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Show - The TheSILVER TheSILVEI SILVER SILVEI SILVEIFLUTE . FLUTE FLUTEBy By Lida Larrimore Larrimorec e . c , M&Crao MCrao Macrae & SmIth S Oompll.I17 OompllI17 Company CompanyWNU . WNU "U U " Ben SeriIco Ico - CHAPTER XContinued19 X-Continued X Continued XContinuedit XContinuedy X - Continued Continued19 it- it y - it19 -19- 19 - 19"Sometimes 19"Sometimes 19"SometSmes - "SometSmes SometSmes "Sometimes Sometimes " I 1 think he , will ,111 111 , " , " Bar Barbara Barfcara _ barn bara wrote to Brucc Bruce . . 'Wouldn't Wouldnt Wouldn't ' ' thut that thuta thata thatbe a be lovel lovcli Iove13 1 ? But sornetlmes sometimes I don't dont don't"now don'tknow don'tLnow dontLnow ' "now now know " . It's Its ' a , very ery distracting dlstracUn feelmg feeling feelinglike , l11.e l11e like . being In a lion lions s cage and not notkno notknowing notknowing knowing kno " mg whether the lion will che\\ che chess cheyour chessyour chewyour \ your bend head off of oft ! or not . . But I think thln1 . he hew1ll hewill hewill w1ll will more than I think he won t Only OnlyI I wish he would decide ' I'd Id ' feel the thesame thesame thesame same way about the lion Iron . . . " . And then It was decided Stephen Stephencame Stephencame Stephencame came home one onc evening looking tired tiredand tiredand tiredand and plea pleased < ; ed and a little llttle uneisv une'lSV unelSV une'tsv unetsv ' ' aswell as aswell aswell well He lie hid h'ld hld ' presents for the c1uldren children c1uldrenand childrenand childrenand and some verv veQ very Important ne\\ ne ne"I news"I news nes news"I \ s "I I " saw Aunt Josephine .TosepI1Ine TosepI1Ine . , " he be said saidwhen , "hen hen when " the boisterous welcome hid h'ld hld ' sub subsIded subsided subBided sIded and the presents had been admired admired ad admired mired * ' 0ur Our Aunt , Josephine Tosephlne ? ' The TIle rolor "olor olor rolorpaled "olorpaled " colorpaled paled from Barbira's Barbiras Barb'1.ra's Barb1.ras Barb1ras Barhara's Barharas ' . ' fice f'lce flce face ' . . HA HAt H ! r e eyes eyeswere eyeswere es es"ere "ere ere were " wide and startled"Is startled"Is startled startled"Is "Is Is " she sbe a crotchety ) old 1)1l1 11l1 lad\ lad lads ladStephen ladv'Stephen ladvStephen \ ? ' Stephen asked , pretending pretendlDg to be pur pug purzled pugzled pu7iled pu7iledBarbara zled zledBarbara Barbara nodded"Does nodded"Does nodded nodded"Does "Does Does " she n near ear diamond car ear drops dropsand dropsand dropsand and black silk dresses and 'lblte lblte vyhite ' ! white net netcollars netcollars netcollars collars " with "Ith Ith points tbit tb'lt tblt that ' stick sUch . up un tin under tinder under der her ears ? ' Barbara nodded ag'llD"Does again"Does agiin ag'llD agllD again agiin"Does ' "Does Does " sl1E she live llve in lD a house bouse with urns urnsand urnsand urnsand and elm trees on the lawn and car carpets carpets carpets pets with wltb roses Inside ? ? " ' AgaIn Again'Barbira AgainBarbira 'Barbua Barbua ' " Barbara nodded"Then nodded nodded"Then ' "Then Then 'Then " ' I 1 guess gucss It was your Aunt AuntJosephine AuntJosephine AuntJosephine Josephine , " Stephen said with WJth a smile"What smile"What smile smile"What "What What " did she sa say sav Y ? " the children childrenchorused childrenchorused childrenchorused chorused and then were very still"She still"She still still"She "She She " said you've youve you're youre OU\ OU OUe ' ' , \ e been badly brougbt brought brougbtup broughttip broughtup up tip " Stephen looked 1001.ed 1001ed . at Barbara , at atKIt atKit atKit KIt and Gay and . Jamie .Ianue Ianue * ' She said you youhad youhad youhad had no idea of gntitude gr1.tltude gr1tltude gratitude . She Slid s'lid said ' I 1 Iwas 1was Iwas was either s \ vcr er ery brave or utterly a afool afool afool " " fool "nuthv " "But But "nut nut " \ why \\hv hv whv , . , Uncle Stephen Stephen'l Stephenl ? ' ' B'1r B1r Bir Birban's B'1rban's Birban's Birbans ' ban's bans ' hands cJ'1 cJ1 clipped clasped ' . < ; ped each c.lch clch . other othertlfhtly othertlbhtly othertifehtly tlfhtly tlbhtly , . . ' , I cciuse eC1.use eC1use eciuse . . " , " Stephen told them , 'I I 'Iashe ' 1 1asked Iasked ashe asked her if I 1 ml might ht keep you " " "You You " mem me'ln meln mein ' were "ere ere " to live 11\e 11 e lice \ with you you'Giv youGiv ? ' G1 Gi3 . asked , ready rcady to bounce on tbe the tbesofa thesofa thesofa sofa $ springs prings springs"les "les les " 1 es , " , " he answered , rumpling rl1mlllDg ) her herbrIght herbright herbright brIght brown bron bro\\ bro brow \ n curls"AU curls"All curls curls"All "All All "AU AU " of us ? ' That was Kit Kit . , a flush flushIn flushIn flushIn In his thin dark dad . chee1 cheeks cheeks . < : , his bis hazel e\"eS e "eS eS eves e"eSvery evesvery evesvery \ " very bright briht " , . "All All " .A1I A1I . of youIt you It " ItII II " ' ' ' too1 too ? ' " . Jamie .Jamie asked - - 'Chips Chips , ' , , pre- pre prep1.rmg prepirrng pre-pinng pre pinng p1.rmg p1rmg pirrng . to let out a wlioop whoop whoop"Ishit wlioophit \\hit hit "Ishit Ishit " " \ \ h1.t h1t . " would "ould ould we doVJthout do VJthout'ChIps without'Chips \ without \VJthout VJthout ' " " " " Chips 'ChIps The whoop " was "as as worthy of a fcath feath fcatherec1 featherect fcathered erec1 erect bnve brine bn \ e on the wirpath w1.rpath w1rpath warpath . It brole broke broletJle brokethe brokethe , tJle the breathless bre.lthlees brelthlees . : ; suspen suspense < ; e 'I I ' Ihe 1 he chl1dren children chl1drenfell childrenfell childrenfell fell upon Stephen \ with lth jO\ jO jovous jOous jnsous \ ous C\houtc C houtc shouts shoutsThe \ "shout'sThe shoutsThe " : ; ' Thc The : ; springs eprJDgs of tlie the old red sofa 5ofa ' ci C1 ct ea1.ed ea1ed eaked ea1.edin eakedIn cakedIn . in a threatening threalenmg way \ wi \ 1 ' The winduws winduwsrattled \ windowsrattled in o\\ o orattled \ , rattled The Tbe coals seemed ceemed ; to dince d'lnce dlnce dance ' In Inthe inthe Inthe the gl.lte"Aunt grate"Aunt gute gl.lte gllte grate gute"Aunt . " "Aunt Aunt " .Joeepl1lne1'5 . Josephine .Joeepl1lne Joeepl1lne : ; \ wis \\1'5 1'5 15 ' ' right , " Stephen Stephen6md Stephensaid Stepheneaid 6md said when lie he had emerged , somewhat somewhatrumpled somewhatrumpled somewhatrumpled rumpled , from the lusty stringing str'1nJ1ng str1nJ1ng strinriling ' . ; eIn em eInbraces embraces embraces braces . "You're Youre " ' ' a tribe of little httle sav say savages sayages savages ages You have bae hale ba\ ba \ e no proper rp respect respectfor respectfor < ; pect pectfor for your our elders " 'Do Do ' Do you want us to be respectful re'5pectful re5pectful respectful'Birbira ' ? 