Show I I THE ITHE HOPE CHEST IEST I By MARK LEE LUTHER rJ Brown w ISIL Co bj CHAPTER 17 Ethel wh with who was In the lead so timed her advance ance as to r reach ch tIm the exit with Sheila to whom she he offered her hand band with an In ingratiating ingra ingra- ra- ra smile So glad clad she murmured leaving leav Ie ing ing- the precise cause of or her r jo Joy unstated You pave gave Tom such sucha a n surprise But Dut let me mo present my 01 dear dea l' l frIends the You must have e heard mo tue speak of or them Flo I want ant you ou to know Sheila Shena Moore Miss Moore Moore r Mr Sn Sa The dear deer S S professed their thell dell delight ht with eyes oyes questing eagerly a toward the ahead Then tho the con congestion brought both groups to 0 a standstill standstill stand stand- still and Eliot Lounsbury finding finding find find- ing the broker at his elbow gave him a nod of or recognition an and dropped a a. comment on the thc crush It wn was was' a narrow opening but It Mr lr Satterlee while his wife ICe with an enterprise worthy orthy of nf her cloth promptly brought broucht up her re reserves nn and 1 In another moment moment moment mo mo- ment the position was Wll stormed It no now developed that the mezzanine mezza- mezza nine was likewise the goal 1031 of or the Satterlee party part Ethel herself avoided It St St. the capable Flo threw In a word of ot corroboration and nd her r husband alert to his cue f scored core the folly Cony of or setting out for New lew York till WI the Post road traffic traffic fic lIe had lightened Tom plucked at Sheila's sleeve Cant we lose the whole outfit on way up he petitioned It Nit would be easy cosy she zhe said But Dut we wont ont Tom and you ou know why hy Too much muth cheek check for tor one evening evening eve eve- ning eh Well at an any rate Ethel Eth Eth- el ci ha has her talons In the peerless Stoughton and I Ish shant shan't nit have havo his competition upstairs She thre threw him a n lm smile mlle 11 e and with his answering smile mlle the they we were magically transported to September mid-September and the days when Lounsbury was merely a namo In the public prints and Ethel Hoyt Hot was Vas na naught The Tho mezzanine was not an Ideal spot for Cor a tryst but tIle the they contrived contrived con con- a desert Isle for two to on a lounge loungo apart from the others I want to- to explain about to tonight tonight to- to night ht ho he said at once Ethel Ethel It Dont mention her I see through her maneuvers But Dut I cant can't have you ou think I Imet Imet Imet met her by appointment I sImply sim- sim ply ran Into her out at tho the Bowl Dowl after the game I expected to go straight back to Boston noton but the ha had hooked a here at the Taft and nd Insisted on In my Jay coming along I wont won't pretend pretend pre pre- tend that I 1 had to be dra dragged e I like them In a aVa Va way And I like Ethel Weve We've grown rown up to together like 11 brother and sister sister played played and scrapped and scrapped and I know l her nood points as at well as is her bad She's She one of at the tho busiest climbers who ever thumbed the Social Register Resister but when Ive I've said that Ive I've e said the worst You'll take to her in spite of ot it when you get rot acquainted Lets dont don't talk about her I l wont I want ont to tn talk about ourselves ourselves to to tell 11 you ou what what I somehow not write I admIt admit admit ad ad- mit I went ent up LIP In the air all like a fool that last Jast m morning in New NewYork York and Im I'm FOrr sorry Forry for It I admit admit admit ad ad- mit Ive I've acted like a Q bear with a I sore orl head ever e since and Im I'm sorry son sor lorr r ry for that also aIM But nut It wa was a tough proposition I had put up to tomI mI mo me Sheila Yes Tes ah she Bhe assented hut But It was waR hard for me rae too I T felt that had I-had bound myself to a 3 stranger er And after orter all I had hod I dont don't know you ou even cven yet et Tom Torn And you ou dont don't know kno me I know lenow I love e you ou ho said as asIf asIt asif If It that comprehended all things sAnd s. s And I love you OU she sho replied Stranger or not it doesn't matter mat mat- ten ter His Ills eyes took possession of or her anew cne I dont don't know what I was thinking thinking think think- In ing to give gl In to that whim of yours as I did he declared I 1 ought to have hwe followed my own Judgment JUds judgment carried carried you off ort b by force foree If necessary Ive I've half halt a 3 mind to todo todo too do o It now Youre You're my wl wife you wife ou e you belong to me me-I me I want you Sheila was not alarmed by her heral al caveman alman man be sorry tomorrow Never Yes Tee Ye you ou would Tom An And you'd