OCR Text |
Show MM ' 'Ud HOFFMANN J ,vRyo"i;,MANN , WN.U. service. ; SYNOPSIS , Ms"tath' bltter crl'1" .V.ijle life, and the notifl-' notifl-' Shewed not expect any Uncial assistance Hal cn of a wealthy bnnk-IVelf bnnk-IVelf practically without "im the promise of a .t-" .t-" Francisco, which ha V'from New York, within ;, ,i3 limit. He takes pas-.;, pas-.;, cross-country auto rar-".'.Mre rar-".'.Mre expense" basis. Four '..Unions are a youns, at-;'i at-;'i Barry TrafTord: middle-Vftrrfean: middle-Vftrrfean: Sister Anasta-vrd Anasta-vrd an Individual whom .."','.;iv'ely dislikes, Martin C-v's reticence annoys him. M takes at once. Hal "crack, but his Intimacy ...vM ripens, and he makes , .prisress with Barry. Ex-"iiiiwiK Ex-"iiiiwiK she learns . ;,,, of the wealthy Fred-V.-J. Through a misunder- ;Mi night, Hal Is directed . room, instead of his own. 1 - i seems to soften Barry's ', '.friendliness, and they ' kisses. The following day ; Birry he loves her. She sirs that she mustn't love int giving any reason. (?TER V Continued -9- Wt bare to tell me any-sid any-sid Hal, shocked by the . son that was trying to rob ; :lis time he had so surely il ;o: "all yon have to do Is I i m, to the things I must ; . loo can rest, listening to ' -:atp there, a little way, by a. Sell sit against a tree, k -i von want me to stop, I'll : 1 yon can sleep on my shoul-" shoul-" -Miss, if you tell me to, I - -fit again not a word, not :;t keeps on running and r in all my nerves, muscles, ' : ::ae, everything : I love 't you so that " at oh, don't, please, Hal :' Her free hand gripped his 1. and he couldn't tell ' li shook to enforce what ' or whether the despera-shivered despera-shivered nnder her voice ' ' If body, too. , ,' said Hal in severe quiet. ' ;?tto listen. Why do yon Fwself? Why do you try a me before you've let for-" Mlamation was a whimper ' nd she tamed her frantic Jti the cabin. "Sister An- opened on the neat, J n of raw boards, with - :i silhouette In the oblong. she said, her modest W! and soothing. ' ' I Inst wanted to know r there- Tm coming now. ; '"'me." She bowed her J to see more clearly the , Wr hands in the dim-i dim-i " "Sht, my darling," she ) f f Tm a coward-a iM In so sorry." hand away from him. , J fe was at the nun's "Shted doorway. ' ' . ;.;sald Kerrigan, and :, c'wette end In the ;nwth looked short ih "I'll bet you ' 1 ,0WD we could I . wn,d knock us ;t our hats." " ',:V:we ianV said - :ii he,ech0 f Raspu tin his ears again. j wo somethings we .',J'er" said Kerrigan "It's not far." V he hd , e felt the soft, Im. shrnent nnder the -.' t0 '"m as if, out of angIed P're A' 1 1 for traffle with 'C he 3' 'tWaS 8,1 '-Jbv he'wd Barry; i;!rv ih'T.ery lo(. every V',her ,ow W 'ld ), , there they 7 !'helf sh'!he wasn't "itherL ?nredpfln'te aeed'ngt0hiffl'1t ''Slmpj- pclrcumventerl. rj,.,; Ban-y was can- Vi, h,m' "eft :,'W,flnaWe co- '"'r and restlv 7 "t,ornir;mhered l,,UatsIthlnlDPend. ; .."'orthtopr, :?W ure. vanish l00ked war- ,,J,(I1 fiw I- of getting stiff, resentful drink unci ventln-liis ventln-liis heienguenHl gloom on whatever his companion chose to talk about But just In walking beside him, Kerrigan's Ker-rigan's nlr of unacqulsitive well-being, well-being, of confidence In the propriety to his soul of anything that might happen, brought Hal's hopes a little away from the dominion of bafflement baffle-ment and left his uneasy brooding to wait. They went up the street. Down a half-respectable alley with n wrecking car and some stacks of old tires in It, they came to a door that had "Office" printed on the dark glass; and Kerrigan knocked b.riskly. A crack opened, revealing bright light on unstirred layers of tobacco smoke beyond a sfreen, and a dim strip of face that held one steady eye. 