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Show PRELUDE o CHRISTMAS -jVlMBy PEGGY DERN lAAgsgrQ' McClure Syndicate THE STORY SO FAR: Chloe Sargent returns to her home town, after three years away at school, with an -idea that Christmas is "bonk." But when her car strikes and badly Injures young Dr. Scott Kelvin, she cancels her plans for a holiday holi-day cruise and stays home to give the party he had planned for the children of employees at her father's mill. Jim Pearsall arrives and tries to persuade her to Join the cruise party, but she refuses. re-fuses. Before he leaves she promises to marry him, but when she learns that Dr. Kelvin Is also In love with her she realizes real-izes her mistake. She breaks her en-5agement en-5agement to Jim. Now it is nearly Christmas. NOW CONTINUE WITH THE STORY INSTALLMENT V i Christmas Eve in Sargent Mills village was a time of almost unbearable un-bearable suspense for the youngsters, young-sters, and almost equally so for the older people. From noon on the doors of the Community House were closed to all but Chloe and her committee. com-mittee. Melissa was a trifle hoarse and not as strong as she pretended. So she consented to stay in bed provided pro-vided a bright young man from her attorney's office might be allowed to visit her for an hour. Long before seven-thirty every seat in the hall was filled and people were standing at the back. Yet the crowd parted, with little exclamations exclama-tions of pleasure and surprise as a tall young nurse, a dark blue red-lined red-lined cape about her shoulders powdered pow-dered with snowflakes, came in, pushing a wheel chair before her. And in the wheel chair sat Scott Kelvin, pale, but with shining eyes. Chloe's heart turned in her breast as he looked straight into her eyes. There was a little breathless moment. mo-ment. And then the lights dimmed. A tiny bell rang somewhere. The mill's own orchestra filed into place in the pit beneath the small stage. There was a little rustling movement move-ment as the audience settled itself. Chloe was grateful for the darkness that hid her scarlet cheeks as she slipped into her seat between her father, whose hand closed warmly over hers, and Melissa who was smiling to herself in the darkness. The first part of the entertainment ended, a breathless pause followed and then there was the crisp jingle of sleigh bells outside, a loud, genial voice cried cheerfully, "Whoa there, boy!" There was the well simulated clatter of small hooves and from back of the stage emerged the rotund, ro-tund, red - clad, white-whiskered friend of childhood, Santa Claus himself. him-self. "Well, well! Here are all my good little children," cried Santa Claus cheerfully in a great booming voice that reached to the farthest corner of the big auditorium. "You have all been good little boys and girls, haven't you?" A chorus of ecstatic assents swept the room. Santa Claus laughed, laid his finger against his nose, winked and said cheerily: "Then I guess there's nothing for me to do but give you your presents. Let me see now, is there a little boy here named Bobby Jenkins?" Other names were called.1 Other excited, ecstatic children raced down to the tree, received presents longed for, but which they never had hoped to receive. Chloe, listening listen-ing to their little yells of delight, watching the way they displayed their gifts to parents and friends, told herself with a little shaken sob that it was the grandest Christmas she had ever had. The first in which her thoughts had been busy for others, oth-ers, and not herself. She looked up at the top of the tree where a decoration that represented repre-sented the little Christ Child looked down on the crowded room. And then her heart all but stopped in her breast.- She stared, afraid to take her eyes for a second away from what she saw. Motionless, lest some one else see the thin curling tendril of smoke that crept up and up she drew a shuddering breath. With her horrified eyes on that wisp of smoke, Chloe realized the packed condition of the big auditorium. auditori-um. On the second floor of a frame building. An old structure big and barn-like. She turned swiftly to her father, her hand pressing his. He looked at her and her eyes directed his to the top of the tree. She felt the tiny start that he gave and knew that she had communicated her thought, her horror of a panic, to him. "I'll get them out, somehow, You see about that!" she whispered, and her father nodded, squeezed her hand hard and slipped away. Chloe sprang to her feet and faced the crowded house. Santa Claus had paused in distributing the last few gifts, puzzled as he watched her. "And now," said Chloe, forcing her voice to sound bright and