Show auwel haw abw COMES COM L I 1 ohl a MOMENT by Y ELINOR MAXWELL 0 ARCADIA HOUSE SERVICE SYNOPSIS mary loring and her father jim an in effectual attorney meet a train which brings his wealthy sister in law unmarried linnie corswell Cot swell and her friend leila lelia ormsby di divorcee v arcee for a christmas visit waiting at home tor for them are mary 9 mother her younger sister ellen her fa Is ther s nagging maiden sister aunt mamie and peter the baby of the family at the depot dr christopher cragg helps the guests with their luggage though secretly in love with doctor cragg mary has paid little attention to her beauty in leaving her aunt linnie urges mary to vis t her in new york but mary refuses at work in a rental library where she spends her spare time writing short stories mary is d s bayed when her father tells her that he has been let out as railroad attorney the fees of which were almost the sole support of his family to earn money she dec des to begin wr ting in earnest CHAPTER ill III continued 3 mary placed her typewriter and paper on mr hormel s oak desk at the rear of the shop inserted a sheet of paper and pounded out a title and her name at sea by mary lor ing for half an hour she sat there cudgeling her bram brain her vague thoughts for a plot angling jangling about in her mind along with the harassing and insurmountable questions what will we do now that dad s been let out where will money come from how will mother react when she hears at last her fingers fell upon the keys she had an idea A simple straightforward idea about a large family at loose ends financially she wrote with eager haste the homely fluid thoughts of her story conceiving themselves in her fertile mind passing magically through her fingers and on to the sheet of white paper before her at last it was finished nearly five pages of neatly compiled thoughts of swift clearly defined action she had done it she had at last written a story that seemed even to her own ariti cal mind to be worthy of editorial notice of course she thought ill have to read it over again and again and revise it and retype it but at least I 1 in on my way it was not until the following f night just before six that christo pher cragg made his appearance at hormel s shop mary had re typed her manuscript slipped the story into a long envelope and di erected at sea to the magazine she prayed would accept it the front door opened and mary a copy of sabatini s most recent tale of adventure clasped mid air in her hand turned about the late doctor cragg he an winced with a grin people will have babies in this town and thus my dear mary keep enterprising young doctors away from the best sellers but thank god for it A baby yesterday at four 0 blocki A baby today at half past three paying babies doctor cragg mary demanded in mock serious ness mess I 1 do hope you haven t been wasting your time chris brought his eyebrows to gether in what was supposed to em an expression of severest rep dimand any baby is a paying proposition my dear miss loring lor for a guy that s just starting out in business experience my child is nine tenths of the price or some thing to that effect however if you must know one of the arrivals into this vale of tears will bring me absolutely nothing in dollars and cents the other well do you think fifty dollars is too much to charge for the safe sane and most er modernistic of deliveries 9 fifty dollars why its it s really pretty cheap I 1 think providing the proud new parents possess the fifty I 1 ve saved your book for you but not I 1 must admit without consid erable difficulty it s hidden away on a shelf in the back of the shop A bit of favoritism I 1 in showing doctor cragg come on back and root it out for you he followed her to the shadowy rear room of the shop noting as bl did so the valiant way she held sh shoulders the slender lines of WIT young back it its s up here sae said pointing to the shelf that teemed deemed to be the carry all for every thing not wanted for display and before he could say anything she had ascended the ladder I 1 could have done that he re rated here mary let me I 1 no you wouldn t be able to find it I 1 ve hidden it behind a lot of trash back there somewhere and reaching beyond her distance she lost her balance and toppled to the floor for an instant she felt herself to be swirling in a great black void she couldn coulden t remember where she was or what had happened then she felt chris arms about her and heard his anxious voice maryl mary darling dar lingi he was saying are you hurt dearest 7 Dar darling lingl 1 look admel ate me say some thing I 1 he had called her dearest and darling he was clutching her close to his heart as if he would never let her go as if as if he loved heri herl and now his lips were touching her ier c closed 1 os ed eyelids maryl he pleaded can t you hear me darling 7 are you all right mary lifted a limp hand and