Show CHILD gira r I 1 L D OF A EVIL ear T IF A 0 OCTAVUS SERVICE ROY COHEN by OCTAVUS ROY COHEN SYNOPSIS beautiful young kay forrest has been employed by Chrls christine une maynard pher her to pose tor for a series gerics of 0 pictures the t background ac 0 und of which will be exquisite bathed cathedral ral gardens famous southern resort unknown to them one jell jeff butler mean u unscrupulous c rup ulous swamp angel has led a fris friend end to spy on the two women kay of necessity Is scantily clad while posing tor for the camera studies kay frequently stays with mrs ruth hamilton her son barney of whom horn kay Is very fond and her daughter margaret mrs hamilton a remarkable abl c woman conceived the idea of the gardens cardens following the death of her husband kay has accepted an invitation to attend a local dance with alth kirk reynolds a neer do well viell gambler CHAPTER 11 II continued tonight kay forrest put pul her wr wrap a p in the tiny room on the mezzanine which was marked ladies she left that room walked out on the balcony and gazed down upon the vivid scene below the music of the jazz hounds rose to smite her and a lady tourist dancing indifferently looked up and saw the girl on the balcony and said theres a beautiful girl As a matter of cold fact the compliment was not entirely deserved true there were things about kay which were lovely and which you forgot there were other things which you remembered as for instance the immediate im impression presson of vital youth of a great capacity for enjoyment as shown by dancing eyes and a wide generous mouth you could not fail to notice the deep brown tones of her hair and the way it was brushed back from her high white forehead and the natural wave and the little curls which clung to the back of her neck and caressed the two tiny ears you would notice that her hazel eyes were set wide apart and that they had a delightful habit of crinkling at the corners when she smiled she was not blase not critical she asked no more of the moment than the moment offered ofle red she met kirk reynolds on the stairway and kirks customarily impassive face lighted ile he said you look good he walked back downstairs with her through the lobby past the battery of approving masculine eyes and into the ballroom ball room his arms went about her responsive young body and they danced kirk smiled down at the girl his was not a bright smile it was a slight expansion of thin lips but his voice was gentle enough he asked having a good time wonderful youre easily pleased 1 I cant help it im enjoying myself he said youre a queer kid because I 1 like this so much yes and because you had the nerve to come with me her eyes laughed into his youre pretty nice kirk reynolds maybe but this town dont think to 11 kirk did not exaggerate he was held in low esteem in beverly save by a certain masculine group which made its headquarters at red williams bon ton pool room careful mothers shielded their daughters from contact with kirk much to the disgust of several such daughters fathers warned young sons that kirk was a disgrace to the town and to his worthy parents now happily deceased and as for mr reynolds himself that young gentleman went his way unconcernedly caring not one whit for the opinion of his fellow townsmen save insofar as they afforded him a bit of amusement he was of medium height and slender his cheeks were pallid his eyes arctic he was sparing of speech and gesture born in beverly reared in beverly kirk reynolds was known to every citizen of the town and most of those who lived in rural parts of the county As a youngster he had shown a superb indifference to such education as beverly afforded other lads had looked up to him as reckless and daring because of the flagrant manner with which he played hookey he was the despair of his parents accepting such chastisement as they inflicted upon him without whimper protest or effect at seventeen years of age he had disappeared his farewell being coincidental ci with the departure of a small traveling street carnival which had spent six thoroughly unprofitable days in the town thereafter beverly heard little of him it was understood vaguely that kirk had remained with the carnival only a short time and that he then aligned himself with a larger more prosperous and less scrupulous tent show some one reported meeting him in new york and stated that he seemed to be doing well vell and had offered hospitality to his former townsman liquor feminine companionship panion ship gambling or what have you then beverly was shocked to learn that kirk had returned in his rooms at the hotel enterprising persons tourists or citizens might roll dice tor for money for fairly important money no they explained in shocked whispers it just a friendly game but a real gambling layout meetings were held protests were uttered by church committees and welfare organizations mayor alex roberts argued that he did not know officially that gambling was in ress aich resulted in the immedi ate formation of a defeat roberts for committee sheriff floyd griffin denied vehemently that kirk reynolds owned and operated a dice game but ho he completed his payments on a new sedan the owner of the white star hotel also protested vigorously that there was nothing happening in that see sec ond floor