Show ro 4 e t tf f ary a aA ar A r McHARRY HARRY POOH PUGH S 11 Mc W N H U ce It Il INSTALLMENT The SEVENTEEN Story So Far Fari Maguire Is Ile w Ile e u e of o i t happ n nappy happy appy go when h n he a becomes Interested In Lou Lau hUra stand tand tand Ma Nc Ne had wanted him to Maguire Is Ile w e o appy go hUra goM Mke eo Laura aura M AI ke ed tor and d ma may or of ot cov Coy hom banker Mays Is tr Ing to I 1 Navas S O Or hIs bankIng methods for far r er cr 4 rain of four children hit by mother the in- in a 15 S 5 e depre slon sian i 1 Oe m ho aho has separated f t f om am Maryf Mary mi en pm hen alien tl si e a h had d a Job and 1 I I e tl earned u II f mosey money She starts divorce action Bo pe cc ho ho takes a Job as a grocery clerk Aro CHAPTER VI Down at the curb Tom stood at the of ot Mary Etta s a car They jour Joor shred at e each eich ch other unable to speak And then suddenly he picked her ber up In h b s arms I 1 love you youl I love you ce cc was ragged and bro broken H B H s t HIs vo va lIps bps quIvered i i She ci lilted lifted i j ken her mouth to his For th the first t t meshe meshe me mee him bun all U of In a kiss luss she e gave as ra raw w as their hearts that hat ass as did not mention Alec Alee w to toS toUl Laura L ura S ke he e e a ether then ther that night or the next With all his tolerance Mike Mae was himself fanatically honor honorable honorable Above a everything ng he loathed able he earn of ofUs rea chery To learn that a son engaged in something tha that t his bIs bIsI aas I as could not stand the light of day was certain to h ht t Mike where here he lived It was Just lust nine when she put on her hat hal backed the old sedan out of the garage and set out out out- Her face faceIn facein raven lines Imes She d d not mean in graven to return without the truth if 11 it killed killed 1 tier her She went first to the drug store where Alec Alee s old gang hung out out and red No one had seen Alec Alee Not that day nor for tor a month 1 of ci days She spent a nickel DIckel in m the tele telee A 1 e phone booth at the hotel to w call Myra lyra Boone and Laura s heart hammered so she could scarcely I peak when ben she heard the other romans oman s shrill nasa nasal vo ce Butr But rUic r ec ecI I was BBS as not there Indeed the blonde w dow went on tartly to explain ex plain that she hadn t seen him m in ecks and nd hoped she never would again agam agamAs As a last resort Laura visited the grocery store where Alec Alee had found employment for one day The gro gro- grocer grocer grocer sourly informed wormed her that he hadnot had hadi i not DOt seen teen her son since his hn flash inthe in inthe inthe the pan at tak ng on a regular job Laura suddenly remembered that Alee Alec had bad obtained a five-dollar five ad advance adVance vance on his week s salary But when hen she apologetically offered to w toi tomake i make nuke up the d she learned that Alec Alee himself had done so Where had bad he be found the money mODey moneys She was walking blindly out the thedoor thedoor thedoor door toward her car when a hand plucked at her ber sleeve She glanced do down It was Joey Bess V I tie lUe crippled boy The child looked 6 up at Laura curiously Lou says you d be furious if 11 you knew he wh vh And wl wt en Alec sn in t there she cries I 1 don t like to see Lou cry She s awfully happy Except when she hers berg about you That when she sheI sheer f I er cr es Why do you do that to w Lou The sidewalk alk seemed to rise up and h t Laura in ID the face All AU at once sh knew Where are they sonny shei shea she i- i asked The ch Id hesitated Laura s clear brown eyes met his squarely The ch cb Id whispered an address The house y when hen she finally to 10 caled It It was lias a small weather eather beat beaten beaten en shanty at the far tar end of an empty block wh ch dwindled into open woods cods beyond It had a t t ny yard it f neatly tally mown and a broken down fence lence e e to separate it from the cotton t fields Somebody had planted morn f MI mg glor Elores es and trained them on sir flings along the narrow front Porch Someone was s ng ng at the backof backof back of the house low in lD a breathlessly SWeet vo voce ce cc like the taint faint tWitter log ing tWittering of young b m in a wisest lInest At Laura a i knock the song ceased She could almost hear the s nger holding her ber breath It seemed anage anage an doorS age tt before the girl came to the door S she held it open Laura en entered feeling exactly like lice an exe cut oner ODer There were only three rooms A small nail square parlor a little bed hed roam toom gl gJ through an open door a Y I- Itchen ten and a back porch on vh wh h ch stood a painted breakfast table set W th tha a blue and white cloth There Was a milk bottle in U 0 e center which held beld a spray of wild roses W Id rOses Meil before Laura gazed at the girl be fore fure her who d d not speak who only I nod