Show 41 A A t 44 ING MEN a a poly 1 14 bi ay r tf V N X X aja A W 3 A 4 SYNOPSIS james lambert tries in vain to dissuade fils beautiful foster ester daughter leonora from froin don mason young aung rolling marrying yo stone lie he tells her unless a house 1 is founded upon a rocket rock it will not survive leonora suspects the influx influence I 1 ence of her half ball brother ned always jea jealous lous of the girl since the day his father brought her home from the deathbed ot of her mother aban abandoned by her italian baritone lover don arrives in the midst ot of the argument and lambert realizes the frank understanding between the two sitting up late into the flight lambert reviews the whole story ot of nora as a child at boarding school studying music abroad meeting don on the return trip in the morning he delivers his ultimatum to give don a job with ned lor for a years showdown when nora suggests the possibility ot of running away with don ahe ion don lambert abet threatens disinheritance agrees to the job but before a month Is over his its nerves are jumpy he be cannot sleep at night he Is too tired to go out much with nora nora soothes him with her music nora grows quieter and broods over don complains to her lather father ot of neds spying on him and decides that rather than see dons spirit broken she will run away she urges her lather father to put an end to the futile experiment james lambert Is obdurate and angry anbry lambert tells her that if 11 don quits she will quit with him that he be v will ill be through with her he adds that it s she he tires of 0 her bargain it will be useless to corne come to him for I 1 licup I 1 elp later don and nora discuss the take sit situation don promises to buck up and take lile life more calmly well stick it out he says with the corning coming of 0 spring don is full of unrest and wanderlust and takes long walks malks at night one evening a poor girl speaks to him and in his pity tor for her he gives her money A car passes at that rno moment ment flashes bashes headlights and moves on A terrific heat wave ushers in the summer and nora refuses to go to th the e country with and her er lather father ned meanwhile insinuates to b his ts father about dons evenings away from nora but lambert refuses to listen meanwhile don broods over the undermining of his morale at the height of the heat wave when don Is finding everything insupportable ned speaks of having the goods on him having seen him give a girl money when ned scoffs at the true story of the episode don knocks him doun don and Is through lie he calls nora CHAPTER V continued 7 would her father leave it just as it was she wondered just as furnished it to together ether for her sixteenth birthday james was fastidious about such things it was the one point on which they never clashed what a time they had had over her rose tiled bathroom her father had fussed bussed each fixture must be the finest the most perfect the antique bed they had picked up at an auction in the country how he had glowed over the satin smooth mahogany dear dad As for the rug they had hunted the city over for that rug it must be oriental james insisted yet it must blend blend with the soft rose hang ings at the windows they had found it at last an exquisite persian that might have been woven for a queens boudoir even nora thoughtless about money had blinked at the price and her father had laughed at her well that was over the girl took one long look and turned away it was so dreadful to go without farewells even dear martha berry james lamberts housekeeper who nora believed loved her as devotedly as any mother had left that morning to oversee the opening of the country house how still everything seemed as she went downstairs As still she murmured as if someone had just died here nora paused then hand on the latch and said goodby good by dear darling home goodby good by I 1 will come back some day her eyes were wet with tears when a moment later she told the chauffeur to drive her to james lamberts office don never heard the story of that interview but knowing his girl he understood that she could not talk about it for james in his anger had been unjust the first f time in all their years together at the last nora had bad said her face curiously colorless as she stood with her back against the door you are mistaken father i am not ungrateful I 1 have been thoughtless sometimes but I 1 have never been ungrateful please believe that I 1 love you terribly perhaps more than I 1 ever did before it kills something in me to go like this leav leaving ing you angry but you have ned who is almost your whole world father and don has no one but me try after im gone wont you to see my side of it between between us all we have done something to don hurt him unspeakably hes lost faith in himself and ive got to help him get it back without my help he might never get it back father and I 1 love him as you once loved my mother cant you remember that dad and and understand der stand silence A broad back turned to her 1 I I 1 am going now father wont wont