Show DRAGONS DRAG DRIVE YOU by EDWIN BALMER copyright by edwin balmor balmer service SYNOPSIS job jeb braddon young and bially ally successful broker of chicago la in iffat bated 0 led with agnes acnes Glenel Gl eneith th beautiful augh t or of 0 a retired manufacturer rodney a doctor in love with agnia visits his hi brother job rod plans work it at rochester job jeb suggests that lie make a try for or agnes before leaving in ID rod there Is a deeper obstinate nate decency and much sterner restraints then than in job agnes believes to be happy a 11 girl must bind herself entirely to a 1 roan an and have adorable babies CHAPTER I 1 continued 2 to be happy a wan man required a girl indeed men declared tills anil and sought a mate more openly more frankly mens fens voices at such betrayed them as rodney Brad dons just had bad done the deep sea tier her father faither had bad dubbed him jil in contrast to lo ills brother the devil ath women and the deep sea I 1 well the peep deep sea had phoned from his brothers ahe devils a office and was on his way to her agnes never thought though of making special preparation for him and be have liked it she kept on the cornflower blue knitted dress which became her slenderness and which deepened by its lighter shade the blue of her eyes and mach went a ent with lier ber straw colored hair the cold wind of the morning had bad whipped a pink plow glow into her clear smooth skin she procured her own little coupe and drove alone through the snow to the station to meet rodney ile he if he could would have turned back ue ile sat by himself in the train going over and over what he be had done and what ile he had set get out further to do and ills his purpose appeared to him not cot only hop hopeless elest hut but fantastic Y yet ct he had haid spoken the words to her that told he was coming and which implied more ue lie had no retreat did jud honestly believe liel teve that he had bad a chance or had jud goaded him to this in the belief that by speak speaking lm to agnes however hopelessly he would be the better for it the better for putting an end to ills his impossible dreams standing on the cat cai steps as the train clota slowed ed he be passed her ile he swung swims doati recklessly eck lessly slipping in the snow when be straightened she was besida him little agnest agnes 1 lie he said the syllables escaping him if she caught his exclamation what difference ile he had bad come to say to her much more she felt it she asked him after he be was settled beside tier her and she was driving him home you had lunch roll rod 1 I never thought of it he be admitted the snow had begun to blow so that it became almost an adventure to follow the familiar road to the house it shut in rodney brad don and agnes glendith Glenel th together away from contact or sight from all others increasing the ter tension islon of their intimacy though during the drive rodney said scarcely a word and he did not touch her in the house he made no attempt to touch her they went ent into the pleasant easy east room which on oil ordinary days overlooked the take lake now the snow swirling at the wide mile windows shut chat them in as it had when they were in the car rodney appreciated this and he be turned to her gratefully let me tell you what I 1 it if you want to rod you yon know the trouble with me I 1 love you you sit there will youa you and ill stand here ill not annoy you more than I 1 must ive said I 1 love you ive had medical training I 1 know what love Is or Is supposed cup posed to be but its not that with me when I 1 think of you 1 I suppose every hopeless tool fool denies it he tries to make himself out better than he Is you roo she said gently she was seated where here lie he asked her to lo be and watching him looking up at him so tall and troubled before her and a little ungainly as always in his brown ready made clothes he was more carelessly molded than jeb except in his brow his clan chin and hla his hands bands perhaps especially in his hands bands so lean and strong and capable her eyes come came to rest on his hands bands restrained close beside him as bly hl brot brothers bees never would have been at ucb such a moment ilow how this man fought the appeal of physical sensation and why did he be down it so go because lie was capable of a lu beyond his brothers far beyond wn any othet other man she lihew agnes recognized tills this now it i nt nn with her mind with tier stirred iu in I 1 s s which alch groused tier ther nee 1111 agh her ter monca means ri in you i cow agles ile sn si ii i tie fiel that ie none not my trouble lri its me and my life ilfe it your life I 1 the fact that you never could live it she said without thinking why not for she did not willfully intend to lead him on but never with any man who had made love to tier her had she found herself so confused by feeling I 1 ng he be nothing in