OCR Text |
Show I HILLTOPS CLEAR I By EMILIE LORING "WNU Service. Copyright by The Penn Publishing Co. Mister. I wish all you toiiss wm.iu come. The little girl would get a great kick from It." "Oh, Uncle Rod" Jean's voice broke from excitement. "Take it easy, Jean, we'll go. What time does the parade start, Chicot?" "Nine." "We'll be there. Prue. Jean and I are counting on you to keep us company." com-pany." "I'd love It If " Prue's eyes flashed to her brother. "Of course you'll go, Prue. You haven't been away from this town since you came, have you? Jane. Mack will look after me." David Schuylei answered her unspoken question. The clown twisted his cap. "I wish you'd come, sir. It's a good show." "Can't make it, Chieot. Glad you have your job again. Watch your step this time." "Thank you, sir. I will, sir. There ain't no occasion for me not to, sir. Well, folks, I'll be seeing you." He pulled his cap hard over his ears, and departed on his hands, his legs in the air. Jean ran beside him, pelting him with questions, going into girlish giggles of laughter. As the clown disappeared dis-appeared through the gateway, Rodney Rod-ney Gerard and Si Puffer followed without with-out one backward glance. Prudence dropped to the grass beside be-side her brother. "Strange that you should have known that clown, Dave." "All sorts of men came to the Rescue Res-cue mission, Prue. Chicot was In great trouble about a granddaughter CHAPTER IV Continued G "I can't wait to see you on the storeroom shelf," she said aloud. "Come on, I'll put you there." She lifted the tray. "Ooch, but you weigh a ton! Am I one good little back-to-the-lander?" as she started toward the cellar door. "A squirrel storing nuts for the winter has nothing on " A thunderous knock resounded through the house. Prudence took a quick step forward. A frightened eat reached the same spot in one leap. The girl tripped, the tray tipped, the )ars of beets struck the floor with a crash calculated to make the pilot of the last word in bombing planes pale with envy. Ruby liquid flew In all directions. It dripped from walls and ceiling; It splashed the white frock ; It trickled In crimson rivulets down Prue's cheeks ; It did a modernistic design on her shoes and lavishly polka-dotted her bare arms. For an Instant she stood in dazed consternation, con-sternation, then as she saw her face reflected lu a small mirror, she laughed. "Oh, you demon can can" The words choked Into a spasm of mirth. She sank to a chair, dropped her head to her arms flung out on the table, and tried to control the peals of laughter which shook her. A hand caught her shoulder. "Hey I What's happened? Quit laughing like that! You'll go goofy In a minute." Lips twitching, nostrils quivering, eyes gleaming through tears, Pru-flence Pru-flence looked up at Rodney Gerard. "C-canning trouble I" She choked an the words. Gerard administered an authoritative authorita-tive shake. "Stop laughing. It's painfully evident evi-dent that you are toppling on the Drink of hysterics. I know of only one Bure remedy for that. I should hate to do It but I may feel obliged to teiss you." Prudence was on her feet. "Just naturally helpful, aren't you? You wouldn't dare " She met his eyes and changed her tone. "I'll stop, Sig-nor Sig-nor Mussolini. Only you could stand there like a graven Image In the midst of this this slaughter. You see, I've gone thrifty. I've been preparing pre-paring for the 1-long hard winter -by :anning young, tender beets no t-taste to them when they g-grow up. I was carrying the jars on a tray when a thun-thunderous knock sent Cleopatra scurrying to cover Cleopatra's the cat, In case you don't know with the result of a f-foot-on collision. I " "Stop and get your breath. Hysterics Hys-terics will get you if you don't watch duL" The hint of amused warning In Gerard's voice set Prue's pulses throbbing. "They won't. I shan't need your prescription, thank you. Why are you here? It would be you, wouldn't It? What did you come for? My word ! I believe It was your knock that brought on the catastrophe. Are you responsible for this mess?" She Indicated the smeared room with an accusing wave of her hand. "I'm sorry. Can't I help clean up?" "You can not. Macky will be down In a few minutes, then we'll do it together. You'd better go while the going is good. Why did you come? I haven't time to talk even lumber business busi-ness In the morning. I'm a working girl. I wish you'd go." Even as Prudence frowned at him, she was thinking how Fate conspired to block her. After Jean's intimation that she was setting her cap for him, she had sworn to herself that she lected on top of a pile while Prudence manipulated the knob of a small safe. He stood beside her as the heavy door swung open. "What are those white things?" He Indicated the row of packets In one of the compartments. "Stones. Some precious, some semiprecious." semi-precious." "You must have a fortune there." "Not a fortune, but more money than I can afford to have tied up in them. I'm a jelly-fish, I have no sales resistance. When I see a lovely gem, I have an attack of what the economists econ-omists call 'Buyer's delirium.' These are the most valuable, though I have a pigeon-blood ruby and a cabochon sapphire sap-phire which couldn't be called grubby." "That's a corking emerald." "It is choice, it's