| Show FICTION SITTING AT T THE WINDOW p r ia 11 J B ity by BUBE GOLDBERG cofler f HAWKINS and sam mcquade A ACE were discussing grace leland ace and sam were the two roving philosophers of hilldale milldale Mill dale the beautiful autumn sunsets and the changing colors of the poplars entirely escaped their unimaginative attention they asked nothing more of life than the privilege ot of peering lazily through doors and windows and making casual deductions about what was going on inside how they happened to see grace leland gosh grace all right she looks laded faded observed ace she doln doin back here anyway asked sam that what id like to know she dont see nobody but the butcher boy and chic myers the postman the way she used to traipse around I 1 thought shed grab herself a millionaire or something 1 I calculate cal clate she the sort to settle fettle down fact is I 1 heard somewhere ashes been leadin a pretty fast life these last fifteen this or twenty years week s been asso clatin with stage people best and such then what she fiction doln back here what id like to know ace spat on the sidewalk and screwed up his face in a knowing grimace maybe ashes baitin for one of them rich tellers fellers keeps lookin out the window all the time levs lets mosey over to chefs and get a cup of hot soup gets kinast cold waltin walt ln around for to happen grace had bad come back to after an absence of eighteen years and had bad rented a room in a small white house next to the drug store her friend thomas slater would soon oon return from europe and then the she would not have to hide bide any more meanwhile it was very quiet in hilldale milldale Mill dale As she sat at the window she thought of her sons brown wavy hair the slight tilt of his nose and his six feet of muscle and sinew she was desperately anxious to make up for the tha fact that a headline making divorce ease case had smashed the leland home and left sensitive young david deeply hurt and fatherless her love for him was nota not a sufficient clent answer to the questions of his classmates who wanted anted to know about the big black headlines and his folks she must give him all the gordly things the other boys had and more too sweaters pictures tor for his room an electric phonograph and tails she sent ent him an overstuffed over stuffed chair and cakes and a set of evening studs it was all simple and exciting until david said he wanted a car DAVID 1 I must have a good car in which his friends could ride and sing and forget to ask questions once david had made the request she knew it must be granted she grace doing doia here asked sam she keeps lookin out 4 the window all the time raus must t keep giving until she made up for the one thing that w was as lacking she found herself more and more noticing automobiles automobile on the street some were wen well proportioned some w were ere clumsy some drivers steered easily and naturally others drove as though they were the uneal lineal descendants ants of the fool icarus who scorched the aborigines of africa with his celestial juggernaut david would drive gracefully david was david she looked in a large display window on broadway and saw the car A long lightblue light blue sedan with the smooth curving sides of a yacht and a tan collapsible top all fresh and youthful and clean like david but the price was three thousand dollars dollar sl there was only one person to whom grace leland could go for three thousand dollars thomas slater had been her friend since the days when no massage was required quiren to smooth out the puffy little bags under her eyes she called up thomas slaters office and was told he had gone to europe grace looked at her thin wrist where once dangled a wide diamond bracelet it if only she had that bracelet now she we went nt around to the display window on broadway and again looked at the long sleek lightblue light blue sedan with the collapsible tan top she saw david at the wheel she saw him driving places where he could meet the fathers of his friends and feel the bracing contact of a masculine arm around his shoulder each time she went back to look at that car she was tearful fearful it it might have been bought by another mother tor for another david A rash resolve was born bom of her desperation pe ration she knew what she would do she studied the signatures on the many letters thomas slater had written her then she signed his name to a check for three thousand dollars it forgery because she felt ek she could explain everything to slater when he returned from E ea rope there be anything t wrong about what she was doing when she received davids ani lete telling her she was the grandest mother in the world tor for buying hia bial the most beautiful car in the world she choked up with emotion she decided to go quietly to milldale hilldale Mill dale to await the return of thomas slater he would understand grace leland was looking out ot of the window absently musing musin gover ow the boy and the car ace hackim and sam mcquade stood on it he sidewalk A man walked up tie the front stoop of the little white house houa and tried the door it was open ml and he walked in GRACE RACE opened the inner door and saw the man in the hall she thought it strange he did not re it move his bis hat are you grace le L land he asked abruptly why yes she answered not act quite prepared for the interrogation well heres my badge he said pulling aside his outer coat tn im from headquarters you forged the lit name of thomas slater to a cluck check for three thousand dollars ml cashed it at the textile bank nd aid trust company im afraid have to come along with me graces face went white it cluid old not possibly be as serious as an all that the man just know what he was talking about tim chis li Is I a terrible mistake she almost screamed 1 I had to sign mister slaters name to the check there then was nothing else to do he WM will straighten it all out when be returns from europe he has ottea often loaned me money hes a fine tweet sweet gentleman why why mister slater and I 1 used to be madam s save ave your breath milter slater died in london last week wed and the bank has taken charge of ct his affairs the man put his hand bud in his coat pocket and grace heard a metallic rattle look said ace A hawkins here they come out together and holdin hands t too oo 00 chuckled sam mcquade same old grace |
