Show LE by BEH WILLIAMS C i ben ames wl wt llama harris SYNOPSIS barbara sentry seeking to sober up her escort johnny boyd on the way home from a party slaps slap shim him and attracts the attention of a policeman whom the boy knocks down As he arrests him professor brace ot of har her vard comes to the rescue and drives bar bara home on the way they see barbara a father driving from the d of h a office at 12 45 but when he gets home he tells his wife it is 11 15 and that he a been play ng bridge at the club next day sentry reports his off offee ce has been robbed and a M ss as wines former temporary employee killed the even ng papers luridly confirm the story and sentry takes it hard mary elder daughter in love w th ne I 1 ray young in terne at the hosp tal where she works goes off to dinner at gus loran s sentry s part ner ath w th mrs loran lorans s broiler brot er 3 jimmy i ammy endle mr and mrs sentry call on old mrs sentry and barbara alone receives dan fisher reporter who adv ses sea her not to talk phil sentry son at yale Is d stubbed at the poss ble bie impi and suspicion cusp don of mss M ss wines absence from her rooms for three days during august he goes home to help sentry is arrested and booked tor for murder dan fisher exola ns the evidence against him that the robbery was a fake the sate safe opened by one who knew the comb naton nat on changed since M ss wines employment there that a back door key a du cupl cate of sentry a was found in the g rl a purse and that sentry too had been away those three days in august brace calls and backs up barbara in her den a al that sentry could have done it because of the dis cre pancy of t me between the slaying and their seeing sentry on the road ph I 1 show ing the po ce over the house ands his strong box open a d h a gun wh ch cb only his father knew of gone meanwhile tl e po ce find the stolen money burned in the furnace mrs antry sees her husband who ho a vears his inno ence ard te Is her he had bad n of the rot bery and mu the n ht before but failed to call the police and came home at 12 30 mary a w h ne I 1 ray and runs funs away with jimmy endle to the caribbean car Carb bean anda L ada dane friend of barbara and phil tries to comfort phil CHAPTER VI continued 14 A curious crowd stared at them as they came out and phil said as they drove away you can wear a veil next time we come mother I 1 shall not wear a veil she an fighting to forget arthur to forget how gray and lifeless the flesh on his cheeks had seemed and how dull his eyes were she must forget so that she could be brave enough to come to him again at home barbara was waiting with questions they told her he was fine was cheerful confident and unafraid they brought her back to comfort for a while dean hare a day or two later brought falkman to see mrs sen try and phil phil was not at first favorably impressed the lawyer was a big man bald save for a fringe of red hair above his ears with the wide loose mouth of the natural orator and phil thought he studied the rugs and the furniture with a shrewd appraising eye and he saw his mother visibly conquer her distaste for the man she asked after introductions were done are you familiar with my husband husbands s case mr falkman Fal kran I 1 see the newspapers have con evicted him her eyes hardened you think him guilty falkman suddenly smiled and phil at that smile felt a quick liking and trust for him the lawyer said mrs sentry no man was ever electrocuted on a newspaper ver diet her eyes closed at that word then opened again as he went on if I 1 could have my choice he said I 1 should choose to defend men who have already been convicted in the newspapers when everyone is con vinced a man is guilty the smallest gram grain of evidence in his favor has a tremendous effect in provoking doubt of his guilt he added and from the practical point of view such a situation makes it easier to disqualify jurors easier to get the ury jury we want mrs sentry had not surrendered her question you think him guilty 1 she insisted no man is guilty till a court has found him so after a trial by due process and till all appeals have failed I 1 asked whether you think my husband huband guilty he smiled again his smile had won many a jury he said reason ably mrs sentry I 1 haven t even talked with him I 1 don t know his side of the case at all I 1 only know the published facts mr hare has told me nothing the evidence is damaging difficult but there are a thousand explanations that might meet the situation as it appears phil saw that his mother too was being won to liking she put her question in another way if you thought him guilty would you de fend him falkman smiled again even a guilty man is entitled to his day in court to a fair trial to all the protection afforded by the law then he answered her directly yes mrs sentry even if I 1 knew mr sentry guilty I 1 would defend him with all my powers mrs sentry nodded surrendered her point you said she suggested that any one of a thousand ex plantations pla nations might cover all the evi dence an infinite number yes have you anything in mind mr sentry may suggest some thing she started to speak to tell him that arthur had found the girl dead then remembered phil was here and caught herself falkman went on you see mrs sentry until I 1 talk to your has band remind him of small circum stances he has himself forgotten I 1 can make no plan they talked a further while and mrs sentry said at last that she would ad let him know her decision next day she used the interval to consult arthur s mother old mrs sentry said falkman Fal kran oh yes I 1 ve heard of him mrs sentry explained I 1 should have preferred one of our friends of course I 1 hoped for a certain dign dignity ityl but mr hare says we must have a good criminal lawyer and he recommended mr falkman the old woman said harshly di dignity 9 ellen sometimes you then she caught herself spoke al most in apology of course you d prefer some fine name but falk ran s a clever man arthur will need a good lawyer better take him so it was decided but mrs sen try thought driving home even arthur s mother knows the whole phil and so are we were glad to have her come to you and mrs urban mrs sentry had always thought of al mrs urban a as s a mouse of a woman with no mind of her own yet she found in her now strength and loyal understanding of the others mrs furness invited mrs sentry to luncheon but she declined I 1 will not be made a show of she promised herself and mrs harry murr s persistent ad vances vance likewise she put aside there was one loss which hurt her keenly she and mrs war waring ing had been closest friends and the farm lies were intimate the two moth ers had even discussed the bih bill ty that phil might marry ann war ing but a week after mr sentry was indicted mrs waring took ann away to europe to school there the decision was sudden mrs sentry knew it had not been planned in ad vance and mrs waring left with out edep a note to say good by mrs