Show CHAPTER XI continued 15 nora laughed and jim perkins ns finding ending his voice at last exploded well ill tell the world you can iglay mis masoni mason I 1 I 1 never heard bothin no thin like it except over the radio and it if you ask me youve got that I 1 feller named hoffmann beat to a frazzle frazz lel leonora arose from the packing box to acknowledge his honest tribute with a curtsey while don suggested give them some more nora inora before they leave and for minutes nora played to as appreciative an audience as any artist could desire indeed the Wort cortland land men would accept only the minutest payment for their services it want bothin declared the older man as they arose to go bothin No thin at all and the music was pay enough anyhow it joe joe still dazed assented with a mute nod they departed munching noras molasses cookies and don told her when tom littlefield had returned to the box stall which he be was converting into the north end of a banquet hall with their souls refreshed and next morning as if fate were really trying to make up for past un kindnesses don received a note from the editor of an Ameri american cane we weekly ekly to whom he had sent one of his letters from cape town the article it seemed had filled a longfelt long felt want check for american magazine rights was herewith enclosed and they would be glad to run the entire series during the coming year the check compared with those received from england for the same material was almost dazzling and they both appeared to go a little mad nora rushed to the piano while don to the exceeding joy of his small sons proceeded to dance the highland fling when the music ceased and he dropped breathless into the red lacquer chair tom littlefield who had arrived during the commotion inquired if he should call the doctor or are you comin out a 0 that conniption fit all right alone in answer don tossed him the in incredible check yours mr littlefield you can blame that innocent strip of paper for this vaudeville act of mine which was put on merely to celebrate the fact that for the time being anyhow analow the dark cloud of financial worry has vanished from the horizon were sane again now and ill get back to the shingling if what you want not until the last possible moment did they leave the place never had they left any place with such regret the weather had been almost miraculously perfect for that time of year a fall long remembered by the natives tom littlefield possessed of minute directions from leonora planned to go on with the work when other jobs were scarce be a real lifesaver life saver to me mis mason he assured her there aint much doin here come wintertime and I 1 get restless ill be moren glad to keep an eye on the place and do a days work now and then and when you come back next spring things thing sll be shipshape ship shape I 1 declare I 1 im downright sorry to see you go and id give almost anything to stay mr littlefield nora confessed after all theres no place like home is there and ive never had one of my own before not for worlds would I 1 have mr mason suspect it but I 1 dont mind owning up to you that I 1 dread to leave she did yet a happy winter with constance venable who had sold the ill fated island where carl met his death and for financial reasons was staying abroad indefinitely lay just ahead things were going extremely well when they returned to maine for another summer and as a complete surprise nora discovered not only running water in her box stall kitchen but a small and shining bathroom the result of an intrigue between her husband and the old maine builder not until that summer did she hint to her father of this permanent abiding place going to the beautiful antique desk which they had purchased of our egg lady as the boys called her because the woman explained when don told her honestly that it was worth much more than he could give them antique dealers is makin my life miserable anyhow and mis mason never forgets to ask after my sick boy going to that desk nora constructed ted the postal card that wa was s to play an important part in her life some three years later glancing over her shoulder as she finished it don smiled a bit sadly at what he feared was merely another disappointment it was he observed a fantastic postal first came the verse from which the old notary had quoted the day they signed the deeds below this nora had written her address followed by if taxi is un available take trolley car to end of line and proceed as follows after which was a tiny map drawn in red ink she said turning to look up at don that verse about the shining palace is an invitation and if it arrives when dads in a relenting mood he may accept it don said nothing it sometimes troubled him that in all these years nora had never lost hold of the conviction that her father would reach a moment of surrender personally don believe it not after the old mans silence when informed of the arrival of his namesake james lambert mason it was hard for don to forgive that silence when he recalled how spent w with ith the hours of fear and anguish nora had looked up at him from her narrow berth on that storm tossed ship to say if if its only a boy dear so we can name him for father I 1 shant mind anything it it will bring us together well mused don turning away from his cifes eyes it was a boy and it had not brought them one inch nearer jimsy was more than three years old and his grandfather had not expressed the slightest interest in his existence it k ik k v na 11 h I 1 S wc 4 1 F Y 1 X 1 I 4 r 1 it VZ y 11 i V theres our theater ahead now in don to comprehend how anyone could be so stubbornly resentful so unkind impatient at the situation he once said as much and nora answered its not just that don you see he loved my mother above anything on earth yet she hurt him unspeakably and though it my fault perhaps I 1 hurt him too I 1 think he dare let me get near him any more dont you understand der stand iles hes afraid of being hurt again so she mailed her postal hoped for a time and then decided that the hour of relenting had not come but despite this disappointment nora was very happy that summer don was always glad to remember how happy she had been As the months passed her new home became almost as perfect as she dreamed it could be and even tom littlefield admitted that the ball room was not too big and its cozy it prodded leonora determined to make the old carpenter give in 0 its cozy enough he assented albeit grudgingly but I 1 still think if you was to ask me mis mason that its all out a 0 proportion to the size 0 the kitchen but we dont live in the kitchen nora retorted and I 1 aint ever heard 0 anybody livin in a ball room either cither snapped the old man he was a frequent caller as was the notary at the port the latter had a standing invitation to sunday dinner which was quite as likely to be