'Birbira Birbira ' B'1r B1r Barbera ' 'lra lra ' asked , matching "atchmg atchmg watching " the perform performance performante performance ance ante ' " with lth a happv happ happy shine shlDe in hc her : > r eyes'I eyes'I eyes 'I I ' I like li1.e li1e . little Sfi\ages Sfi ages sasages savages"Stephen savagesStephen \ " Stephen had surrendered himself hlmsel ! to tothe tothe tothe the chirms Cll'lrmS ClllrmS charms ' of the four ThornesCHAPTER Thornes ThornesCHAPTER CHAPTER XIAunt XI XIAunt Aunt ' Fdith 1'dlth 1dlth I'dith Idith ' did not button her lipswhen lipswhen lips when Steplien Stephen told her he hid l1'ld l1ld ' decIded decIdedto decidedto decidedto to . keep 1.eep 1eep the children Heae He Ile vs \ was \\ae ae as ; accepting acceptinga a grave gra\"e gra "e e \ ' " responsibility , she slid s1.ld s1ld . Rear RearIng Rearing RearIng Ing thlIdrenas children thlIdren \ was \\as as not an oblritlon o obli ll1t1on , . { ? ' itlon to tobe tobe tobe be so ll lightly htly assumed accumtd : ; : ; It was neither neitheron neitherwise neitherwise on wise Ise nor nececcar necessary ; : ; . } The cl1l1 children's childrens ren's rens ' rei rel reiatlves relatlves relatlves atlves \ were ere able and " willing "Illmg Illmg to care caretor carefor carefor tor for them Ulem Had he considered tlie the pos possIble posBible poselble sIble Bible compllcitions9 compllC'ltlOns compllCltlOns coxnpllc'ttions coxnpllcttions ' ' ? ' Complications Comphcatlons ? ' ' Stephen asked as'b.ed asb.ed asbed ' . 'I I 'Iwant ' I Iwant Iwant want the children TIJcJ They The } w int mt tnt to sta stay stayIt stavIt It all a11 seems filrly f'lirly flirly fairly ' simple " "Of Of " course they \ want scant \ ant to stay lIas has lIasIt hasIt HasIt It occurred to you thit th'1.t th1.t th1t that ' . W Birbin B'1rb'lr1 B1rblr1 ' rbari ' . ml might mighthave mighthave ht hthae ha\e ha e have \ . known 1.nown 1nown in advance nd\ane nd ane \ ( thit th'1t th1t that ' you vou ou could couldgh couldgive couldgive gh give e them e\ e every eery \ ery luxury lu"tury lutury " and ad adYant'1 advantage advantige Yant'1 Yant1 vantage ' e ? ' ' Stephen halted midway midwa3 mldwn between the thec'lnopled thecanopied thecinopied c'lnopled clnopled canopied ' bed ' ind 'lnd lnd a chgiselongue chiise dl'lise dllise ' longue up upbolstered upbolstered bolstered ' In 'n n hi m'1U\ m'1U m1U mime m'1Ue mauve ' \ e brocade"You brocade"Sou brocade brocade"You " "You You "Sou Sou " mean , " he isked 'lsked lsked asked ' , 'Ins Ins ' 11'1 111 his ' It oc occurrtd occurrcd occurred currtd currcd to me that she niiht ml , ht h'1ve h1ve hive h'1veIoohed hivelooked hivelooked ' Ioohed looked up my financial fmanClal rating rntmgr ' ' , * , ' E\actly E actly I\actly I E.actly Eactly : \ ' . " Stephen l1.u l1u laughed"She . Iiughed laughed Iiughed"She hed hed"She "She She " doesnt doesn t 1.nothere . know 1.no\\ 1.no \ there are such suchthIn suchthings suchthings thIn things s , " he s'lld"I'm said"I'm slid s'lld slld said slid"I'm ' "I'm Im " ' ' not so sure ure . . " The Tbe laiiph lauJh lau , h dId dIdnol didnot didnot nol not improve the state of Aunt IdIth's IdIths Edith's Ediths IdIth'smInd Edith'sInlnd : Edith'smind Edithsmind ' mInd Inlnd mInd'I 'I I ' I am : " . * * ' St Stephen phen said curtly . 