flawless. It was my grandmother's." "What's that stuff in the bottles which looks like hunks of colored glass?" "Enamels. Transparent and opaque. They are ground in a little water to salt-like consistency In that mortar, washed thoroughly before they are applied ap-plied to metal, and heated until they melt. When I want them especially jewel-like I use them over gold leaf. I can't enamel here, worse luck. Can't get enough heat. Have to use a bellows bel-lows and a big blow pipe." "You sure know this job, don't you? What are you looking for In those papers?" pa-pers?" "Here they are ! Here's the design for the collar. See those medallions between the links?" She looked up. "You're not listening ! You're not looking !" "I'm looking all right. Never realized real-ized before how much red there is in your hair. The sunlight brings It out. It's gorgeous, girl." "My hair! I thought you came here for a silver collar." "I did. Cross-my-throat-an'-hope-to-dle, I did. You love this work, don't you? Your eyes are like stars." "Of course I love it, but I get tremendously tre-mendously thrilled over whatever Interests In-terests me." "You'll wear yourself out." "Better to wear out than rust out." "Meaning me, I suppose?" "If the shoe fits, put It on. Do you realize that you are wasting my precious pre-cious time? I thought you were about to give me an honest-to-goodness order." or-der." Gerard laid his hand on the sketch. "Don't put It away. I do want the collar. You were explaining about the medallions between the links. Will they be silver?" "Yes. They are to be carved and tooled with Micky Mouse episodes. See these cat's-eyes glow and smolder? I'll set them in silver to alternate with the medallions. This pear-shaped pear-shaped piece of Korean amber which is supposed to contain magic will hang from the buckle in front. Like the idea?" "You're a fraud. You ask that as anxiously as if you didn't know it was a knock-out. Of course I like it." He carefully lifted the paper on which lay the emerald and some diamonds. 'T like these, too. Any chance of your making this ring up to order?" Did he want it to give to a girl? The thought flashed through Prue's mind even as she shook her head. "Not a chance, even if I had money to invest in baguette diamonds, which I haven't. It has been one of the dreams of my life to wear that ring. Unless Prosperity farm plunges so deep into the red that we can't pull it out, I'll hold on to the emerald." She thoughtfully nibbled the point of the encrravins tool. so I flung the rug on the ground and stretched out on it. I've been asleep." He tightened his hold. "Look here, my dear, If you have me on your mind every minute, I'll go oft by myself somewhere. Give me a hand up, Gerard. Ger-ard. I've been lying here so long that I'm stiff." Rodney Gerard linked an arm in his as he stood up. Prudence was conscious con-scious of the tension about her moutli as she looked at them. David's face was so pale in comparison to that of the man beside him. She achieved a fair imitation of a laugh. "Have you on mind every minute, Dave! You'd be surprised If you knew that I haven't thought of you once since I tucked you into that steamer chair. Now who's coming?" The gate in the white picket fence which enclosed the garden creaked on Its hinges. A grotesque figure turning cartwheels with Incredible rapidity hurtled through the opening, came right-side up, scratched a chalky ear which protruded through his white skull cap, and made a sweeping bow. Jean raced to her uncle. "A clown ! Uncle Rod, a clown ! Where's the circus?" Had Rodney Gerard gritted an exclamation ex-clamation between his teeth, or had she imagined it? Prudence looked from his narrowed eyes to the smeared blue eyebrows, the lips like a bloody gash in the whiteness of the chalk-face chalk-face of the man who was looking back at him. The regulation white suit of the sawdust ring, polka-dotted with black, showed traces of travel. Jean's eyes were like stars. "Oh, Uncle Rod! Isn't he a peach! You will take me to the circus, won't you?" David Schuyler held out his hand and smiled. "How are you, Chicot? Must be two years since I've seen you. Where did you drop from?" The clown shook Schuyler's hand. He blinked and swallowed, turning his cone-shaped cap In chalky hands. "Never expected to see you here sir. They told me at the Rescue mission mis-sion that you was sick -mnewhere. I'm with Sassoon's Smashing show. It's stuck In a nearby town, and when the boss found I I'd once lived in this region, he thought I might have a drag with folks and sent me on a motorcycle motor-cycle to drum up trade." His eyes shifted to Rodney Gerard. "The little girl would like the show, Mister. It's a swell show." "Uncle Rod, you will take me, won't you?" Jean's lips quivered with eagerness. eager-ness. "I've never seen many horses! I've never been to a circus ! Mother thinks they're cheap. Oh, Miss Prue, ask him to take me, please he'll do it if you ask him." Significance shone through the amusement in Rodney Gerard's eyes as they met Prue's. Only an instant their glances met, before he parleyed Indulgently : "Take it easy, Jean. You've got me all excited. You've started something, Chicot. You said the show was stuck In the next town. What's the trouble?" Again Prudence had the sense of an undercurrent, a