Show N 0 NORRIS 0 copy kathleen norris X XI continued IS r heart rose into her throat it here now larrys car now be seven hank bank goodness youre herel here he big and businesslike in ills his big n overcoat and driving cap ne e give we me your bag hop in I 1 ant have bare known what to do if if 1 happened to be inside having rr or something by the luckiest ace in the world fitch telephoned ll 11 want me in there round eleven JT took the message ey y were in the car they had bad roel del monte behind them and were italy moving north if tony had any doubts any mis misgivings misgiving givin S it they ley a gone now the world was all en in the soft twili twilight with larbig shoulder beside her te have to face it tony that we ve each other and that we cant each other ini im not going to tell abat you mean to me I 1 hll ahne ight the only thing to do 10 Is to lit it and work it out somehow one me of the things he added after ace that holds me to her strong strong she did eer thing for roe roc re I 1 got a start we had a buy boy lost him any talk of our sepa aig ig now would break her heart S not done anything mean or small s treated like that she loves me pd ind your little finger he went as tony was silent Is more to than anything else in the world Q way you pull on your hat the your mouth works the whole of brown and ion long lying as you i today in the sand ne he stopped r a n long time neither spoke then said staunchly vell veil im going away I 1 dont W w how bow I 1 can my heartel heart ll be like tr etched piece of elastic between ii and new york I 1 cant stay vi here ie you or could see you or could phone bione you if you were divorced ly said even then id not have an I 1 r row to hoe people like ruth much they feel too much a against alast younger woman who draws a man ly from an older wife rut put at leat leant make you a home id have chila ahll wed travel the other way id e myself and late hate me id d never hate aou ou id want to home to you darling not from i there seems to be a blight on me ly Y said somberly 1 I dont seem lo 10 0 things as other girls do ill ill tell you what you seem to me man sold said you seem to me the it wonderful woman in the world orld a nan who Is going to be admired id d fol followed loed wherever she goes lse in my heart and my mind and soul all day and all night tony ng and brown and beautiful with most amazing mouth in the world ithe the most amazing voice and the blest laugh your eyes were like i dart dark blue flames down on tile the ch today with the shadow of the rock behind you yon its ts too bad tony said after ft a ile ie in a wistful echo of her own ee ae its too bad larry could 0 ue o ive ve just thought could we ne tell th tha tell ruthl ruth ill no I 1 suppose not it would be a thunderbolt to her would shale shake the very foundations her life no woman felt so aried as ruth and she loves you A t I 1 believe to her mother and that perfectly logical mind of 6 would begin working on it im ning things fearing things shed eyou and me ine too ruths you w her and you love her he added tl essly but ruths not not easy nt lint things like that I 1 dont know gitany it any woman would be but ashes last one to to see our side im s its as much as her emeralds are her car or her income and she it see it any other way ay tunny funny thing marriage it rry id never want to hold bold any n like that flint oh ob im so sorry my ir im not sorry that all this hap ned aed tony said after a moment s taken all the joy out of my life t its put something else in better in joy ill never lose that any iy ay that I 1 love a man want him int to belong to him steady larry said im steady le been thinking it av over ive just come to see how it all I 1 cant compromise and u cant get free and so im going fay ay its been coming to me as we ove dve along here im going immell aly im going to tell cliff CHIT that the ws papers sending me ill get out larry cleared his throat its too bad it has to happen this ay y 11 he said mildly tony jumbled herself hersi elf up against ills his spoke in a different tone yve we have the rest of this drive wry try she said lets forget that lybe its all well have it was quite dark now while they d been talking the car had been jiving iving northward through the dark asses of the hills tind ind through the wide valley of tile the santa clara ire ere was a smell ot of grass and earin 1 of dust and the sharp dews matle marlc it makes m mo feel n little giri again to bo be going home in the gloaming like this how simple it all was tor for us th then n 11 it and maybe when one gets to be very old larry eighty or so it all goes back to that to being happy and managed and taking every day for every day 1 I love that mind of yours tony the hie way it works for a while there ans silence while the miles flowed by presently the girl said would ruth mind ills she would surely mind liow how we feel about each other larry answered yes of coursel course but I 1 ut I 1 was won debing mint she would liae hae said it if I 1 imd had said quite openly larry anke me alon along 1 she might not have hare suspected tiny anything at nil all unless caroline prompted her 1 well that of course cut but do you think camoline Ca ioline suspects 1 I dont know sometimes I 1 think she does again there was a ion long musing