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Show r t ELINOR MiOTElL o 0 ARCADIA HOUSE PUBLICATIONS WNU SERVICE 'JjSxV-Continued (J pithing mysterious y whole thing. Even the stt ".t strangely quiet on the i to ' : i Jim Loring'i sudden ::.5; i as the hours wore on. 1 -ewmore and more appre-' appre-' c- I' His goin was sPken !: -tragic." "a great loss to :- . v;Ee" and "terrible for the ' but' the spirit of evasion 6: ;;v,This death had come about ttf ; there. '-,, she began that night In 3si t'lvacT of their room "was :01' ' '"iesth really an-accident?" Ic: 'e-a long silence, which an-'.".l; an-'.".l; her better than any words ihjvedone. . r 3i Was it did he?" '3st3edasob. "Yes. Mary. -wk Us o life-" my God! I was afraid he ft l-iething told me at the time "sessage came, and then, to-S6 to-S6 - then I simply couldn't get to igjjcdy alone, I began to feel ke:: iier found him in the garage, ffi Ellen went on, "the doors ic: the ignition turned on. She t -s to the idea that it was an iat and, Mary, that's what the ct w3S, but I know and so do c..." -ji it was suicide," Mary Angina An-gina whisper. "Yes, Ellen, he w. s frantic about money, and he si : -je only way to save his family te ; poverty was to take his own . ; that we might have his in--:e. B only he'd waited another :. -a, he'd have known it wasn't u;i Kijry to do such a dreadful us;: ::: My novel's been accepted by tra; ;;nzine, Ellen. They're going to ; me five thousand dollars for I ci: -i publication only. Think of it 31:;: thousand dollars! And Dad :e c irtted suicide in order to Sn- his family ten thousand doing;:- ! iairance. oui: is," Ellen replied bitterly. "Ten jd dollars only twice as ::. as you'll receive for your nov- d I'm going to sell other :i I know I shall! And I could've ;: care of the family! The irony n :- Ellen! The tragedy! He gave f is life for his family's security I I :3 it was all so needless!" y CHAPTER XVI ;z ,zt came and went, but not-s not-s : sanding letters from Anthony ,iz ' Phil Buchanan, and Aunt -i asking her to return to New 4i Mal7 remained in Hawkins--: Mr. Porter wrote that he was '; sure a certain well-known pub-t pub-t s house would shortly give her jBl! ::Jact for book publication of 31 the Mountain," and that tiii via be good business for her to 3nd for that, and other things . 3!- Phil y wu-es and letters, iaE stilted and businesslike, Bt; Ksedhis desire to see her back r.: '--e she now belonged"; while e sa'd that she was lone-A lone-A and 'onged for Mary to re--" ;Kwvrith her indefinitely, if rS-! Reason for Aunt Linnie's lone- aside from the genuine affec-H affec-H eheld for her niece, was con-. con-. ; 10 Mary in a letter from Le-'I. Le-'I. read: J! 1 ' WmI'Ik"' h,ad " not been for SKHm m0'red out 40 l-m& "Oe house, terri- ;t-:. Z h?d' and cared ior only . door a Jman;.and when 1 V thta 5 sa" him tying on f. i the Is? TUet What had ""r live mUSt be 'ose'her the !;tr UnniJ Lm5!:ried next week, d anTLa.nd P" l Buchanan as i "1' Ul. but tv, Je house- Jim s i TuiS d,otors say that to.: ? "cow, iH L!nd TPoper f00d' ,j, ;:: " tor us he- 1 have plenty " voSh,th,' and' atter all, b him Possess was giv- fl hPPmess be- frJ , " your e 1 d,dn't want to ' 'ays i- orrow- I " m g ?; but she's Just a bit ' Wl'tPbTL my New York ' i br yo , , '"esome, I think, c 11 stay S to return to New ' 'ary? c .hei' forever. How : m"her BMn,y,ou d0 I" Can your k i 'th an ,1. ing without you? ?" &Tcess that's com-fl', com-fl', JC"you to Udvaey3' New York,a ''Mary h , . "I": :.'::jst'ct'h! ,'ng her mother to r" .:-r-rmalCy llttle brother back $ 'il0n AnHy.ed on in fte little fvyt Z ' '00' Ellen a"d Bill !;Hl e;tl marry soon, K Coull to she snouId do aU .fsKashake their coming f,: ttJstnces !Py an afIair s the ig to ?Uld aUow- They edl1Ve With M"' I iVquieUgWas'' course, to HUlet one; still there were bridal things to be purchased, arrangements ar-rangements to be made. Gossip was running rife concerning concern-ing Christopher and Ilsa Cragg. Usa had gone to Reno to obtain a divorce, di-vorce, and report had it that she and Arty Belden would be married as soon as the decree was granted, and go to Chicago to live. Hawkins-ville, Hawkins-ville, unaccustomed to scandal, certainly cer-tainly did not want them there! Then, at last, she saw Chris. It was a hot day, the first part of July, and she was walking down Trilby Lane after a visit to her father's grave, when suddenly she heard the sound of an automobile coming up behind her. Without even glancing around, she stepped to one side of the road to let the car go by. Instead of passing her, however, it came to a stop, and, looking up, she saw Christopher Chris-topher Cragg. He jumped from the car and came toward