you say goodby good by and still only that dreadful silence a silence which seemed somehow alive with tears A closing door it was ten years before james heard her voice again CHAPTER VI they went to maine its the first time I 1 can remember don told his bride when I 1 been crazy to get aboard a boat and see things new things places ive dreamed of I 1 dont understand der stand myself nora Is it only because im so let down all ali I 1 want now is to escape from this heat beat and turmoil to lie on my back in the cool woods and look up at the sky or watch big waves rou roll in on a hard beach ive got to do something like that dear until this fiendish alarm clock stops ringing in my ears ill admit it scares me lets go to maine but your hard saved thousand will melt away so fast at a hotel don objected nora with newborn new born caution don glanced at her so sweet so young so infinitely precious and for the first time in his twenty seven carefree care free years a sense of responsibility crept over him responsibility for noras happiness I 1 its more than a thousand now he answered gravely have you forgotten that ive been holding down a steady job and a hotel necessary rec essary is it even on ones honeymoon you see theres a place I 1 can take you a studio belonging to a new york artist youve heard me speak of ven nora hes abroad just now but im always at liberty to go there besides a smile sprang into his expressive eyes it happens to hold the worldly goods with which ive recently endowed V Y I 1 r t I 1 ar I 1 oh nora tell me im not dreaming my wife and perhaps shed like the chance to look lern em over nora laughed at the idea but questioned questioned not without curiosity what sort of worldly goods don just wait and see young lady he responded honestly nora I 1 get along without that shack when im over the hills and far away and happen to stumble on something too beautiful to resist I 1 simply ship it to maine provided I 1 have sufficient cash to buy the thing and the er retired fisherman m an who looks after the place for ven stores it away 1 I never heard of a retired fisherman before my dear I 1 thought those hose salty specimens kept right on fishing until they drow drowned 1 and this studio you menti mention orl sounds like a storage warehouse have you left a space where your friend the artist can set up his easel don smiled he need it three years ago he bought an island farther up the coast and has a bully place there it if id let him h IT nora no ra ven would give me the shack hack 0 outright pa why should he don Is the man indebted to you he seems to think so though its utter nonsense of course I 1 had the luck to save his oldest girl from drowning but it was all in the days work and his gratitude was the only reward I 1 wanted youve seen vens work nora he did those marvelous murals in not carl venable gasped leonora dont tell me the ven youve talked about so casually is he the very same lady don grinned at her surprise 1 I was coast guard down there one summer you know it nora sighed helplessly some day my dear ill ask for a list of the things you it avent been it would be consider considerably ably shorter than one of those you have and does this shack you mention contain the creature comforts the subject interests me don closed his eyes a moment trying to see things with noras vision then he said dubiously ive always thought it a wonderful place dear but you well I 1 cant quite see how it will loo look k to you theres an oil stove for cooking and water piped to the back door if you call that comfort ven used it only tor for a studio originally it was an old fish house I 1 believe though the girls heart sank at this description one have guessed it from her instant why that sounds fine DOW don Is it close to the ocean his eyes brightened at this carefully simulated enthusiasm As near as it can be and not get washed away in winter yet its far enough from the beach where the summer people bathe to give us privacy love it nora once you get the hang of things and ill do the cooking cooking is one of my real accomplishments as soon find out which sounds she laughed as if you doubted that its one of minel mine nora never forgot their arrival at the shack next afternoon it had been raining all day and though rain was needed to cool the air it added neither cheer nor comfort to the atmosphere of that onetime fish house long unoccupied covered with dust and cobwebs stifling now with the accumulated heat of weeks if james lamberts pampered daughter needed discipline she got it in the moment when her new husband unlocked the door and thrust her hurriedly inside out of a driving rain and it is to noras everlasting credit that don did not suspect the consternation that surged through her loyal heart the charm of the place which she was to know later was wholly lost amid the gloom and darkness of that stormy day don having seen the room with sunlight dancing across its worn old floor never realized just how it looked to leonora in that first moment she wanted to cry out oh don we cant stay here not now anyway to