Show Pru deluce S D ll 11 af I 1 idaet CHAPTER VII continued 16 those days day in jerrys lovely home borne with jerrys father duane felt were the happiest of hla big entire life they had bad breakfast together in the morning lal reading the papers over their cottee coffee drove to the factory together and went out for luncheon to a cafe or club somewhere and in the evening they played pinochle smoked and read sometimes just smoked and talked they went to the princess to patron tze the stock company which thich will go down in history as the start ln in ilfe of pay fay dainter once jerrold had some men in and they played poker sometimes duane forgot that jerrold was to be ills his father ln in law thought of hirv only as a remarkably companionable old chap and easy to have around yon kaw jw mr harmer he said one night since ive been so so keen on jerry and so d n mad at her stubbornness born ness ive sort of lost interest la in you enow women and things not natural doss doas it hang oer oe or do you ion get back when youve been married a while r you act like a blase old roue said bald jerrold but you talk like a kid and then he said with a great assumption of sternness see here young fellow im on jerrys side dont you try to get anything out of me that you may be able to use against me later on you stick to the straight and narrow lie ile laughed a little 1 I wont say that in all my twenty years I 1 felt the fleeting intrigue of a foreign dimple or curl or maybe an ankle and theres no denying that a woman does get on your nerves especially ally the way she lugs your tobacco out of your reach r but im strong for prudence but of course there arent many Pru dences you expect that one night he asked about that ale plc lure in jerrys room the ocean rider its a haunting tiling thing he said it makes you think of jerry somehow 0 oh h you know theresa the picture gave me the creeps too at first the eyes are jerrys she has nice eyes maybe youve noticed it he be added slyly not as nice now I 1 think as when she left she looks more cloudy but very nice the picture Is a shock at first bight makes hakes you feel its as if youve caught her stepping out of the hath ile he told duane then of theresa and lier tragic death her een more tragic lire life duane duade was shocked hurt it seemed a terrible thing tor for jerry to po go through and lacking the support of liia ills tenderness and sympathy he listed dated himself as though he be had failed her when she had bad need of him once he be said why do you suppose she elie cirt with rne me when slie she lid with others and I 1 know fihe liked me well elou enough b jerrold said 1 I dont know what do you think and did not realize be had caught that cleverness of evasion from his bis wife did she tell you I 1 was drunk that night flight duane persisted morbidly jerry never tells us things until she needs deeds us said bald jerrold proudly site she struggles along by herself until she knows she Is whipped then she comes to prudence and me she was like that when she was a baby she would work tor for half a day trying to S fix a broken toy by herself a thing I 1 could do in a minute but she never clivie came until she had bad worn herself out working at it alone and found it too much tor for her prudence likes that she glie thinks it shows fc character after a blissful week that wag full of reminiscences of prudence nod and jerry in the lie past and countless hopes for Prudi prudence ence and jerry in tile lie future the telegram came to announce their re tur and jerrold said regretfully sorry old fellow ive got to chuck aou ou out oid the girls will be houle home this pi ening buanes disappointment slid and his big re grot gret at leaving were almost childish in the intimacy of jerrys home lie he had find almoite forgotten their estrangement and felt she should be coming to him film as prudence came back to jerrold jen old iwonder Iw what would if I 1 just stuck on and faced the music he bald to jeriold jeri jen old as if I 1 had a right to b bs here oli oil good lord was all jerrys fa blier had to say so dunne duane packed ills his bags bitterly unhappily and moved back to tile sordid stupidity of his hotel room jerrold spent the rest of the day going through the house bouse removing every truce trace of el evidence eldrence dence as to tile presence of a guest ile he cautioned tie the maids over ana over ever to breathe not a word ot of what had transpired and in the evening met his wife ife and daughter at the station in deference to the returning of pro im diance be generously rera removed oed tile the breuze smoking stand from the bide of itic hed bed uni and put it back in the stairway any lounge where there she had bad left it it lie ile always made that eliat concession on the night that prudence returned and aad prudent prudenc in gratitude for or hla his generosity al always carried it back when they went tt tc tied red and put it where ills hand fould could not tall fall to bad it the mo ino he be should awaken aken lie ile kissed lil sed prudence Imd enco first kissed her twice then lie turned to jerry jerry iwaya always him she took hold of f bubli ot of his arms and looked deep wp into til f eyes her olk own unsmiling ling in reading ending anxious jer jerrold r d met the thein or arim vely ly