Show I 1 jr F IL OPS CLEAR by EMILIE WRING LORING IS 0 copyright by tho the penn PublIsh loc co WHO service CHAPTER I 1 I 1 the automobile lurched over deeply rutted roads when it lurch it skidded A cold bone penetrating fog transformed trees into ghostly giants louses bouses into weird dwarfs and filled the world moisture dripped from twigs and branches the faint tar far boad of a buoy drifted through the grayness with melancholy monotony the smell of the sea crept behind the slackly fastened side curtains of the car the lean angular driver stopped the engine and climbed out what is the matter sir mr puffer Puff cr prudence schuyler inquired from the cavernous gloom of the back seat tires leaky guess hold out till we get there though ills his passenger valiantly sil s allowed mn an exclamation of concern she putted patted encouragement on the hand of the woman beside tier her she really needed someone to pull her spirit out of the pit jait of depression she told herself A motor purred alongside that you sl the matter tire trouble flat the voice was hollow muffled a adans voice shut within the curtained car prudence could see nothing tut but the uncanny mist taint flat yet from the gruffness of his answer she judged that mr puller puffer did not care are for the person who had balled ahlm has the girl come there was eagerness in the question a hint of anxiety more than a hint of arrogance if the wheel under her could talk she would have said that thai its shake was warning her to keep quiet prudence decided gorry me you expect city folks to come to the country to in this storm would you bhatta mean Is guess shell get to the red brick house bout tomorrow the red brick housel house her house the voice in the fog was inquiring tor for her prudence schuyler I 1 why had sir mr puffer evaded the question she watched him as he resumed his seat phone me the minute slie she arrives agront A grunt from the man at the wheel was vas the only response A red tall tail light shot into the golden mist of its own powerful headlights and dInd dwindled led to a spark prudence leaned forward was that voice which sounded like a demon of the fog inquiring for me sir mr ruffer ru lTer yep yell why did you sidetrack him wily why tell him that I 1 was arriving tomorrow gorry me you wait an see miss hiss schuyler bhatta mean Is by tomorrow have kinder got yer bearens Le be arins aall know what to say len Callo wayll tie you up tight to him it if lie he can tie me cupl youre not alluding to a matrimonial tie by any chance are you tou the driver looked back glad to lear you laugh when I 1 met you at the he station I 1 was afraid you was going to break out caryln it sure Is a mean night for you to arrine arrhe not much further to go were passing the gerard place now it was evident that he considered the voice in the fog a closed incident he feel that she was fairly tingling with curiosity prudence asked herself she had better seem indifferent she wd said lightly im glad to know there Is something thing tangible to pass taint Tal nt always like this just wait till the sun shines gerard Is your neighbor on the east easl that Is it if you can call it being a neighbor when the louses are two miles apart nis his folks come down only for the summer but I 1 reckon youve come to stay budgin by the truck load of 0 stuff I 1 carted up to the red brick house the other day for no reason she could explain to ler herself self prudence schuyler evaded ao an answer with the intention of turning the drivers attention from her affairs she elie suggested tell me about the gerard family her ruse succeeded ill tell you about the gerards perhaps twill take 3 lour our mind off the rough going the estate which includes plane landing field golt golf links mountain streams an bout WO two miles of pond shore besides the sea front belongs to rod gerard his names rodney but the townspeople call him rod kod ites hes one of 0 those rich fetters fellers you read about who ily airplanes own a string of polo ponies an have a vally to bring up their breakfast crease their pants an lay out their pink silk pajamas but he sin aint t a bit stuck up sounds like a first family of holly wood chatta mean Is folks here think a jot of rod but he has an older brother walter an that brother has a wife walt valt was the son by old man gerards first marriage that wife have any money neither did he be after she died gerard who ho was a handsome gifted man married an heiress and rods their child they built a house of stone and oak on a high lodge ledge that s the name of the place high ledges it has a sort of approach lf if you dare sound As I 1 was as sayin rods mother loved every inch of the land turned abandoned quarry holes into gardens she and tier her husband are burled in one of them old man gerard died then she went years ago and rod hod well rod nod was just out of law school and crazy about flying when he be came into a bis big g fortune perhaps youve met fellers like that hint just like ilke that prudence concurred bitterly and hoped in the next second that the man had not noticed the sting in tier her voice he show up here for two lears ears after he lost his mother then last june he opened the place and lie he bring biln with till him but walt gerard geriard and his wife nire and little girl walt lit out pretty