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Show &THLEEN -Tp.r.HT. KATHLLLIM NORRI5 VSN.U. S ELRVICE CHAPTER XVIII Continued 15 IVhere'd you get this?" ;he gave It to me. That's Opps' , -jivriting; that was the model." Fitch held It in his hands for seconds, considering It. Then !,'aiii, "Walt here a minute." "presently the managing editor -t "back, and with him Mr. Ar-0n Ar-0n and a young man Intro-' ,---'eil I "Mr. Fhilliher." The last I', a ootary public, "you say you got the Opps pry?" Mr. Arnoldson said. Tony pte'd with happy pride and awe. You're going to tell us only the ,-jple truth, Miss TaCt," Arnold-si' Arnold-si' said, pushing a comfortable reviving re-viving chair toward her, "and so Hi needn't have the slightest un-'iianess un-'iianess at Mr. Philliber's taking li down." She talked carefully, not exaggerate exagger-ate The surrender of the postal ord finished the story, and the no-2ry no-2ry Indifferently asked her if she vali swear to It. Tony had done fj before. "To my share of It," lie aireed. R'ell done, Miss Taft," Mr. Ar-i Ar-i 'Am said then, going away. Mr. r.:ch echoed the praise, and by this :iy knew that they were extraor-iririly extraor-iririly exhilarated. Who's got Opps' story?" Tony Seil, turning toward the city of-;e of-;e between Greeny and Mr. Fitch. That's the interesting part of it, !!'ii Taft," Frank Fitch exulted. S one has talked to Opps yet. :M we'll get his story now fast aoii;h, without any trouble! She's sealed, and that'll bring him right fo line." Tony stopped short, and the men pppetl with her. "You mean he hadn't talked?" 'Nope. We thought It was best to handle it this way," Fitch said complacently. "On, but I lied to her," Tony tan, In a hard voice. ! "Ion got your story, and that's ill the Call expects of you," Frank ii:ch said smoothly. "Thank you !" lit closed his door. j Site and Greeny were out in the (3y room now. Tony looked at the tin Tolcelessly for a long minute. "She'll lose her job," Tony said, bathing hard. "Oh, no, she won't!" "Greeny," the girl demanded, Wiling herself in, "is that fair?" "Aw, shucks, what's the diff?" Cwny pleaded. "That's the way filth has gotten where he Is, and Shucks. What's the Diff?" J Greeny Pleaded. . I smartest man in the busl-iU."1" busl-iU."1" nobody can run a jt-. " Mrth the way Frank can. ''.,?0,busincss t0 d0 . and keU for it, it's coming to iW(j f,clt sick. Indifferently : W.buDg "er mind t0 "or teen was no use- She J;, 'tcrnoon; she had run 'lu 3S;7 Fitch, whom she KtX ' doing so had In-? In-? ln ruined, a harmless, - , ' W0rkin5 woman of V ..'s, ;:U1 believed n her and , t0 a,ld takcn her aJ. J;, brooding. Quite snd-L snd-L N hrV. ,V'e to,ei'hone, she 'ilk'l beIlami''s office; she ll ''WnoVaf ln Los Angeles I' K A , be baok ""til tomor-jh tomor-jh to HCSS' a blankness l rol,ow the announce ment; Tony sat for a while with her head In her hands. Fitch had gotten her into this; Frank Fitch, whose morals were the scandal of the office, had suavely suave-ly deceived her into deceiving this other woman ! Antoinette Taft, who had always prided herself npo'n being be-ing honorable fine I K0, siie couldn't bear it. She seized a piece or paper and slipped it into her typewriter. "Dear Mr. Greenwood," typed Tony, her breath coming hard, her eyes glittering and tearless 'with anger. "Herewith I tender you my resignation from the staff of the Call. I want to thank you for all your kindness to me, and to assure you that no assignment you ever gave me would have made me feel this step necessary. Next week I will come in and say good-by to you and the boys, but tonight I am too much upset by the disgraceful part I played in today's assignment to be able to do anything except go home." She leaned over to Van Florence's desk and slipped the note to him. "Give that to Greeny, will you please?" she said unsteadily. "I'm going home." "Sure," Van answered, not looking look-ing up. Tony went to the pegs where hung her hat and coat and took off her inky and rumpled smock. It was good-by to the smock, and dirty wash-basins, and the unspeakable roller towels ; good-by good-by to the blue cigarette smoke, and the clatter of typewriters and the rumble of men's voices; to Greeny anxious, scowling, shirt - sleeved, twisted in his chair with one leg up over his desk, and to the clicking machines on the A. P. desk, the press boys coming In sweaty and grimed with trailers of galley proof, and the rustle-rustle-rustle of all the newspapers in all the world. Was she acting like a fool? No, Cliff and adorable, consoling, blundering blun-dering old Brucle and Aung Meg were very sure that she was not a fool. Having heard the whole story, they applauded her, as she ate her later supper; they told her that she had been trapped Into an intolerable intoler-able position. "The funny thing about a job is," Tony mused, "that when you're ln, you feel so secure. And when you're out, and job-hunting, you feel like