although his heart bank gialla uy sly t 4 on his con coll by ETHEL HUESTON copyright Copy richt by the th bobbs bobba co barlo science ile he wondered if he be bore a mark engraved upon his bis features that her lynx bright eyes could read and onder understand der stand but jerry said bald nothing slie bile released ler her tense grip upon ills his arms after a moment and kissed him CHAPTER VIII between friends during the dinner hour on an early evening in november jerry was called to the telephone and when she came back a moment later to her place there was a curious quizzical smile upon her lips and in her eyes it was adela longley she explained pla ined she wanted me to go eo to the theater with her adela longley Longle yi 1 prudence was gently surprised are you going asked jerrold with tilt usual lack of inter penetration it was adela longley jerry repeated for his enlightenment of course I 1 am not going I 1 told her I 1 am very busy tonight jerry and her mother exchanged glances of smiling tolerance tolerance far jerrolds mannish incomprehension of delicate social situations smiling lecause they loved hlin him for from new york down the verlest hamlet has its central select set which seems a thing of merest idle chance and yet the laws of the medes and persians themselves were not a whit more binding adela longley was one who hovered as it were in the remote whorls whorl of that society which circled about jerry as a point of 0 pivot she belonged to the large social life of des moines but was not cot and could not be a part of that inner nucleus which Is so rigidly a thing apart and yet jerry was waa tho the very soul of democracy she said she bho abhorred snobbishness of all things in the world she made no slightest distinction as to place or person only as to personality she care for adela longley longey oh ashes a different sort very nice of course I 1 dont care about ner it was mas adela jerry felt mho vi ho kept adela in the social fringe maybe she thinks if she sets gets a little clubby with you I 1 may give her a better price on a car suggested jerrold always glad to help out ills opinion jerry was interested A cart car I 1 another car why slie she has a car now bowl I 1 ashes tired of it she wants to trade it in on a harmer she has been in three times this week to see about it it jerry lowered the misty lashes reflectively only jerry knew ho how very strange a thin thins that was she was not above sounding her father for confirmation fir of her suspicion she has a harkness Hark I 1 it cost nearly live five thousand dollars more mor than mine yes she said she would have nothing but a harkness in the but she like it now she has it IL she wants to trade it in tor for a harmer roadster like yours like minel mine I 1 but you bad mine made spec specially lally for me ine and I 1 designed yes I 1 know duane told her 11 who told her oh mr allerton you know duane allerton ile fie Is on the floor you see lie he showed her the models and ashes been talking to MID I lm about it oh I 1 see bee jerry had her confirmation well go on what did lie he tell her berl he said we will not duplicate the body of your car for anybody but that we will design another special for or her any style she likes but we do not care to duplicate yours under any circumstances cum stances adela longley made fun of the harmer hanner when she got hers said jerry reflectively she bald she wanted a good car or none done at all the gails used to tease me about it well maybe she thinks more of it now duane says gays she was tic about the demonstration who ga the ile he did 1 I should think jerrys voice was as so soft cs as to be almost inaudible 1 I should think the salesmen would do dj that they do ordinarily lot cut slie she had talked to him on the floor beveryl times and asked him particularly to take her out so of course he be lid jerry had lost her appetite tor for dinner her thoughts thou glita were running along I 1 a new line myrtle ingersoll and I 1 went to a matinee wednesday slie site said slowly she wanted to come by the office and ask you to go with us ask who you father she thinks you are such a dear I 1 told lier her you yen are a perfect stave slave to business and never bever go out in the file afternoon and site fhe wanted to come by and ask you anyhow thought lou might be pleased viila the attention I 1 think anything of it then but rm fin thinking plenty now jerrold laughed easily oh ob they think up sillier excuses than that to get gee a look at him not that hat I 1 blame them at all aall I 1 there arent enough good looking young fallows to go the rounds here you know it had bad not before occurred to jerry to wonder what dunne duane waa nas doing during the evening en olne with whom lie was going out what friendships he be was formin forming g now kow that this ihla phase of the situation on wag visa so forc forcibly Itly drawn to tier her attention she realized very clearly that la in a town the size of des dea moines a young man of good appearance who could dance play bridge and with great personal charra charm to his credit was waa not at all likely to pass by unobserved and if 1 further corroboration were necessary she received it in painful plenitude on monday evening at gra McCart neya shower for rae forsythe when all the girls of their