Show he e la lucky L laurences lawrences Lawren m A e aw W r ances ces by KATHLEEN NORRIS 0 by kathleen mirrl SYNOPSIS ilia the luck that had brought the boo boa ton lawrences laurences Lawren ces to california at the beginning of the gold rush has hail deserted dOBor teil the present gomeri generation stion from a acre ranch their holdings have hav a shrunk to a small email farm and th the 01 old d family home in Clippers ville the death of their poetic father forced the three eldest children to work 0 o that sarn sam and little arlel ariel might continue their education phil now twenty five live had g gone 0 no into the iron work gall to the public library and edith to the book vore department of ClIppers villes largest attore seven seventeen teen year old ariel la is be coming 1 a L problem rob lorn and phil li Is fascinated by y that terrible lily cass casa whose husband has ha deserted her young van murchison scion of a wealthy family returns from yale malehe flo and gall had bein been close friends before he went to college and gall call has h visiting of tile the turning of the lawrence luck dick stebbins phils best friend alend has boo the run of the house CHAPTER 11 II continued 4 lie ile had brought a large lame box with him a p florists Horis ts box 03 dick dont tell me you remembered my birthday G gall all exclaimed as he gave bare it to her whose birthday illde dicks dissatisfied look traversed the circle 1 I know today was waa your birthday he said resentfully no 1 I lust just met the boy bringing this in I 1 gill gall was paying no attention to him iler fingers had been experiencing the unfamiliar delight of tearing away green strings and cardboard and massed layers of green paper roses wet sweet roses two dozen dozea of them t A dozen and a half edith breathed awed two dozen ede gall gail had wrenched the card from its wire and torn open the wet envelope the ink on the card was blurred but the words unmistakable twenty three times twenty three more love from van she seemed amused and pleased they were all pleased but galls calls moderately gratified manner gave gare no hint of the bubbling geyser of ecstasy that rose nrose within her this was almost un 1 roses and the intimate curd card from van murchison ill III wits was only confusedly aware of A fiat went on about her of what hat the ot biners tiers were saying school tonight phil dick asked ah h sure they went off olt together and in a h iy ay daze gall began automatically taw business of clearing up ner her tb taets swam in a sea of golden goldah Ii 11 lilii 1 lii 1 1 1 I I lip lif kitchen grew hot the gas soared and whistled gall call worked on ob lilii voi roses roses roses the world was wah appt but plak roses ga I 1 had come into adlers room as was 1 lr r habit the last thing at night 1 gh to ri that her little sister was corn forti iMi in bed she kissed kaso d arlel ariel and 1 llie ilie discarded folds of blanket at ai lie he foot of the bed i phe he left the room arlel ariel seemed to be n ennst asleep edith meanwhile had come into galls calls bouto when alls said and done site she began and paused Ityl ilch tod od forbid should ever be gall call interposed well I 1 know cut but when wh enalls alVs said and dono gall call who he ore are the eurchl eons afons nothing but money edith said raid still money gall was laughlina laugh lna at her slider sister but edith did not resent it of co course she answered the un completed suggestion with ith a smile 13 rut lut I 1 moan mean that money like birth she pursued gall went ent about the room quickly tong long adept in the business of making mailing it ready for the night eight she suld said tier her prayers in a aberisk brisk businesslike way with her eyes on editha face and got into bed tier her sister came to sit at tier her feet I 1 it would be wonderful if one of us married well edith offered dreamily on the strength of two dozen dax en roses gall call countered at a time of the year when fotoes bosies are two dollars dollar a dozen I 1 they lime liate scads edith roused mused 1 suppose pose they have gall agreed sobe soberly but hes des out not really a murchison hlson ede rie ne was aas adopted nobody ever calls him kinney was he locally legally adopted oh hyes yea lie was only five when his mother yi ok a divorce and when I 1 vans futher father died mr murchison practically adopted him I lod you hapl happen ivil to know that 1 me reading heading a bouk book about old clippers ille ull liou know that crazy hook that hardly mentions grandfather well veil it had bad ill about some lawsuit and the chipps and the kidneys kinneys were in it iles hes awfully nice gall call said impulsively pul out or of it silence ile he must be Is he fie handsome gall call oh collegiate looking edith was silent