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Show ;1rD HOFFMANN SJ VV . .v SlCHARP HOrfMANN w W.N.U. SERVICE SYNOPSIS , , hirtiitii""'8 bitter crltl-'-"f idle life. 1118 notin-I. notin-I. n ed not expect any jlM1 h.rll distance, Hal Ton of a wealthy bank-:'"' bank-:'"' J practically without ;T, h the Promise of a sit-Vranclsco, sit-Vranclsco, which d.y -:!' reach, from New York, '::! definite time limit. He takes : ,'ii h a cross-country auto " , "share expense' basis. CHAPTER II Continued ,V,.MD'" said Miller, grinning. .jell, where's everybody else?" .-. He office, I reckon." 1 ;,;, jbout loading 'em In anil chuckled again. "Guess we ! --s well." , ':, leaned against a pillar of ' 'a.s?ehan(ls In side pockets, i sure eyes brooding, mouth ' ."'ij set between the lean lines j cheeks and watched them . in. ' his "companions" for an lij July ride through coun-h coun-h he vaguely conceived as dusty setting for midwest-i midwest-i : amis. " .-a came Mr. and Mrs. Pul-' Pul-' she almost scuttling, like a " . ben who knows that In an-, an-, moment panic will be at her i -i and he following close with jj bewilderment and the short ' :s of someone being pushed from :i They hurried into the back m tame the nun, who had sat and unmoved all the time in :ner of the office, her tranquil .! patient, faintly sad, and 1m-.".::le 1m-.".::le as Its tight white fram-:; fram-:; lad then came Miller, stuff-:: stuff-:: soiled money Into his soiled .el; and then Martin Crack, tt like an ambitionless, easily -si countryman except for the i! tidiness of his thinning hair :ie lazy speculation under his i eyes. After him came the girl, I : Hal realized that, without iSit, he had been waiting to -awalki It had the grace that !t 3 from unconsciousness of ef-0 ef-0 tie charm that is near awk- -'Iks, like the walk of a long-1 long-1 boy, suggestive of Inquiry, of .'stance. can still go to the devil, Ha A bnt If you walk to him y, I shall watch vou with -Mon. 1;:ie wished Crack hadn't said sbotit broad shoulders and slim m ladies usually starts off In Miller said, and waited for &r to lunge forward abrupt-' abrupt-' abandon his injured wife. f o got la and the girl. The '!a't so keen about the idea, -'growled ominously as Crack to help him. And then Hal it another man had come . !, ruddy, tough-cheeked man ;r y fifty, ln a pepper-and-!Jt. no waistcoat, gay bow tie, uama hat ; !t'eyed him with a half-.'"Ms half-.'"Ms sleepiness and said, ;b?sest: yon better get in fti"6 added a drwsy ll'010 the farther Jump-,.P"er Jump-,.P"er took the invention Hai cramped him- 4 1 Was 8 slamming .'J " the oppression of the ' 8 ead, crowded among mutually distasteful :ilra?hUt lnt0 the close' ... a,r atmosphere C . to m Speech of thp , ;il p Pulsipher; time: I ''loedl, aSSlng the long, r s with 8,,D,it ,reJ ' C Tels v!slble over "l ''?L Tn! announced, ani , e the boat goes to Eu- ; Tm0" frr seal 1 'MrKSv A suspiciously : d ,Ut Unheeded cla' f, Vm . """ the side "S ? sa'' "Which boat. 'n ipS'V10 El,rope" 8ald V f hadn't k manner lmP'y-t lmP'y-t been speaking to 3 hlmlf "Mewlse. the baek of-the rt C es,,eet i Tr 1 wen to Europe," he M said x, oPcD 1. 'rs- Pulsipher severe- Mad m " NVw Yorli h ?" wm 60n'ln law from ' Thl, 6 boat eoes to 18 where It goes cr? ieve c ' 'n!3 '!,dn,am'" sai(1 the -"iSr, 06 q"'et and Is C: ry '"teresting. Mv " fnr ileS KerrlK:.n. f0rwd to this Jour- ney, but I judge we're mostly strangers. stran-gers. Let us have Introductions" His unsmiling look continued past Hnl iu the direction of Mrs. Pulsipher. Pulsi-pher. . "Mrs. Ella Pulsipher," she said less severely; "mid that's John Pulsipher, my husband." "You're from Iowa, mam," said Kerrigan. "Yes," said Mrs. Pulsipher, Interested In-terested beyond distrust now. "Bin-bank. How did you guess?" "Los Angeles Is the capital of Iowa, mam," said Kerrigan solemnly, solemn-ly, "and I was told this crate this car was going there." Hnl thought, the man's probably a nut. Kerrigan went on: "I