roud despise me for having been 80 so weak as to listen to you I dont don't ever want It sal said that your marriage was a n. mistake that I ruined your our career carcer And after all nIl we haven't so 50 lon long to wait walt Dont you ou call half hatt a year ear lon long But nut Its It's less than six months to fo commencement several se days ays less Ills His face race brightened Youre keeping track of ot the tho time Yes Yea You do lore lovo me dont don't you I cant can't tell ten you ou how much They swore eternal fealty with witha a Jool look It If I could only onty kiss you ou he said Cant wo we somehow somehow- You know we wc wo cant Would Would you OU like lIko it If it w we w. could uld c Dearly Dearl Oh this Is Hades he groaned Here nere we are husband are husband and wife wire and antl and I cant can't even e talk to you ou In private I have ha to t take l o my chance with another man and anil not on equal terms at that for his mother Is Is- the chaperon She keeps glancing over hero as 11 Ir she hc had sized me mc up as a crimi crimi- nal her Im Just a schoolgirl In eyes ees and antl she feels responsible We Ye mustn't stay here Tom But DUl before we go 0 I want to ask you yoi youa a question Why hy arent aren't you ou and Stoughton Lounsbury friends Friends he repeated with a touch of bitterness Weve never exchanged a n. wor word till tonight What has ha kept you apart 7 Ono One of those songs they were roaring downstairs Is as good an answer as nn any Its It's the Way Yay we lave ve at Old Harvard Har The place Is full of ot sets and his set Isn't mine Why Vh shouldn't his set Bet be yours ours Didn't you Ou h have he e the same chance ag ns freshmen to make malee friends Not hy by a n. long tong chalk I prepared prepared prepared pre pre- pared for college In the public schools It was one of ot fathers father's fixed Idea Ideas Bt tIe democratic mix democratic mix with ever everybody the everybody tho bod tho common pee peo- plo are arc the backbone of or tho the na na- na- na and Uon-and and all nn that He lIe meant well but hut It was no way to enter Har lIar yard vard I went up there without knowing a a. soul I Lounsbury came down clown from Exeter with a bunch of fellows who all knew and boosted one another Im I'm not sa sayIng sayIng say say- Ing that th ho he needed anything o othe ot of the kind He didn't Hed He'd b be beci ci ie e of the big men of the class clans I if IC his name were plain John Smith for hos ho's n. n wizard fd at football as t tI you saw today I wl wish h that It had been you OU she sho said Impulsively Oh Im I'm content with my Int lot he rejoined I r wasn't In the he he- ginning I hated Harvard But Bu Tm Im as ns loyal as os an anybody bod now I dont don't em envy Lounsbury his friends friend Ive I've Ive I've friends s of my mv own on And AnI J I dont don't en envy him his headlines Ho's Hos hart ad to cut out many ninny a good old time for a little new newspaper a per glory clory On tho the whole It d best not to explain that she had moan meant something far different It would have ha the air of sitting silting In Judgment Judgment Judg Judg- ment when hen what she reaH really wanted wanted wanted want want- ed was to sit at his feet She longed to SIP see him as ns she he first saw him him flawless flawless and infallible the Infallible the lord of h her r mind as well as o oher of her senses But Dut curiously she had to look Into the face fac of Molly Lounsbury to tc evoke this paragon Back in their room an hour later she showered her with questions which Sheila answered ered or or parried with a growing dismay I I 1 dont don't know why he ho made such a Impression on me the she confessed finally from Crom her pillow pil pil- low It wasn't anything In particular particular par par- that he said or did I dont don't understand it at all Sheila understood It perfectly Through h with the light tight she asked controlling her olce voice and at the girls girl's dl distrait nod extinguished extin extin- the r reading lamp b between tween their beds betts Has he ever cr had a tragedy In Ms lila life queried Molly 1011 from the darkness dt Not that Ive I've heard of Ito Ho seemed to have laso something sad fud id at tho the back of or his eyes ces as I 1 i talked with him Sheila felt that by all sacred In friendship she must undeceive her His Ills wits were woolgathering sho she said Ho Ito was probably thinking of someone else Youre not flattering But Dut Is there someone there someone else elso elso Yes I haven't the right to mention her name The Tho lon long stillness was broken b by a n little muo sigh Of course course courso Its It's the Hoyt girl cho ho said I how she he looked at him In tho the restaurant What a pity To be continued I I I 1 |