Show irv 0 MK aws 5 H ARRY pu S 0 MG me CLURE wj 4 U se arvice IMS installment IMS I 1 american fam story lory of an is the depression years laura ma h mike happy go lucky edl 00 of 0 il mayor way ot 1 I cova Cov 0 ii mother children real 01 estate job b ln in the big S hose peters ou out t and no he ret y ans to arby iipp irby lob job in covington covingto liter it e sepa epa let etta his wife see ec mary tron rom shot who refuses to tc g kev ive big to la i 0 1 I continued go from here ere do we ded C connie onn e ore was no longer theatrical amle was waa ready to moye on to tog else but shirley had only sire to get away away ahe eight of connie mays thin tory kry hands which were pg jird caressingly 11 announced lance i hungry son aden Y ile it leaped a at any excuse to the tha evening so am V I 1 aid 1 I could eat cat a boiled icy ey sighed eto ere W an a d decent land landwich ich a town since blua bills place sold objected jaird ur re telling us ug t gibed gabed connie ity iti besita hesitated ted a can til all come home with mo me i aito like the she sold laid wearily 41 1 I ilsy find something in the 0 box edl exclaimed lance with tol shirleye shirleys got the world it tw working up a snack iha be has agreed jaird in in d cross voice and every i imposed on her that way tor for but I 1 happen to know that hai bas to wash up after the rte arte and I 1 dont suppose she baving the dirty work pushed i her bet any more than you 17 I 1 cant ask you to our connie declared coolly but bitt imply blows a fuse if anybody i around in her kitchen and we one thing mother will not kr far tw we w can pan turn on pud ad piano and build a fire to family portraits but god one who offends our cooil MS 33 its iti up to you shirley ved lance ll li not cot said ald jaird sharply try joe objected connie too worse than the rest I 1 if that 8 saying much sandwich shop was coni allocated located on the main high it il the edge of town but it df else to recommend it joe am I 1 was a small wilted unhappy italian who came hurriedly lii eli lying living quarters at the rear he bad evidently been asleep jat tat down at stools before the itice a counter because the ta t a the ille front were discouraging djou ever try putting your brids on ice joe corn com 1 connie with arrit irritation aaion athis tastes like dish water lain aln spread apathetic ha hands ads rae lake money glad sell out ay wanta buy nice sandwich two Ka tried connie and migg jiggered ered afy y could be m made ado in a place t if I it was run right aana wife make living here work ork contributed joe me a well before margarita margarata a 34 black eyes looked sudden at CT since she go I 1 no got keep things right I 1 want MY y make fresh start two bi dollars wd ollars and I 1 walk out door everything fery VerY thing stove stools tn ta 0 box and good bed and lath bath in back room T I 1 your chance jaird II 11 gig smile ale 1 d that I 1 had two hundred which I 1 he said W 41 inquired joe with dl als 1 zent bent and lance laughed only alot laugh AU all the way anle was witty at jaird s t she said lt if he bought joe might ht some day become the vier r king of covington yle connie to maneuver k drop shirley before she did ft her lovely face was ni h the ho walked into the liv laura wa was s waiting up tor for M silo explain explained e d almost curtly ol 01 leen shirley sta stared red at her I 1 MM mother running 1 around d with I 1 by I 1 eyebrows puckered 1 I xi morning 1 can think its alts a aid id arll grimly Y 11 41 sighed 5 j you must st set get of t us sometimes al I 1 ak S r UP a fr fresh esh batch of YOU to worry 01 i over afi at her curiously rj ws nate to H e with difficulty besl erl ed the 0 nice girl in i assy but not before Q letri cen her to V J eyes ait me of great ashe 11 e said laura sud ask b over to the old fash tash d rsm r one corn er and open took ur it out tm 4 small aU faded 04 a had originally been bee lold od ci cha tn had lon SS but 11 the frail ll the 4 oa 14 since T been broken painting inting was aen the th sr story 5 up her job alee alec who cant get a job and Is run ning nine around with a flashy divorces divorcee on a bet he dates lou knight the town drunks drunk a daughter shirley engaged to jaird who Is out of 0 work since his father gave favo up his factory to stop losses ma his new sum wants him to marry connie mays the bankers daughter with age yet shirley might have sat rat for the lovely sensitive girl who looked back at her from the narrow fi lagree frame she was rather remarkable she mother laura carefully did not look nt at her daughter she was a great belle back in virginia but but she fell in love with great grandfather ashe who had nothing except youth and a flery fiery heart to recommend him her parents promised to disinherit her if she married him dut but the she did they had two saddle horse and a bag of cheap trinkets between them when they eloped to atio alie west lie he started a small email trading post she lived in the rear and clr clerked ked in the store she bore him five children and her family never spoke poke to her again although great grandfather built up one of the largest mercantile businesses nl s in the southwest end and died a comparatively rich man she spent her later years in a mansion she always looked fragile and useless but to the last she said she was happiest when she cooked and scrubbed for her man and sold flour and sugar and coffee between times over a counter shirley looked fixedly at her moth er would you have let anything keep you from marrying mike nothing short of sudden death said laura shirley turned away but she took the miniature with her she tell fell asleep with it against her cheek alee alec maguire was down to break fast with the rest the following 00 V a I 1 the girl was anything but laughable morning laura found him at the table when she and shirley brought in the toast tom and mike were eagerly discussing the small model homes tom hoped to build and sell in covington apparently alee alec was absorbed in their conversation actually he was listening painfully tor for a stop step on the stairs laura saw him go quite white when he heard lous voice they all did their best to put lou at her ease case but she answered only in monosyllables and rarely raised her eyes eye s from her plate even mike could not charm