'It's Its ' It's Its Ite ' ' , ; poc possible ; . .lble lble < . that she mlht ml . , ? ht have have"He haveHe " He Ile thoughtShe needn't neednt ' be so touchy , she thoug thought t tShe She was thinking only of him Itwould Itwould It would be disturbing dl&turhing dlturhing & for her hlr bcr , of cOllrse course courseto , to ha have \ e the children here But Itwould itwould It Wnyhadn't Wnyhadnt Wl1Ybadn't Wayhadn't would be worse wor'5e wor5e ' for Stephen Wl1Y Way badn't badnt hadn't hadnt ' he married : Emily Imlly ? She "ould ould would "ouldb'1"e wouldbgve " wouldhive b'1\"e b'1 b1 "e e bgve ' \ ' " been willing to endure the 1lttle little 1lttleprofessor littleprofessor littleprofessor professor ' Thit .fh'lt .fhlt fhlt . ' would have been a adIgnIfied adignified adignified dIgnIfied arran arrangement arranement . ; , ement , at ut least PCVlr Pcwr PcwrStephen PCVlrStephen Po/irStephen Po irStephen / Stephen I ' Why couldn't couldnt ' the chHllrcn children chHllrcnhave childrenhave childrenhave have ; stayed ctnyca stnyea where thev they belonged below'ed belowed ' " ' ? "Not Not "Kot Kot " Babbie Bubble Babble , " Stephen slid s'1.l s1.l s1l siid ' . < l "bhe's bhes "She's Shes "bhe'san "She'san "She'san Shesan " ' an Impulsive Ilnpulsrve child She cjme c.une cune carne . . to me mebecau mebecause mebecause becau because there was wa'i wai way ' no one onc else bhc She bhctnou Shethought Shethought tnou thought ht only of keeping the chll children ren together childrentogether rentogether " "She She " Isn't Isnt ' a clilld child " The e expression resSlon In expressionIn resSlonIn Stephe.n's Stephe.ns Stephens StephE'll'S StephEllS Stephen's ' . ' eyes alarmed nlarmed Aunt Edith Iilith : . . "I I "r r " wn wai wag " married mnrrled , . " she stle slid s'1Jd s1Jd sold ' with wltb great greatdignIty greatdignity greatdignity dignIty , 'when when ' \ hen Issas I \ was as Just past pnst eIghtcen eightcen eight eightcen " cen She's Shes 'She's ' ' a very dcir dC'lr dClr deer ' little llttle girlIt girl It - " It"nell " Stephen-It Stephen It StephenItI Stephen - " " "Ileillv Ileillv "ne\ll "ne ne ll "Reilly Reilly ' \ , , I "She She " sees people so socleirly cJc1fY clearly ] ; , " Stephen StephenI Stephensaid Stephensaid I said , thinking of Barbara BlLrbara Bitrbara , , wanting to todefend todefend : defend her . 