| Show vile alb elefter I 1 aal ayl II 11 SITTING by KUBE RUBE AT GOLDBERG THE WINDOW CE HAWKINS and sam me mc A quade were discussing grace leland ace and sam were the two roving philosophers of Mill hilldale dale the beautiful autumn sunsets and the changing colors of the poplars en escaped their unimaginative attention they asked nothing more of life than the privilege of peering lazily through doors and windows and making casual deductions about what was going on inside that s how they happened to see grace leland gosh that s grace all righta she looks faded observed ace what s she dom doin back here any way asked sam that s what I 1 d like to know she don t see nobody but the butcher boy and chic myers the postman the way she used to traipse around I 1 thought she d grab herself a millionaire or something I 1 calc late she wasn gasn t the sort to settle down fact is I 1 heard some where ehe she a been leadin a pietta fast 44 life these last fifteen this or twenty years week s been association with stage people le best and such then what s she F fiction doin doln back here that s what I 1 d like to know ace spat on the sidewalk and screwed crewed up his face in a knowing 9 grimace maybe she s waltin tor for one of them rich tellers fellers keeps look in out the window all the time P let s mosey over to chet s and get a cup of hot soup gets kinda cold waltin around for so methin to happen grace had come back bark to milldale hilldale Mill dale after an absence of eighteen years and had rented a room in a small white house next to the drug store her friend thomas slater would eoon soon return from europe and then she would not have to hide any more meanwhile it was very quiet in milldale hilldale Mill dale As she sat at the window she thought of her sons son s brown wavy hair the slight tilt of his nose and his six feet of muscle and sinew she was desperately anxious to make up for the fact thata head line making divorce case had smashed the leland home and left sensitive young david deeply hurt and fatherless her love for him was not a sufficient answer to the questions of his classmates who wanted to know about the big black headlines and his folks she must give him all the gordly things the other boys had and more too sweaters pictures for his room an electric phonograph and tails she sent him an overstuffed chair and cakes and a set of evening studs it was all simple and exciting until david javid said he wanted a car DAVID AVID must have a good car in which his friends could ride and sing and forget to ask questions once david had made the request she fhe knew it must be granted she what s grace doing lip here asked sam she keeps lookin out of the window all the time must keep giving until she made up tor for the one thing that was lacking she found herself mere more and more noticing automobiles on the street some were well proportioned some were clumsy some drivers steered easily and naturally others drove as though they were the lineal de ants of the fool icarus who scorched the aborigines of africa with his celestial juggernaut david would drive gracefully david was david she looked in a large display win dow on broadway and saw the car A long light blue sedan with the smooth curving sides of a yacht and a tan collapsible top all fresh and youthful and clean like david but the price was three thousand dollars dollar sl there was only one person to whom grace leland could go for three thousand dollars thomas slater had been her friend since the days when no massage was re quiren to smooth out the puffy little bags under her eyes she called up thomas slaters office and was told he had gone to europe grace looked at her thin wrist where once dangled a wide diamond bracelet it if only she had that brace let now she went around to the display window on broadway and again looked at the long sleek light blue sedan with the collapsible tan top she saw david at the wheel she saw him driving places where he could meet the fathers of his friends and feel the bracing con tact of a masculine arm around his shoulder each time she went back to look at that car she was fearful it might have been bought by an other mother for another david A rash resolve was born of her des aeration pe ration she knew what she would do she studied the signatures on the many letters thomas slater had written her then she signed his name to a check for three thousand dollars it wasn gasn t forgery because she felt she could explain everything to slater when he returned from eu eto rope there could rit be anything wrong about what she was doing when she received david s letter telling her she was the grandest mother in the world for buying him the most beautiful car in the world she choked up with emotion she de aided to go quietly to milldale hilldale Mill dale to await the return of thomas slater he would understand grace leland was looking out of the window absently musing over the boy and the car ace hawkins and sam mcquade stood on the sidewalk A man walked up the front stoop of the little white house and tried the door it was open and he walked in RACE opened the inner door and G GRACE saw the man in the hall she thought it strange he did not re move his hat are you grace le landa he asked abruptly why yes she answered not quite prepared for the inter roga tion well here s my badge he said pulling aside his outer coat I 1 in from headquarters you forged the name of thomas slater to a cheek check tor for three thousand dollars and cashed it at the textile bank and trust company I 1 in afraid you 11 have to come along with me grace ir face went white it could not possibly be as serious as all that the man just didn dian t know what he was talking about this is a terrible mistake she almost screamed I 1 had to sign mister slater s name to the check there was nothing else to do he will straighten it all out when he re turns from europe he has often loaned me money he s a fine sweet gentleman why why mister slater and I 1 used to be madam save your breath mis ter slater died in london last week and the bank has taken charge of his affairs the man put his hand in his coat pocket and grace heard a metallic rattle look said ace hawkins here her they come out together and holdin bands hands too chuck led sam mcquade same old grace |