suite which was illegal and he denied further that liquor could be bought at the hotel in defiance of rigid state prohibition laws all of which the good citizens knew to be untrue kirks dice dealer remained in seclusion except at night kirk himself spent his days riding around in his little car or lounging on the veranda of the hotel which faced monument square from the corner of wilson street ile he vouchsafed no information and so facts became less factual because of official denial and every night certain tourists more or less enjoyed a few hours at the dice table and beverly raised its hands in holy horror and the preachers of town and country churches called upon their congregations to condemn this iniquity which they did with commendable but ineffectual fervor and there the matter dropped except that it was generally a agreed reed that if ruth vr 0 ddll ae theres a beautiful girl hamilton returned to beverly and caused cathedral gardens to be built kirk reynolds and his professional vice would not have come to contaminate the community kirk reynolds was twenty eight years of age nine years older than kay forrest she had heard of him had known him in the few years of her childhood before he had gone off with the carnival she remembered him as a handsome young man who had bought candy and ice ice cream and popcorn pop corn for her at the carnival so that she almost died of indigestion but she had emerged from the attack with a regard for kirk which she had never lost she had introduced herself to him on the occasion of a chance meeting after his return and he had professed to remember her kirk was attentive and pleasant two or three ti times es during the evening when yo young namen men from chicora with whom she had attended high school asked her to dance kirk vanished she suspected that he had gone upstairs to see how the dice game was running and there was a guilty thrill in the idea kay was young keen for life she translated this night and this dance into terms of newport and monte carlo and palm beach and havana the chicken sandwich on toast which kirk brought her might have been a gala repast the tepid orangeade champagne then bud carter and his jazz hounds blasted into their final number enthusiastic couples gyrated madly but kirk danced slowly cautiously as always he continued to enjoy kays naive delight to respond to the brightness of her eyes she heard the final blaring measures of the music and then kirks quiet voice tired no how about a little ride id love it good kirk was never loquacious she crossed the veranda with him across the street in the middle of monument square she saw the red brick bulk of the beauregard county courthouse court house she was vaguely conscious of townsfolk who stared and commented and then she was in the little coupe beside kirk and he had swung away from the curb and was circling the square he drove west on palmetto avenue to the place where chicora avenue angled oft off to the right he drove down this tree lined street somnolent in midnight moonlight drove past kays home crossed perris ferris street where chicora avenue became the chicora turnpike then they were in the country the lights of the town dropping behind them to their left was rich farm country fields of cotton and corn and on the right crouched big moccasin swamp dark and sinister they moved faster and faster and kay asked no questions it did not matter that the man beside her was kirk reynolds it only mattered that she was here that for this one night nig ht she had been privileged to discard the soggy mantle of provincialism kirk said abruptly 1 I had a good time you did why because you enjoyed it ohl oh kirk it was wonderful ive always wanted to go to one of those dances lousy but if you dont know it why all right too she said youve been mighty nice to me and I 1 got a great kick out of you he smiled at her briefly impersonally Wh cred you get your nerve from what nerve the nerve to go with me and to get the whole town talking about you she explained always talked about me and I 1 reckon they always will when I 1 was younger than you are now I 1 checked out stand the gaff but you came back good pickings kay wondered why she was not apprehensive kirks reputation was so unsavory she wondered whether he intended to stop somewhere and then as though in response to her unasked question he looked down at her he said dont 11 worry about what me im not aiming to park anywhere she was vas silent and he laughed shortly thought I 1 was you well the boys around here 1 I dont play that way myself not with kids she felt absurdly safe she lost all sense of time and of distance her eyes were closed so that she did not even see the headlights of the car which whirled toward them the road they were traveling had been cut through piney woods it was of broad smooth concrete and kirk was driving fast and on the wrong side his own head lamps stabbed into the post midnight blackness and crossed those of the approaching car kay heard the sudden warning shriek of a horn she heard a hoarse oath from the young man at her side she felt his figure lurch against hers and stiffen as he jerked at the wheel then there was a sickening swerve and a breathtaking breath taking skid she opened her eyes to see another car skidding to find headlights blazing into