swiftly fleetingly touched his lean cheek I 1 m all right she murmured thinking I 1 in happier than I 1 have ever been in all my life he loves mel me chris loves me his lips were on hers now bring ing them back to joyous conscious ness mess I 1 love you mary he was saying in quick breathless words I 1 ve loved you from the very first moment I 1 saw you darling that night last summer at the country club but I 1 t tell you so my god I 1 t tell you why not chris f why hy be afraid to tell mea silently he lifted her to her feet and gently firmly pushed her from him because he said his voice clipped and tense I 1 haven t the right I 1 I 1 in going to be married next month to a girl I 1 ve known all my life with a vague movement of her hand mary sought for something to hold to found the corner of a tab table I 1 e and clung to it thank god the gathering dusk prevented his see ing her face with any clarity thank god she hadn haan t told him that she too cared desperately he would ar CO nothing s sensible for a pretty woman except a good marriage linnie decreed never know now he would never know she managed at last to speak and even to her own ears her voice sounded calm almost careless she said good luck to you chris I 1 wish you the greatest happiness happiness the man repeated sardonically happiness I 1 and then well I 1 must be getting on mai mary are you sure you re all righta are you positive nothing nothings s hurt nothing but my heart she thought but aloud she said 4 quite positive chris you aren t going without your book are you chris was swinging away from her and towards the entrance door I 1 don t want the damned book he almost shouted and disappeared into the darkened dreariness of main street there goes my very life I 1 mary said to herself and now that that is over there s nothing left for me to do but hitch my wagon to a star it wont won t be the kind though that aunt linnie meant it will be a career ill mail at sea tonight and tonight I 1 in going to tell the family that after all I 1 shall ac capt aunt linnie s invitation to visit her in new york I 1 can write there perhaps really write and I 1 cant can t stay here I 1 I 1 simply couldn coulden t bear to stay here and meet the girl is going to marry jim and janet loring were quite amenable when mary informed them that night that she had decided to accept aunt linnie s avi tation to visit her in new york janet always eager to give her chil dren every possible advantage felt that a sojourn in her sister sisters s corn com fordable for table apartment would be a great treat for mary As for jim he thought mary must have her chance god bless her herl A change will do her a world of good and linnie will be a fine influence she s a wholesome worn wom an in spite of her sophistication and she has both feet on the ground mary could pay her own expenses fortunately there was the mag ent balance of ninety seven dol lars in her savings account a bal ance that represented meticulous saving over a period of five years with a feeling of daring she went to the first national bank the fol lowing morning and drew out every cent of it this final gesture buoyed her up considerably the entire family went to the sta tion to see her off don t worry too much dad dear she whis to her father as he held her in his loving farewell embrace he looked so gaunt standing there on the wind swept platform waiting for the tram train to pull in so sort of hunted mary had kissed him first then with terror in her heart at his appearance returned to him after bidding the others goodby good by to give him one last hug she thought for a mad instant of panic I 1 don t believe I 1 U ever see him again oh god help him help us all alli lelia met her at the grand cen aral station a redcap already in tow and guided her dexterously through a milling crowd that had gathered to pay homage to robert taylor boarding a nearby tram train for chicago well we 11 find a taxi leha lelia said putting an arm through mary s as soon as we plow through these movie fans who are doing their best to get a lock of that poor man mans s hair aunt linnie sent me down to meet you and to inform you post haste that she is simply enchant ed over your change of heart about visiting her she s attending a guild meeting at saint thomas this after noon but shell she 11 be home by the time we get there aunt linnie true to leha lelia s promise was at home when the two girls arrived at the smart park avenue apartment house rising quickly from her deep chintz cov ered chair before the fireplace she came the length of the room to welcome mary with outstretched arms Dar darling lingl she cried im so glad so very glad that you de aided to come did leha lelia tell you that she s staying with me too mary laughed I 1 poor leha lelia have a chance to tell me anything I 1 she replied I 1 was so busy ex claiming about the sights and lights and sounds and smells I 1 and you