tor a full minute then she ehe wild with ith conviction you ought to come coine to and get one of those striped tied pet inions 1 I was thinking id get one of those dotted swiss dresses aca at ati the sale three fifty you ought to get both edith sald said firmly 1 I wish I 1 had a white there was another silence in the big dim old fashioned bedroom whose heavy brocade wall papers had not dot been changed or cleaned for twenty years and whose windows were wit curtained in fringed rep isn t it fun the way unexpected things happen edith said 1 I was thinking we ve could ask him to sunday supper they were silent staring into space do you know were very romant lel edith demanded then 1 I suppose lie e artir are you know we are I 1 mean phils so handsome rod so smart and everyone likes sam and everyone regards arlel ariel its as a sort of genius chos going to inherit papas gift and you you certainly can write oh edel ede I 1 I 1 had one article in the challenge and that was only because it was in favor of the bay bridge abigail lawrencel lawrence 1 your compositions always took prizes at school find and your mothers day article was published on the front page of the san francisco call well I 1 know gall pondered it a minute and then said with a suddenly flushed face 1 if I I 1 should marry anyone who vilio had bad any money ede and have to work so hard and worry go much I 1 believe I 1 could w write ri te stories I 1 you dont have to tell me that said loyal edith are two of your daughters going to be writers sir air lucky lawrencel lawrence gall whimsically asked the enormous enlarged crayon portrait of her father hang hanging irig on the wall all of us are going to get somewhere and put the lucky lawrences Lawren ces back on the maill hapl edith prophesied left I eft alone under her greenish light gall bell fell into a happy musing mood that made her supply of books entirely superfluous she bad been getting tired and discouraged of late for months life hid had seemed to drag with her to lack its accustomed sweetness and interest after all papa bad I 1 A if 14 H it would be wonderful if one of Us married well been dead for almost seven years now and they had beechard been liard hard puzzled years fur for the children he had left behind him years barren of 0 results the old house bouse had grown grobb shabbier th the q garden more of a jungle the children themselves had grown rilan only pourer poorer and more bewildered there appeared to be no escape there had been no rh miracle iracle just at birst there had been a decided social movement mu toward the orphaned lawrenced lawrences Lawren ces immediately after patter patterson n lawrences laurences Lawren ces heroic death in overcrowded washington all clippers ville had bad made a gesture of kindliness and concern concern to toward ard ills his children during these days gall call and h had ad been the center of a happy fun group these thebe had been days of picnics charades charales cha rades amateur theatricals sundaes sundnes at dobbins movies occasional hilarious gatherings at theaters or dances all that was aus over now gradually the smart crowd had drifted away toe ing to motor cars hotel tea rooms roadhouses gall call had neither the money nor the gowns to hold her onn phil always something some lhing of a puritan had frankly abandoned a company company and a co dewith he had no sympathy and edith had withdrawn first of all for foi actual years now gall always winced away in tier lier secret thought from calculating them too exactly there had been no attempt made on the part of ClIppers villes golden youth to include the lawrences laurences Lawren ces in good times limes edith had become just a little bit tI twisted sted in consequence just a little too prone to explain merrily that the lawrences Lawren ces did not want to have anything to do with modern ways for they intended to marry men worthy of their name and dilill had c given five f ive n up ip society entirely and admired or had admired for gall never admitted it that wretched little social outcast lily cuss cass As r for 0 r gall for many months she had known herself to b be sinking into i utter commonplaceness commonplace nes s As aa time went on oil she 91 ie wits 1 becoming more an more drap drab little miss bliss lawrence of the III coary arary I 1 ahll hit more and more the quiet hardworking hard working underpaid iron worker edith more mid and more bookish old tile the joyous promise of the roman tic lawrence punsters oun lind had ion ions been lost phil had told gall with a little patient bitterness that it was to uie hunter tind tile the barahl boys boya that all advancement at the iron irn works had bad been given months had gone by without seeing ono one single eligible man coming to the lawrence ll