quick but the mrs seized the reins of management and how flow she lid did drive slie she rf one of them women chos so so buy busy helpin god run ills his world orld that she lets her own folks get along as best they can ashes all a r winks one of tier her cold blue POS nes p when slip she thinks ashes abeln smart before youve been to her five fire minutes shell lug in a remark about my cousin the ambassador slie she kept the house full of company all summer young folks but the girls were vere so homely have stopped even one of them electric clocks which Is supposed to run forever ashes a wise one prudence temporarily forgot the fog the reason for her coming 1 I supposed there were any homely girls now they know so well how to look like a million why Is sirs walter gerard wise not because call se she care for beauty bhatta mean Is walt her husband Is handsome as a movie actor she Is tall with horses teeth and a kind of horse shaped face guess she was handsome once the women here say ashes a nifty dresser must have been or walt never would have mar ried tier her he well lie he knows where the corn crib Is their kid Is thirteen years old cute but that curious that folks lock up everything when they see her coming rods awful good to her and she worships him the walt gerards much money rod kod gives them an income another reason ills his sister in ln law want pretty girls around atwould upset her apple cart terrible e if he be should marry has mr rodney gerard no mind of ills his own yes yes he has but since his mother passed away rods kinder lazy besides iles hes got the idea some girl will marry him for his money putters puffers voice deepened with affectionate arli anxiety lety you see he has all lie can spend this Is im guessing so perhaps lie he thinks why should I 1 work now dow an take a job from someone else here we are miss schuyler cr this Is your uncles place I 1 forgot its yours now sorry you had such a tough night to arrhe ile he stopped the car in the road b before brick gateposts gate posts and sounded a lugubrious horn in response the house door opened and let out a stream of yellow light a soft cushiony voice called that you SITI sl mother my wife puffer explained as he unfastened the curtains on Pru dences side of the car ile he helped her out then extended a bony hand to the gaunt woman who seemed to unfold like an extension ladder ils as she stepped cautiously to the ground prudence lers throat tightened as she blinked at the rod red brick house she had inherited its white trim its hooded doorway glowed faintly through the fog it ith fill a sort of phosphorescence A woman designed on the featherbed plan with an extra chin or two in the best rembrandt manner greeted her in the hall she looked quickly away avay from the girls face patted her arm with motherly understanding conic come right in and wash and take off your hat suppers all ready dearle dearie when you get something to eat thing sll look different life can seem awful dark and dreary on an empty stomach prudence achieved a smile thank you mrs puffer this Is jane mack who has come to help me keep house she has been a standby in our family since the first day she came to make little girl frocks tor for me will you tell her where here to and things please As the two women disappeared prudence lingered in the hall slipped out of her rain coat pulled off her close turban she entered the room on oil her right her brown eyes already black from emotion dilated as she saw herself reflected in the long old fashioned pier glass between the windows not too bad she made a gamin face at the lookingglass looking glass girl before she turned to inspect her surroundings the room was cozy homey her spirit stirred damp wings her back to the farm venture might not proe the hop flop it had seemed a few moments ago the dining diding room was cheery with crackling logs in the franklin tire fireplace shea she entered a few mo belits later A huge platter of savory beet beef stew garnished with fluffy white dumplings dump lings flanked by piles ot of plummy brown bread gave out an appetizing aroma for the first time she had left new york heart felt warm oil oh how temp tempting I 1 come macky arent you starved sirs mrs puffer wont you sit with mith us and serve it will seem more homey to have aou ou here stark tha upped jane slack hack her high cheek check bones flaunting red flags of excitement took tier her seat with on an air of being about to commit a social blunder the rosy faced stout woman plumped into tier her chair with nith a contented sigh De dearie aric ill do just that after an In internal teral devoted to serving and eating it she sympathized hope you mind the trip from the railroad station seven miles far but its a long on vay nay to drive oer a strange road in a fog only seven I 1 I 1 thou thought glit it must at least have been a thousand the satisfying food was ringing up the curtain of depression that Is ungrateful when mr puffer diverted our thoughts by most interesting descriptions of our neighbors jane mack made her one con tribu alon to the conversation do you have movies here mrs puffer three times a week in the village lie I 1 7 I 1 prudence lers throat tightened as she blinked at the red brick house she had inherited the manager tries to show the films people want to see