Show man nobody by HOLWORTHY HALL by dodd mead co inc CHAPTER XIV continued 16 1 I suppose that has to be the an awer well tell you dian didn t accept Hlll fard reached for his bat and I 1 austn t bother you any more this morning weve both too lucli to do I 1 only wanted to see you a moment and tell vou the news and get your but when cullen and I 1 come back his smile was glorious they were sinking hande at the door of the anteroom ante room that II 11 be before the holiday won t it we expect you to take christmas dinner with us of course mrs durant and carol would neer forgive ou it iou dian didn t and neither would I 1 hushed with pleasure nothing would please me better and you 11 tell mrs durant and carol how grateful I 1 am and how sorry I 1 am I 1 cant eian stop now to surely 1 will good by good luck my boyl say good by wont yau As a matter of fact he wain t going to stop because he knew that if he did he might never et to montana and there was need of quick action earnt Eal nt carmons cut throat partners in new lork surely I 1 will and also tell them what an altruist iou are I 1 still dont feel exactly about it but the worlds the world and ini dot going to refuse an vestment nest ment just because there happens to be money in it I 1 good luk my boy jf CHAPTER XV already at daybreak it was a white christmas white underfoot white overhead dancing swirling white of snow in the winter air lifting himself on his elbow to watch it from the car window wai unreserved ly thrilled by the 0 it minature which had beer sulking for a week or more had finaly consented to dress the season ant the thrill dis solved and anxiety anit its place when he discovered that was past eight and this was only buffalo ills watch and the allway folder gave him indigestible food for thought and the snow taking upon the role of a barrier to traffic wai suddenly less agreeable to look at wreaths in the windows of nearby houses holly ries and red ribbon glimpses of feath ery fir boughs anil tinsel through fie curtains all thes awoke him a new and a disturbing fancy tint nt the end of two thousand miles of listening he might be irretrievably late I 1 aft made haste to rise he wanted to flavor his impatience by counting landmark the diner was half filled when he arrived for breakfast and the train was still standing in the ards the conductor wished him a perfunctory merry christinas smiled obliquely not unless you make up some spied between hera and syracuse byra cuse he ald ot much chance of that said the conductor punching the order slip its deep snow from here on sir lucky it were tu in time for our turkey sighed brigl bened as the anin dragged itee into sluggish motion and gave attention 1 the lands ipe was n evne from a carl all it needed at adv afa a few lines of engravings grav ings in the foreground to be a very jair counterpart of the ards which had ordered sent out to all his friends ue expansively at the conception of what the ame mme of aill liard on those cafes now meint to syracuse they were undoubtedly magnifying his grandeur now he knew of fiuman hatun to reallie thit in his home he was certain to be greeted as n millionaire and it t multi it wis only the possibility of single one abo thought of riches turned hia mind to the individuals who would share in them dr durant who unless he chose need never keep office hours again he could devote himself to the research he loved cullen whose blind bulldog faith had made him forever independent even rufus whose modest contribution accepted out of commiseration had swelled to he dignity of four figures and ghen him the mean 10 show he world to argela and billiard himself had made far more than all the other combined lot in perhaps but in dividends payable in the medium of his self respect and let as the realities stood now he was sensitive to the nothingness of his triumph until such time as h had some one to divide it with him there Is little pleasure in a monopoly of happiness not even a joke Is ally established until some one appear to share it a secret Is delectable only when its repeated a conquest Is empty without the popular acclaim or the arrival of alie historian he felt this keenly he reflected that of all the syndicate he alone was without a and today when he had steeled himself to speak to carol I 1 ike countless generations of men before him he began vaguely to wonder what he should do it she refused him hat would be left only the shell of achievement would he go back to I 1 ranee or would he remain in amer lea ind struggle for success by en dowing war charities out of his glorious income tobe to be also and this was enervating what should he say to her it Is given to few men to propose twice in different characters to alie same girl the train plowed and panted through the thickening drifts watch ws coming out of his pocket at five minute intervals here was rochester at jast three hours late and there shining dimly through banked clouds was the sun I 1 the train seemed warmed to greater effort by its mere appearance willlard nill lard who had measured time bv weeks then by days and more recently by reactant tant hours began to mark the minutes from his mental calendar and then after an interminable century of impatience the outlying alli lages gray and smoky the flat wastes 0 solva the road slowly