Show SYNOPSIS james lambert tries in vain to dissuade his beautiful foster daughter leonora from marrying don mason gung young rolling stone lie he tells her unless un ess a house Is founded upon a rock it will not survive leonora suspects the influence dofher of her hilf half brother ned always jealous ol of the girl since the day his father brought her home from the deathbed ot of her mother abandoned by her italian baritone tarl tone lover don arrives in the midst of the argument and lambert realizes realize the frank understanding between the two sitting up late into the night lambert reviews the whole story of nora as a child at boarding school studying r music n u abroad meeting loon don on the ret return u r n trip in the morning he delivers his ultimatum to give don a job with ned lor a years showdown when nora suggests the possibility of running away with don lambert threatens disinheritance don agrees to the job but belore a month is over his nerves are jumpy he cannot sleep at night he Is too tired to go out rn much u ch with nora nora soothes him with her music nora complains to her father of neds spying on don and decides that rather than see his spirit broken she wal wul run away she urges her father to put an end to the futile experiment james lambert is obdurate and angry lambert tells her that it if don quits she sha hillquit will quit with him that lie he will be through with her ile he adds that it she tires of her bargain jt it will be useless to come coma to him for help later don and nora discuss the situation altu atlon don n promises to buck up aft well stick it out he says with the coming of spring don Is full of unrest c st and wanderlust and takes long walks at night one evening a poor girl speaks to him and in his pity tor for her lie he div gives es lier her money A car passes at that m moment 0 flashes headlights and moves on A terrific heat wave ushers in the a summer U T and nora refuses to go to the t he country with her father ned meanwhile insinuates to his father about dons evenings away from nora but lambert refuses to listen meanwhile don broods over the undermining of his morale at the height of the heat wave when don Is finding everything insupportable ned speaks ot of having the goods on him having seen him give a girl money when ned scoffs at the true story of the episode don knocks him down and Is through he calls calis nora who insists on running away with him to get married realizing it Is her job to restore dons faith in himself her goodby to her father is met with complete silence von don and nora go to maine and settle down in the studio of carl venable la ia famous artist friend of dons whose daughter he saved from drowning nora writes her father CHAPTER VI continued 8 nora covered six pages with cheerful nothings and ended as she had ended all her letters to him since childhood 1 I love you heaps daddy your nora nor did she omit the three blacks black crosses below her name they signified kisses she had never forgotten them even in the busy days at college or when touring europe the girl knew though he had never told her diniso in j so many words that her father would feel cheated if those crosses first appearing in her letters when she was vas only seven and james away on business were omitted nora mailed the letter that afternoon when they went to the port in search of a kitchen apron do you think hell answer it she questioned hope in her voice and don who had teen been wondering the same thing thought savagely hes a beast it if he though all he said sald was 1 I expect too much of him at first nora james La lambert nibert did not net answer that letter but one afternoon some ten tea days later when they turned away from the post office empty h handed a n ded as usual jim perkins ns who ran not only the general store but the express office hailed them jovially PHI hi there mr masona your cifes baggage come in on the mornin train want I 1 should carry it down to the shack right now puzzled they crossed the street a and entered the small frame bull building d which served the american express what nora was thinking could that man mean then her eyes fell on the familiar fai nillar steamer trunks that had accompanied her c all aall over europe beside them neatly tagged witcher with her new name stood a wardrobe trunk that she had never seen before a handsome one her heart quickened when chesaw she saw that the tags were addressed in the neat clear script of a gener generation generate on that knew no typewriters her fathers penmanship he he has sent my things she salato don her voice unsteady 1 I see don murmured then to the express maw were on our way home now jim send ern em along yo u can ride on the truck both c yo you ujust just as well as not offered the man cheerfully that Is he be added with a twinkle it if the ladys not too ashes riot not nora assured him film and managed a light laugh while the man shouted to some invisible person in the rear back the truck right up to the platform iry and tart cart these trunks down to mr venables old shack and get a move the trunks were vere locked which