vote for you for chaperon chap-eron of this emigration, Mrs. p. Will you get us the names of the other ladies?" There was a moment of silence and then a very soft, careful, faintly faint-ly foreign voice behind Hal said, "I am Sister Anastasia." It was surprisingly beautiful to hear her say "Ahna-stahzia." Hal looked up at the duplicate rear-vislon-mlrror to see If the Trafford girl's expression expres-sion was ns soft and gentle as that name, but he could see only her clear, possessed profile and the brief flow of golden hair under the protective rim of her blue hat Go ahead, look like that; somebody's some-body's going to speak to you now. But her barely pursed lips parted part-ed In a slight smile when Mrs. Pulsipher Pulsi-pher said, 'And your name, young lady?" "Trafford," said the girl, in a tone nearer huskiness than you expected: "Barry Trafford." "Barry?" "Bar-ry?" said Mrs. Pulsipher. "That sounds like a man's name." "I know," said the girl quietly; "my father liked It." "And did well to," said Kerrigan ln grave courtliness, "if you'll allow al-low me." Hal saw her head turn, saw her blue eyes large and solemn but not hostile as she said, "Thank you." Even without looking ln the mirror, he was conscious of her both ln It and behind him. Relax, you, d n it, relax; I won't speak tojou. Martin Crack announced himself then, with a lazy sort of modesty neither amiable nor otherwise, and Kerrigan looked at Hal. "Henry Ireland," said Hal, trying to match the humorlessness of the brown, sedate eyes, even as he wondered won-dered If he really saw deep In them a flicker of something youthful and eager. Mrs. Pulsipher tumbled quick words at him from behind: "Any relation to that Frederick Ireland, Ire-land, that banker, that Ireland who;s president of that big bank here?" Hal turned bis head as far as he could without moving his body. "Oh, yes," he said. "Eldest and favorite son." Gaunt John Pulsipher, racked by some surprising and hampered eagerness, began to stammer, quick, unconvincing laughter In his throat, until he snapped his lean fingers; then he said, "He-he-he-he ain't got but the one son." "That would still leave me eldest," eld-est," said Hal drily. Pulsipher's earnestness slowly faded; he blushed, tried to smile, dropped his eyes, and murmured, 'I thought you was foolin'." Hal glanced Into the mirror and a slight, wry satisfaction stirred his lips; the Trafford girl's eyes not meeting his were angry as when she had pulled her dog back from him, angrier, perhaps, for the knowledge that he was looumg m her reflection and smiling to himself. him-self. He. hoped so. "I always think," said Mrs. Pulsipher, Pulsi-pher, with resumed severity, "that when strangers come together, It's nice to try to make everything pleasant as they can for each other. It's not hard to be nice." "It must be hard for some people," peo-ple," said Barry Trafford's low voice. "Maybe It Is," said Mrs. Pulsipher agreed, grimly pleased. "It's too bad If it's that . way, too. They miss so much for themselves." "They think It's the others who re missing it, so I s'pose that makes it even," said Barry. Hal chuckled inside: That's the girl but I'll make you madder than that, too. And before we get to Los Angeles, possibly you'll be sorry for It- , He looked at Kerrigan. The brown eyes were thinly sedate over wise sparks of laughter; and then one eyelid flicked down and up, quick as a camera shutter. There was something funny about the unreality of the thing. Hal couldn't believe that these b en other people, close and real and hot lund" him now, would stay rea ; nor that his mood, mixed of de llance, Impatience, and anger witn mR i,0 8Ilch a A eon Mm S'"'V "S 11 w" w ton f ! "1Ct of tll!lt as patently too -fantastic to credit, for eP ht dnj'S, f0r eight hours, even The on of Fredrick Ireland coasUn! s;fe;r,e,r humble perplexity, and there was ?e nn?n thc runnlng board t0 ta'k to Hal through the window Gradually Mrs. Pulsipher be-an o prattle about the household of her married daughter In Bridge- ZnT? PlaeM She and Jonnhad seen this trip and how they had 1'Ked them, about the reasons" for sending certain postcards to eer- " ffrifnds back ' L. A. Sister Anastasia maintained her sweet receptive silence all the while; and Barry barely punctuated Mrs Pulsipher's Pul-sipher's devious sequences with a soft, almost-husky "yes or "Did you?