| Show o vamsee A 5 e 4 Z 54 A CHATTER IX continued 12 so nora came back though it was all 0 of two days before she spoke lier her first real sentence was have you cabled to father her second what have theodone they done to you don you look five years oldell her third 1 I think his hair will wave like yours darling not until then did don feel eel that she had come back to stay the tide was coming in said vora mora watching the restless breakers that was a beauty it lets move back doss close to the aunes aunes don well be getting wet he husband flat on the sun warmed farmed sands of maine commanded e d I 1 lazily az ily sit still woman who minds a dash of salt water on such a day 1 I do confessed nora at least when it gets into my dhoest shoes jimsy precious dont throw that sand into daddys daddes hair I 1 told you not to hundreds of times hundreds Hund eds 0 times jimsy aged two years and some odd months admitted amiably and sat down on his father without warning au buchl achl exclaimed don what do you think my stomachs made of feller hes a buster he be nora I 1 bet hes headed tor for the prize was my heir and namesake a as s husky at this age I 1 cant remember with cautious eyes on an approaching pro aching wave nora responded he was almost four pounds lighter and then that awful typhoid in south africa pulled him down sometimes I 1 feel that he never quite recovered from the effects of it I 1 believe she paused because neither of them liked to recall that year near cape town especially nora though she had seen the dawn in africa that gorgeous dawn of africa which springs from out the veld it had left her cold for it was africa she thought forgetting the approaching breakers as she looked down on donthan Don that had etched those wrinkles around his eyes sprinkled his brown hair with gray and for a time tightened the corners of his engaging mouth into something grim it had been months before nora saw those lines relax before she knew that somehow her bus bands spirit thad had risen again to the if eights where she so yearned to keep it cape towel always nora was glad to remember that it was not dons love of roving which took them there he could never reproach himself for that after the birth of her first baby they had remained in england for six months then returned to italy partly V be cause it cost less to live there but principally because the london editor had agreed to use more of dons letters they both longed tor for ca pirl even without the venables who were to winter in new york that year it would seem homelike but it was understood that dons articles must describe some different portion of the country so a tiny villa overlooking lake como was their headquarters during the next year not that the entire year was spent in italy trust don for that there had been a wonderful two months in southern france another in belgium a german Christ masl and there was always the joy of watching their small son change and develop that ageless miracle which to adoring parents Is ever new time drifted by a happy time though there were days when the realization that thai her father was still unrelenting would descend bleakly on leonora blinding her eyes to the italian sunshine bringing her tears at night when pone could see for not even after learning that she was a mother had james lambert lamber t written this hurt the girl more than all that had gone before and knowing she suffered red her husband was conscious of futile rage toward the man who wounded her she said one day when the little boy was taking his first steps don when you wrote to father about the bally did did you tell him how very sick I 1 was don nodded arose and because he feared to say som something ething unkind of noras father m merely stooped down to kiss the top of her bright head perhaps he fie never got the letter don perhaps don echoed and then suddenly furious at the situation nora my dear dont grieve yourself sick over him a minute longer youve gone so much more than half way you of course your father knows how ill you were youve written yourself time and again since the boy came yes yei 11 nora assented but ive always made light of that part dear aou you don was still an gry put him out of your mind nora your fathers aa a a stubborn old lie he paused not wishing to sj si just what he thought sorry hed said as much but nora to his surprise looked up and smiled 4 t him youre right she said hes a stubborn old angel but hes the only father ive ever known don and I 1 cant forget him even though he bashas has has forgotten me oh no he haintl don spoke with truth that was intuitive hell never forget you nora you can bank on that if its any comfort so banking on that noras letters to james lambert continued to be a part of her busy life sometimes they followed one another closely sometimes long weeks lay in ili between but they did not cease and then when donald mason jr was two years old and his parents were making plans for a return to america the london editor whom don had christened old life pre server made him film an offer he wanted more letters his public had asked tor for them letters from 1 1 0 J P A 4 A J 51 I 1 g V M ox W R jr S 4 for a long time nora sat eat stricken some tarther farther away point than italy would mr mason consider going to south africa in the region near cape town there was a wealth of material tor for the sort of thing he did so A i entertainingly A prompt decision would be very greatly abed the prompt decision took don less ess than thirty seconds ile he said tossing the letter to leonora just look at that madam well go of course its bread and butter with awhile afan of an opportunity tor for a lark thrown in his eyes were already ash ashine ine with the light of adventure then as nora said nothing he glanced up quickly and caught a glimpse of her dismay you you dont want to go he asked incredulous she turned away don see her tell tale eyes of course I 1 dol its only that thai id counted on going home I 1 thought it if we were nearer that fa ther might consent to see us see the baby I 1 mean but its all right don of course we shall go and its only a year but what afearl they were staying temporarily in a settlement sore some miles north of 0 cape town gathering material for or dons work three months had passed only five of the promised letters off to england and on the very morning when nora discovered that she was to face the ordeal of motherhood again dun returned from a four days trip to the diamond mines of kimberley kissed i her halfheartedly half bea heartedly dropped into the nearest chair and sald said im all in nora 11 II arit am awfully afraid that so some eth things ings got me something some ting haill hadl six days later when the doctor diagnosed the case as typhoid don was tob sick to be moved to a cape town hospital I 1 mure more than halt III herself nora nursed her husband through weary days week after week of weary days and nights not dar ing to spend money for or a trained helper not that there those ano lent assistance when it known that the nice american the writer chap chappas was down withey nora never forgot one terrible gray dawn when worn with her vigil fighting