Show LADY BLANCHE FAR M A romance of the commonplace by frances parkinson inson keyes service copyright by parkinson keyes keyei CHAPTER XIII continued IS 1 I dont understand that either of course but I 1 do know that some of the things we weve ve always spoken of as supernatural seem to occur much more frequently since the war or else people are not so ashamed or so afraid to speak about them as they used to be I 1 believe the body and the spirit are in some way much more closely interwoven than weve realized one reason why we must try so hard to make the one worthy of the other ive always known they were closely interwoven in philip oh mary will will tc he be much changed do you think ue he was not he looked indeed so serene so supremely happy that blanche kneeling beside him burst for the first time into healing tears and the nurse who had taken care of him told her that he had suffered very little it avas was nil all so quick she said lie ile simply let us as send for you and we really think it was necessary until it was too late he said you must be saved all the grief and care you could held hed just had a letter ile ha got it in time so that he could read it asked blanche with such a sudden leap of joy in her voice that mary wondered instantly what had been in that special letter oh yes he was awfully happy over it that was plain to see and now that ive met you mrs starr I 1 dont wonder he wanted to save a lovely child like you from all the anxiety he could ile he suffer much honestly and just before he died but I 1 dont know as I 1 ought to tell tel you you must P something strange happened yes said blanche breathlessly looking from the nurse to mary ile he had been having some trouble with his breathing he was unconscious for a little while I 1 thought and delirious off and on suddenly he opened his eyes and looked toward t the he foot of the bed sallins na as if he caw something there that pleased him then he turned to me and said you did send for my wife after all you I 1 told him no that wed done just as he wanted about everything ile he looked kind of puzzled and went on but ashes standing there with her arms stretched out dressed all in white she looks exactly as she did the last night might we had together the first night I 1 really found her blanche laid her cheek against the quiet hand lying on the spread go on she said after a moment iwas stupid enough to look there myself for he kind of startled me but of course there was nothing so I 1 shook my head and said not to worry that everything was all right the puzzled expression faded gradually and he smiled again and then he spoke just as if he was talking to someone what did he say so youve come little countess but you ever come to anyone again tills this must be the last time and im not sorry its all been so perfect so perfect while it lasted do you know what hashed flashed into my mind I 1 dont know why there tiny any real connection I 1 that line about a full fill perfect and sufficient sacrifice I 1 11 was seemed to blanche even in her first grief she bhe found after nil all the compe compensation ansa the glory of achievement that bhe ache thought she had been denied she did not ask she did not need any longer to understand site she needed only to feel and as soon as her mental and physical exhaustion left her to work slie she worked all tile the rest of the winter and the next summer and every woman in fl amstead worked with tier her france with its thousands of widows was three thousand miles away but blanche was in their midst through her berthey they reached out and found those others when fall came she was waa not working any longer but tile the rest of if hamstead thinking of her worked harder than ever for she was lying very still and happy in the big four poster bed in the soft colored chamber of carte blanche with the golden go liten downy head bend of phillp philip starrs son against tier her breast CHAPTER XIV moses and algy manning were coming home from school together they had bad tit la three years grown noticeably taller and thinner their faces as usual would have been improved by the ministrations of a handkerchief and a wo sh cloth but oale gale hainlin who had been riding for some hours over roads that not infrequently cause caused him to strike the top of the car or skid kart into a ditch leaned out ou of the window and hailed them with delight its as he be caught eight of them stop a minute morrison Morr lson hello bello you ou kids I 1 climb in here going home from school C Y tee replied the two small boys together accepting his invitation with alacrity and benting themselves beside beide r him without further waste of words getting along pretty well FI fine n e answered moses alays in kind kindergarten e ra arten im in the second grade il good I 1 for you I 1 can you write your name naine yet write my exclaimed moses with injured pride 1 I kin write poems 11 1 gale coughed no really he politely it if you can fame and fortune await you unfortunately there are so many young gentlemen who only think they can they cant really ill show you said moses who did not understand the greater part of this speech but felt it on the whole unimportant whether he did or not removing the cover from his dinner pall and depositing on the seat beside him two apple cores half a doughnut a package of gum a yard or so of twine a jackknife and a second reader he finally pulled out a piece of blue paper on the outside of which was written in large letters two bolmes by al manning and handed banded them to the doubting thomas in triumph ther was wag a bee and read gale ile he sat on a tree and he herd a sound and he made a boand at the sound so thata all so BO call go on said moses without false modesty there was a workman who carried carr leil a can and misname his name was smaller and he went to the miller and sat on a piller and all ther was wag herd of mr you should try the atlantic monthly said gale folding and returning the paper but tf if that appreciative there are several other magazines I 1 will give you a list it if you like or I 1 will undertake to place these for you myself luy self for a small commission sion 1 I guess so said moses feeling again that he be was missing the point somewhere 1 I showed lem cm to mary and she laughed and told me to take lem em to school and let my teacher see lem em 11 ilow Is mary gale asked well she looks kinder peaked was you th chinkin inkin of comin to sa say goodby good by to her something of that sort why because replied moses 1 I if I 1 was you thomas gray tried it and he suited at all with the way she said goodby good by I 1 mean I 1 moses and I 1 were under the sofa playing lion only many and thomas thomaa know it said algy aigy in an illuminating lumina ting aside she shook hands nice and polite like ashes taught us to do it continued moses 1 I 1 dont know what more was wanted but there was something lie he said so twice