does lie jane slacks macks eyes snapped 1 I love mystery and gangster pictures prudence gazed at the thin face in speechless amazement she had known the woman almost all her life but had she been taking her to a picture she would have selected one with de settings and smart frocks now how little one could tell what was going op on in a persons mind even the mind ot of someone near and dear she said aloud now well viell help clear away and do the dishes not you dearle dearie you go into what your uncle called the living room and set it if miss slack mack wants to lend a hand band perhaps shell be more contented to be busy curled in the depths ot of a wing chair before the purring fire prudence looked about the room indubitably bably tably a mans room which almost over night had become hers it had the musty smell of furniture drenched with stale tobacco ii smoke there was an air of mystery about the closed secretary when her uncle had last sat at that desk had he felt the faint far breath of eternity blowing toward hint him her interested eyes wandered on above the mantel hung the one picture the room presented a delicately colored engraving of franklin at the court of france benjamin stage center bent his head bead to receive a wreath from the gorgeously appareled countess Pol inac while hile from a divan louis the sixteenth and marle antoinette looked on with royal indifference once they ablhad all had been real once the girl mused they had held their heads high while their hearts broke they had smiled through tragedy while site she with youth health opportunity and her brother had fairly wallowed to in self pity these last few weeks she sprang to her feet ill make a vow now that from tills this moment I 1 foreswear fo self pity I 1 will regard this experience at at what shall I 1 name the place which has a lift to it I 1 know prosperity farm grandl grand at prosperity farm as an adventure which will lead to health for david and great good fortune 1 I thought thou glit I 1 was coming to a treadmill of endless mono tonies onles and within the first hour a hollow voice which set little merry pranks pricking through my veins rumbles through the fog has the girl come meaning nie me why does the man want to know the moment I 1 arrive why will he try to tie me u up p tight to him that was an interesting bit of blo biography graphy mr puffer volunteered about our neighbors im willing to wager my first crop of chickens that I 1 shall detest the gerard heir rich playboy I 1 have no illusions about ills his type if I 1 meet him ill be colder than an electric icebox ice box running on high also something tells me that mrs walt and I 1 will be antagonistic from the start maybe though I 1 wont meet her maybe she wont see her farming neighbor even as a dot on her social horizon miss prue im ready to go up now lean lank jane slack mack announced from the threshold mrs imars puffer showed me where to find the supplies I 1 guess shell be a good neighbor wish I 1 seen that procession in my tea cup though now macky dont look tor for trouble in tea lea grounds we had enough fairly sitting in our laps these last weeks without hunting out more come on up lets see the rest of the house interest in eyes glowed into excited anticipation as they went from room to room macky think of having a whole house in which to spread out after years in an apartment well make it a dream we will warm it with color till it makes hearts glow just to come into it A faint pink crept under the wom ans skin her washed out eyes shone with a lovely light make hearts glow all right miss prue your brother said ald to me just before we left the apartment im not afraid for prue irue shell make a home wherever slie she Is ashes like her mother prue slipped her hand within the crook of the lie womans comans thin arm aria and for an instant pressed her cheek check against tier her hard shoulder 1 I suppose there a person in this ibis village who know that my brothers wife ran away with my sisters husband she said in a muffled voice there there miss prue suppose they do your brother davids fault nor your sister julles julies it if folks here know about it at all they know that if you make too much of it they may think theres something back of it all youre ashamed of I 1 know folks prudence smiled and patted the womans comans bony hand before she entered the room she had selected for herself long after she had extinguished the light site she lay with wide open eyes staring at the fog which hung bung like a curtain of gray gauze before the wide open window she watched the steamy fringe of water dripping from the window as she lived live over the last weeks As it if his heart had not been sufficiently uprooted by the desertion and tragic death of his wife david whose health had been undermined by service overseas had been ordered to give up work and live in the country the coun country tryl the inexorable command had staggered tier her at first now how could they go with no money tor for living when the crash had come in their fortunes six months before she had opened a studio and had worked professionally at what had bad been a delightful avocation the craft of designer and maker of jewelry and silver boxes boies each month had seen an increase in the 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