becoming streets the buildings adding height syracuse ills feet were on the platform he was hurrying hurr ving forward ahead of him and in his he bled heavily there coming toward him carol and the doctor and rosy no question 0 the welcome they were bringing him ills own initial remarks were grossly incoherent there were no words to fit the situation perhaps he did it greater justice bv the disconnected sounds he made and then he wis entering the doctors closed car they were bouncing over the cobbles of the lower city they were at ticking the grade of james street and he was peering out in an ecstasy of memory nt the houses where he had played in boyhood two clock on time for dinner to the second I 1 A house hang ing with evergreen a christmas spirit ever nook and christmas odors not all of evergreen drifted in tantalizing whiffs to meet him A jolious interlude a gay groces slon n hush a gravely spoken blesing oil that christmas there came a time earia in the evening when willlard nill lard found himself alone with carol he had a vague recollection that had been sent to look for something a corn popper or some other equally futile article and for an instant he marveled at their expecting to find it in the sun parlor where tiny had wandered hut the sun parlor was happily unoccupied and there were corn tor table chairs in it and something very green and red and seasonable in nil the windows that they both de caved laved prodigiously and exchanged a number of highly inconsequential re marks about the decorations presently without so much as a transient thought for alie corn popper the pat a with one accord n distance alie murmur of cheerful voices in the living room was an adequate accompaniment to their thoughts s bead was dropped low his reverie avas 0 o profound that not even carol s voice could rouse him not until she spoke a second time I 1 slid penny for them abe r prated aroused oli s awakening was explosive why queer I 1 was just thinking about that my feltl I 1 mean the first sunday I 1 ever came up here to you said the same thing then remember it les indeed and they were a wonderful bargain at the price he dian didn t seem to recall that she had ever looked so mischievous they are now then he said be canse it a just as it was before I 1 was thinking about you regarding her he was transported anew by her love allness and it gasn wasn t only her ex loveliness that he adored it was what she had of sympathy and kindness and sweetness of disposition A very womanly girl she was not a naming character to blaze and dl but a steady and enduring soul such as he craved she turned her head away 1 I was very angry at ou this morning bhe aid 1 I thought for gotten about me entirely affected alarm how could that happen ot even so much as a little card with merry christmas on it he said father and mother had one from you but as for me bhe opened her hands in emptiness I 1 looked over every one of thorn twice Hlll lard felt his pulse quicken doean doesn t m coming to vou mal e up a little for it 0 o im afraid it not in that dav im still ver childish about christinas I 1 have to see it even its only in the tiniest little kemem brances im very much hurt ive been telling nibert it must be the post mans fault he denied it bravely it gasn wasn t the postman s it was mine because I 1 dian didn t intend to send you a kemem brince at all I 1 intended to bring it I 1 planned to div e it to you before din ner but when I 1 was so late and everybody was waiting slie turned with gratifying quick ness did you bring it les he said 1 I brought it im net quite sure whether you 11 like it or not like anything vou brought 1 the pronoun had an infinitesimal emphasis all to itself Hlll lard cleared his throat ahen I 1 was oung 1 I beg your pardon II 11 laughed at high pressure and be arn over again hen 1 was young mother grundy biad a very small collection to choose faolu books and candy and flowers it id send you anything by mall I 1 think id have had to obey the rules siv early training was pretty severe but I 1 thought I 1 brought it myself perhaps I 1 could be more original how original she asked with pretty animation ills heart avas pounding relentlessly he had lost the elaborate recital which aft carefully prepared and it was gone without a trace he had to depend on presence of mind since I 1 coulden couldn t keep to my sched ule ive been saving tt up to give vou when everything was propitious lie tendered her a package tied with holly ribbon it was smaller than a book and smaller than any orthodox carrier of confection don t open it just vet please he looked at it pinched it dropped it in her lap and laughed softly Is here mich a mastery about it es there 1 felt himself begin to go with the current of his mood he sit up awkwardly W that you could ever think of asking its my gift to you but before you open it about me chere ive been and what ive one Is in that box its everything a biography and a and its my gift to ou too but ou open lt r he had to pause to collect himself have to make no explanation tie fought with it and found his lips strangely sealed Is it so very hard to make she asked at length almost impossible he was seeing black and red even everybody had expected him to do his thing as angela had long since assured him what reason did he have to