haven t seen anything yet oh mary you 11 adore new york well about leha lelia here she s sublet her own apartment for a few months contemplating as is her habit a dash down south later on so I 1 prevailed upon her to come and stay with me in the meantime and thus brighten a few moments of the declining years of my life and at the same time save me a large number of precious dollars on hotel bills leha lelia added with a grin removing her fur turban and brushing her hair back from her forehead come on mary I 1 il show you our room and you can rest crest your hat and coat as addie I 1 says I 1 addie addle aunt linnie s very pretty mulat to maid counselor bodyguard and friend she s been with me for ten years aunt amnie added and she s a treasure ring for her right this minute leha lelia we 11 R have some tea I 1 know mary s tired from her journey and needs something to brace her up we don t dine till eight eight mary repeated auto mati cally darling you re in a dream said linnie I 1 feel as if I 1 were aunt lieme mary admitted I 1 ve never be fore seen a room to compare with this or such loads of flowers flower sf or so many photographs of fascinating looking people I 1 well you re going to meet some of those intriguing creatures sun day I 1 m giving a party to intro duce you to my friends and she added dryly I 1 hope you U R find them just as fetching as the cam era has made them but I 1 doubt it mary placed a hand on linnie s shoulder oh but you austn t give parties for me aunt amme I 1 in here just to see you and to work to work what doing for beav en s sake writing aunt linnie mary re turned her dark eyes wide and serious I 1 I 1 want to be an author 11 aunt linnie uttered a little shriek heaven help us I 1 an author I 1 darling you re far too pretty to spend your time messing around with words I 1 ve never met a woman writer yet who t look like the witch of endora besides the cots wells have never been noted for their brains it s been all they could do to write a fairly decent letter don t discourage the child linnie admonished leila lelia theres an exception to every rule I 1 think it s grand that mary wants to try her hand at something sensible nothing nothings s sensible for a pretty woman except a good marri marriage aget to linnie firmly decreed I 1 know because I 1 ve never been either beautiful or mar married riedl 1 CHAPTER IV the days which preceded linnie corswell Cot swell s cocktail party were like a dream to mary loring beautiful enchanting unreal yet bedeviled by the ever present worry over home conditions in hawkinsville Haw kinsville beset at all times with thought of christopher cragg aunt linnie dragged her triumphantly through one mad orgy of shopping after another on to lunch at the marguery or pierre s thence to a first showing at knoedler s or harlow s then on to someone s apartment for tea finally back home for a quick bath and change to evening clothes and dinner at the plaza or the waldorf swank looking boxes of all sizes shapes and colors were daily being delivered to her from the shops and although she reveled in the luxuries which aunt linnie insisted on presenting to her her enjoyment was decidedly tempered by the thought I 1 the money spent on these frivolities would just about support mother and petey and dad for a month I 1 I 1 suppose I 1 do look well enough she conceded to the person in the mirror but what difference does it makee chris is marrying someone else and this thing called beauty doesn doean t get you to first base in a literary career it was at this moment that leha lelia taking a hasty shower in the adjoin ing bathroom called to her mary maryl I 1 say maryl did you find the letters that came for you in the afternoon mail mary applying a dash of color to her lips glanced towards the door which leha lelia had opened a fraction of an inch in order to be heard above the noise of the shower no I 1 didn dian t leha lelia where are they Is there anything from homec you 11 find them on the bedside table propped against the lamp I 1 believe there was one from haw kinsville sorry I 1 forgot to tell you 0 sooner mary s lipstick fell to the dressing in 9 table and with a mad dash she made for the table between the twin beds two letters reclined in against the lamp the top one she could tell at a glance was fron ellen dear ellen darling ellen she hungrily tore open the envelope and began to read el len lens s cramped school schoolgirl girl scrawl then having got just to the end of darling mary we do miss you so her eyes wandered to the other letter that awaited her it was a long legal looking aff affair air her address was typed and in the upper left hand corner was printed those mag ic words the national weekly placing the fluttering pages of ellen s letter on the bed she gazed as if fascinated at the impressive businesslike envelope staring jig at her from rom beneath the lamp s soft glow TO BE CONTINUED |