Show au P SIT FI 1411 4 W 0 7 ML PIG installment THIRTEEN the story so far this Is the story of an american family to in the depression years laura maguire wile wife of at mike happy go lucky editor and mayor of covington Is mother of 0 tour four children tom whose real estate lob job in the big city nearby peters out and he returns to a smaller job in covington after separating from rom mary etta his wile wife secretary to a big shot who refuses to give CHAPTER continued where do we go from here demanded connie the fire was no longer theatrical and connie was ready to move on to something else but shirley had only one desire to get away away from the sight of connie mays thin predatory hands which were always touching jaird caressingly im hungry announced lance ferguson suddenly connie leaped at any excuse to prolong pro ong the e evening eveni 9 so 0 am I 1 she said 1 I could eat a boiled cow shirley sighed there a decent sandwich joint in town since bills place sold out objected jaird youre telling us gibed gabed connie shirley hesitated you can all come home with me if you like she said wearily 1 I can always find something in t the he old ice box saved exclaimed lance with enthusiasm shirleys shirleye Shir leys got the world beat at working up a snack sure she has agreed jaird in a tired cross voice and every blodys imposed on her that way for years but I 1 happen to know that shirley has to wash up after the jamboree and I 1 dont suppose she enjoys having the dirty work pushed off on her any more than you would sorry I 1 cant ask you to our house connie declared coolly but cook simply blows a fuse if anybody messes around in her kitchen and one thing mother will not stand for we can turn the hose on the grand piano and build a fire under the family portraits but god help anyone who offends our cooil 1 I guess its up to you shirley murmured lance it is not said jaird sharply well try joes that dump objected connie its no worse than the rest only that saying much joes sandwich shop was conveniently located on the main highway at the edge of town but it had little else to recommend it joe himself was a small wilted unhappy looking italian who came hurriedly out of his living quarters at the rear where he had evidently been asleep they sat down at stools before the long dingy counter because the tables in the front were discouragingly spotty did you ever try putting your cold drinks on ice joe complained connie with irritation wow this tastes like dish water joe again spread apathetic hands no make money glad sell out anybody wanta buy nice sa sandwich joint reasonable god forb forbid idl cried connie and lance sniggered ered money could be made in a place like this if it was run right protested jaird man and wife make living here if both work contributed joe me I 1 do verra well before margarita die his black eyes looked suddenly tragic since she go I 1 no got heart to keep things right I 1 want to get away make fresh start two hundred dollars and I 1 walk out door leave everything stove stools tables ice box and good bed and shower bath in back room theres your chance jaird giggled connie provided that I 1 had two hundred dollars which I 1 he said no buy inquired joe with disappointment connie and lance laughed only shirley laugh all the way home connie was witty at jairis expense she said if he bought joe out he might some day become the hamburger king of covington CHAPTER ien it was like connie to maneuver so as to drop shirley before she did the others her lovely face was white when she walked into the living room laura was waiting up for mike alike she explained almost curtly about lou shirley stared at her A alecs been running around with her oh mother lauras eyebrows puckered 1 I hope bw by morning I 1 can think its tunny funny she said grimly shirley sighed you must get terribly tired of us sometimes always stirring up a fresh batch of trouble for you to worry over laura glanced at her curiously its better to live with difficulty than stagnate yes oh yes cried the girl in a stifled voice she turned away but not before laura had seen her eyes you do remind me of great grandmother ashe said laura suddenly she walked over to the old fash boned desk in one corner and opening a drawer took out a small faded miniature it had originally been worn on a gold chain but the frail links had long since been broken and lost the pointing was blurred up her job alee alec who cant get acet a job and Is running around with a flashy divorcee on a bet he dates lou knight the town drunks daughter shirley engaged to jaird who is out of work since his father gave up his factory to stop losses ma new sum wants him to marry connie mays the bankers daughter with age yet shirley might have sat for the lovely sensitive girl who looked back at her from the narrow fi lagree frame she was rather remarkable she mother laura carefully did not look at her daughter she was a great belle belie back in virginia but she fell in love with great grandfather ashe who had nothing except youth and a fiery heart to recommend him her parents en s prom promised se to disinherit asin er her er if s she e married him but she did they had two saddle horses and a bag of cheap trinkets between them when they eloped to the west he started a small trading post she lived in the rear and clerked in the store she bore him five children and her family never spoke to her again al enough great grandfather built up one of the largest mercantile businesses in the southwest and died a comparatively rich man she spent her later years in a mansion she always looked fragile and useless but to the last she said she was happiest when she cooked and scrubbed for her man and sold flour and sugar and coffee between times over a counter shirley looked fixedly at her mother would you have let anything keep you from marrying mike nothing short of sudden death said laura shirley turned away but she took the miniature with her she fell asleep with it against her cheek 0 0 0 0 0 alee alec maguire was down to breakfast with the rest the following 1 r an 7 Z EZE I 1 the girl was anything but laughable morning laura found him at the table