Show 21 4 6 continued from last issie ashes a goodly crop of roii tits ills thought mocked find and en cu tier iler her garden devotion was 6 7 to 4 17 ic 01 I 1 he loved l the hardin trait in her a tender joke with him film ile HP loved tile the alardin trait in tier her the ho persistence porsi pei stence which will not be daunted an oc cupit tion with a alardin was it a dedication ile he would not sic acknowledge knowledge the bitines blood lit in tier her like that fancy mother of hers innes was a alardin through and through I 1 v its in the blood ran his thought i she cant help hell it all the hardyns hardins work that way tile the hardina Ilar dIns always make fools of themselves 1 innes lifting her eyes from a crippled rose saw that the black devils were consuming him again will you sou look at this wreck aho ahe cried the windstorm the previous lons week had made a sickening devastation of tier her labors the morning glories alone were A pink oleander drooped many broken branches from which miracles of bt perfect flowers were unfolding the prettiest blossom blo soul to hardin was as the gardener herself sho she was vivid from pager enger toll hardin looked at tier her approbate ap ely HP liked her khaki suit simple as a uniform with its flowing black tie tic fill and leather belt she looked more like herself today she hall had bleached out tit in tucson she had find been letting herself get too tanned running around without hats sunburn paled the value of thos boio 0 splendid eyes ees of hers ile HP could always 4 tense tease her by likening them to top topsides topazes sizes ills his eyes ran over oer tile pink find and pur pie lines of cord vines nes which made floral screens tor for tier her tent free of the strings overhead over hend they rioted over oer the ramada the second roof of living boughs ile he ne acknowledged r beauty they gave grace to bare bo IP ue cassity ces sity they denied the panting thirsty desert just beyond lie he remembered his own ramada gerty lud had hated it had complained of nf it so bitterly when she came home from new york that flint ile be had hall it pulled down don and replaced by a V root roof of pine boards glaring and ugly gerty was satis satisfied fled foi foe it was clean she no longer felt that she lived in a squaw house let tile the indians have hap ran indas there was no earthly renson reason she should lie he had urged that the desert dwellers had valuable hints to gle give them but what was a remada to him or anything else hardin turned to leave acne she did not want him film to go so soon she pointed out a new vine to him film she had brought it from etticson tm son kudzu they called it a japanese vine and there wits was another broken rose quite beyond the help of stripped handkerchiefs find and splints hr hit followed her around tile tho tent her bor pratie falling failing from tits hla arl i mood ho 4 was not thinking of tier her lowers flowers except na KS a mocking parallel the desert storm had milde made a lia haac of MR his garden bet a sorry botch of his life he mid find innes had been trying to mike it garden out of a desert flegert hall had flouted them it wits ans not ills his fault something had happened something quite beyond hip power luck was turning against him inny why she was pins playing ing as with a toy it wits was tile ho natural instinct of a woman to make things pretty around her but he had sacrificed ills his youth his chances ills his domestic afe fe too loo he should never havo have carried it dainty little woman like gerty into the desert ile he had bad never reproached tier for leaving him even last time cherf lie thought it wits for good the word burned his wound whose good ills hla or Ger gertys somehow though they wrangled ho he always knew it would turn out nil all right life would woul of run smoothly when they left tile the desert but things were getting worse hla his muth puckered over ao BOOK e lions yet lie loved gerty lie picture life without her lie ile decided that it was because there luul lind never been anyone else most fellows luul hall lind hall sweethearts before they married lie he tin lind not nor a mistress when sho she left him though god knows it would have been easy enough ills month fell into sardonic lines those halfbreed women I 1 no one even when a divorce hall had hunt hung over him olt oil lie knew whitt what their friends made of each of Oler gertys tys lengthened flights lie he knew I 1 nut but flint hail had been spared him hills that hut vulgar grisly spectacle of modern life when two people who have been lovers dang tho the carcass of their love over the grimy grainy floor of a curious