her. "Mary! How are you? I've been to your house twice, but PHI He jumped from the car and came toward her. you weren't at home either time." "I know, Chris. I was sorry to miss you." "Are you going home now? Can I give you a lift?" "Yes I was going home." "Then, come on, my dear. I'll drive you into town." She glanced at the car. It was not the disreputable affair in which she had ridden with him last Christmas, Christ-mas, but, instead, a shining new model of expensive make. "You have a new car, Chris!" Doctor Cragg smiled sardonically. "Yes one little item that was saved from the wreck!" Mary looked puzzled. "The wreck of my marriage," he explained flippantly. "It was Hsa's wedding present to me." Bewildered by the hard cynicism in his voice, she glanced sharply up at him. They were at the side of the car now, and he placed his hand on her arm to help her get in, but, to her surprise, his touch failed to affect her as it always had in the past. It seemed but the casual touch of any man going through the usual gesture that courtesy demands. Always Al-ways before, such slight contact with Chris had sent the blood tingling tin-gling in her veins, had made her heart beat with a foolish haste. He had taken his seat at the wheel now, and they were moving down Trilby Lane. At last, after all these months, they were together again! Yet, somehow or other, their reunion re-union was disappointing; the joy she had anticipated was not there. She felt so separate from Chris, so outside him, as though she were seeing him objectively for the first time as a person apart from her. "I want to tell you, Mary," he said, after they had driven some distance in silence, "how very sorry I was about your father. You have my sympathy . . ." "Thank you, Chris, I let's don't talk about Dad, please. I just can't seem to bear . . ." "I know, my dear. I shan't say another word." And then, "Let's talk about my marriage!" There was a tinge of bitterness in his voice. "I suppose you've been told it's on the rocks that Ilsa's getting a divorce." "Yes," Mary said, "I've been told." Chris shrugged. "Nice mess, isn't it?" he inquired. "I didn't quite please the lady, and oh, well, the marriage should never have taken place. You know that as well as I do, Mary." "No," Mary thought, "no, the marriage never should have taken , place and yet, it had! He said he , loved me but he married Ilsa. Why? Why?" The question which had been tormenting her for months simply must be answered and answered an-swered now. She turned and looked at Chris, but his gaze remained steadily fixed on the road ahead of him. "Then, why, Chris, why did you go on with it?" she asked in a low voice. , Chris drove on in silence. "I don't know, Mary," he replied at last. "There just didn't seem to be any honorable way of getting out of it. I never cared for anyone except you, after the first night we met. But Ilsa and I had been engaged for some time, and I just didn't see how I could break it off. Then, too, her father's a big specialist in Chicago Chi-cago ..." "But," Mary interrupted, "what had her father to do with it?" "Well," Chris replied, "when he heard that Ilsa and I were engaged, he promised to take me into partnership partner-ship with him, providing I'd first do general work in a small town for a year or so. It was the chance of a lifetime, of course, and by taking advantage of it, I was saving myself my-self years and years of useless plugging." The sudden introduction of Ilsa's father into the question of this inexplicable in-explicable marriage-left Mary quite at sea for a moment. Then, as she began to realize what an important part Doctor Graceland and his offerhad of-ferhad played, her face blazed crimson. "So!" she thought. "This is why Chris went ahead with the marriage! mar-riage! Because of her father, Bsa had something to offer, while I had only myself. Why, he's nothing but an opportunist! What an idiot I was not to know at the time that, had he been a real person, he'd have told Ilsa he couldn't go on with the thing! And all these months, I've thought I loved him!" They were nearing the Cody place now, at the very outskirts of Haw-kinsville, Haw-kinsville, and Chris was pulling up at the side of the road. "Listen, Mary," he said, "I'm in love with you I've always been in love with you, and I want you to marry me, darling, as soon as I'm free." Here it was at last! Chris wanted her to be his wife. Chris had asked her to marry him. She had longed for months to be asked that question. ques-tion. Yet now that it had come, she felt a strange apathy towards the whole situation. He was leaning towards her now, searching her cool young profile for his answer. "How about it, Mary?" he persisted. "You