Show r n A 4 e f fC C 2 l s a it r rr rO l r O HARRY HA RY PUGH MRS ARS t i 0 Me MG CLUR CLURE W N U ce ff INSTALLMENT TWo The TWO TWO- TWO The Story So Far II a Maguire Is helping her moth Kathleen KathIeen had j rc r turned from tram a trip her fix It t Like her father Mike he f with Ih a to be given that melt n lt for lor wild Ud Ho fio ers tj t t save ve a florists bU bUthe was as a happy go eo lucky newspaper man manthe I the whoso whose son J Jaird Is The rear tire of tt the old car had gone llIs assurance Irritates her He lie seems I aged aeed t to SI Kathleen s a s st t ter t r flat fi at and a young oung man helped amused and kisses her r CHAPTER Continued ll-Continued U t j eyes smarted It s Ji med to the girl such rank in ina Lice that lat Laura should have to toa toch to eh a ch and glue lue and nail Dall things to a er to make them do dil It wasn warn t td Jr d she had been barn brn to make makeI ts is She had grown up in con conter I had hadt ii erable crable ble luxury But she had t CIOUS little of it t since m e her mar go ge especIally the last rew years 1 t thad had bad never worried Kathleen un S lately All the things her mother WI without lOUt But somehow in m the past i mon months ls it had become a soret sore the le girl s 5 consciousness She it t in m posed she was growing up If Itt it was a harrowing harro mg process One Onet her foundations t was shak ng tty itty badly She said nothing Itt It t t to her father She had bad hadway way raya been his lus favorite And he hea hed d a been her particular shining he heI I Just of late had she begun to tos s he could have flaws fias fia as s She was v as Ii a fiercely loyal young pert per perIt perIt i It made her feel dreadfully s down to be cons Mike with She didn t want to Sheat She I SheI sl at t terribly didn t want to And AndI I saw Mrs May Mas Ma s this afternoon Yes murmured Laura ti he She was ng the irises m in a low white Wedgewood bowl ch would stand on a mirror m in mcenter tl center of the table Her limousine almost crowded into the curb outside Jenson s 5 sI sr r chauffeur was bringing out a I of ho hothouse louse flowers A box as asI asB I g as a hearse Is she entertain tonight Yes d do t you hear bear Mrs Newn New said they d ha have hae ha e to leave bee be bee beI I e nine tor for quotation quotation marks marks marks-a aIe y e intonate intimate bridge at t Mrs d ys ysa a Aren en t you Im m not exactly intimate with t crowd any more Because you haven t the up with LIZZie aura ura shrugged her shoulders een studied her with narro narrowed ed eds i s She wished she knew whether mother really did not mind miss out with old friends Mrs Mays has never qu te to foren for foren en you Laura because she d nev have got Eugene Mays if you youn t given him bun the air au t I was common knowledge that thata a Maguire could have been Eugene Mays had she hied had indeed had considerable 1 ble eluding the banker m In favor Ichael Maguire And Mays hada had the catch of the town He Hed d was Covington s richest man b g three storied house was aw a aW aw W place set m in stately grounds wife wile never had to dam darn table or make over last year wear ear s hats gain galD Kathleen scrutinized her herther herther herBiers ther s averted faced face lace d Laura ever think she had hadde hadde de a mistake Would she do it itu u same way a second time if she the cho ce Kathleen s throat throated ed cd Her mother had reJected ene Mays Mays and and real pearls and impressive home and servants servant a new car every year and tripS slew ew York because York because she was in ine ine e with a charming Irishman Up x months ago it had never oc 1 red ed to Kathleen that Laura had hadd hadid al d high ugh for lor love Or that she might ei et her ner bargain bargain Somehow Kath Kathr r had taken it et for lor granted that mother Was thrill thrilled tn to death tn to toj f j poor and shabby and overworked over t was she Or d d she feel that e and nd life and M chael Maguire a cheated her Fal l ll l athleen rt shivered Her mother u thrown the world orld o over Yer er for tor roce roLee ro Lee ce Yet V VT T A- A AWAI W-AI- W WAIn It appeared to Kath n that somewhere on the road y roady ura had been defrauded Because a e was nothing very romantic ut darning Mike s socks and fish a h hs s dirty shirts out from behind clothes hamper where he in m ini i ably bly threw them It If you ask a k me said Kathleen quire outside her s ster s door doors dooris s love racket looks more like a ao game tame than anything else You Youa a few mad thrills maybe thrills maybe But ButI I naw pay for them by taking it on thin chin the rest of your life d in her heart she had a pan feeling