able when she and shirley brought in in the toast tom and mike alike were eagerly discussing the small model homes tom hoped to build and sell in covington apparently alee alec was absorbed in their conversation actually he was listening painfully for a step on the stairs laura saw him go quite white when he heard lous voice they all did their best to put lou at her ease but she answered only in monosyllables and rarely raised her eyes from her plate even mike could not charm a smile to her small wan face she never looked at alee alec and he was unusually silent but laura felt him watching them all fiercely as if he was afraid someone would laugh lauras heart ached the girl was anything but laughable kathleen and tom and mike went off to work together laura thought tom looked ghastly as if he slept lou timidly offered to help clear the table it was lauras instinct to refuse everything in her resented the girl but alecs eyes glared at her with feverish pleading and so laura swallowed hard and said of course lou could assist with the dishes alee alec snatched up his hat and announced lie he had to see a man about a dog ile he vanished toward town laura sighed it was impossible not to feel sorry for the poor child she was so painfully shy so fearful of arousing displeasure every time laura spoke lou started once she dropped a cheap teacup and broke it her distress was embarrassing ras sing laura was not used to being treated like an ogre but it was plain that lou was terrified of her she wanted to help with the housework but she was too nervous to be anything but awkward laura began to feel a little distracted kathleen society editor on ner ia paper who thinks her father and ritchie graham his assistant are foolish ool to invite mays threat to break the paper at a swimming party she la is saved by ritchie Ritch le who tells her he loves love her she says she hates him at a fire in the tenement district alee alec sees the town drunk die rescuing a crippled boy he takes lou to his mothers home im going to town mother said shirley when they had finished with the kitchen laura nodded absently she was wondering what on earth was the fair thing to do with a homeless waif which ones son had dragged up on ones doorstep shirley gave her mother a strangely wistful look but for once laura was too preoccupied to notice cant I 1 make the beds upstairs mrs maguire inquired lou timidly timi I 1 ly yes of course if you like said laura shirley turned away she took the short cut across the vacant lot it was a warm may morning but shirleys shirleye Shir leys hands felt cold the diamond on her ring finger flashed in the sun shirley regarded it somberly the jeweler in the shop down town looked unhappy im sorry but diamonds are very cheap right now A drug on the market I 1 cant offer you a fourth of what the stone cost a few years back he said how much asked shirley Shi her lips felt dry and stiff she was taking a lot of things for granted it was possible she was making a hideous blunder diamonds will come back as strong as ever some day are you sure you want to sell how much i A hundred and a quarter shirley stared at him dully it was not enough she bit back a sob what a fool she had been to think this might be the way out she must have been mad last night then suddenly she thought of a girl in a miniature a proud lovely fastidious girl who had let nothing balk her of her birthright all right said shirley sharply and tucked the crisp new bills into her handbag hand bag joe the small mournful eyed italian an glanced up quickly from the counter which he was listlessly wiping with a grimy cloth you think maybe you buy me out he cried eagerly gee that swell man in here early this morning see about same thing but he no got money enough shirleys shirleye Shir leys lips tightened she explain that she enough money either joe was undoubtedly eager to unload and people in a pinch have been known to take less she let him show her around but she did not pay a lot of attention to joes sales argument she used her own eyes the location was good the small frame building stood just outside the town on the busiest highway and there was ample parking space A big water oak made a graceful sunshade A small spring discouraged by rubbish bubbled ai at the side she had to admit that the interior of the place was depressing dingy dirty and unattractive but she had a stubborn conviction that a good scouring and a few buckets of paint would work miracles the back room had evidently degenerated into a catchall for junk during joes sketchy term of housekeeping but among the litter and dirt and confusion shirley unearthed a good iron bed a cheap pine dresser a couple of sturdy chairs and an unpainted kitchen table to say nothing of a convenient clothes closet now stuffed with old bottles and rags shirley stood for a long time on the rear step was she insane she know but she had an idea everyone would think so joe insisted that if a man and his wife both worked they could make a living in the place shirley shiriel thought of her great grandmother ashe who had clerked in a store and made a home behind it somehow shirley felt that she too could pioneer if only jaird agreed but would he her throat ached had lie he rather go on as they were going tortured miserable frustrated frustrate dl burning up their love with futility she did not know he might sneer at this solution to their problem he might prefer to be a parasite on his father the rest of his life jaird was not lazy but he was proud and sensitive and peddling hamburgers with his cifes assistance was a far cry from the role he had meant to play in life then there was connie mays who asked nothing but a chance to marry jaird and convulse him with luxury connies husband would automatically become vice president of her fathers bank or something equally scintillating shirleys shirleye Shir leys slim throat locked was she a fool to think jaird might prefer her to all that in the front room she heard joe exclaiming excitedly back again maybe you raise the money 1 I shirley could not see the speaker but she recognized the voice and her heart backed up it was jaird TO BE CONTINUED |