Show rin na T GA S A jjr jal JL by KUTH RUTH COMFORT MIT CH ELL COPYRIGHT do D APPLETON CENTURY CO INC SERVICE SYNOPSIS sarah lynn dana youngest of the dana dan a women ol 01 danavage Da navale calif chafes at the well wen ordered life approved by her mother adelaide who Is trying to marry her to duncan van doren detroit society youth great granny dana covered wagon pioneer and community matriarch recognizes to in the girl irl the restless adventurousness of the dark danas dana S a trait shared by her and cousin sally ann dana traveler and a author u thor and pleads with sally ann to take th the e girl abroad CHAPTER II 11 2 sally ann dana got through the first difficult moments of her meet ing with her third cousin by mak ing persistent talk about the nona ge geranan but isn t she priceless 9 ninety six and so quick and keen and clear clearl she s like what a crisp brittle little old autumn leaf blow ing along exactly he agreed and I 1 in hoping that she may just blow on and away some day it should be like that I 1 believe it will be one cant can t conceive of helplessness and indig cities for her I 1 in sure she 11 just suddenly and simply stop she walked to the window and stood looking out her back to him gasping for your tea he rang she turned toward him and he nod ded approval you ve pasted down the calendar haven t you sally ann he off offered ered her a cigarette she shrugged leaning nearer for a light aunt helena says I 1 in skin and bones nice skin and bones the grand girls as the ma matriarch calls them will thirst for your gore ta a lot of too too solid flesh at Da navale thanks jens miss dana will pour for me you remember jens sally ann of course I 1 how are you jens the tall stooped swede was very well and hoped she was the same he ile arranged the tray with heavy care and went creaking away oh this is nice I 1 the traveler said contentedly did jens make these sandwiches fancy with those sledge hammer hands but why the third cup cupa sarah lynn she s very keen to meet you here rather than at home or at aunt helena s sally ann s black brows lifted must I 1 muss up my first returning raptures with the infant class this child is rather special enough like you to be in kennel talk your little sister ahl alit the dark one great granny wants me to take abroad well I 1 won t she took a second sandwich I 1 haven t the faintest intention of weighting myself with entangling al I 1 in m utterly comfortably selfish and intend to remain so that s what keeps me young and spry she told him cheerfully du ty doing danas I 1 observe wax portly the man in the wheel chair laughed isn t it astonishing how the dark legend persists absurd of course exactly though cousin adelaide sarah lynn s mother rose to battle with the foolish fable she considers it a quaint and annoying tribal superstition it if sarah lynn is a square peg which she does not for a moment concede she must and shall notwithstanding be snug ly fitted into her round hole and does she bring it off offa he shook his head sarah lynn merely walks through her part ally scowling cousin adelaide gave her a large and heavy coming out party but she didn dian t emerge now I 1 fancy the idea is to get her mar ned ried as expeditiously as possible and whisked away from the local landscape married I 1 thought she was a child 0 nineteen her mother imported a pallid youth named duncan van doren a couple of years ago son of her dearest friend in her native detroit who needed a milder cli mate winters and who match makes busily but to no avail I 1 ah said his third cousin civil ly but without enthusiasm lynn you haven t said whether you liked my musical miles 1 Enormous enormously lyl I 1 wrote you but the letter evidently passed you at sea extraordinarily nice piece of work sally ann the salzberg Fest piece chapter was a gem gemi youre you re having topping notices aren t you not bad someone s coming A door had banged below come up sarah lynn I 1 the man called but thundering steps took the stairs in bounds and a boy of seven teen burst into the room he was fair and freckled with a wide mouth and singularly innocent eyes belll lynn dana greeted him surprised this is sarah lynn s brother sally ann 1 how do you do bill will you have some tea gosh no he said shocked no thanks uncle lynn I 1 can t sit down I 1 got to beat it before sara lynn gets here and don t peep to her that I 1 came will you he turned to the woman with a vivid fusion of embarrassment and urgen cy say listen would you take my sister with you when you go traveling again sally ann smiled at him afraid I 1 coulden couldn t do that bill gee she s simply got to beat it that s all alit she cant can t stick around here much longer I 1 but why he looked nervously out of the window well I 1 can cant t make you understand I 1 guess because I 1 got to make it snappy but she s differ ent from most of the dumb eggs around here and my mother can t see it and she makes her do all the things they do and there ther e s a dumb egg here from detroit that my mother mothers s always pulling for and sarah lynn can cant t see him with a spy glass but I 1 in scared stiff she 11 