'She She ' She Lnows knows It Is best besttor bestfor bestfor tor for the children to let them grow up uptogether uptogether uptogether together . She's Shes ' right n.bout nbout about . bout it It . , too too.Babble tooBabble . Babble trusts me I can't cant ' let her herdown herdown herdown down She's Shes ' so small and plucky nnd and nndhelpless andhelpless andhelpless helpless " His voice was gentle genUe Aunt Edith Edithlooked Edithlooked dIth dIthlooked looked ' - - up un- un . . - ' - - . -1 1 ' ; "You're Youre " ' 1u ' -u u ' ; ; In ] love lose 0 ' e with witb her , Stephen Stephenshe , " she said She had not meint me'lnt melnt meant ' to put putthe putthe putthe the thoufcht thou.ht thouht thought { . Into words . But StepheD Stephen StepheDe Stephenecacperated Stephenexasperated ecacperated e a perated her bc beyond ond endurance , be be- beIng belug being - - ing lug so foolish about the gIrl'Th'1t's girl Thit's Thits 'Th'1t's Th1ts That's Thats ' ' ' absurd absurdi absurdlit lit litStephen i " " ' Stephen fro"ncd froncd frowned frownedhis " , bls his brows bro"s bros " drawn down over his angryey ango angr angry angoeyes ey e eyes es ' . It has happened happC'ned happCned ' before " It w'ts wts svis w'tstrue svistrue wistrue ' true , she shc thought . . Stephen hid h'1d h1d h'td htd ' not note notescaped notescaped e escaped caped rort Forty I'orty Iorty ' , > , . she shc liad had heard , was wasa wasa wasa a very fiery , cry dingerous d1ngerous dangerous age"Do age"Do age age"Do "Do Do " you think thml , that ? ' ' he ash asked askedlooking ed , looldng looking at her ber from under duI.ly duIly darkly duI.lysco darklyscowling dirklyscowling . sco\ sco scoHng scowling \ ' , Hng brows bros bro\\ bro bro"I brows"I brows"I \ s "I I " do . , IndeedIf Indeed If " No u use < : c contradict contradictIng contradictIng contradictIng Ing h herself er < ; elf . , Aunt Edith dIth thought thought"There thoughtThere . . "Tbere Tbere "There There " must he be some reason why Sou Soushould ou oushould oushould should want to keep these children childrena , , 11 a reason other thin th'1n th1n ' kindness IIndnecs , : ; and a adesIre adesire adesire desIre to mike m'1.ke m1.ke m1ke make ' . them h'lppyIt hippy h'lppy hlppy ' It " ItuYou "You You uYou " haven't havent ha.en't ha.ent haent haen't . % ' a high opinion of me mehave , bave have you , Aunt Edith dlth'l dlthl ? ' ' Stephen asked askedquietly askedquietly askedquietly quietly "lou lou " make maJ.e maJe . me f feel el as though thoughI I had taken advantage . of the conO confi conOdence confidente conQdence dence dente of a child cluld " "A A " child ? Well , really , Stephen-If Stephen If Stephen- StephenIf'Do Stephen'Do Steplien - " 'Do Do ' you think tlllnk that tbat , Aunt Edith Edlth'l Edlthl ? ' ' "I I " 11a have hase \ e 1.no\\ 1.no . known 1.non \ n you for some time timemy timemy timemy my dear , " Aunt Edith EdlUl sud s'1ld s1ld s'iid siid ' ' "I I " can't cant can'tthink can'tthink can'tthink cantthink ' think that you " would ould completely dlsor disor dlsorganI7e disorganl7e disorganl/e disorganl e ganI7e ganl7e / your life unless there wa was a areason areason areason It " ItThere reason reasonIt There v . was as a reason , of course Be He Bemight Hemight Hemight might have hse hale hs\ hs \ e told Aunt Edith thit th'lt thlt ' hp he hphad hehad hhad ? had 10\ 10 loved 10ed \ ed Barbara's Barbaras ' mother . But he hedid hedid hedid did not want to tell teU her . HeVa He \Va Va was wastired \ wastired tired of explanations expanatlons ] He said 'Good Good 'Goodnight ' Goodnight |