served on the as in the banquet hall afterwards he would find his way into the big living room and browse among the books sometimes reading aloud from his beloved poets to nora sometimes reading from peter rabbit to the boys hes ps as good as a grandfather said don one sunday afternoon when he found the old man with both children in his lap and then wished he spoken because noras face clouded at the words the summer drifted by september came and with it tile the chance don was hoping for something he had kept secret from his wife fearing to cause her disappointment should it not work out for nora had hinted to the little boys that santa claus might possibly bring them a baby sister and don was determined that their mother should not be dragged to europe if such a step could be avoided ile he knew that the letters from cape town had proved ever even more popular than the american editor expected there was no reason to think he would not be amenable to the suggestion that there was a vast amount of interesting material on their own west don planned a series of articles called seeing america first submitted the idea and waited impatiently for the verdict not knowing that the great man was away on a vacation the letter seemed long in coming but it brought good news the editor considered this plan most interesting and requested that don stop off in chicago on the way west to consult a personal friend of his who had been over the ground recently and might give him some valuable data and would he plan so that the first article could be run in february nora wept with relief when she heard the news nora who so seldom gave way to tears ive been dreading so awfully to start out again she told him but this is different if as you say we can stay at san diego until after new years everything will be easy I 1 can settle you somewhere and then go to a hospital for the event and next spring we can come home for a long summer dont mind my crying don it its only the heavenly relief you poor dear nomad said don tenderly and then added if all goes well darling well install a furnace here next summer so we can stay as late as you want to in the fall 1 I believe smiled nora winking ft away the lost last of her foolish tears 1 I believe youve discovered the advantages of a home yourself don CHAPTER XII they reached chicago on a bleak november morning wind was blowing across lake michigan in wintry gusts and the weather man predicted snow it came a blizzard out of the north for two days they were stormbound storm bound in a boarding house run by an old nurse of constance venables one of the many whom carls unfailing generosity had helped on the third afternoon when the city was digging out of snow drifts and the sun was making a halfhearted effort to show its face their hostess said why dont you two go for a little walk ill look after the children id really like to and a breath of outdoor air will do you good come on said don brightening at the prospect of some activity if you get tired nora well drop in at a movie for an ho hour u r right urged the woman glad to be of service to these friends of her beloved venables find a theater three blocks down its a cheap place opened only a week ago but do to get warm in in surel sure agreed don and a lurid picture wont hurt old folks like us the wind sprang up again as they started out and the sun discouraged retired behind a cloud 1 I guess three block sU sll be about enough don laughed as they ducked their heads against the weather those italian winters have spoiled us nora but I 1 hear were liable to fry in arizona one place I 1 been my dear and im crazy to see it theres our theater ahead now looks cheap all right I 1 bet the snows packed solid behind that false front roof theres weight to this snow nora I 1 hope w what don hoped was lost in a gust of wind that fairly blew them into the lobby of the theater perhaps wed better go right back gasped nora the wind is certainly getting worse it surprise me if it stormed again me either but youre completely out of breath dear lets get inside and rest for a few minutes be easier going home with the wind at our backs you know we can sit in the last row nora and slip out any time were bored you need to rest after that fight with the elements this was sane logic so they went inside looks as if all the kiddies of the neighborhood had come in out of the storm don whispered as their eyes grew accustomed to the dimness why we think to bring the boys nora smiled don always regretted his sons absence when other children were in evidence she said softly better off where they are theres such a crowd and the air is terrible why wh why what her voice rose a little her head lifted later nora was to remember that she had thought herself ill because the whole building seemed to tremble and the roof looked as if it were crumbling up slowly the most curious sensation a sort of chill ran over her all in a second of course for don was already on his feet holding her wrist in a grip that tortured just as they reached the lobby the crash came and then a cry went up behind them a cry that was to ring in noras ears for months it sounded she thought like an awful and terrifying wave of protest from a single throat they were in the street already a throng of morbid onlookers had gathered people oh fortunate people were pouring out of the doomed theater policemen li cemen dozens of them it seemed to nora sprang up like magic firemen were there trying to rope off space pushing them back it was then that don who had been stunned into a horrified silence roused himself with a convulsive shudder he turned to nora looked down into her upturned face stared into it so curiously that she grasped his arm crying oh thank god we are safe donl don and still he looked at her an ambulance gong sounded somewhere beyond the rope a woman screamed A man pushed by them wild eyed dishevelled dishevel led above the tumult a childs terrified voice voice cried out mother wheres my mother don said still staring down with that extraordinary gravity but I 1 must go black back nora those children they might be ours ive got to help you must go home now darling go home to the little boys they need you dont you see that that I 1 have got to help before she could say one word he stooped kissed her was gone eluding the quick grasp of a fireman unheeding the shout of protest from another those feet those buoyant feet which had borne don so joyously on his adventures were bearing him now on still another bearing him swiftly swiftly lest they falter nora was standing there three hours later when they brought him out three hours of horror three hours of numbing cold three hours of torment he was the last to come his broken body carried tenderly by two firemen nora close to the ropes cried out at sight of him donl don dearest im waiting for you I 1 1 I am here don TO BE CONTINUED |