her face it was over instantly yet it seemed to take hours the approaching car swung off the road in the effort to avoid kirk kirk jerked his to the right and there they were these two cars running board to running board the gentleness of their contact a mockery of the tragedy which might have been it had been an awful moment a terrifying moment kay experienced some difficulty in breathing in the glare of their own headlights she recognized harvey jackson a young civil engineer who had lived in beverly all his life she saw that his cheeks were pasty ile he seemed frightened and angry she knew that kirk was trembling with fury and nervous reaction she heard his voice cold as snapping icicles why the hell dont you look where youre driving harvey jacksons face flushed ile he said it was your fault reynolds the girl glanced at kirk and was frightened she heard him saying things to the other man insulting i things profane things ile he was bitter and unfair his words knifed into harvey jackson and kay realized that even so placid a person as the young engineer was losing control of himself jackson said lay off that kirk I 1 dont like it 1 I dont give a damn what you like kay put out her hand please kirk 1 he shook her off roughly otherwise he gave no hint that he knew knew she was there 1 I told you to quit talking like that said harvey jackson and I 1 tell you 11 kirk was in the A grip of an unreasoning rage when you say it was my fault jackson you liel harvey jackson climbed out of his car he said 1 I dont take that from any man reynolds take it from me not if you get out of that car ill get out all right kays protest was lost in the night she knew it was all kirks fault the original accident the bitterness of the unnecessary quarrel the impending fight and it was going to lo be a fight kirk was beyond control harvey jackson was flushed and angry ile he stood in the road with fists clenched waiting he looked competent and dangerous ile he was larger than kirk taller and broader ile he said im warning you reynolds even in that moment kay knew that kirk was at fault she could not blame harvey jackson he had sought to avoid this clash his hi Is PP p tience had been stretched beyond the point of resiliency kay was sorry for both men she knew the thai this crisis had flared from nerves strained by the shock of imminent disaster the impending conflict I 1 was senseless and inevitable she wanted to look away but she the scene fascinated her the quiet deserted road the dreadful accident which had so miraculously been averted the deadly fury which had metamorphosed kirk and then the awful thing happened suddenly unbelievably she had read about such things she had seen them in pictures but never until this moment had she believed they could be even now when she saw sav kirks hand snap out from under his left armpit when she heard the sharp vicious crack of the little auto automatic matic when she saw flame spit into the night even then it was lie vable it was only when she saw an expression of startled incredulity appear on the face of harvey jackson that the thing became real even in the slightest degree never before had she seen a human being die it was nauseating the way his body sagged slowly then slumped to the ground she jumped from the car and bent over him eyes wide with horror and disbelief brain refusing to credit the evidence of her senses she was conscious of the horrid thought th that at harvey jackson coulden couldn t be comfortable for table lying all sprawled out that way she reached out to touch the body but strong fingers closed on her arm and an icy voice said let him alone she was sobbing when kirk jerked her back to the car and flung her into the seat she said youre not going to leave him there like that 11 his voice was sharp it was like no other voice she had ever heard it said shut up and get yourself under control CHAPTER III it was difficult for kay forrest to realize that she had been witness to a murder to remember that back yonder at the edge of the road was an empty car and the body of a man it was even more difficult to make herself believe that the stony faced person at her side had just taken a human life her nerves were shattered her eyes clouded with a terror of apprehension her thoughts darted off at tangents but returned always to that sprawling figure by the side of the road back yonder she found herself thinking harvey is dead kirk will be punished then out of the silence came kirks voice it was detached impersonal casual it frightened her he said sorry kay and when she tried to answer him the words would not come he said then pull yourself together she moistened dry lips oh kirk it was rotten but I 1 help it I 1 lost my head yes 91 its done his voice was flat there aint anything we can do to undo it she dabbed at dry eyes with a bit of handkerchief he asked still scared yes 11 got to get over it right now he was right of course then words came from her words freighted with hysteria oh kirk what will they do he said nothing but when they find out they wont nobody saw except you and you wont tell im afraid of course you are im afraid too queer how his calmness was steadying her jagged nerves she heard him speaking again there are certain things youve got to remember the first one is that we never went near that |