a beggar again !" "You'll see, Tony. Greenwood'll send for you tomorrow," said Aunt Meggy. "I'll not go see him," Tony declared. de-clared. But she knew In her heart that she would. She was already devoured with fear, regret, homesickness. home-sickness. The next day passed ln dreamy unreality. There was no word from the Call. Tony felt aimless; life was quiet and flat. She went down to the newspaper's business office and asked, hoping that the answer would be In the negative, for her pay envelope. It was there ; a whole week's pay, and no comment, no letter. Out In Market street again Tony considered going to the other newspapers: news-papers: there seemed to be nothing noth-ing else to do. In both places she had brief unsatisfactory conversations conversa-tions with superior and uninterested uninterest-ed city editors; there were no vacancies va-cancies at the moment. She walked home somewhat depressed. de-pressed. The city was full of men and women who had held newspaper newspa-per jobs and who had lost them. The next day she washed her hair and put her bureau In order. Then she went to the Cutter funeral with Aunt Meggy, and they walked home with Aunt Sally. She left Aunt Meggy there for dinner, and went home to find that Clifford was dining with his girl's family for the first time, a great occasion for Cliff. "I want to tip you off," Cliff said, tying his white tie. "It's going to be Mary Rose Bly. Fixed it up Sun-dav." Sun-dav." "Clifford Taft Oh, I am glad!" Tony exulted, getting up to kiss him. "You would pick a girl with money." She hasn't got so much money." ClitT smiled at himself In the glass; lire was going well with him, with all the Tafts. "We're sitting pretty!" She and Bruce had a quiet dinner and he went early to bed. Tony thought that she would put out the lamps nnd sit and look out at the roofs and at Twin Teaks washed in moonshine, nnd wait for Aunt Meg to come home. The bell rang sharply; the hall bell. Tony went to the door. And it was Larry Bellamy who stood there. I "Tony !" he said. "I want to see you. May I come in?" "Come in," she said, her heart rising on a great bound of joy and hope. Larry flung aside his cap and coat and sat down, drawing his chair close to hers as he did so catching both her hands in his big cold ones. "Tony, what's all this about? I'm just in. Ruth and I flew up by airplane air-plane this afternoon. Down at the othce they're all upset over this Greeny was tearing his hair. What happened? My dear, my dear, you can't run out on us like that I'll I'-ll was heaven, after these endless end-less lonely days, to have him here beside her, warm and brown and eager and affectionate, to realize that she had made her mark as a newspaper woman after all. He listened to the whole story attentively as she poured it out, taking it step by step. "Larry, was that fair? Was that decent? To let me drag Miss Wal-lister Wal-lister Into it, poor thing she was fighting every step of the way and then to tell me that I'd made her betray her boss?" "No, it was rotten," Larry said brietly, as she paused. "And then that smug pig of a Fitch!" Tony stormed on bitterly. "How dares he how dares he involve in-volve me In his dirty tricks!" "I agree with you," said Larry. "But you can't give up your job on his account That'd be to honor him too much. Tony, don't be a fool about this," Larry pleaded. "You've got a good job and a good chance with us. Fitch may be out any day: nobody else knows that, so keep it under your hat. Now, you cool down, and I'll straighten it all out. Greeny's mad with excitement ex-citement over the whole thing; be a sport now, Tony, and don't throw us all down just because " Tony had walked to the window. She was thrilled beyond all her wildest dreams and hopes by Larry's Lar-ry's tone, by his consternation at the mere idea that she could resign. But whenever the memory of the complacent and suave Fitch revived her pride rose again. "It's my honor, Larry!" she said, with trembling lips. . He was standing at the window beside her, and as she raised her heavy, brooding eyes they met his. "I've never seen you like this, Tony," Larry said gently. "I'm not often like this." "Come back, Tony," he said. There was a silence. "Oh, I want to come back, Larry !" she confessed, on a long sigh, without turning her head. For a minute they stood looking out together to-gether at the jumbled blur of red and gold lights that were the city. Then suddenly Larry's arms were about her, and Tony's heart leaped as If it would burst its bounds; the familiar room in the mild lamplight lamp-light was rocking dizzily; and all thought was gone, and all reason. There were only the swimming madness mad-ness of her senses, and the touch of him, the sound of his voice low and quick and incoherent in her ear. "I'm human, you know," Larry said, breathless. "I'm I'm human. My beautiful girl my beautiful beautiful Tony!" Drinking deep of the wine too strong