sentry never spoke of this hurt to anyone in the same way she ceased to resent the curious groups of people who drove past the 11 I 1 see the newspapers have convicted him world knows I 1 expect all my friends know all of them are feeling sorry for me oh hate hateful full and she thought again desperate ly IY perhaps mr falkman can per suade some woman to say she was arthur s mistress that he went to her that night pay her to say it perhaps no price would be too high to save him I 1 and she reflected that by thinking this she was admitting to herself her actual opinion of mr falkman and she felt a contamination of the spirit felt herself unclean to be pitied by her friends to seek the help of scoundrels nevertheless for all their sakes if arthur was to be saved mr falk ran it must be the weeks that elapsed before mr sentry could be brought to trial were long but they were curiously empty and mrs sentry used to activity came in the end to accept this emptiness to understand that their world would hereafter be thus constricted whatever the outcome of the trial it was not so much that her friends dropped away some did so yet others upon whom she had not counted surprised her by their understanding loyalty but the larger world in which she had been active all the organized benevolence in which she had tak en a viro gous part now though with polite expressions of regret nevertheless closed its doors against her the resignations which she felt it her proud duty to off offer er were accepted she hid as she could her fierce resentful pain she missed mary dreadfully clung passionately to barbara and phil linda came often to the house and mrs sentry thought perhaps linda will marry phil even after this I 1 had hoped ann waring the are so fine but linda is nice he might do worse and she thought barbara will marry too she s S a child after this is over she will forget as children do I 1 must be sure she marries well the right marriage means so much especially for a girl once I 1 get barbara married I 1 can rest can surrender for me there can nev never er be a new beginning I 1 am too old old old and ican I 1 can never face peo pie again without snowing allowing their thoughts thought imagining their whis pers she would have nursed her hurts in solitude but certain friends per aisted in their friendliness mrs dane came often quietly loyal nev er insistent and when mrs sentry suggested in the tone of one doing a conscious duty that linda might better stay away mrs dane said simply she s very fond of barbara and house in cars and even alighted to pluck flowers or break down branches off the shrubbery for souvenirs only when one night some one dug up a young tree in the front 1 yard vard and took it away did she accept district attorney flood s sug that a policeman stand guard in front of the house night and day for all these things mrs sentry found strength and courage but one thing she could not face she could not read the newspapers or look at them since the first few days re porters had been kind carl settle bettle had been of service in that respect he ue had put through with the pub lishers of the other papers an agree ment not to print photographs of mrs sentry or phil or barbara and to use their names as little as possible in news stories when mrs sentry thanked him he said I 1 don t deserve all the credit one of our reporters a young man named fisher suggested it bar bara was in the room and he looked at her smiling a little and ex he had met you he said I 1 think he had you particularly in mind barbara nodded yes I 1 like him she agreed we ve seen each other since once or twice mrs sentry protested seen him barbara 7 where in town barbara confessed he has tea with grandmother and me sometimes it s perfectly prop er mother grandmother likes him but a reporter barbara barbaral 1 carl bettle c chuckled whoa there mrs Sen sentry tryl I 1 he protested reporters aren t so bad nowadays you re prejudice dl 1 I in prejudiced against any young man who meets my daughter secretly barbara cried oh now mother that s silly I 1 it s not secretly with grandmother there but even if it was mrs sentry said yielding of course dear I 1 m afraid it really is prejudice ask him to have tea here too barbara if you wish I 1 m at grandmother S 9 now more than I 1 m at home I 1 barbara reminded her and this was in fact true old mrs sentry had since her son s arrest surrendered dered to physical immobility her mind was as keen her tongue as sharp as ds ever but she stayed in her room at the hotel where she lived had her meals served there even submitted to an indignity she ha had long declined and hired a companion who was also nurse and masseuse and phil had used the old woman s helplessness to dissuade bar bara from her desire to see her father you and I 1 have to make it as easy as we can for mother barb I 1 he pointed out and moth er cant can t be with father and with grandmother too and she can t go to the jail without me so grandmother s your job I 1 don t you see so barbara yielded phil thought she yielded very easily and spent much time with her grandmother and old mrs sentry by degrees forgot to use toward her that tone of sharp disapproval which had so long been her habit toward both girls there was during these weeks some thing deeply and wistfully appealing about barbara she was thin her eyes seemed larger her color had faded she looked at people i eagerly anxiously as though hoping 1 someone would say what no one ever did say and grandmother sentry was very gentle toward her warned mrs sentry once that child is ready to crack ellen look out for her mrs sentry nodded I 1 do all I 1 cani grandmother sentry sought in her own ways to serve she welcomed barbara and welcomed professor brace or dan fisher when one or the other came with barbara t to be with her the old woman did not like I 1 professor brace and she told barbara so he s a middle westerner of course but he s a rank puritan at heart barbara believes in the mortification of the flesh or something of the kind believes in duty the wrong kind if he were a spartan he d nurse a gnawing fox to his bosom any man with sense knows that you ought to dodge suffering when you can he s the grin and beardt bear it type he s been sort of nice barbara argued standing by I 1 know the boy atoo stood d on the burning decal anyone but a fool would dive over overboard boardl 1 whence all but him had fled to barbara reminded her but there are a lot of us still on the burning deck grandmother and he doesn doean t have to stay he s just doing it to be friendly like him do you child it s sort of nic nice e to have friends the old woman saw I 1 in the girl s eyes a secret terror a mounting fear she had seen there before and she was silenced whenever th they e y spoke of mr sentry and ba barbara aba r a c cried ried he didn dian t do it grand moth eri erl old mrs sentry always assented always spoke quick reassurances su rances barbara was grown so pitifully frail TO BE CONTINUED |