gaping court ile he shuddered gerty loved him else why hill had she corne come back to him why had she not kept her ahrent when lie he refused to abandon ills desert project and turn his abilities into a more profitable dedication ile he could see s her face as she stared flushing up ill into ills his that nipping cold lay day when he hall had run into lier her on oil broadway Broadw ny ile iio remembered be red hor coquetry when she suggested that there was plenty of room in tier her apartment 1 ills 1119 wife I 1 slie she spoke of seeing ills ures in the papers lie ile lind had grown to lie be it a great man 1 that piquant meeting tile the week following had been the brightest of his life ile he was sure then that gerty loved him film the wrangles were ivere only thear diff different ways of looking at things of course cour se th loved each other but gerty stand plo nry life she hall had loved him or site she would not so ca eastly aly have been persuaded to try it over again site she yearned to make him comfortable she ined so she fill had gone back find and pulled town down tits his ramada tint and put ills his clothes in the lowest loat bureau drawer I 1 it either of our faults lie ted it was the fault of the lie ili institution ution marriage itself Is a failure look at tile papers papera the divorce courts A mans interests tire are no longer tits his cifes curious that it should ile bo so but its it fact it Is the modern discontent women want different c t roin their husbands I 1 yet how could lie he help throwing his fits life into tits his work lie had committed himself hini self it was tin an obligation it if it were not for that indefinable something his salle allegiance glance to the cause which mocked at reasons and definitions oil off lie he knew I 1 lie ho hall had tilted with gerty and been worsted I 1 lie would have resigned from ills fits company his company which had dishonored him why should lie he stay to get more stabs morn wounds and tho the last blow tills pet of Marshall Mar st alardin gave a scent ling in tits his path a vicious kick hick tile the girls prattle hall had lied died she walked with him film silently at the door of tier her tent she stopped looking at him wistfully she wished he could tilde hide his hurt it if he be had only some of innes pride I 1 illow how are things thing site she used their fond little formula olt oil rotten growled hardin flinging away the gate shimu slammed led bl ilnI him CHAPTER vill VIK 1 4 jj V I 1 1 under the veneer an hour litter later limes blinking from tile tho sun still stepped into the tent which had been partitioned with rough redwood hoards boards into it a bell bed chamber on tile lie right a combination dining room und parlor on off the left tier her glance immediately segregated the three stalks of pink geraniums in 1 the center of the he mexican drawn work cloth that covered the table gerty herself in it fresh pink ging liam frock was dancene iniz around the table to the tune of forks and spoons it was just like gerty to dress up tip to her setting even though it were only a water starved bouquet site she hall had often tried to analyze her sister ln in laws told hold on tier her brother certainly they were not happy was it because she inside him comfortable was it the little air of formality or mystery which she drew around tier her lier her rooms when innes was allowed to enter them were always flawless girty took deep pride in her housekeeping why was it innes wondered lint flint she could never shako shake aff her suspicion of an underlying untidiness there was always a n closed door on gertys processes may I 1 help tile the sun was still yellowing the room to her Helli il ill looked up tip from the lie couch where he wua wits lying enties suspected it of being a frequent retreat she had found it tumbled once when she ran over early it wits was then that gerty nindo it understood that tant she liked more formality innes was rarely in that wit tent except for meals now or during her alternating week of house chores 1 I was afraid I 1 was ans late mid fold the ho bl 91 lunch will be ready in 11 few minutes C 1 announced gerty wont you sit down theres ilie new jour jou r anat I 1 nal am cat caina go to cle clean an ihas its morning and I 1 get to tho the lunch funch unan till nn hour leour ago little innes settling herself liy by the th rending reading table caught heim lf observing iteming that flint it would not hino have taken her nn fill hour to pot get a cold lunch still it would never look so fro inviting I 1 it if gertys domestic machinery was and pit ap iv the re results stilts were admirable I 1 ll 11 lle the en