ho he exclaimed Youre not going to clamp down the tho lid Yes Yea Mr Moore she sho said and returned for tor a moment to tho the cor- cor Out you go So then Sheila She's the boss She Sho laid her check against his I I most tell you OU something first Daddy Dadd Joe something Joe something you'll bo be glad to hear Mr Ballantine said that you ou were one ono of or the best men inca hed he'd ever know Roger Ballantino Ballantine said that I about mo me Yes Yes before before them all aU Hes lies a prince declared Joe huskily a regular Prince Then turning her head What about he Tom ho asked How did take things yesterday Nobody could havo have been more And kind she answered quickly he brought me mo here hero this morning Ho He would have como come in if It I 1 hadn hadn't t said that I w to Sec seo you alone His Ills eyes held hers a moment longer Tell Ten him Im I'm sorry I butted in him Ill I'll Illa like liko this he said Tell do a neat little vanishing act as soon as Im I'm able Ho He didn't count counton on mo ma in the beginning sinning and he wont won't have ha to lo worry about me hereafter Dont Don't let there be bo any doubt on that point Sheila Make 1 it plain to him right a away a She had neither tho heart noi nor northe the opportunity to protest The nurse came camo back and came to stay II rhe visit w waa over hours must drag could by b before tore see BOO him again racing facing oneo more those nd lh ih read her as did no ey fa fah h what could she aj her l-her say ay that tj not already said s g She s ehe had hal divined her felt i Ib rn because he divined her with wIlh that them And tomorrow 10 T 8 taco for Cor he would his ansy answer She bho went out into Inlo midsummer noon floon the brij brill en Into the e shade sade Torn Tom had d dr the tho Street StreeL Ills His a few rOd H her but his back attitude wa was toa r ShOed his hia frame framo ot of cl i was bent Comard l knees and chin elbows elbows' ot of disillusion in hands hand a ber thouGhts that so rapt i In his s SIj he ot of her till she wa Vas U stood at Was I long bong his s I dont don't know he Said aId resuming his role rolo husband handed her ot of th the dUll and to ht hJ 1 st Perfunctorily Uk did II YOU find him Looking tar far more yOU Tom cheerful tt Ho made mado no 1 r his full attention to the they It quitted the town Ing to open fields The Then eo he broke abr silence I cant can't pretend i to rm Im no miot ho he stated slated with be hh on the tho tj road ahead thead dont don't tale e run that way ay Sho She o stole soe a glance at his It was as cold Pro pr a as his tone I know I that said But you Were t ous last night or more test cee when I asked your ur I 1 hadn't h heard rd the Whole God tr only knows whether heard Jt it yet I didn't know I my own father tather th had been In l to make r I a dupe of rae me H unJust unJust- How can Y- Y YOu you Ou- Ou u use Be su such a l od flu Unjust n j to Whatever your father 8 I rne u YOU may think 0 oft r conduct you must no not wl I thoughts You You have been f first rs i at 1 Have I I It strikes bays havo been me that number one It Hes b n 1 ray my frend wonderful friend a sr- sr girl ever a h But back baek of ot It all was hI his l r Co for you Surely yoU see ne th t I I see that Ive I've been t shabbily Arid And I It Ai j man who's vho's a mars man and not a fO would resent It But I dont don't ci ei to te talk about aboul It now I want think thins things over fInd out h r I stand Very well she d. d B must give you OU a a. message My Mr fi ther will never come como Into your roar Itt lii Ho He asked me to tell teU you ou this ar ar r that ho Is sorry you ha hare bavo hear of ot him at all all J That doesn't alter the th- tion he replied after atler a Pt isn Isn't t his motives I r question i 1 Last nights night's return to the hoc hOt had been hard enough to bur bear I h she dreaded to today's days more nore It U t li intervening hours had only Mm m to brim tb the tho cup of ot Toms Tom JUlit run ment meat what charity could she uhe t from his mother But met her In the hall hail as if Jf he hi ba waited for tor her coming drew b binto binto into the living room where b h wife sat bridged that trying o m ment meat with his kind kindly and presently tided her hex over U luncheon hour hoar She knew that thit I Idid did this of ot deliberate e. e S S could see ee that ho he was vas himself to protect and her that ho he was putting forth Corth k t twill will to persuade his family faintly tt yesterday had changed Bat she saw too how bow Tain v 1 the effort The Tho icy Jer distrust Ut uti un Toms Tom's silence the snobbish rant raa that embittered Mrs Ballistic Ballantine civility tho the disdain lurking In tl curves of ot Ethel Hoyt's Hoyl's m en- sai were realities I J Sho She went to her rood noon 1 t throwing her herself elt on her b bed d. d pi pr way to black despair There Cl bo be no turning back the the- 1 was waa folly tolly to hope that Mrs tine would pardon the blow to K tt vanity folly to widen the brut brew Tho They Thoy might pla play a part W Roger Roser bu but t th they y would still wWi will per together behind closed 1 6 doc r rand and secretly poison polson Tom Tomi E mJ all against against her ber His wrongs tilled filled filled 11 vision They would magnify t 3 till tin they seemed crimes crime J r By and by hearing hearing- JIm him e ethe ethe ww the sitting room she r rone rete e. e r might have havo black despair w IS 1 P r heart but she hc had pride there LJ He Ho must not find her herder ji der his displeasure smoothed h hIn her bitt glass she sho In tho the tho act caught his I he paused an as beside the outer door He lie Heas I l las as wretched as ts she sho felt a aJI and something TS tw happy boy nal nab in her woke her pity Sri ard sec zt him hITS to ii fc her hunger to lo clasp SI 3 breast She rounded passed through the tho TO TOlD door and beheld another tho the dejected image of ot the tM c J He too was proud I r found this in my ray mill said handing her a a. aarm's letter better It arms arm's length and went n ly Jy to his dressing room i To be cont continued continua |