house oue hardest of all for gall call to lose had been her faith in herself she had been so sure at sixteen seven long loci years ago that courage self conal dence high spirits and honest service were the weapons with which bocon quer the world she had been so sure that she knew the secret 1 she had teen seen herself writing childrens stories oh nothing sensational nothing clas classical but simple charming boarding school and ranch stories that all girls would love and that would assure gall pleasant fame fama among her townspeople insure her BO n income that would mean pleasure and beauty for arkels girlhood and an opportunity port unity to develop tile the little sisters poetical genius rut cut it seemed that forever forever forever tile the once lucky lawrences Lawren ces would be poor shabby hardworking and obscure that phil would help to build ships in which luckier men should cruise the waters of the world that edith would sell to more fortunate women the romances she would naver never realize to in her own life and gall cali taste in her own mind only the rap ture of typewritten pages the ahe ecstasy of holding her own book bok in 1 her own hands the shy delight of being introduced trod in distinguished gatherings as the authoress now on her twenty third birthday nn expectedly van murchison hlson hart had given her back these dreams oh how good she could be how gracious and an sweet and fine she could be it if van Bl hlson fell in love with herl that was all she needed just a break just an indication that wonderful things could happen that poor girls were sometimes sought in marriage by rich young men young urs mrs murchison after all if she was married at say this time next year nobody could say that she bhe had been an old maid twenty four that was young to marry and then ede should marry it would be emy easy enough to find beaux tor for the other girls with the murchison hlson money and position ilou behind her ber tile the fun of it I 1 the beauty of it and why ally not other girls had had that thai much luck and much much mare more drowsing oft off to sleep in ili the sweet sit summer miner darkness gall heard a door ban bang downstairs just as the clock struck a drowsy eleven tile the lawrence s having little to pro protect teci rarely locked doors perhaps this was sa sam in coming in late perhaps it was ahll ahil anyway unless it banged banged again shii she did not propose to get up to bother with it As it happened it was neither but gall could not know that and so she drifted happily off into ih the de deep ek of tired twenty three abree yin van laugh bli bis kotce s still till in her ears eara sam had been in bed and asleep for an hour when the clock ock struck eleven phil had walked home from ni night school with lily lie he was now sitting on the he steps of the pass cass shanty at the end of thomas street murmuring incoherent and foolish absurdities to ao the little earthal smelled of heavy cheap cheap powder find and perfume no the ibe door had bad been slammed by arlel ariel or rather it had been caught and slammed by an unexpected gust of wind when her small rail hand had bad I 1 opened it upon the summer dark ahe he ihal had stood oil there trembling terrified waiting to see it 1 sam or gall or edith had been roused ready to fly by to her room and scramble into bed at the first sound of an investigating footstep r put cut there had been no disturbance upstairs and after an interminable silence arlel ariel had bad opened the door again noiselessly this time and had slipped down through the overgrown garden nod cad into the deep green black shadows bt at the gate in a sky of clear dark blue millions of stars had been twinkling and in the side lane deeply rutted fr arc ra winter rains there had beed been to titio other stars the watchful lamps of a shining low peri open car artel ariel knew kuddy buddy ealsch very slightly but she knew as all the town kne knew that be bebas was an overgrown bix boy who had been in stanford university tor for about three years and was waa still a sophomore she L knew new wb what t the scent of buddys buddes b reath breath signified too of the couple sunk in the rumble sent seat an man with a collapsed little bobbed slick head bead on ills bis shoulder should er she had known nothing but she hail had settled in a beside the driver alth a little gasp of satisfaction and excitement buddy had ahls whispered ered were only going down the road d a ways and come back s I 1 that suits me arlel ariel had said unperturbed youre a good little sport buddy had told tier her they were out of hearing bearing of the lawrence house now and lie he could move faster aster lie ile had stepped on the gas and the car had shot like a projectile into the starry night TO BE BB CONTINUED |