a smile to her sm small all wan face she never looked at alee alec and he was unusually silent but laura felt him watching them all fiercely as it if he was afraid someone would laugh lauras heart ached the girl was anything but laughable kathleen id tom oft off to work together laura thought tom looked ghastly as it if he slept lou timidly offered to help clear the table it was lauras instinct to refuse everything in her resented the girl but alecs eyes glared at her with feverish plead ing and so laura swallowed hard and said of course lou could assist with the dishes alee alec snatched up his hat and announced he had to see a man about a dog he vanished toward town lous eyes followed him out of sight as if she longed to run after him and beg him not to desert her laura sighed it was impossible not to feel sorry for the poor child she was so P painfully shy so fearful of arousing displeasure every time laura spoke lou started once she dropped a cheap teacup and broke it iler her distress was embarrassing ras sing laura was not used to being treated like an ogre but it was plain that lou was ter terrified rifled of her she wanted to help with the housework but she was too nervous to be anything ing but awkward laura began to fercl f rel a little distracted im going to town mother said shirley sharley when they had finished with the kitchen laura nodded absen absently aly she was 1 want ant on earth was the 0 far kathleen society editor on her fa thera paper who thinks think her father and graham his hl assistant ar latant are to fool 01 ish to invite may threat to break the paper at a swimming party the la saved aved by nitch le who tolls tells her tie he I 1 lovei 0 ve her she says lay the she hates him at a fir tire in the tenement district alee alec see aebi the town drunk die rescuing a crippled b boy 0 Y ile he takes lou to his hl mothers mother home fa fair fr thing to do with a homeless waif which ones son had dragged up on ones doorstep shirley gave nor her mother a strangely wistful look but for once laura was too 00 preoccupied to notice cant I 1 mako make the beds upstairs mrs maguire Magu lre inquired lou tim alm idly yes of course it if you aiho sai said d laura shirley turned away she took the short cut across the vacant lot it was a warm may morning but Shir shirleye shirleys leys hands felt cold tho the diamond on her ring finger flashed in the sun shirley regarded it so om M berly the jeweler in the shop down town looked unhappy im sorry but diamonds are very cheap right now A drug on the market I 1 cant offer you a fourth of what the stone cost a few years back he said how much asked shirley her lips felt dry and stiff she was wa 1 s taking a lot of things tor for granted i it t was possible she was making a hideous blunder diamonds will come back a as strong as ever some day are you sure you want to sell ilow how much A hundred and a quarter shirley stared at him dully it was not exi enough ough she bit back a sob bob what a tool fool she ahe had been to think this might be the way out she must have been mad last night then suddenly she thought of a girl in a miniature a proud lovely fastidious girl who had let nothing balk her of 0 her all right said shirley sharply ply and tucked the crisp new blus bills into her handbag hand bag joe the small mournful eyed italian glanced up quickly from the counter which he was listlessly wiping with a grimy cloth you think maybe you buy me out he cried eagerly gee that swella man in here early this morn ing see about same thing but he no got money enough Shir shirleye shirleys leys lips tightened she explain that she enough money either joe was undoubtedly ea ger to unload and people in a pinch kincl have been known to take less she let him show her around but she did not pay a lot of attention to joes sales ales argument she used her own yes eyes the location was good the small frame building stood lust josf outside the town on the busiest high way and there was ample parking space A big water oak made a graceful sunshade A small spring at the side she had to admit that the interior of the place was depressing dingy dirty and unattractive but she had a stubborn conviction that a good scouring and a few buckets of paint would work miracles the range was in good shape only it too needed a thorough cleaning the cook ing utensils were burned black the china chipped and ugly the glasses heavy and dull lank dispirited curtains flapped dejectedly at fly fl V specked windows the back room had evidently degenerated into a catchall tor for junk during joes sketchy term ot of housekeeping but among the utter litter and dirt and confusion shirley unearthed a good iron bed a cheap pine dresser a couple of sturdy chairs and an unpainted kitchen table to say nothing of a convenient clothes closet now stuffed with old bottles and rags shirley stood for or a long time on the rear step was she insane she know but she had an idea everyone would think so joe insisted that it if a man and his wile wife both worked they could make a living in the place shirley thought of her G great reat grandm grandmother other ashe who had clerked in a store and made a home behind it somehow shirley felt that she too could pioneer if only jaird agreed but would he be her throat ached had he rather go on as they were gottig going tortured miserable frustrated frustrate dl I 1 burning barnin g up their love with fut futility fUty she did not know he might sneer at this polut solution ion to their problem he might prefer to be a parasite on his father tho the rest of his life jaird was not lazy out but he w war proud and sensitive and pedaling hamburgers with his cifes afe assistance was a f far ir cry from the role he be had meant to play in life then there was connie mays who asked nothing but a chance to marry jaird and convulse e him with luxury connies husband would automatically 1 become vice president of her fathers tnt fat t bank or something equally scintillating g Shir shirleye shirleys leys slim glim throat locked was she a fool to think joire might prefer her to au that in the front room the she heard joe elc exclaiming laiming excitedly back again bybe you ra raise ise the money 1 I shirley could not see the speaker recognized the voice and acl but she heart backed up it was jaird TO nf B cONTI NUD |