particular clique were together jerry was late in arriving and was greeted at once with a gay protesting outburst oh jerry how could you be b to belflo I 1 jerry harmer II arnier you ought to be ashamed of yourself I 1 anything as good looking as that 1 where in the world did your father find it jerry realized it would be foolish to pretend ignorance as to their meaning in a town as small and as fraternal as des deg moines she laughed it off as test she could explained gayly that she left the i of the harmet harmer motor to her father and agreed that duane allerton was certainly a very handsome thing do you know him jerry asked edith weatherby yes I 1 met him in new york this was greeted with merry al cant exclamations and laughter oh BO its like thail they cried no wonder I 1 it seems lie he had bad some sort eort of financial reverses slie she went on quickly rot ar F I 1 j jerrold carefully placed the th great cloak about his daughters daughter shoulder 1 I dont know much about it but he wanted to make a change and you I know dow father Is always taking on men do you like him jerry persisted edith berty jerry was not to be caught unguarded of course wily why not I 1 hardly know the man and youre not personally interested aro are you continued her interrogator because he be told me lie he had lost ft a lut lot of money and I 1 told father father likes him very much and I 1 told father I 1 was sure lie would rather work lu in a bank than in a factory you know my father Is always taking on ruen men too jerrys eyes were serene and unclouded yes of course that would be conely tor rot mr allerton I 1 am sure ills his opportunity would be much greater in tile the bank than with my father more than ever jerry regretted that hasty impulse of hers bers which had brought duane allerton to iowa and let bile took a bitter morbid llon ion in bating them know ickow that after all slie she had known him first that hint site she had been in a sense the motive of ills his coming as indeed she had tint and la III a far more intimate sense than jerry would have them suspect on the evening of thanksgiving occurred the annual dinner dance ut ole club one of the real events of the year to which tile the younger set at least looked for forward viard tor for weeks with keen anticipation usually jerry made lunde one of a group of her particular mends friends while prudence and jerrold tilled filled up a table alth couples of their ori onn age and Inte interests but for tills this night jerry persistently refused all ail invitations and busl sted on a family trio prudence jeri jen old and herself to lier her friends slie she said file bile thought lier her mother would like it to prudence Prud enve she ghe said oli it mother im I 1 dont feel like pretending to be Inte retted in a 8 lot of things when m lien I 1 am not 4 on tise niter afternoon nooD of tile lie dance she tie sat curled in a big before the fire anre with a magazine bile he did riot not read anti and jerrold sat opposite tier lier will fill ine eve 1 ding paper smoking and delther of them answered when iru I prudence ru lenco re 1 minded them tor for the third titue rhu aliat j aboy dumi hurry nod and dress at her insistence jerrold dropped the paper and sighed Bl glied im getting betting too old for uch such goings on he gaad ea id plaintively 1 I feel eel just cin gle I 1 like ke sitting g here in my own house by my own fire ere and going to bed at a respectable respect atle hour too late prudence told him lau laughing gh you have to go or you get do BO dinner mary end and katie have gone cone out and there Is nothing to eat you yog must go with us or fast jerrold sighed again then he turned to jerry with the news that had been a burden to him for two days oh I 1 jerry by the way duane will be there jerry did not move did riot not turn her eyes oh will he be yes the Weather bys asked him to go and I 1 told him to go by all means I 1 dont feel that he be should miss a good time just because you feel a little er cr sensitive about his big presence do you its a wonder you run into him blui before this inviting him everywhere and besides P oh dont hesitate on my account go right ahead besides what besides as ive said before there are more nice girls in this town than there are nice boys other men have daughters as well as 1 I and daughters requiring bearling beaul ng and I 1 must may ay stat some ome fathers seem to have daughter with a greater degree of that street reasonableness they talk about than my own jerry smiled sympathetically poor father fa therl I 1 she said you did have rather bad luck getting only me but however much you may prefer other fathers daughters to your own yon cant get ald of me no trading daughters things arent done dome that way you must keep keel what you gets get whether you like it or not she touched him lightly on the shoulder as she passed by and went quickly up the stairs jerrold looked at prudence Is she going he be asked in it loud lorld whisper 1 I dont know they tiptoed together to the doorway and listened there was no sound from jerrys room above they tiptoed tack lack now it if she has any notion of going there and snubbing him in public I 1 wont stand for it jerrold said mid still whispering after all slie she brought him here and she shant t oh ob dont you |