Mod there small hands quivering w th nervousness And Laura paid tribute loveI to the alchemy of love I 1 knew you d f nd out son e a day la dayla Sad d Lou Lou n a qu ver ng voce vo ce I should t have done It it I deserve to ButI be e lorry hOrry the re rest t of my 1 1 I fe But I lee ve always l loved laved ved Alec ec I always It 11 Alec I r know you could kill me But Buten when Alee Alec asked me to marry him It il Was a Ike 1 kt ke all the dreams I ever dreamed come true v Lou l s small tormented hands Ill I'll sled sleda a i cheap gold eold band her on en We took the bus and went over overto to fo Lincoln 1 so no one would know Ie W had to he lie about our ages bethey be rore they d sell us ui a 1 I cense V When When- hen We came me back we rented tl tl-is tl is 1 1 the house se Justa We hadn t t any turn urn ture lure Just a cot Ml anda and a cook stove that some ome owe DOe had left behind because they acre Vere all to p But Alee Alec mend rid them Everything was awful d tty my But I scrubbed rubbed And An Bu and scrubbed the e first radio Alec Alee sold we wi a becomes Interested In Lou Lau I Knight the town drunk s 3 daughter whom he brought to his mother a I house when her father d ed rescuing a crippled boy In a fire But Lou leaves the house thinking she Is not wanted Alec Alee doesn t stay slay y home nights Shirley whose chose v hose long engagement to Jaird Ne ends In m marriage when hen the two t decide to buy a hamburger got the couch And last week we bought the d nette set set And Alec made me that dressing table out of goods boxes They Thai The re very handy We had to use them to eat on at first Laura Latra regarded the small down downcast downcast downcast cast face Why are you so afraid of me Lou Because you 11 H take Alec Alee away from me sa d the girl simply What makes you think I can e a aren t of age either of us We lied about the license You can have bave the marriage annulled CHAPTER That s shy why hy you haven t wanted me to know asked Laura Yes You said something about a ra rad rad rad d o 0 which Alec Alee sold I don t be 1 eve I understand Lou s a blue eyes opened wide But d do t you know He buys parts from old radios and fixes them up so they work better than they didat did didat didat at first And then he peddles them out in the country to anyone who U 11 buy And he s s done awfully well be because because because cause he s worked so hard aid he s so clever Her small face flooded With color Alec Alee can do anything Just yesterday a man maD at the big electrical store down town was so interested in m Alec Alee s 5 new selector he heI asked him to come down today and demonstrate it at He says he bel bet eves Alec has stumbled onto something that may be worth money But you see said Lou her eyes starry I couldn t be surprised because I ve ye veLaura Iv I s t I f Laura thought of ot the faith filth that moves mountains always known that Alec Alee is wonder wonderful wonderful ful Laura thought of the faith that moves mountains That s why went on Lou the muscles of her throat t I knew you must roust hate me for tor marry marrying marrying marrying ing him Alec Alee deserves someone so much better than I am Oh my dear cried Laura husks huski I ly But Lou hadn t heard I Alec Alee burst into the room He didn t tsee tsee tsee see his mother He d do t see any anything anything thing except the small girl with the adoring blue eyes and the shy yet passionate te 1 I ps 1 l fled to his Swearingen s going to finance my selector He 11 II apply for or a patent and help me put the thing across He bel eves it will be worth Important important important tant co n to one of the big rad o 0 le Ie lehe com compan pan es And in an the he s giving me a job in m his store At forty a week Think of that Lou LouI I can buy us a whole new bedroom suite not just a cracked up bed And you can have all k of ot pretty clothes And maybe later we can have a 1 l car Would you like lice your own car Mrs Maguire Lou shivered in his arms and drew slowly away Your mother shere s here Alec she said husk ly Alec Alee wh ried Laural Laura I he be whys whispered He went quite white and m In mst st net vely h s right arm tightened about h s I 1 w fe te s s small tremulous tremulous lous bus body Lou seems to think I 1 will do ev ng In my po ver yer to break up the happiness you two have found together said Laura with a throb of pain pam in m her voice Do you think tha that t Alec I r wasn t worth a hoot in hell un until UI tn I met Lou he be cr er ed passIOnate passionately ly I 1 don t know if U you can caD ever forg ve ye us But it s just because Lou expects so much of me that I ve ye quit being a ratter and learned to be something I m not ashamed to face in a mirror Maybe she s not stand tand tand Ma Nc Ne had wanted him to marry Connie Mays the banker a I daugh tor Kathleen who against her will be becomes becomes becomes comes Interested In Ritchie Graham also a