one reared in the soft lap of luxury such a proceeding seemed well nigh impossible indeed the words of protest were on her lips when glancing up quickly in dismay she saw her husbands face and it was a transfigured trans figured face it was the face of a tired small boy who has reached home it brought a lump into noras throat it brought swift tears into her eyes said don throwing open a casement window at the back this wonderful nora the view on a clear day is simply marvelous that fireplace a corker it takes in a four foot log not that one wants to consider fires just now but well cool off soon as the air blows through here lucky the rains not coming from all directions as ive seen it do well have things snug long before bedtime and he turned caught her close hungrily oh nora tell me im not dreaming its so heavenly to be away from all that clamor to be where its quiet to be back here dearest with you with you and what could a loving woman say to that no hardships or inconveniences are ever so hard and inconvenient to man as they are to woman in that moment nora grasped this first lesson she was to learn of marriage and was forever thankful that no word of hers had cast a shadow on dons happiness for things were not so bad as she had feared slipping into a paint stained smock discovered in a closet don declared cheerfully that when all else failed he could always earn their living as a houseman it was amazing how rapidly he did away with all that dust and what seemed stranger still to the bewildered bride he appeared to derive pleasure from the perform performance ancel the revolting cobwebs vanished as if by magic while nora was hunting through her luggage for some cortum suited to the task in hand but I 1 realize the crying need of aprons in the life of a married woman she admitted with chagrin where are the towels don perhaps I 1 can cari do my share if I 1 pin one round me I 1 spoil my wedding gown you know ill say you must don I 0 swung down from a stepladder step ladder to embrace his nora with all the ardor of a brand new husband when you say wedding gown woman it sends a delicious shiver up my spine and dont you worry about the lack of aprons jim perkins general store up at the port supplies every need in the life of a modern housewife from bathing suits to vanity cases the towels are or were anyhow in a bureau drawer but this filthy job is mine 11 the sun broke through the clouds at last and with its cheerful rays streaming in at the open casement the oil stove seemed less dismaying the lack of running water something that could be endured for a time at least after all nothing mattered except this chance to help don back to his normal sunny self thought nora nothing perhaps save the parting with her father the sadness of that parting still hovered near when after a supper of bread and milk the first bread and milk supper ive had since I 1 was six years old admitted nora they tramped a half mile up the beach and from a sand dune saw a full moon rise out of the sea sitting there quietly watching that ever widening path of gold hearing the soft low murmur of breaking waves don felt that his cup of joy was running over he said drawing the girl closer happy beloved happy said nora he turned to search her face in the growing brightness conscious of a reservation in the answer and loving her greatly don understood try to forget your father for a little while he told her for you to worry wont help him now nora and and it hurts you the fingers clasping his own tightened a little but hes suffering don it would be cruel if I 1 forgot that altogether I 1 wonder yes he urged after a silence would you mind if if I 1 wrote to him once in a while dear why should I 1 mind nora but hes unjust to you don terribly terribly unjust I 1 have you feel that I 1 loyal oh my dear you given me proof of your loyalty write to your father of course if it will make you happier who am I 1 to deny him the comfort of your letters hes got only the shadow poor man while I 1 have the substance yes write even if you receive no answers hes angry now but hell treasure those letters just the P same not for years was don to know how true a prophecy that was nora wrote next day wrote as she might have a year before ignoring utterly their tragic parting dad dear were here on the coast of maine occupying a studio it goes by the classy name of shack that belongs to a friend of dons carl venable whose work you think so wonderful its a darling place right on the dunes with the broad atlantic for a front yard and a glimpse of pine covered hills behind us im out on the tiny porch just big enough to hold a bridal couple dad breathing in huge lung fuls fuIs of cool salt air and hoping youre not suffocating in the city and from the delicious odor issuing from within I 1 judge that the fish chowder my husband has promised me for dinner is in the making its a relief to find him hi M a good cook father otherwise we might suffer from starvation or in indigestion or something why in the world you send me to cooking school instead of college TO BE CONTINUED |