volunteered algy aigy and then he said mary there a any ny chance for me at all and she said no im sorry but there and thomas continued the faith ful chorus said there ever any chance for anyone except paul and mary stiffened up and said paul threw his chance away what happened next nest asked gale feeling very much as it if he had been eavesdropping himself thomas spoke right up as it if he w was as kinder mad well he said are you coln on remembering remember in that all the rest of your life stead of that he tried good and hard and plenty to find it ag again atil ali ah remarked gale and then mary told him she c 0 discuss it with him lie ile was home just for a few hours before he went to france that was most a year ago no ones tried it on tier her since suppose said gale producing a that you yon RO go to Wallace wallacetown town with morrison Morr lson and have a spree you von might enjoy it and I 1 er run the risk of having any lions under the sofa while I 1 was therel there I 1 mary was very glad to set see gale Fl amlin and she did not dot attempt to als alse ulse the fait fact ile he told tod hy her a rood good del deal of boston news that pleased and interested tier her while he drank the tea and ate the cookler that she brought him before he asked ached her any questions how flow Is mrs starr I 1 want to see tier lier tool too I 1 oil oh ashes she a wonderfully wonder full so well and so busy and so happy with the habyl iles hes the loveliest little crea creature 1 cousin lane jane worships him too you must see him before you go ile he like n manning at all lies he s the image of his father I 1 am very glad she has him does she have good news of her brother too she have any gale did riot not answer immediately im sorry if ive made a stupid mistake he said at last you mention any bad news the last time you were la in boston no mo I 1 dont don t often talk about taul so I 1 have observed remarked gale dryly mary flared instantly men are not fair to women she said bitterly im sorry to say often true hut but its no reason why women be fair to men two wrongs never made a right you know are you on trying to tell me ma watt Is for we to 1 daf I i im trying to tell you what la is wrong it would be wicked if you never married wicked I 1 for you not for every vioma woman why for me especially you ought to guess and ive seen you with men I 1 know how much charm you have zio no matter how you try to hide iti and how much power no matter how little you choose to use it and ive seen you with chil dren your patience and your wisdom and your loving kindness philip starr has done wonderful things for the place and the woman he lovid loved by iter death but noth nothing ingi i to what you can do for the place and the man you may love by if you only will the girl rose suddenly and turned I 1 away from him gale crossed to her quickly and put his hand on her shoulder so you refused thomas grayr gray he asked quietly yes there was never any ques tion of thomas or of me yes there was some question of you I 1 thought you knew that will could you answer it any differently ferent ly now no I 1 or ever do you think no I 1 im sure I 1 never could then how are you going to answer paul when he comes home paul ever coming home said mary steadily so steadily in fact that a man who knew her less well than gale hamlin did would have been completely deceived by her tone what happened mary he asked gently please tell me he was wounded last may she said in a hard voice not seriously cousin violet had a letter written by paul himself in the hospital saying the wound was just a scratch that hed be out again for the next big scrap yes he was ile he was at belleau wood and chateau thierry then he was listed us as prisoner or missing we heard since that was nine months ago yes there were very few marines taken prisoner we thought after the armistice was signed wed have some word and you no not a syllable we hope 4 S hope anyway that he was killed it would w be much less horrible than the other then with a swift change of tone she exclaimed dont you ever read the casualty lists yourself ON oh I 1 believe you knew all the time yes I 1 did but I 1 wanted you to tell me yourself ive been waiting ever since last summer to see if you I 1 wanted to know just how you felt about it do you know now 1 I think I 1 do mary dont yu ever bend bend 7 yes because if you dont rn fan a afraid some day youre going to break you did very nearly you know once before you tou remember the tha old fable 1 I have been doing what I 1 could gale went on its as mary did not answer to locate boente your cousin ever since I 1 found out the situation but so far I 1 discovered anything now however im starting for E europe drope myself almost immediately until now it has seemed as if I 1 could be most useful here I 1 am glad that rt at last there appear to be ways in which I 1 can help over there reconstruction investigation I 1 dont need to tell you there my dear there ile he waited patiently for the th storm to pass stroking very gently the soft hair about the hidden face tie ile waited it seemed to him film endlessly for mary was weeping with the abandonment the utter hopelessness that marks the ultimate despair of thomb strong souls whose fortitude enable 9 them to restrain their grief until it reaches its culmination and the shattering of whose spirit Is all the more tragic because it Is so sudden 1 feinle I ale heart twisted in his breast tit at the sight bight of her unrestraint and tile the thought of her agony lie ile knew he was powerless to help her except b surrounding her with the sense of his infinite compassion it was a long time before she raised her head and as she did so still far from composed the floor door was ans flung a nc eremon cius y open and algy and moses entered entered noisily tile the dollars all spent announced moses well said gale with a slight sign it tasted lasted just about long enough I 1 rather wish though I 1 had given you a dollar and a half I 1 will you take me over and introduce me to your new little cousin mrs elleott ni El llott who was passing the afternoon with violet saw him walk down the cobblestone path with a small boy bov on either side of him from her point of vantage in the north par lor window violet did not receive her callers in the kitchen like mn air cray she did not consider it select to do so look here violet called mrs fillotte excitedly if there aint mr air hamlin comin down beths front walk I 1 ile he dont take no for an an sw awer r very easy floes does tie no said violet and mary alary say yes very easily either I 1 cant think what that girls made of she used to be always laughing and sing ing but nowadays now a days daya ashes so glum except with the children that you can hardly get a word out of her and you cant asir her the most twist question that she lose her tem per and shea never shown tte tic slightest lightest feeling about paull TO AM |