'Tote here?" said Kerrigan. "No." "Like to see where he works," said Kerrigan. "He don't work nights." "Frisby sent us. I've got his penny." The strip of face vanished and the door swung wider. They sat down at a table, and a dark, competent young man waited without speaking. Kerrigan turned to him pleasantly. "What's the bourbon bour-bon sitchation?" he said. There was no particular in which you could have said the young man's expression expres-sion yielded to Kerrigan's friendly ease, yet it did change; and he said, "We got some stuff here In Kentucky bottles, but you wouldn't call it bourbon." Kerrigan looked at Hal. "Rye, then?" he said. "Fine," said Hal. Kerrigan looked up and said, -Rye." The young man stood there watching watch-ing Kerrigan steadily; he said, "Want some bourbon?" "Bourbon?" said Kerrigan, with just the right mixture of Interest and Incredulity. "Half a minute," the young man said crisply and disappeared through a door beside the bar. "Now there you are," said Hal sincerely. "If I lived to be a hundred, hun-dred, I'd never have the gift. Here it Is fifteen minutes after you decide de-cide you want a drink in a strange town, and you not only get It, but get something special, almost without with-out asking for it I need lessons." The young man came back with a veteran bottle, three-quarters full. Kerrigan read the stained label reverently while they waited for glasses and water. It was bourbon, bour-bon, and not of this decade either; and even before they tasted It they had tacitly acknowledged that this time was ripe' for something more than a nightcap. Kerrigan hooked a chair toward him with his toe and swung his feet up on It before he said, on a relaxed key, "It's a good trip: and there's more of it coming to us yet" "Hope not more of it only," said Hal. "There's a toast no bourbon's too good for," Kerrigan said quickly, almost al-most as If there were something a little foolish about saying It. "A good trip," he went on, "In spite of something funny, something queer going on that " He stopped as Hal's look promptly sharpened. "Maybe you know all about it," he said. "I don't know a thing about it," Qnirl T4ol "hnf ouprif S!n nffpn it gives me a scunner, makes me feel something might be going to happen." hap-pen." "Y'know," Kerrigan began, watching watch-ing the young bartender pass to answer a knock at the door, "we had gifts once, a couple of ten-thousand ten-thousand years ago, when we were roaring around Middle Europe In bearskins, looking out for ourselves and making darn few mistakes we had gifts then that have got good and rusty since. Sometimes we get some use out of 'em in hunches, intuitions; sometimes one of those rusty gadgets will get contact try to do its job and our civilized, so-called so-called minds can't make out what that bumping is in the cellar; It makes us uncomfortable. If yu could harness that, even without understanding It " v The bartender came to their table ta-ble and leaned his hands on it, looking down at its ring-stained surface. sur-face. "There's somebody wants in," he said. "Says he knows you two." He looked at Kerrigan. Kerrigan glanced at Hal in dubious dubi-ous expectancy, then np at the young man again. "Don't know anybody any-body here," he said, giving his head a shake that was not quite final. "No. Tell him he's made a mistake; or wait, I'll look at him." He dropped his feet and heaved himself up reluctantly. Just talking about it had broufiht "'" H,r, TT ' V near a"al": t,lat left h ;hnnd the ,n,e"Ptlon Hohh d I1'1"6 alone''th it. d'h;:6 sll('ce. Then wi , mmont of ''ere. erri Z T r -Why. hello there Vni,0'06 Sa'd' came back I to Jj he gloomily thouihtf Tm lmn a''hled after U Martin Cra skinned f""e L t ' h'S Smooth smile. ght ""assuming "Sit down, sit down r- grumbled at hlm Kerrigan Crack's