merry, as if it promised many marvelous treats yet in store, "everybody who has had his or her present form in a line, two by two, and we'll march downstairs for another surprise. sur-prise. Let's hurry now. A Christmas Christ-mas surprise never likes to be kept waiting, you know." The children clattered out of their seats, racing to form into the line and, as quickly as she could, Chloe sent them marching down the stairs and out into the snowy night. Her heart was beating so quickly that she felt sure someone must hear it. She steadied it with an effort ef-fort and said brightly, as Santa i : i Claus at a gesture from her went on rather hurriedly distributing the rest of the presents, "And now, parents par-ents and friends of the boys and girls who.'ve had their presents, I'm sure you want to see the other surprise too! Suppose you follow the children, two by two." She turned and saw that only a handful of people still remained. Among them were Jane, Melissa and Scott, the tall young nurse standing stand-ing beside him. Chloe's heart caught on a little sob. Scott in his wheel chair Melissa, moving with the slow, heavy caution of the aged. She forced her voice steady and called gayly: "And now that's the very last present. And I'm sure ithere couldn't be really a surprise unless Dr. Kelvin were there to see it Who'll carry Dr. Kelvin's chair down?" Instantly every able-bodied man in the room moved forward. Willing Will-ing hands grasped the wheel chair, lifted it, carried it toward the stairs. Chloe's hands were clenched hard at her sides, her body shaken as she watched. Not until the wheel chair was halfway down the stairs did she turn to Melissa and Jane. "Come, Gran, you want to see the surprise too, don't you?" said Chloe, "Take her arm, Aunt Jane, and the rest of you follow us! And oh, please hurry!" From the top of the stairs, with the building behind her cleared, the last of the stragglers filing reluctantly reluctant-ly out into the snowy night, Chloe looked back at the lovely tree. It stood outlined now against a ruddy wall at its back and the smoke was drifting through its branches, the tinsel and perishable decorations catching like tinder. ' Another five Christmas seemed a very gay and festive affair. minutes two minutes and panic would have swept the place. Outside in the cold the people had gathered, puzzled, curious, a little resentful of being hustled out into the darkness, as Chloe and Jane came out bearing between them the swathed figure of Melissa. There were little confused mur-murings mur-murings and then a child's voice, sharp, excited, shrieked: "Lookit the windows it's a fire!" The windows win-dows of the auditorium glowed rud-dily rud-dily now, a glow that increased and deepened. "Dad!" screamed Chloe sharply. Her, father, sooty, grimy from smoke, his eyes red-rimmed, said almost at her elbow, "Here, darling. dar-ling. It was a close shave, ticklish business getting all those people safely out, but you did a swell job of it, honey." , There was a wild shrieking of fire sirens, the clangor of bells, and the company's very complete and efficient effi-cient fire fighting machinery went into action. And Chloe, assured that not only the audience but each childish child-ish treasure of a toy was safe, that not one living thing remained in the building that was now ablaze, quietly qui-etly fainted. Christmas Day at Chinaberry Grove seemed to Chloe a very gay and festive affair. Red candles glowed through the thick dusk of that Christmas night as Chinaberry Hall's guests sat down to a late dinner. Melissa looked across the table at Chloe who faced Dr. Scott Kelvin, Kel-vin, directly opposite. Melissa's eyes were warm and tender. She looked at Howell, distinguished and handsome, hand-some, a son to make his mother's heart proud; at Jane, erect and vigorous; vig-orous; and last of all Melissa looked at Scott Kelvin who sat in his wheel chair, his lean dark face pale from confinement, but his eyes eager an! alert as they rested on Chloe. "Well," Melissa said when she had filled the tiny after dinner cups and they had 'been passed, "it's been a good Christmas. Now I have something to say to all of you. I think you have a right to hear it, yet somehow I don't quite know how to say it." "Imagine you, Melissa, wanting to say something and not knowing how." Martha derided gently. Melissa, ver grave now, smiled faintly and turned to Howell. "Chinaberry Grove, the Hall, the entire six hundred-odd acres belong W.N. U. Releuss to me. I can do anything I like with it, can't I?" "Certainly. Of course you can, but I hope you aren't planning to sell," began Howell, concerned. "I'm not planning to sell," said Melissa instantly. "I've made a new will and I want