silence then tony said lorry larry when im nith ill you I 1 feel tremendously brave I 1 could do anything an tiling because youre there to approve but the minute were cre separated I 1 feel so flat am stupid lil I 1 feel like screaming in oil hats tile difference who en cares res V so I 1 know how ill feel tomorrow the girl irl went nent on earnest and fragrant and ad confidential 1 in tile the darkness with her arm through ills his and her face against his shoulder and I 1 have to make unchangeable plans now and stick to them no matter how I 1 feel when this Is over well have dinner now they had bad turned ot off the highway to stop at a little roadside restaurant whose windows were gushing light into the night there was an entrance through an iron gate there were patios and arcades and a small table by a fire the place was deserted the old waiter who presently brought them minestrone and toasted sour italian bread told them that they were the evenings only guests no get trade till fill hot weather tie he said tony was ravenous and found eiery everything thing delicious food brought her back color and spirit she rested her elbows on the table and smiled across it at larry this Is italy larry and we are on our travels will you go to italy with alth me tony not now no theres no happy ending for us tony said there may be its so horribly to have it depend on so death larry it to be that way do you suppose most persons happiness depends on some ones death 1 I suppose it does depend on ruths death horrible the man said looking up with a smile one always says unless something happens but it always means unless someone lies dies tony mused on this for a moment no ill not do that so this is our last little party larry I 1 trust myself for much of this one one of these moony nights N N ft V a there was a smell of grass and earth id want to give in more than any thing else dendy bendy or mother or what whal people think of me or what I 1 think of ol 01 myself it would all vanish like tog fog pd ic think its my business and larrys larry and nob odys elsel and it you know its not but the worst of it Is tony said with a rueful tough laugh 1 I can caa make all the resolves resolve in the world while im with you and an the minute were separated im sick it Is really like a sickness larry just jus to hear your voice again 1 I wish there were some other way wa out yes because this really any an L way out ohp enchanted talk went on and on tonys right ablow was resting on the table and her chin in her hand her left liand hand lay tree free and after a while larrys big brown hand was over it firm and strong and lie he had moved ills his chair about so that their shoulders were almost touching when tony raised tier heavy dark eyelashes and brought the glowing soft light in her blue eyes to meet his look she found his own ees close A late and jubilant party had come into the little restaurant they were shouting drinking dancing tony and larry saw nothing of them they were deep in their own murmured conal dences there as no time no space no world but the world of their own li hearts eirts the clock on the wall said ten said alcen and still their eyes their hands their souls were locked together still they sat on in the obscure corner of the dining room with the plain white cloth stained with reil red wine and the cheese and the apple peels littering the disordered plates larry will iou look at the time good god Is it after eleven and your engagement with fitch lorry larry glanced toward the back or of the restaurant id better telephone him film I 1 can tell him ive had a breakdown do you realize weve been sitting here talking for three hours the man demanded it seems like one it did seem like one tony was somewhat concerned until he returned from the telephone booth cheerful and reassuring was it all right she asked tearfully fine lie he was just lealnd tile the office said we could take it up any time tomorrow hed telephoned ruth at the lodge and she told him id started at six so he be knew I 1 was trying to get there anyway I 1 told him I 1 was delayed down here at klile kin city they walked toward he parked car the world was whitewashed with moonshine now and very still there was a fresh swell smell of dew on dry grass under each of the great meadow oaks lay a blot of lacy black shadow now and then a car raced by its headlights sending long antennae into the soft clear night every old barn and shed was trans transfigured fIgured in the magic silver light the eastern mountains and the rising oal oak clothed hills were furry and soft in unearthly and mystical radiance fog all gone tony said in tier her place on the front seat again its straight ahead now we ought to be in by three sooner than that well be in san jose in about an hour and then its only an hour and a quarter the miles flew by tony wearied rested drowsily against larrys shoulder hello 1 he said suddenly rousing her were bumping said tony bumping I 1 great scott what a flat I 1 larry got out of the car walked about it our right rear Is as flat as a pancake he sold said 1 I got a puncture way back there and the tires been leaking air ever since we started and fool that I 1 am ive no spare no spare and miles to go well there a garage even back at the restaurant tony said no but I 1 could have telephoned