for human souls and hearts to bear, Tony rested her cheek against his own hard cheek, locked her slender arm about his neck, and murmured only his name, over and over again: "Larry, Larry, Larry." And for a while that was enough. Presently she said : "When did you know?" "I've always known." "And you knew how I felt?" "I suspected, I suppose." "You didn't have to suspect; I told you. I went blubbering up to your office and practically made you offers of marriage. Bendy's wedding wed-ding day, remember?" "Remember? My God, what do you think I'm made of? Every minute of that talk we had was like whips like fire" There was a long silence of complete com-plete ecstasy; they murmured again, and again his lips were hard against hers. "Larry." "Tony." "Where do we go from here?" He did not answer. She felt his lips against her hair. CHAPTER XIX IN ROTH'S lovely drawing room the shades had been drawn against the hot spring sunlight that was descending in the west; the tea table had been placed at the north windows that opened on the little awninged balcony. When Tony-arrived Tony-arrived there were only two persons per-sons ln the room: Kuth and the marvelous Mrs. I'olheinus. She was younger than Ruth, not more than thirty, handsome and dark and striking, with coral lips and black shining hair and an ivory skin. "Oh, just ourselves?" Tony said smilingly, as she was Introduced. "I thought it was a party!" "It was going to be," Ruth said, raising her face for Tonys kiss. But now it's just Caroline and Joe and you and me." "Joe?" Tony echoed, pleased. "My brother, you know," Caroline Caro-line Rolhonius said. "Of course! I'd foi-ot'on." Tony sat down in a basket choir. pant-in;; pant-in;; a little, and said, "This Is eounirv xvoather."' We're showing Caroline Pel Monte tomorrow." "Ah, you'll love it. I'm goin; down Sunday to see my sister and the baby, and for Joe's housewarm-ing. housewarm-ing. of course !" "We'll see you, then. You couldn't dine with us at the hotel on Sunday Sun-day night?" "Ruth, I'd love It But I'll tell you. I don't know just how I'll find things at Bendy's. She has no nurse, and she may have made some plan " It didn't sound extremely convincing, con-vincing, and Tony had an idea that Caroline Polhemus was looking right through her. But Ruth only said, unsuspectingly: "Well, come if you can." "This Is extraordinary weather for San Francisco," Tony told the Eastern woman. "This wouldn't be warm in a New York June." "I hear my perfectly, good husband hus-band called on you the night we got back from Los Angeles last week," said Ruth. "Not last week, the week before." be-fore." Tony smiled at the long cold -;jg "Well, Come if You Can." glass of iced tea ln her hand. "I resigned from the Call ln a tantrum," tant-rum," she explained, "and Larry came and cleared It up." "She certainly is beautiful," Caroline Car-oline Polhemus thought "I wonder If she's always so nervous. She was as pale as a ghost when she came In, and now she's got high color. Blue eyes and that dark hair I do beg your pardon, I'm sorry!" she interrupted her thoughts to apologize, finding Tony's eyes fixed on her expectantly. "I didn't hear what you were saying, Miss Taft I think," Caroline went on, smiling, "I think I was trying to St you to all the pictures my brother broth-er has been drawing of you In his letters," she said. "Joe Is enthusiastic," Tony observed. ob-served. "Why doesn't she love Joe?" the visitor speculated, as Tony and Ruth began a little murmured conversation con-versation of their own. "I ought to be going this moment," mo-ment," Tony finished, putting down her empty glass. She stood up. "I'll see you positively at the house-warming, house-warming, and maybe Sunday?" she was saying, when Joe Vanderwall came in. Tony's eyes went to the door; her color wavered. He kissed his sister; kissed Ruth. "What's the rush, Tony?" "No rush. But I've been here half an hour, and I'm supposedly doing the fluff of the loan exhibition." exhibi-tion." "Is It any good, Tony? Oh, sit down again, nothing will be going on there until half-past five, and it's just five now." "They say It's good." Tony took her chair again ; a slender figure In a white suit, with a white hat and white shoes. The door ' clicked, and again her breath rose suffocatingly against her heart. It was old Mrs. Patterson. Patter-son. No escape for another ten minutes now. Mrs. Patterson took Tony's chair, and Tony sat on a straw hassock ln the opened window, and there was more tea. "When do you sail, Mrs. Polhemus?" Polhe-mus?" "I was sailing on the sixth, on the Empress of Japan. But now I'm trying to persuade Ruth to go with me, and I'd wait over a boat for her." "Ruth, why not?" her mother asked, surprised and Interested. "Oh, Mother, thousands of reasons rea-sons Larry." "I should think It would be a lovely trip for yon," the older woman wom-an protested mildly. "Ah-h-hl" Ruth said. "Here's Larry !" (TO BE COTllT.D) |