ing treat tat her mother must ago have reached the same conon con Ion conIon although she was too game pine hine CHAPTER UI Mey Irley Maguire snapped off the trio iron non as her sister entered h hullo hubo Kath she said beI be big ing being Suddenly very busy with one the rumes on OD Laura s ecru or dy ory ordy y hock ut although she averted her face could see violets Shirley s violet s in the mirror over the dress table and they were blurred Let me finish Sis You look tired athleen Bath eath elaborately t pretended tit it a thet was Waa merely fatigue and the S onS t which had drawn shadows on Marem Marea a delicate cheeks checks The Ma rem rea had b been brought up P to re rc ct t each other others s And M Kathleen s a anys anya did not refer to any Shirley y might have been shed i And neither did Shirley ve ye m aU finished Kath thanks But you can hang th s in Laura s closet if you will Surely Shirley Shuley was employing a t age ge to be alone and Kathleen knew It But she obediently trotted across the hall and she took her time about the errand When she returned Shirley had bathed her face and powdered pow powdered powdered dered her telltale eyel ds and was curled up on the foot toot of bed manicuring her finger nails as If she had nothing on her mind but the last development in m 1 quid polish Mother thinks you ought to take a cat nap suggested Kathleen d g out her red evening sandals which needed cleaning I m not sleepy said Shirley Kathleen bent over her task She didn t want Shirley to think she was tampering with things which did not concern her But the trouble was Shirley hadn t been sleeping nights either Kathleen had not told anyone any anyone anyone one not even Laura how often Shir Shirley Shirley ley rolled and tossed or slipped out of bed to sit In m the window and smoke a cigarette Maybe she thought Kathleen did not know She always lay perfectly still and said nothing But Kathleen knew And It had her a little ragged Sh lust Just did not deserve the break she was gett ng Kathleen was beg bee nning to think that fa fate te takes a special del In m being ma vJ v III Vi w Shirley Shuley was employing a subterfuge subterfuge subterfuge fuge and Kathleen knew it ft licious to the wrong people She could think of a number of girls It would be a pleasure to see knocked oft off their pedestals But Shirley was not one of them Kathleen admitted admit admitted admitted ted she was partial All AU her life she had secretly thought that Shirley Shir Shirley ley was a bit of all right Probably because she was four years older Perhaps because they were so d df f ferent in looks and In m temperament Kathleen was pretty and viva vivaCIOUS vivacious CIOUS She looked slick to quote herself In m snappy clothes She could wear extreme haircuts and get by With impudence and a general air of being more hard bo ho led than she was But Shirley was ul I Really beautiful ul She had wide smoke blue eyes and radiant goldbrown gold goldbrown goldbrown brown hair and the loveliest cream and rose skin and exquisite hands and feet She looked just as pretty m in a bungalow apron as in an eve evening ning gown And Shirley was quite as beautiful beautiful ful w thin as without She had high I standards and she did not betray them She was never petty petti nor maI ma I 1 cious nor envious nor capricious If Sh had wild ugly Impulses she mastered them m in secret They never cluttered up the neighborhood Kathleen pass coveted Shir Shirley Shirley ley s ab 1 1 ty to put her soul through its paces without an outward ripple Sh was proud and ned and reserved and self controlled She kept her emot ons firmly under lock and key as it of they were dangerous explosives Kathleen sitting flat on the floor with cleaning fluid and a rag vigorously vig vigorously massaged the heel of a frivolous olous red sipper sl and wished she were as thoroughly the master of her frailties as her sister But watching the dimple come and go In Inthe inthe the younger girl s vivid mercurial face Shirley Maguire knew with bit bitterness bitterness bitterness that her capacity for tor silent anguish was the point of her grave peril Far better she thought to be able to boil over like Kathleen than to keep agonies corked up in your heart To poison and ferment The diamond on Shirley s slender white hand winked at her mocking mockingly ly as she filed Bled her ring finger Slur Shirley ley had a strange feeling that the stone laughed when it caught her eye But she brought herself up sharply She simply must not in indulge indulge indulge in m morbid fancies It was un ern unhealthy unhealthy healthy almost indecent It came from sol tary tart brooding If only she could break through