dramatic undercurrent at that. Gerard's curt question seemed to set atmospheric high-potency waves in motion. Was he angry? Annoyed was a better word. Whatever his mood, it tightened her nerves. The clown crushed his cap In one vein-knotted vein-knotted hand. "It's this way, Mister. The next town we were billed in was cleaned out by fire. Our show keeps up with our paper, rain or shine, floods or knee-deep mud, but when the town itself goes blooey, what have you? That throws us out. So the boss says "Hey! What's Happened?" who had been running wild. He beat up one of her followers to hear him tell It, she had a lot of them and lost his job for a while." Prudence appeared absorbed In her search for a four-leaf clover. "Dave, did it occur to you that Mrs. SI knew that clown, that Rodney Gerard knew him?" Schuyler swung his feet from the chair and rose. The lines between his eyes deepened as he answered gravely : "I'm sorry to say It did, Prue. Confoundedly Con-foundedly sorry " TO BE CONTINUED. "The silver collar for the kitten Is likely to be rather expensive. I can't set a price because I have no idea how much time it will take." "'that's .all right. I'll give It to Jean for Christmas. Think you'll have It done by then?" "Christmas ! I hope so, but, of course, If I have many morning Interruptions In-terruptions " "I accept your delicate hint. I'm oft. It won't interrupt your work, I hope, if I stop to collect Jean and the kitten and speak to your brother, who Is lying on the grass patch in the middle of the garden?" "David on the ground! I left him " Prudence fairly tlew through the house. She heard Gerard behind her as she raced Into the garden Dave on the ground ! She dropped to her knees beside him. "Dave! Dave! Did you fall?" With a murmur of concern, he sat up and put his arm about her. "Prue! Prue. Of course I didn't fall, dear. After a while the chair seemed hard and the grass Inviting, we'd lay out the show In the burg I've come from. It's a good honest show for the little girl to see, Mister." He pulled at a painted forelock, looked at Prudence with haggard eyes, stretched the red gash In a grin. "An' for big girls, too. We've had to turn away crowds all season, and the parade whoops, you should see the parade! All the headliners out and tiie calliope. Sounds thls-a-way " Chicot gave an Imitation which set the echoes jangling. It brought Si Puffer from the barn on a run. His wife and Miss Mack spilled from the kitchen door. "You said the show was In a nearby near-by town, Chicot. How near?" Prudence caught the swift glance between Rodney Gerard and Mrs. Puffer Puf-fer as he asked the question, was aware of the sound as of gas escaping from a punctured balloon, before she closed her lips and retreated, pulling Jane Mack with her into the house. Did the clown's presence mean something some-thing to her, too? "Sure It's nearby. Only fifty miles, would chill Rodney Gerard to the bone the next time he spoke to her ; instead, here she was hysterical with laughter, friendly laughter. One couldn't be impressively im-pressively dignified when one resembled resem-bled nothing so much as an example of spatter-work done In beet juice. Hands In his coat pockets, Gerard strode to the door, turned at the threshold. thres-hold. "Stop scowling. I'm going. Hospitable, Hos-pitable, aren't you? I came to ask If you would have time to make a silver collar for that kitten of Jean's she's so crazy about." "A silver collar! Pd love It! I've had an idea for one In my mind for months! I'll make time! Come on to the shop. I've turned Uncle Austin's office Into a workroom and I'll show you a sketch I made before I became a farmer." She had not realized how she loved and had missed her craft, Prudence j told herself, as she led the way to a room which opened from the front hall. "It won't take me a jiffy to find that sketch." She flung the assurance over her shoulder at Gerard. She pulled open one of the doors of the bookcase. A pile of papers showered to the floor "Darn ! Wouldn't you know it when I'm In a hurry I" "Hold on ! I'll get them !" Gerard dropped to one knee beside her. "I don't wonder you can't find anything In that mess." "I! Is a sK'ht. I tuck everything I don't know what to do with in there. Here's the suetch ! Now I'll find the stones." iei"rfl laid the papers he had col- THE STORY FROM THE EEGINNIING Prudence Schuyler comes from New York to Prosperity Farm Inherited from her uncle, to make a new life for herself and her brother, David whose health has been broken by tragedy. The second day on her farm Pn.e falls from th. barn loft into the arms of Rodney Gerard, rich young man, who lives at H X l edges on the neighboring- farm. There Is at once a mutual attraction between the two, but Prudence decides to maintain a cool attitude toward him She 7,V pects men since her sister's husband ran away with her brothe r's wife' I en rlV oway a rival of Gerard, tries to buy the timber off Prue's land, but ah" d is hkes his conceited attitude and contracts with Rod to dispose of the tree. On the evening Prue is expecting David from Now York she is visited by Mrs' Wa ter Gerard and her thirteen-year-old daughter, Jean. They art hateful' curious persons nnd leave Prue rankled. A tew davs later PrY,,i hateful, contact with them again when she accompanlT. Rod t X place. '" |