newspaperman She thinks think their fight against Mass Ma s throws thrown the burden on Laura She spurns RitchIe s 3 love and peevishly takes up with Hot Shot Mays Laura softens M ry Etta Ella society But I d cut myself to pieces before I d let her down We eren w eren t of age when we married But we wew e ew w vv U ll be soon And our marriage stIcks if U we have to run oft a couple ot of times more and do it all over again agam They stared at her with defiant hunted eyes They reminded her of mocking birds wildly excited by the glimpse of a cat near their nest W WI U it make you two any hap happ happ p er or asked Laura softly soUly to know that I thank God Lou happened to toI you Alec Alee I Gee Mother whispered Alec and sl his arm about herBut herBut her herBut But it was Lou s shy grateful kiss wh ch made Laura s heart sing Al AlI Alec Alec I ec cc always ays said sald you d understand I whispered the girl but I was afraid so dreadfully afra atra d You t ever be afraid again agam agami Lou sa d Laura i Lou s eyes searched hers and with witha a sigh she laid her hand in Laura s sI sI I won Mother t-Mother t Mother I You must bring Lou to w dinner to tonight Alec Alee said Laura I want ant antto to show off my new Dew daughter All the way down to the office Kathleen fumed inwardly Her nerves had been in a highly irritated sta state te for tor weeks She d the Clarion s staff stafI which had unconsciously absorbed I Ritchie Graham gathered 1 in an age agitated huddle m one corner comer of the room What s a the newest bad news she red almost WithOUt a sneer Roger Whyte s palsied finger shak shakily sly pointed to W the ed tonal prominently prominently displayed on the first page of the current issue Kathleen skimmed through it hurriedly Mike had re released released released leased all brakes He informed those interested that he had ind lad proof that Banker Eugene Mays was becoming heavily involved with the Donahue Interests According to Mike the Donahue Investments I were a gigant c e bubble doomed w to burst He admitted the concern had hadI floated a number Dumber of handsome deals I and paid swollen dividends But that was merely to w pull in the suckers Mike insisted He declared that if 11 Eugene Mays was not stopped from playing with matches over an open gasoline tank everybody in m Coving Covington Covington wn ton would live to curse the day he ever heard the word Donahue From behind the closed door of Mike s private office came a bellow like the roar of an infuriated croco dIe d le dIeD leD D d you never hear of 1 Ilia bel shouted the irate gentleman in m the inner mner room Yes came Mike s coo cool del ed vo ce But you 11 U never sue me metor for libel on the strength of this arts arb article cle Mays You see I warned you that I had the dope And I have In the shape of photostat t c copies of letters with your signature on them themI I know you are on the point of closing clos closing mg ing a deal with Donahue A deal you th w U II double your fortune Maybe it will But Donahue is go going mg to collapse You may get out be before before before fore the crack up You may not U If you don t t t your bank s done for tor Ru Ruined Ruined toed ined You haven t any right to take a chance 1 1 ke that with other peo I pie plc s money And I m here to tell tellI them so to The w nd had blown the dividing door open a tiny crack but neither man noticed Haven t we played at cross put pur purposes purposes poses long enough Magu re de demanded demanded demanded Mays in m a curiously altered voice a voice which had become almost benign What are ore you driving at I realize you haven t had it too easy all nil these years yeara and of course we all know you ve ye done a lot for forthe orthe the old 01 1 to town tonI I m afraid I trust your insults more than your compliments Mays I ve ye been thinking for tor a long longtime longtime longtime time that I ought to do something toward the debt we 0 owe e you you- What s a this th ng It looks to me like a cashier s check for tor ten thousand dollars You re offering me this to keep my mouth shut about t out the Donahue deal My dear fellow of course not It s a merely a small token of ot my esteem You U 11 never learn w 11 YOu asked Mike You ve ye tried to buy me before Remember the block of street ra Iway way stock you offered me if I d get the Town Council to ratify your franchise And the nice bundle hundle of es you waved under my nose the time you wanted the mayor to purchase your acreage for or the City Hospital I told you then r I I couldn t be bought I r it st U II can ean t I m tear ng this cheek check of yours across twice See our And And our ew s c at atan atan atan an end r I N 11 go broke And you can laugh yourself to death when I do But I won t be bought off and I Ican Ican Ican can t be int m dated And now you get out of here before i I soil MY hands on your our rotten carcass TO rO or Dr cONTINI vr FIJI roi |