you all to know that at my death, Chinaberry Grove goes to Dr. Scott Kelvin." It was Scott who first managed to speak. He was honestly aghast, extremely uncomfortable and he stammered: "Oh, but Mrs. Sargent why I can't accept it Good Lord " Chloe's color was high, her eyes blazing. Scott looked at her with such intensity that the others smiled a little and then Chloe was on her feet, her shaking hands on the table, ta-ble, supporting her upper body that leaned towards Melissa. "Oh, no you don't!" blazed Chloe wrathfully. "I know what you're up to. You're trying to make it easy for Scott to marry me. Well, you needn't bother. I don't want any man who has to be bribed to marry me." "I refuse to accept the gift, of course, Mrs. Sargent" said Scott swiftly. "Chloe is quite right. I still haven't won my independence. I stil can't make a living for her " Melissa cut in shortly, "You love her, don't you?" "With all my heart" said Scott briefly but sincerely. Melissa turned to Chloe. "And you're so much in love with him that you're not fit company for anybody else. Yet because he was born on one side of the railroad track and you on the other, you both go around moaning that you can't ever mean anything to each other. Well, if Scott Kelvin, master of Chinaberry Grove and a darned good doctor, isn't important enough to propose to even a Little Princess, Prin-cess, then the Little Princess deserves de-serves to die an old maid!" "Anyway, it's high time you were getting married and having something some-thing to occupy your time and your mind. And I don't know of a more likely young man to keep you in your proper place than Scott Kek vin. I've worried about leaving Chinaberry Chi-naberry to somebody who would appreciate ap-preciate it and be able to manage it I feel quite sure that the son of my old friend, Alma Kelvin, wouldn't be ungracious enough to deny an old woman the comfort of dying in the knowledge that a place into which she has put nearly sixty years of herself, was being cared for and kept as it should be," she said quietly. quiet-ly. "You will not have it until I am gone. You can't refuse to be my heir, Scott Kelvin, not when you are going to be my grandson, anyway. any-way. It would eventually be yours if you married Chloe, whether I leave it to you or not, and you are going to marry Chloe, aren't you?" she added on a slightly stern note. "If she'll have me," Scott said. Melissa sniffed and tapped his arm with clawlike fingers. "Take my advice, son, don't ever be humble with her. It'll take a strong hand to rule her," she advised ad-vised frankly. She turned to the others. "And now let's leave the little lit-tle love birds alone. I'm sure they've a lot to say to each other in private," she said sweetly, and led the way out. A little taut silence fell on the two left behind. Chloe went swiftly to the window and stood there looking look-ing out into the blackness of the night with blind, unseeing eyes. Scott, from his place near the table, ta-ble, said unsteadily: "I can't tell you how sorry I am about all this, Chloe. Of course I won't accept the place. I'll deed it back to you " She faced him suddenly and he saw that tears were slipping down her face and that the slender body in its simple white chiffon dinner dress was trembling. She caught her breath on a little strangled sob and went on stormily, "Oh, Scott, I was going to come to you on my knees and tell you that I'd live in the shabbiest house in the village if only you'd marry me, but now if I tell you that, you'll think it's because I want to keep Chinaberry Grove in the family. "To heck with Chinaberry Grove," cried Scott. "I was going to plead with you to forget that we were born on opposite sides of the railroad track; to tell you that more than anything else in the world I wanted to marry you." "Oh, Scott!" whispered Chloe unsteadily un-steadily and stared at him, wide-eyed, wide-eyed, flushed, very lovely and appealing. ap-pealing. Scott's hand clenched on the arm of the wheel chair and said a trifle thickly, "Darling, when you look at me like that I'm at a terrible disadvantage dis-advantage because I can't manage this thing very well yet Oh, Chloe, "ay dearest please come here!" Over their heads a great cluster of mistletoe looked down upon them, its silvery white berries shining in the soft light Chloe looked up at Scott tears in her eyes, yet a smile trembling on her lips as she cupped his face between be-tween her two hands and said, her voice shaken a little. "Merry Christmas, Christ-mas, darling, for always and always." al-ways." "For always and always, my dearest dear," said Scott his voice caught a little by the magic and the wonder and the breathless beauty of that promise. I THE END |