will marry me, won't you, darling?" Mary turned and looked at him, feeling as if she were looking at a stranger; as if, indeed, she had never nev-er known this man. "No, Chris," she said slowly, and her heart was calm. "No, I can't marry you." "But, Mary! I thought . . ." "That I loved you, too? Well, I thought so myself, for a while, but I was terribly mistaken. I realize now that I not only did not love you but also, Chris, that I never really knew you. Let's go back to town, Chris. I'm anxious to get home." The young doctor put one of his hands over hers as it lay on her lap. "You aren't angry with me for speaking of this," he asked apologetically, apolo-getically, "so soon after your your trouble?" Mary shook her head. "No," she replied, forcing a smile to her lips. "Not at all. I simply want to get home." He stared at her for one puzzled moment. Then, without a word, turned on the ignition, and, with a violent jerk, started down the road. "Thank God, that's overl" she told herself, as, ip silence, they sped towards town. "Thank God, I've found him out! And to think of the months of agony that I've gone through for this man!" "I love Phil!" she told herself in wonder. . "I've loved him all the time, and I was just too dazzled by false illusions of Chris to realize it. I must get back to him at once! I must see him at once! I wonder how soon I can leave for New York." And then, fearfully, "I haven't written to him for a week, J and that was a horrid, formal little note. Oh, Phil, I want you! I need you!" At last, they had reached Blon-deau Blon-deau street, and were heading down Sixth. At last, they were turning into Concert, and nearing her home. She would write to Phil this afternoon. after-noon. She would tell him she was leaving for New York soon. Now they were pulling up at the curb in front of the Loring house, and without waiting for Chris to get out, she opened the door of the car, and stepped to the ground. "Good-by, "Good-by, Chris," she said breathlessly, and turned to smile at him. He jumped from the car, and came toward her. "Mary," he began, be-gan, "think this thing over. Please think it over!" Mary shook her head. "No, Chris. That won't do any good. My mind's made up." And placing her hand on his arm, she added, "I'm sorry, Chris . . . good-by." There were sounds of voices ln the living room as she entered the front hall. Mother was talking to someone, and Petey was there and a man. "Mary!" called her mother as the screen door slammed behind her. "Mary, dear, come in! You have a guest." She had hoped her mother wouldn't call her. She had wanted to dash upstairs, and write her letter let-ter to Phil. Grudgingly, she turned from the stairway, and went towards to-wards the living room. There, standing stand-ing in the doorway, she stared unbelievingly un-believingly at the tall man who had risen from his chair. "Phil!" she gasped. "Phil!" And quite oblivious of her mother's and Petey's presence, she ran the length of the room, and flung her arms about him. "Mary!" laughed Phil, and stooped to kiss her. "Darling, are you really glad to see me?" "I've never been so glad to see anybody in all my life!" Mary cried. "Oh, Phil, how did you happen to come?" "I wanted to see you, you little goose!" Phil returned with a grin. "Your letters didn't suit me at all. They were too few and far between and somehow, I felt you were getting get-ting farther and farther away from me." Mrs. Loring, with a reluctant Petey Pe-tey in tow, tiptoed unnoticed from the room. "But, Phil," Mary protested. "I was going to write you this afternoon! after-noon! I know my letters have been awful. I've I've been in a dreadful dread-ful muddle for months, but now, at last, things are all cleared up!" "I knew your mind was in chaos about something or other, Mary dear," he said tenderly, "and I didn't want to rush you. Yet, darling, dar-ling, I was getting terribly impatient" impa-tient" Mary looked down at the worn pattern of the living room rug. "But that confusion's all over now, Phil," she said, feeling as if a great weight were falling from her shoulders as she spoke the words. Phil put his hand under her chin, and looked searchingly into her eyes. "Well then," he demanded, "how about answering that question ques-tion I asked you an eon or so ago? You see, I have to sail for Kngland next week, and, dearest, I wish you'd marry me, and go along." Mary touched his lean tan cheek with one of her hands. "Darling," she said softly, "I'll go anywhere in the world with you. I love you, Phil! At last I know I love you!" Phil caught her in his arms, and holding her firmly against his heart, as if never again would he let her go, bent to kiss her lips. THE END |