it for you but being my ife I 1 what would that be like rodney odney It now div liy had she said that did she want him to break the restraint he be held upon himself awing my wife no do aou ou want me to toll tell you can you rod can IT I 1 lie ile was gazing at her so that be her eyes fell before ills his fell to his hands which he was keeping controlled beside him 1 I can tell you a all 11 about it what ahat it will be every hour of the day ani and night he said so that she hardly heard him 1 I thought for a time agnes he went nent on of taking up tip another line for you I 1 mean with the idea that it might just possibly increase my chance with fill you not to make more ii money ioney but to make myself different for you rut but I 1 be different not inot you roll kod 1101 no be no use theres only one job I 1 can care to do you know what it Is its to t find out what makes one person live and another die what brings one child health and strength and happiness and what condemns another to be a cripple or to or wretchedness for life what does it not god not divine judgment and punishment we dont bellec in travesties like that any longer and its not the sins of the fathers in most cases either its some condition we can disco discover vei and correct its some secret of biological balance that we can uncover its simply a problem of biology that ive got to work at as long as im any good I 1 turn to anything else if I 1 tried to its the one thing that matters to me ine except you ive been trying to put you two together I 1 mean to imagine you together my life as I 1 live it I 1 and you I 1 can do it in my dreams oh 1 I love you so much and I 1 can lee ill never have you dont mistake we me in how I 1 ima imagined ined you in my dreams dear oil oh my dear you were vere there waiting for me that was all you always were there for me nt ill end of day wherever I 1 was whatever I 1 was doing I 1 nas golm going back to you no ill tell ii if nit all to you some lay day I 1 dreamed wed have a little girl like you A very little girl with blue eyes and halt hair like flax us its bours ours ilse used d I 1 to 6 lie it strange roil iod dont think I 1 misunderstand kiss me rod nod when I 1 go I 1 will it if you 11 let to roo I 1 bear it now I 1 see hw you feel sorry for me its plain I 1 can never have you I 1 wont make you say it I 1 know I 1 always knew the dreams began but tip be gone now too best I 1 sol pose ten minutes later left anti and site she knew better thlin than to try to yet detain him im driving you tack to th the e station she suld said no let me leave you here you can send me if you will with simmons Si ramons but you let me kiss you now never with such tenderness never with ith so nine much strength restrained had a mans hands clasped her ills arm did not encircle her his hands upon her shoulders he drew her to him she lifted her lips and kissed him once that was all he be did not try to repeat it IA I A again aln rodney odney It she whispered reaching up stretching on tiptoes tiptoed to offer herself once more you dont dollt repeat L death tie he denied her agnes moved about the empty house gazing out at the snow she could do no differently about rodney she did not love him she felt tor for him with a keen pity which had no equal in her meetings with ment men but she did not desire him was love desire was that the decisive sensation in your life was admiration for a man MALI sympathy for him caring for hini him nothing in comparison did no qualities in you ur or in alro count unless you desired him flames were leaping and lif from maple logs freshly laid on the huge hugai stone hearth of the hall and the green areen glass eyes in the pair of jaguar heads on the wall opposite gleamed their reflection of the dawling dancing fire five years ago tier her father had bad stint shot the in having baing suddenly found need to wase cease to be a manufacturer fac of electrical equipment ant an to become instead a hunter set upon traversing tropical jungles to kill hll something dangerous and savage among other trophies he had brought these back instilled installed them here and dubbed them Il hansel lansel and gretel this house which had never been as happy as the home on easter caster lane had descended undeniably after that of course the jaguar heads had nothing to do with the descent they were simply a symbol 1 of what had happened what had happened in this house rogna the little swedish maid ap kenred she wasa ladys maid shared by agnes and her mother r slender small boned golden haired bright cheeked checked che eked impulsive type of swede sh was wai oer overemotional emotional indeed but dis creet rogna if any one knew nhat had in n this great important I 1 lio ho use ilse for asnes agnes suspected that her iiller in in fit lit dr pairing helplessness t is regan i nhat was slipping away sometimes talked to rogna never to a soul