means said don when they made the discovery that the keys are coming along by mall mail I 1 really expect your eatherd fat herd write nora but perhaps lie he will ohl oh if he only would woul dill I 1 she answered but her hope was vain the next mail brought a registered package containing contal ning trunk keys key nothing more nora who had been opening the small box with eager fingers flushed hotly botY in disappointment anadon and don laid a gentle hand band lupori her shoulder should cf buck up dear some day heu hell understand 1 I think she said a moment later as she fitted a small brass key into its lock 1 I think he just wanted to 9 get et rid of every everything th in g every everything thing that reminded him of of me don and its quite as likely observed her husband with characteristic fairness that he knew these things would help it if we were hard up he loves you nora never tor for get that nora arose and put her arms around him hami ohl oh donl don she cried if I 1 could only be surel sure I 1 james lambert had sent his daughters entire wardrobe everything from my beautiful seal coat to the gold mesh bag he gave me christmas nora spoke from the floor while I 1 she extricated this costly trinket from the toe of a smart tan overshoe she smiled a little dad must have packed this himself don martha would never have put that gold mesh bag in such a place why how queer this I 1 her voice faded curiously into silence and don turned from preparing lunch to join her queer he questioned nora looked up a puzzled expression clouding her eyes theres money here here in this bag I 1 mean I 1 never carried mon men 1 1 y K W I 1 but she wont always be beautiful ey in it don that is not more than a dollar or so for an emergency but this looks don knelt beside her taking a roll of bills from its golden hiding place it I tIts its a thousand doll dollars arst her he said after a moment awe in his voice its ten one hundred dollor dollar bills noral are you sure abao cutely that you leave it 1 here she laughed unsteadily of course im surel do you imagine tha that t I 1 went round carrying a thousand dollars especially in a mesh bag for anyone to see even I 1 as careless of money as all thail dad must have put it there ther e when hs he packed these things don ohl oh it was dear of himl him I 1 how how I 1 can anybody be so dear and yet bohard so Io hard he bothered to pack my clothes himself I 1 know he did and he sent everything everything except my silver slippers I 1 wonder she glanced up wistfully 1 I wonder why he kept the slippers don Is it so hard boguess to guess darling don answered and then perhaps because she had been fighting them courageously for days noras tears came CHAPTER VII looking back on that summer over a spin span at of years it seemed to leonora mason the most tranquil of her entire we life for don the adventurer was too spent to ici be restless he wanted only the healing healan 9 peace of woods and rocks and white capped water these and noral nora slowly steadily his lost weight came back his skin darkened to its accustomed tan his buoyant step which the girl had missed so sorely returned also though strangely perhaps this was the last thing to mend it was don who instructed his wife in the art of cooking not that I 1 mind being chef to the queen of hearts he told her but youve gotto got to learn madam come times when your man gets home fitter after a hard days work heu hell wan want t his dinner but I 1 begin with soups it if I 1 were you he added cautiously that tomato bisque laughter sprang into his eyes as a they met hers and nora said you were a hero to swallow itt ill my father would have thrown the e w whole cle mess outtie door do you suppose ill ever ever learn don she looked so like a troubled little girl this usually sophisticated bride of his that don pulled himself out of the big chaar to secure a kiss of course learnt the tried potatoes this noon were marvelous and those last biscuits melted in my mouth fried potato esl nora echoed scornfully A newborn new born bora infant could try fry potatoes donl it was a happy ame and the rainy morning when don opened the crates and boxes which threatened to crowd all firewood from the shed things he had found in tar far far corners of the world was a red letter occasion never forgotten by leonora it was these treasures though her unsuspecting husband guess it till long after which gave the girl her first sharp longing for a home hitherto she had thought only of possessing don but as she dropped to her knees in rapture before an arm chair of red lacquer exquisitely decorated with mother of pearl inlay something within her that i is s a part of every normal woman stirred to life don smiled watching the dreams he did not understand dawn irr in her eyes like ii it my dear ive a nest of small red tables too beautiful all of them and somewhere round is a piece of flawless make your eyes shane ahne I 1 to found und it in Tokyo pure rose du barry with a flight of butterflies spanning the entire bowl got it tor for almost nothing too though ill admit that chair youre worshiping left me