eidly I 1 ly tomatoes were weir peeled us its well aven as sneed full were lying lang on oil ft a bed b d of crackpot cracked tee ice the ripe black olles olives wore were resting in a take lake of call fornia olive oll oil A howl bowl of crit cilip ii let tuce ditc lind find leen been teed ked and carefully tried the bread wits was cut tn fit precise triangle trian glei lie butter buffer hud had been slimed shaved into for eign looking roses A of the millers favorite beera gf iced ton tea stood fly by Ilar dins plate there wits was a platter flutter of cold meats it castle home to innes for the hundredth time the surprise surp ilso of bueb 11 meal lit in flint desert A few mars ago find what had a meal in been en she threw the fit credit of the lie little lutich to sulky tom hardin lying on oil the portiere cov co ered conch colich tits ins ugly luer lower till out th rut against till nil vision aslon it wa ns 4 toni tom tom find lil brave men anen tho the engineers tho the dauntless OIS tit he indians who lio lind had alig till alir canals cn nili those were eio tho the ones who ho lind till spread that pretty table not tile bux lill little woman darting about lit in pink Is it because beccu c I 1 dont like her she ini used her eyes on tile pictures lit in t style book which alch had just come in ill I 1 I 1 lint fat morning certainly gerty did have lie of it saint with etli toms hu ill if she would only lose that set look of martyrdom I 1 it ans s not for nn an outsider to judge between a husband and wife afe even een if the atlan were ere tier lier own on brother biot lier site could not put tier finger on oil the gerin of their painful 1 4 I 1 10 4 0 nothing had been forgotten rennes jihu sit shrunk shrank from tile recollection of tonis toms temper lily film onree coarse weak the gingg liber fiber her heromin own mother called it toni tom wits ns rough but she loved loed him flint why was na it she wits ns sure that beit did ili not love loe tier her husband hils bund yet there was ais tit hr distrust its as fixed I 1 ellid us its unjust 1111 just pel perhaps hips us tile tho suspicion of boit gertys it little mysteries slin bin aid floud tills this la Is your last day do my week bagins tomorrow mis hardin adjusted it precise nap kin before she spoke 1 I think I 1 will keep the lie relas reins for a thice time tier her words were ro re elective tive us its though the thought thou glit were new 1 I get my hund hand in just its I 1 atop tit OP I 1 will be running out for my visit in a few weeks it will le be only fair for me to to do it ns as ion ions as is I 1 call again tile the girl bad it hense of subtlety neer gerty gerti put on that air of confidential deliberation she hunted for the plot tills was ais not far to seek her law was as passing out the hot season to lier her its nil all really gertys glance wits vaa winging ri KW birdlike over oer the table noth ilig li 11 hd been forgotten she mp gave it little sih sigh of clestle ilar din misinterpreted it 1 I ought to bp be able to keep a servant for tier for it was ia like him to have forgotten the lawrence laurence days das he was mas never free of the of obligation to tile dainty little woman who ho was born ht it felt for tho the purple there wits aa nothing too good for gerty geny lie ile felt tier her unspoken disappointments tier lier deprivations of course she can have no respect for me im a failure till this gle give you ion an tip petite demanded innes heartily and im to ile be n lal lady for three more weeks the rein firk was thoughtless A bright flush ausili spread over gertys face she caught tin an allusion to tier her origin innes saw the ho blush all and remembered the lie boarding house she could think of nothing to say the three sat down to that roost uncomfortable for table travesty trac sty a social meal where sociability Is lacking innes ald aid it had been it a pleasant morning gerty thought it had been hot and then there was silence again innes began to toll tell th diem in of tier her tucson visit when nhen gerty gerly laid down her fork 10 lo ive meant to ask you ion a hundred times did you yon attend to my commission in los loa angeles 1 I forgot to tell ell you sou I 1 bilked the town really I 1 diff did gerty for there hero wasa a cloud on oil gertch pretty brow 1 I could have hae got you hii the other kind but you ou said you fill did not want it 1 I should think not the childish chin was lifted those complicated things tire always retting getting out of order if I 1 had nn an adjustable form b 0 ayd be borrow borrowing ing it want flat are you talking about de handed led tom waking up tip bor continued next issue |