one damn it larry said under his breath wed have to stop someone and get them to telephone I 1 dont know how far a gar garage ag ge Is or where there Is one this may delay us conever never he added philosophically weve lots of time now clicerio cheerio tony got out and walked about the car to in tier her turn looked up at the wide pale gray spread of the sky and the pulsing stars bright as day she said here bere comes a ear car ladles driving along pretty fast too no they wont stop heard too much of roadside robbers P larry laughed impressive in ills his tan coat with his thick black hair uncovered here liere here we are I 1 A small car stopped a mans spectacled face peered out there was a woman with nith a baby in tier her lap beside him another woman looked out from the back of the car tony knew this other No comans womans mans face tried to place it it had a vaguely unpleasant assoria tion somehow 1 I dont believe theres a garage open this side of san jose now the man said sympathetically it may be an hour before help gets back to you walt a minute that house up the road there Is lighted tunny funny tiling thing too as late as this there must be sickness said larry well walk up there nod and use their telephone 1 I really think save time who Is that woman tony thought shuddering a little in the first feeling of cold 1 I know that face 1 come on well go telephone larry told tier her as the little car drove away and then well come back and wait in the car ive got an extra cont coat there and ill wrap you up A thousand times lu in the days that followed tony was to wish that she had prevented him had suggested that they wait for a bus there were buses going up and down these roads even though it was only at long intervals A thousand thou saud times she would remember this moon washed night with horror she would go back to this moment and long with a passionate longing that was like a physical drag upon her whole being to have it to live over again no kindly premonition arrested their feet as they walked along the fragrant highway turned in at a plum guarded ranch gate and approached a pleasant foursquare four square wooden home draped in rose vines and shaded by two great oaks oak lawn said a sign over the entrance steps the hallway and ami an upper room were lighted at twelve on a quiet monday night larry rang the bell there was no answer he tried the door its open theres someone here they go away and leave the place lighted up he be said to tony rinsing again again there was no response tar far upstairs they could hear a child cry ing in theres a baby in there somewhere larry gone away and left it walt wait heres someone footsteps were coming along the hall the lock rattled and a pale young man looked out what do you want may I 1 use your telephone please weve got a flat and there seem to be any garage near here the young man looked at them blinking its out of order he began then his manner changed he clutched his temples dug the heels of his palms into his eyes and burst into bitter weeping come in he sobbed ed my cifes just been murde murdered redl I 1 dont know what to do CHAPTER the donny murder case took front page headlines in all the newspapers the next day and for many days to come harold donny was in no sense an ordinary rancher he was the scapegrace son of everard donny a wealthy pittsburgh steel man ills wife had been the beautiful zelda mhoon of santa barbara an and their all ibell ranching experiment origin originally ly had 1 been rather in the nature of a high adventure set in a background of riding ridin in horses handsome cars good servants a ants smart clothes cut but they had lost money they had had a baby there was every reason to suppose that there had been a nervous strain upon both the spoiled young husband a and nd wife of late years the newspapers were agog with theories as to the womans comans coldness the mans jealousy the quarrels and threats that had gone on in the once luxurious home the dannys had had but one servant in their employ at the time of the murder a quiet old mexican woman who had pattered putt ered home across the fields at nine on the fatal night lawrence bellamy the well known associate editor of the call who had been motoring home alone who had been motoring home with an unknown woman companion at twelve seventeen on that evening who had been motoring home with miss antoinette taft social editor of the call had been the person to discover the tragedy and had bad quite properly notified the san jose police miss taft it appeared from an amicable statement from mrs bellamy was a close friend of the bellamy family and had spent the day with them at pebble beach no hint blot of scandal or surprise or blame came from ruth everything had been quite as it should be she was devoted to miss taft the whole thing til ing was only so unfortunate quiet and rather pale tony went through the unreal the hideous days she was at the co coroners inquest answering questions simply with her characteristic little puzzled frown drawing the penciled brows together over tier her blue eyes she and mrs 1 bellamy were nere friends great friends slie she had spent the momentous sunday with mr and mrs bellamy in 10 pebble beach yes she told aunt meg something brenda a little more she told cliff CHIT the truth you |