light-blue eyes sought seemecTof T ' U m'sht have WM, .Tm""6 .St' " '"". itv of itoVo I the Pssibil. "III tW n:ViDS What 11 wa-ti wa-ti er. I ' Sa'd Hal' n("Ming: there was always something stopped 3 beln K'ite civil to this qu?e narrow little fella heroTc116,13 t0,S comedown self tn n SMd' aMreS him. self to Hal without hurry, "and thought y'wouldn't care if I came" He paused, as If on the chance Hal would say it was all right. Then he turned to Kerrigan, less amiably After you're through this round: 1 11 buy one." "Nice of you," sald Kerri but weve got this bottle between us. Welcome to help yourself" "Oh," said Crack. "Well, thanks. Maybe just a little one." And here it was spoiled between Hal and Kerrigan; Hal's rising heart turned dully toward bottom again, toward the fretful confusions that hedged and tripped and badgered bad-gered his longing for Carry and the wonder of her straight, golden loveliness. He could have escaped through Kerrigan for the time: but now there was only the bourbon, and he knew beforehand it wouldn't be any good to him. They went back, with a pretense of relish, to Items in the day's journey. jour-ney. Crack sat unobtrusively enough, sipping his drink as If it were some not unpalatable medicine, medi-cine, half attentive to what was F7; Zr-;? "I Bet You Know Broadway Pretty Well Livin' in N'York." said, half concerned with his own drowsy speculations. Then in a pause, without stirring himself, he said to Hal, "I bet you know Broadway Broad-way pretty well livin' in N'York." "There's a couple of other things to do in New York, you know," said Hal, looking at him briefly. The inviting smile stayed on Crack's fair-skinned face and in his youthfully knowing eyes; the golf-ball was motionless under his finger. "But if you want good-lookin babes and a good time, Broadway's a pretty good place to get 'em," he Sa-Tve heard it was," said Hal, and felt a hypocrite. Kerrigan drew breath to speak, but Crack watching. Hal ignored him, saying, "Did you ever go to a place called the Wrong Door? "No" said Hal dully; and made himself add, "What's that?" "Well it's sort of a -A joint on West Fifty-third street " Kerrigan interrupted, with f short nod. "You a friend of Jed SlrracSk's smile was modest, his eyes uncertain, as if he'd been paid aycomPn.et he didn't deserve He barely glanced at Kerngan at hi golf-ball, then shyly at HalasM Ld- "Well, I sorta know Jed. He s Sia nice to me sometimes, when I'm in N'York." ..See him this last trip? Kern Tasked in perfunctory interest. gflThat Pleased" Crack sufficiently , so that he turned his indolent smile to that ne i , ,. he said. "Was Kerrigan. Jea,,,lth nim an. all UP t ,erhts before we started." coupla nights ueiuic He turned back to Hal. 8W triumph Kerngan Inter-Y Inter-Y xMm aain : "Guess you didn t rupted him In June, kDW Ve Stur out, and put stripped the flsw Sr-oToS - dry-law violation elther-'! unshed and a sharp res-1 rodecaSed 'n 'he drew. I aZn hJS eJ"eS- "N'" he "d 1 ckly, down at his golf-ball, "j aidn t know it." p?MSt hfVe been a gran,i suy to get himself jailed in New York " Hal said to Kerrigan. "Just a big crime-babv," said Kerrigan Ker-rigan in quiet pre-occupation. Crack's quiet prrsistence insinuated insinu-ated even when he was silent-rec-eogmzed no finality at the table In aM,ment' "Say" he said to Hal, it d be fun to lay over more'n one night in some of these towns to get acquainted. Comin' up the road tonight, it looked like there was talent here." "Guess you could find any amount or it here or anywhere else," said Hal tastelessly, "if you felt like it " Crack's immature, faintly smilin Hps were undecided between embar" rassment and assurance. ' He had the air of making remarks not so much for the direct reply as for the indirect reaction. "You-" he