without a single eingle benl yen and see here gfell he was prying up a box cover when I 1 first saw this candelabra it was the property of a russian nobleman a postwar post war exile its said to have belonged to a czar of all the Rus though you may season that story with a grain of salt I 1 bought it partly because its such a beautiful example of russian brass but principally because the grand duke or whatever the poor guy was looked hungry therel he held aloft an eight branch candlestick A stunner it ohl oh don breathed nora 1 I iam I 1 am almost glad the grand duke needed nourish nourishment mentill don laughed dived I 1 into n to a corne corner for another box and stared at it puzzled wonder here I 1 seem to remember some venetian glass and by george ive completely forgotten the jade pendant we simply roust must dig up that pendant nora for you can wear it now not wait as have to for these other things until were wrinkled and settled down somehow I 1 cant just see us settled down darling it be so bad to settle down with possessions as beautiful as these to keep us company otist t on earth are you producing now pon don dont try botell to tell me its a jade teapot it is well you must have been in funds when you purchased I 1 her husband smiled seated himself upon a packing case and answered eyes dreamy with reminiscence youre quite mistaken I 1 bought this teapot of a most gentlemanly bandit during that chinese rebellion in which I 1 had the I 1 uck luck to figure andraid and paid him what amounted to about six fifty of our money it was loot of course but I 1 argued that since someone was destined io get a bargain it might as well be I 1 it a marvelous piece of carving the thing belongs in some museum I 1 suppo suppose sebut but its yours lady if you care to keep it nora reached out lifting the piece of jade with reverence what 1 I cant understand she said after a moment is why a manlike maame you with no home and no desire for a 0 home should spend his money collecting things ot of this th sort what makes him don love of beauty replied the young man promptly it if strong enough my dear the love of beauty will account for almost any crime I 1 steal my very wife from her adoring if unreasonable father simply because she was so beautiful I 1 endure the thought of a long life without her but she wont always be beautiful the girl reminded him she will to mp m do don n countered beauty is more so much more than skin deep nora I 1 referring to that patrician nose which youre so proud of or your level brows or those starry eyes that transform you into a sort of dream dream come true but to something intangible something deep down within dearest the thing that made you relinquish a fortune for a tramp like me therel he exclaimed slipping lightly from the packing case oft off my chest ive wanted to say it tor for a long time and was vas too shy you shy scoffed nora but the eyes she lifted to him were indeed stars and now said don im boing poing to find that pendant jade is a symbol of virtue to the chinese you know and unless my eyes deceived me when I 1 bought the thing from an impoverished coolie more loot I 1 fearl its lovely enough tor for that most virtuous of own he made her a formal little bow and nora retaliated laughing you talk like a bobki and you must have learned that bow in dancing school but youve aroused my curiosity rd regarding the pendant don where shall we look they found the pendant a thing of such rare beauty that the girl declared she should regard it as her wedding gilt gift they found an ivory elephant from belgium and a vase from dresden so feminine and dainty that nora laughed at the thought of a mere mans buying it but I 1 bought it for my wife explained don soberly she must st have been in kindergarten at the time while her husband a kiddle kiddie of eleven toured germany alone biaca kedora or a riling to buturm vu put turm ui to teapot ot bac backlin kan its case this jade dadej is 3 too valuable to be left here indeli bitely don what shallie shall lwe we do with it ship it to vens studio in new york A friend of his looks after things while abroad hes got my rugs I 1 leave em here for fear of moths you know rugs gasped nora sinking limply into the priceless chair on top of all these treasures do you possess rugs only three lady don spoke as if confessing a grave fault put but rugs if you must know the bitter truth are my pet weakness and the three in question w well wait till you see leml his wife drew in a deep breath of astonishment Is is there anything more don had to laugh as ne responded books my dear too many of em to unpack here I 1 lose my ml mind rid whenn when I 1 go into a bookstore and unless bod you want your children to go barefoot nora you must lead me gently but firmly away from such temptation she diled then after a moment observe observed ed thoughtfully 1 I seem to have married a most surprising individual but why may I 1 inquire when father was probing your deplorable lack of bank balance you mention these treasures youve collected the young man stared at her eyes widening TO BE CONTIN CONTINUED VEDY |