the cell of her reserve But Shirley could not pro produce produce produce duce the skeletons from her mental closet for the Inspection of others The table looks sp try fly observed I Kathleen from the floor Honestly Ian Isn t Mother a genius gemus at making any old thing do in a rub I don t believe be believe lieve even Kitty Cat can find a th ng to sniff at Shrley Sh flushed faintly Kathleen eyed her from under lowered lashes She knew qu te to well that Shirley would never have appl ed such an ep thet to the lady m in quest on Although AI though Shirley had more reason to resent Jaird s mother than had any other person on earth If It Shirley s dreams did not perish of dry rot it would be through no fault of Mrs Blake Give Mother two hours and a bunch of wild flowers and she could entertain the Duke of Windsor m in a style he d love said Shirley Shuley Sure and she d have time leftover left leftover leftover over to remind Mike to wash the printers ink off oft his paws before he shook hands with the Duke chor tied Kathleen Shirley Shu-ley smiled Mike will never grow up Not so long as he can get by without it it said Kathleen frown mg Shirley glanced at her qUickly There had been a note in her sister s vOice Shirley had never heard Kathleen bath leen apply to their father In their theu several ways all his children adored Michael Magu re But it was no secret that he had always been Ka Kathleen s special god As a child she had been ready to battle anyone who dared intimate that anything about M ke could be improved No longer ago than six months Kathleen had threatened to box Fatty Bon Bonner Bonner Bonner ner s ears for saying on the stump that Magu re didn t deserve to be elected mayor of Covington for tor the tenth time because he was no howlIng howl howling ing success at handling his private business so why entrust him With running the city It was a bit of a fam tarn ly Joke Mike s being lord mayor of Coving Covington Covington ton The office paid next to nothing In fact Mike never broke even on the deal His salary failed completely complete ly to equal what he laid out on entertain en entertain entertain ng visit ng celebrities who m in invariably variably called on His Honor when m town and expected to be wined and dined To say nothing of the parades and the conventions and the charity chanty drives to which Mike was supposed to lend his moral and financial support The city budget appropriated all it could stand for tor such eventualities But by November of every year the fund was depleted From that point M ke was on his own Many at a at at t me H s Honor was reduced to the expedient of opening the ty Fund Ball on the proceeds of a pawned watch and chain cham To be redeemed when city taxes were pa d Secretly although he made coma comical cal remarks about it Mike adored being mayor of Covington He liked I to preside at banquets and throw out the first ball at the opening of the baseball season He got a great kick out of securing the new CiVIC auditorium by a determined drive on the purses of bankers and pole poh titian and the like He was as pleased as a small boy with a ht- ht lit little tie tle red drum over the modest but complete municipal hospital for which he had schemed for years He admitted it might be a luxury but he wouldn t have traded Jobs With any ruling nabob And although he had determined t on from the polet cal machine Mike went on being heing elected year after year The people had an ble faith m in his integrity Other mayors had waxed rich By distinctly unscrupulous unscrupulous bus lous methods Mike lost money ev every every every ery time he was sworn m in His ch eh Idren teased him about bid be biding bl- bl mg ing a big in m a very puddle But deep down withIn with withIn In 1 none of the Maguires thought it funny to be lord mayor of Covington ton They might wisecrack about It among themselves but they were qUick to defend M ke from an out outsider outSider sider s aspersion Kathleen had al always always always ways been especially sensitive to any unflattering criticism of their fa father father tather ther And yet today Shirley for tor the first time had detected a bitter note m In Kathleen s f reference to Mike But at her glance Kathleen sidestepped the issue She might in m her own mind have reached the stage where she was uncertain about values which she had accepted wholeheartedly wholeheartedly edly all her life but she could not bring herself to bare her ng loyalties even to ShIrley So Kath KathIe Kathleen Kathleen Ie leen en changed the subject with an Shirley of herself Did you know the are leaving a nine To Tu bridge at Mrs Mays Again Shirley reddened slightly Yes TO BE CONTINUED |