said nsecurely, hopefully, "it don't seem like you felt like it very much " Hal gave him an honest, impersonal imper-sonal look and said flatly, "I don't " Even as he turned to Kerrigan, he knew Crack's speculation was still lazily upon him. But then Kerrigan's Kerri-gan's expression was different- he was watching Crack with a severe vigilance that seemed outright inimical. inim-ical. Hal looked back quickly to see what it was ; the uncertain smile hadn't altered much; there was only reticent mischief In it again for his saying, "I guess maybe you got other oth-er things on your mind." Hal barely heard the remark. "Nothing on my mind," he said, "except "ex-cept to make five hundred miles tomorrow." to-morrow." He glanced at his watch. "Late, Colonel," he added to Kerrigan. Kerri-gan. Kerrigan was still watching Crack as if he'd seen him tuck an ace up his sleeve. "You don't think maybe" Crack ho(rnn ir-itK -7:m,lfc .Lil uimucuL care: "you don't think maybe you'd feel different dif-ferent if they wasn't somebody that's" "Button it up, slipstream," said Kerrigan. "What?" said Crack, startled. "I know what you're going to say," said Kerrigan quietly; "you button it." Crack closed his fist loosely round the golf-ball, Hushed again, swal lowed slowly, and blinked once or twice as if his eyes stung. "I wasn't talking to you," he said, his voice cracking once, warmed out of shift-lessness. shift-lessness. "You might's well keep out of my business." "If it was your business," said Kerrigan, his voice firm and too quiet, "I'd keep out of it surely . . . Plug your exhaust, splash, hear?" Moisture appeared round the new intensity of Crack's eyes, and blushing blush-ing besieged the roots of his straight, mouse-colored hair. "Keep out of," he suddenly recited re-cited on a warning rise of tone. "Keep out of my business, you dang old drunk." Hal, starting to his feet, had one astonished glimpse of Kerrigan's face older, less ruddy, gravely compliant, com-pliant, essentially Inattentive to Crack's venom. Hal's chair bouncing bounc-ing over backward made Crack whip round and rise all in one startled star-tled motion, as if he had forgotten Hal was there. He was stumbling away sldewise before he'd well caught his balance, his golf-ball on the jump over the floor, as Hal went for him. Then the feel of his throat was between Hal's thumbs, fingers overlapped at the back, and it was the best thing he ever remembered having in his hands. His teeth tried to push one another back into their aching roots for that moment of fine squeezing. Somebody careened hard against him from the side and an arm, like the loop of a jerked hawser at his midriff, swung him away, ripping off his hold. The dark, certain young man from behind the bar stood close beside him, watching watch-ing him pant through his open mouth as if he'd had fifteen minutes' min-utes' hard wrestling. "Listen, friend," said the young bartender, quiet, unsolicltous, unre-sentful; unre-sentful; "kill him outside, will you?" Hal, looking at him, grew steady at once, without surrendering a single good fragment of his hate. The young man's hand was spread on Hal's moving chest. 'Colonel," said Hal in smoldering steadiness, "If It'll do your experience-museum any good to watch me, I'll be glad to kill him." Brother, listen," the young man went on surely, "we got a little business here, see? And It won't help it none to have bodies on the premises. I want you to kill him all right, if you wanta; but some place else, friend, hey? Some place else." "AH right," said Hal. "Let me talk to him." The bartender's hand came down, and Hal walked toward Crack. "You'll apologize," he said. He heard Kerrigan breathing beside be-side him; he was sorry to make him stand listening to this. (TO BE COXTISUED) |