- or "No, I've never been there." Each time Hal looked at her in the mirror he felt she knew he was looking; though she never glanced at him, her eyes seemed to go slowly on their conscious guard. Hal had forgotten about the dog until It gave a quick whimper, and Barry an exclamation that made him look around. The dog's forelegs fore-legs were In Sister Anastasia's lap, his head turned in reproach toward to-ward where Barry brushed a shower show-er of embers from the coat upon which he had been lying. "Oh, the lining," Mrs. Pulsipher half walled ln sorrow. "Oh is It ruined?" Then with a grim pounce of her words at Hal: "His cigarette blew ln the other window. Oh, what a shame, what a " "I am most awfully sorry," said Hal, sincerely contrite before the girl's disinterested look. "The lining's ruined," said Mrs. Pulsipher with finality and triumph "Ruined." Barry's eyes solemn, Impersonal, confidently clear of resentment-looked resentment-looked down at the burn again. There Was Something Funny About the Unreality of the Thing. "It's not bad," she said to Mrs. Pulsipher. "It's easily patched, really." She leaned to look beyond her knees. "Do you s'pose the rest of It's on the floor?" Hal saw a coal glowing on the carpet and found enough cigarette behind It to pick up. The end was wet, brown and flattened; he threw It quickly out Barry's blue look the blue of asters, flecked with small, clear crystals of live yellow accused him of something then. "That wasn't your cigarette," she said. Hal smiled a little. "It hardly matters," he said. "I'm so awfully sorry about It." "Please don't think of It," said Barry. "It's really nothing." "You're being a sportsman." "No," she said quietly, and her full Hps came together In composed com-posed defense, her eyes saying briefly, No, you don't; not that way. Something made him stop his look on Crack as he turned back. Crack sat there as If the straight sparsely sparse-ly padded seat were the top of comfort, as if the close, damp heat under the sun-baked roof were the fiMt beguilment of a spring sun. A sll"ht confident smile held his Ups'-lips that had a smooth '" Te of adolescence without being nrecisely youthful either. Hal watched him longer than he meant r0 interested by something he couldn't see with his eye Crack s amiable smile broadened a little he ore he turned his head slowly Hal didn't look away until rnick" full face was toward bin. What's the little guy thinking now? Hal wondered. in'ta:"k;mh l'and h sme.l of frying hanv L ,d onions, two heavy and rters clumped about on qu e , snr".o. w"ou. Son' Miller put a toothpick bis grinning mouth and leaned sleepily on the counter. "Say," he said, as If he were a policeman, 'is there a good garage In this burg?" "Is there something wrong with the car?" said Mrs. Pulsipher at once. Miller cocked the toothpick at her. "Yup," he said. "Couple stickln' valves. Might's well get 'em fixed up while you folks eat." "Gad, sir, why didn't you get 'em Axed yesterday?" Kerrigan asked. "Sleepin' yestiddy," said Miller and sucked sharply. "Come In from Chicago in thirty hours." , "Look here, speedball," said Kerrigan Ker-rigan gravely, "we've been delayed enough already. If you crowded the heap this far, you can get through till supper time. We can sleep where we eat tonight and you'll have a lot more time than here." Mrs. Pulsipher, nodding decisive approval, said: "Yes." Miller looked sheepish. "Awright sure," he said ; "but I gotta get gas noil." "There's a pump outside," said one fat sister. Miller looked round at the window with slow