the deadly nausea that was then her onDon slightly delirious the baby fretting unaccountably she glanced up at the sound of a softly open opening g door to see a woman whose unenviable Te reputation was common knowledge in the community nora had once smiled courteously on her in passing because she gaii said in id answer to the amazement that swept across the race face of her own escort an english buy boy of twenty who in dons absei absence ice was showing her a bit of africa because we dont know do we what dragged her down and after a moment moments s silence the buy b burst hutst out impulsively his face flushing 1 I say bayl 1 I 1 I think ripping of you mrs masona so inthe in the chill gray dawn nora lifting heavy eyelids beheld that woman in the doorway her mouth was rouged gouged into a cupida cupids bow her hair hung in untidy wisps about her face and even in that surprising moment nora saw embedded in the flesh of one pudgy finger a dia mond that would have supported dons small family tor for a Y year car or more you deen ceen up all night was her only greeting 1 I saw your light barnin at two ocl ock say lady you aint built for a job like this and there aint a thing you could tell me about typhoid I 1 near died of 0 it myself and ive nursed three cases ill look after your man now while you get a rest maybe if you lay down side u th that t kid hell quit his yellin you go lay down without cne protest nora dropped like a log beside the baby they slept tor for hours it was long past noon when she awoke the woman had vanished and sitting beside dons bed was the young english boy he said as if it were the most natural thing ng on earth to have found such a woman guarding the sick man she said to toll tell you that mr air mason had a nap and shell be back at midnight to spell you for a while the kiddie woke up once and she gave him some boiled milk the doctors been and thinks your husband has turned the corner nora felt sure during the next few days that the worst was over but before her husband was on his feet again the baby sickened as his father had don a gaunt hollow eyed skeleton it frightened nora just to look at him rose from his bed to help her with the nursing in those black days watching their little son waste to a shadow sh adov fighting together tor for ills his very life nothing else mattered not even an irate cable from the th london editor demanding copy long overdue it was on a day when things had been very bad indeed that the young englishman came in bearing a letter addressed to leonora in the familiar writing of constance venable after long fretful hours the baby was asleep and don said softly read it aloud dear perhaps it will cheer us up op a little nora opened the letter glanced down the page slowly and then said lets wait don her voice sounded he noticed very strange and she was breathing hard happened he questioned and grasped the missive had she not held it back it its ven darling she told him her voice trembling now ven gone don drowned on their own beach off the island a cramp probably he he was all alone she arose then to io put her arms about him during those months at capri dons friendship for carl venable had grown into something very close for a long time it seemed to nora don sat there his face presse pressed dinto into her shoulder then then he said harshly read the letter nora it cant be any worse than this they read it with tears yet both felt better after the reading it was a long letter and toward the end constance had written try not to grieve too much for that would grieve carl it he was the happiest human being I 1 have ever known after all its a wonderful thing to go out on the crest of life leaving only ones finest work as a me memorial morlat he had dreaded the time when his hs hand might falter when that sure clean st stroke theof of the hp brush which I 1 marks hi his s paintings would become un steady and we had bad 2 20 beautiful years together nora years when we lived lavishly spent too lavo lavishly is h 1 y 3 some would think dut but I 1 d dont nt rome r regret eg et it even though there is little left save some paintings his life in su rance end and the villa at capri it if that seems strange recalling the prices carls work has brought remember the countless friends he was always helping discouraged artists boys needing an education old folks who save tor for him would have ended their days in loneliness and poverty money meant noth ing to carl except a means of doing things tor for others and his last gift nora was a gift tor for youl voul its safe at the shack to have been a surprise when you came home because he said be years before save enough to buy one and its a crime tor for nora not to have it while ashes youn gal A beautiful baby grand piano dear nora one of the finest lie fie was so happy about it r one of his last real happi nesses nora paused she could not read any further nor could don speak and then a voice came from the bed a tired weak little voice that many times during those days they had feared never to hear again me wants dink awater M der CHAPTER X the rest wined seemed easy to leonui compared with all that had gone before yet the night when she found don asleep over the weekly letters from cape town his head dropped forward on the kitchen table that served as desk one still thin hand clutching a stub of pencil too tired to use his typewriter poor boyl she thought compassionately and discovered that instead stead of spending long days in the open as hed led her to believe getting back strength lost in his illness he had tor for weeks been going into C cape ape town to help load freighters at the docks because it meant more money immediate money the girl wished for one bitter moment that they had never met oh don what have I 1 brought you to she cried and he respond ed in an effort to console her to something better I 1 hope than the careless boy you married nora weve been growing up I 1 suppose and growing pains leave scars on some of us give me time darling and ill get back my old stride it still hurt nora to think about that night and the next morn mornings in dons absence a lettl r arrived from the london editor nora opened it eri brierly eri erly gerly according to her husbands contract each article was to be paid forshen for when received and the cupboard was bare or nearer bare than she liked to think about but to her surprise no crisp blue check fell from the envelope it contained merely a letter and a manuscript the editor was it appeared courteously puzzled his contributors work seemed to be slipping was surely not up to its customary standard the last few installments had seemed for cedas if he were writing under pressure not for the joy of 0 narrating his adventures they lacked utterly the charm of all his former work for both their sakes he was returning the last letter from rom cape town for a long time nora Nor asat sat stricken staring at those words written in neat longhand under the circum circumstances it was noi not a disagreeable letter it was merely cold it made her think of a hypercritical parent reproving a careless child it would lilt hit don like a blow between iha eyes ftc HI |