just sort of boil boll over if you know what I 1 mean and do something dumb he came to a breathless stop his round blue eyes on her face sally ann found him singularly appealing oh I 1 in sure she won t with you to look after her great luck for a girl to have a brother on the job yeah but look I 1 in in high school all day and in bed all night account I 1 in in m training and she has to do all these dumb things and she s absolutely cuckoo about my mother and she wants to please her and when my mother s sore at something why sarah lynn just pretty near dies so it s got me down kind of worrying and he looked out again gee I 1 I 1 gotta take it on the lam here she comeal comes well look you kind of think it over will you uncle lynn you tell her I 1 he plunged out of the room and they heard him leaping down the stairs rather a dear that lad sally ann said she set her cup down and walked to the window to see a girl and a greyhound coming up the road at a smooth and lively speed she s wearing exactly the right dog for her type isn t she quite it s a thing to watch sarah lynn and lightning skim ming over the fields said the man who had sat in a chair for more than 20 years sally ann walked to the fireplace and looked at a pipe rack done in painstaking with some unconvincing red poppies painted in below in unsteady letters was the verse it matters not how strait the gate glate how charged with punishments the scroll iam I 1 am the master of my fate I 1 am the captain of my soul his eyes followed her gravely my word lynn I 1 you still have it yes he said sally ann was remembering the golden curled violet eyed mother of pearl maiden who had made that atrocity for lynn dana in the first frightful months after his accident if only she hadn haan t died I 1 she re fleeted sarah lynn came up so silently that the traveling cousin didn dian t know she was in the room until she heard lynn say hello sarah lynal why didn dian t you bring lightning up I 1 did ask her uncle lynn but she didn dian t care to this afternoon it was an oddly deep voice for a girl sally ally ann meet yourself at nine teen the host said with the air of a showman she saw a thin young thing in a brown knitted sports frock and be ret olive skinned big eyed awk ward now in spite of the graceful swiftness she had observed from the window how do you do my dear he flatters met me you are far nicer than I 1 was am 19 the girl interrogated her gravely looking at her swiftly and away again I 1 don t think I 1 can be how do you take your tea sarah lynn lyn n nice name isn t aa I 1 lemon and cream I 1 mean lem on and sugar she flushed and her cup rattled on its saucer you might safely dive into the thickest cream we she took her casually into the dark sorority never seem to put on upholstery the girl however could not be put at her ease for all the kind pains sally ann had the beelin feeling 9 that she was silent because she was afraid of saying I 1 please please won t you take me away if she spoke and she was sorry for her and a trifle bored and a good deal annoyed her first long looked for ward to visit with lynn she stood up presently eyes on her wrist nearly dixi six I 1 id d forgotten these afternoon dana dinners dinner sl aunt he lena 11 be agitated want to walk along with me sarah lynn they went down together stop ping for a word with the ancestress outside the greyhound brindle brown sharp curved and flat as a book mark sprang upon sarah lynn with extravagant rapture lightning dear she said ab bently the creature went bounding ahead of them she made the traveler think of the figurines in white metal fatur futuristic is tic and exciting which had been a recent rage in pans paris I 1 don t believe I 1 ve ever met a grey hound socially before are they satisfactory is I 1 think so she t mind very well but I 1 don t mind very muan sally ann finished for her no I 1 think it gives her more character all the other dogs are so busy heeling and retrieving and charging and obeying she was clearly more comfortable now fall ing into rhythm with the older worn wom ans an s long strides I 1 know they e s strive tri v e t to 0 p please 1 e a s e thin there is something e g r rather a th e r s servile e r v il e about it crawling back to lick the foot that kicks them dying on their master s grave lightning now would hardly die on your grave un 4 as at 7 vick y exar sarah lynn gave a sudden laugh deep and brief oh that s so absolutely true less it fitted in conveniently with her regular plans for her demise sarah lynn gave a sudden laugh deep and brief oh that s so ab sol true I 1 well here we are at aunt he lena s nice to have seen you sarah lynn I 1 d like a walk with you and lightning soon her hostess was waiting in the hall dressed for dinner and there was the pleasantly muted sound of other danas foregathered in the living room be done and down in 20 mm min utes aunt helena the guest en cou raged her the limp brown lace had been painstakingly pressed and her bath was drawn but a short and stocky figure rose up before her miss dana danal if I 1 might bother you a moment penny how do you do miss Pennington 9 TO BE CONTINUED |