would rogna repent repeat a 8 word of it mothers returned agnes asked her oil oh jest es mr braddon ju just 1 phoned 11 agnes sl started rod hod waa lie he re returning mr judson braddon rogna said what lid did he say lie Is coming out lie did not I 1 inquire nile whether or not you would be in miss agnes lie he said to tell you 11 he e way was coming out lie he nil M arlie twenty mills miles through this snow thought agnes jet would ala also 0 mr Glenel th has returned to the city lie he will be home on his train mother alother thought agnes do you require mt mp miss agnes no look after mother rogna oh I 1 will I 1 the two girls baled at each other both knotting there was no do sense whatever hat ever in agnes pretending before rogan she use rouge rog nn dont let her it it be come tier her nii and d it wont do tier her any gorod good lying in the deep warm water in her bath of palely tinted porcelain agnes shut tier her eyes and saw not rod on ills his train traveling away from her but job jeb forcing ills car toward her through throng h the snow she could see him strain and laugh and swear when he skidded but come on on on to her whatever tried to hold bold him even in her imaginings tie he stirred her come on jeb oh come on rod dear dreaming rod id like to love iou I 1 would but I 1 dont and lie he so much as let her say it it the fact that jeb was making money and rod nearly none that ildred the difference between them for rod was right about it money did not rule desire money might ml bt be one of the factors that destroyed it money or at least the epoch of their marriage in which the most money had come was waa separating tier her mother and father before a mirror on the other side of that wall ali between their rooms her mother frantically was trying to in make ale herself more attractive to rather father and to look younger but rogna would watch the rouge rogna would not let mother look ridiculous to father when he came home ridiculous to father who used to kiss her when they hugged agnes between them in the big bed of the house where mother had been a bride oh anat was love at last father came baskerville Basker viDe the huge boor boar hound had affectionately knocked his hat olt off and he carried it crumpled ulu pled cravath the butler bad opened the door ID D evening craach Cra ath hello light onel that meant tier her and oo co one else always as long as she could remember it hail bad been fathers greeting light one dark onet onel ills two daughters lils its two babies once beatrice always had been dark like maman agnes light like himself D park ark onel light onel dark onel light onel he be used to accent in rhythm as lie fie tossed nod and caught hla his children in turn before he kissed them dark onel light one and shooed them away lie ile bent and kissed agnes now careful to keep hla his snowiness ness from her dress I lello light onel one he repeated Il allows hows lows dark oner one oil oh ashes fine Fa father therl I 1 flowre ll the busters austers bu father wonder wonderful full I 1 good wheres your mother in yes father ashes in good cravath bad taken his things and disappeared leaving father and daughter alone before the ore fire agnes liked to have him linger with her but the thought of her mother walting waiting for him tortured her ber there had been a time when it if she had not met him at the door he would have leaped up the stairs two steps at a time to find what was the matter now he be stood back to the fire without impatience ile he had been away tor for a week in new york city and his daughter swept as she was with affection for him and with pride in him and with gladness in all her memories could not down disturbing doubts what had bad lie he done in new york during seven days and evenings and nights lie he was full of feeling and how good looking lie was you could not possibly think of bf him as a grandfather ile he was now two years of lifty fifty and lie he appear forty he honestly ills hair was as youthful as agnes own ile he differed from hers however to in having a crinkle in it which made it t take like tousling well always la in those mornings when she ehe had bad run into his and mothers room he be had been tousled now she had not seen him so but had some woman in new york the idea would not down it ita woul dilt 1 I father and daughter shared the same blueness of eye and straightness of nose indeed in the fullness of her lips and we uie turn of her good little chlo chin agnes was a delicate refinement of him but even allowing for proportions she was smaller ile he was six feet straight 64 more than A average era ge height asnes for that comfortable countryside north of chicago where womer are tall was rather under the average and also tor for her height slighter than her father though no ounce ot of weight appeared on him ile he saw to that with squash and riding TO HE CONTINUED |