suspicion. sus-picion. "Awright," he said. The others moved upon the tables at the back of the room with apparent ap-parent Intent to have a meal. Hal stayed at the counter, moodily re- , garding the. fly-specked thermometer thermom-eter that stood at eighty-nine. He heard Mrs. Pulsipher saying confidentially, confi-dentially, ". . . and lots of onions over It, crisp. I'll tell you about my dessert later." "Bring some ham neggs," Miller said, as If life were too short and weary a thing to permit per-mit exercise of Imagination. Hal ordered oatmeal cookies at three for a nickel from under a glass bell, and a bottle of oversharp but icy ginger ale. Then Crack came to the counter from nowhere in particular, and In his unsurely pitched voice told the girl, "I'll have the same as him." Hal wondered how much Barry had ordered. "She's the only one isn't eating enough for a hired hand," said Crack. "Her and that frog sister." Hal looked at him quickly, but there was nothing definable In the Indolent amiability of Crack's light-blue light-blue eyes. "Who d'you mean by 'her'?" said Hal Inhospitably adding to himself, him-self, If this guy goes on reading my mind, I'll give it to him as present; I won't live with It. "The babe they thought was wltP me Trafford," said Crack. Hal finished his ginger nle In . stingy, refreshing gulp and put a dime on the counter. Then he turned for a look of frank curiosity at the faintly rosy, unaged face beside him. Even if the fella's standards were totally different from his own, what did It matter If Hal was rude to him? The lazy, mischievous curiosity of his eyes seemed to be partly ready for rebuffs. re-buffs. Hal nodded briefly and went out Into the hazed, dust-smalling sunlight sun-light that was just as hot and caged-ln as the screened room. The terrier, unleashed, trotted around the corner eager for smells, and then the Trafford girl came, watching him with a thoughtful smile, the conscious defense of her large eyes gratefully relaxed. The h 1 with being a stick, Hal said to himself; one honest try. and if she turns it back at me, I can jolly-well be rude with comfort. He watched her take a couple of her sure, deliberate steps. Her smile took away the traces of toughness tough-ness Hal thought he'd noticed before accented a smooth delicacy In the slight In-drawing of her cheeks under un-der the high cheek bones. The faint pink there wasn't make-up, either; and her frank Hps wore no lipstick. They were frank lips, generous, gen-erous, full without being sensual, under their two simple peaks. There was an air about her of reticent vitality, sure and artless as the angle which gave her plain blue hat Its chic. Hal pushed his back from the wall and spoke a quiet "Hello." Her look at him was startled, almost al-most alarmed, but he met her eyes aggressively, smiling. It was an Instant before her smile began, the parting of her lips delayed; her look was relieved, but without demonstration. dem-onstration. "Hello," she said, as If to a pleasant little boy, and looked off to see where the dog was. "How're you?" he said. "Fine," she said, her smooth voice Just off huskiness. lihe appraised ap-praised his smiling eyes thoughtfully thought-fully another moment before she added, "Your clothes are English." "They're my brother's," he said at once, wondering why the devil he'd said that when it wan his own old suit and he had no brother anyway. any-way. "You like England," she said, not as If he would deny it but as if he wouldn't volunteer it. "You like It better than this country." "I'm not sure I'd say that" "You're not sure you wouldn't, either, are you? Are you flattered when 'people take you for an Englishman?" Eng-lishman?" "Esed to be, when I was younger. Why?" How old are yen now "Twenty-six." Hal's eyes were lau-hine as he said to himself. Holy mackerel, what is this? I.ook to your balance here. Ireland. "How old are you?" "About twenty three, she s.;nl, h if it were n"i'p iflmr.r.int. (TO BE W TIM LD |