chopo for pardon hat would you think lie asked perilously of a man who aired enough about yon to everything he had in the world not hie valuables in the sense of money but all his ambitions tor u everything all his dreams nil his ideals all his hopes on a christmas gift ahat would you she frowned adorably and lies not just a little bit quixotic not at nil suppose he did it deliberately and after a great deal 0 thought just on the chance that it might please you when it would either do that or end their friend she fingered the small package over and 0 er ivov I 1 should think that this mythical person were so very anxious to please me he wouldn t take quite so much risk but when im the mythical person myself that s different jsn t it iphy should it be she gave him no opportunity to see her face louve forgotten a great deal I 1 told iou once that it you knew all that le been all that ive done sou might not be so milling to have my friendship anyway aso she said subdued ie not forgotten but you have I 1 said that I 1 dian didn t believe you you re holding it all in your hands ald Ull liard ills expression as he gazed at her was infinitely yearning but his voice was even and biow 1 I feht a good many hours over this wondering whether it was right for roe to take such a risk on this day above all others and finally I 1 thought it out this way it it pleases ou it ought to make the day better yet it it docant it would have been just as unwelcome to you at any other time understand never attempt to excuse anything were beyond that all I 1 can do Is to wait im giving you will a open it now please her fingers bungled with the knot and he made as though to help her no she said li the package away from him I 1 want to open it all mi self lUll lard rigid watched her A phrase was beating heavily against his consciousness one of the proverbs something about the bread of deceit and ashes the knot gave way and the tissue wrapping falling aside disclosed an oblong pasteboard box carol lifted the lid and caught his breath there were two cabinet photographs uppermost was a very excellent alke ot himself ahe looked at him perplexedly be was getting out bis fountain pen ills hand was cold unsteady it lacks something it he said in an undertone let me haie it a moment alle she followed his every movement he wrote with bis left band and somewhat painstakingly an inscription and gave back the picture christmas she read with love from henry ahe flushed hotly now look he said ignoring her reaction the next one mechanically chani cally she took out the second photograph it was a duplicate of the picture of dicky on the doc tor s desk her cheaks w ere suddenly devoid of color she stand fearfully fear full at him without akings that lacks something too he said and his boice was yielding to the tremendous strain upon him with con care he shifted the pen to his right hand held it poised tor a moment gave her a smile of ineffable pathos closed his teeth hard 1 hive a very useful little trait he said I 1 m ambidextrous and wrote his message she had alie evidence before her the inimitable unmistakable tal script of another personality christmas and love from dick to carol the real gift Is underneath he said and his diction now was foreign even to himself but no no r go on her uncertain exploring fingers had touched a smaller acx it sprang opel in her palm within was a gorgeously flashing scintillating living gem set in platinum her hands unsteady now as were his own closed over it as though to guard and shelter it her eves sought ills and held them fright was meeting fright nd in my tho agu he said are all the swett memories I 1 have of you and all alie fragrance of you and in the stone there theres a story for you to read bigger than any book could hold ahe still made no she was holding her three gifts and scaring at him staring not in the revulsion he had imagined not in tho els contempt he had feared but with the of a smile trembling on her pale lips only one of the photographs Is to keep ho sad thickly one of the two im giving you the chance to which it Is which one of the two you want to ive if you want cither of those men to go on loving you or if you want them both to go away for always 1 in her eyes there another miracle her were soft and indicative of a great relief rather than of a great shock and as ho watched spellbound he saw that tears ere creeping into them and not of sorrow but of great joi in that moment his most stupefying discovery was made and the mae of it the portent of it set hia brain at naught and left him destitute of reason carol 1 he said petrified carol I 1 mute she shook her head looking him full in the eyes she flinched suddenly and a great sob burst in her throat the photograph of dicky morgan was in her hand she held it a moment trembling and then her breath came faster and her shoulders quivered she tore it across and across finer and finer until only fragmentary scraps remained and these she let fall in her lap unheeded the likeness of the lying radiant face of the man nobody knew thia alie had seized and this she bal clutched to her breast spasmodically as though in fear to have it snatched away from her hilleard HIll lard was very close to her and his whole being was concentrated in his eyes carol he to her again in that stranger s |