Show MS w 11 ll pw nt w C 7 HI 1 l Y tet Mw SYNOPSIS james lambert tries in vain to dissuade L beautiful foster daughter leonora from rolling ma marrying g don mason young ro atone to ne he tells her unless a house i founded upon a rock it will ivin not survive leonora suspects the influence of her half brother ned always jealous of the girl ba since the day his father brought her home borne from the deathbed ot of her mother abandoned by her italian barit baritone one lover don idonea arrives in in the midst of the argument and lambert realizes the frank understanding between the two sitting up late into the night lambert reviews the whole story ot of lnora as a child at boarding school studying music abroad meeting don on the return trip in the morning he delivers his ultimatum tima tum to give don a job with ned tor for a years showdown when nora suggests suggest the possibility of running away with don lambert threatens disinheritance don agrees t to 0 the job but before a month Is over ever his nerves are jumpy he cannot sleep at night he Is too tired to go out much with nora nora soothes him with her music nora complains to her father of neds spying on don and decides that rather than see abts spirit broken she will run away she urges her father to put an end to the futile experiment james lambert Is obdurate land and angry lambert tells her that it 1 don quits she will quit with him that he will be through with her he adds that it if she tires or of her bargain it will be useless to come to him tor for help later dori don and nora discuss the situation don promises to buck up wet well stick it out he says with the coming ot of spring don Is full of unrest and w 3 and takes long walks at night 0 one ne evening a poor girt girl speaks to him and jn in his pity for her he gives her money A car passes at that moment flashes headlights and moves on A terrific heat wave pushers ushers in the summer and nora refuses to ilo go eo to the country with her father ned meanwhile insinuates to his father about dons evenings away from nora but lam i bert 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 nod 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 down and Is through he calls nora who insists on running away with him to get married realizing it Is her job to restore dons faith in himself her goodby to her father Is met with complete silence don and nora go to maine and set settle do down w n in the studio ot of carl venable Vc a famous artist friend of dons whose daughter he saved irom from drowning nora writes tier her father CHAPTER VI continued nora covered six pages with cheerful nothings and ended as she had ended all her letters to him since childhood 1 I love you heaps daddy daday your nora nor did she omit the three black crosses below her name they signified kisses she chad had never forgotten them even in the ithe busy days at college or when touring europe the girl knew though he had never told her in so many words that her father would cheated if those crosses first appearing in her letters when she was iwas only seven and james away on business were omitted nora mailed the letter that afternoon when they went to the port in search of a kitchen apron do you think hell answer it she questioned hope in her voice and don who had been wondering the same thing thought 0 savagely hes a beast if he do though all he said was 1 I expect too much of him at first nora james lambert did not answer that letter but one afternoon some ten days later when they turned away from the post office empty handed as usual jim perkins who ran not only the general store but the express office hailed them jovially hi there mr air mason your cifes baggage come in on the mornin train want I 1 should carry it down to the shack right now puzzled they crossed the street and entered the small frame building which served the american express what nora was thinking could that man mean then her eyes teu fell on the familiar steamer trunks that had accompanied her au all over europe beside them neatly tagged with her new name stood a wardrobe trunk that she had never seen before a handsome one her heart quickened when she saw that the tags were addressed in the neat clear script of a generation that knew no typewriters her fa he he has sent my things she said to don her voice unsteady 1 I see don murmured then to the were on our way home now jim send ero em along you can ride on the truck both 0 you just as well as not offered the man cheerfully that is lie he added with a twinkle I 1 if the ladys not too proud I 1 ashes not nora assured him and managed a light laugh while the man shouted to some invisible person in the rear back the truck right up to the platform iry and cart these trunks down to mr venables old shack and get a move ont the trunks were locked which means 11 said don when they made the discovery that the keys are coming along by mail I 1 really expect your fat at herd write nora but perhaps he will oh if he only would she answered but her hope was vain the next mail brought a registered package containing trunk keys nothing more nora who had been opening the small box ox with eager fingers flushed hotly in disappointment and don laid a gentle hand upon her shoulder buck up lip dear some day heu hell understand 1 I think she said a moment later as she fitted a small brass key into its iti lock 1 I tb he be just to g get e t r rid id of everything everything that rem reminded him of of me don and its quite as likely observed her husband with characteristic fairness that he knew these things would help if we were hard up he loves you nora never forget that nora arose and put her arms around him oh dont donl she cried if I 1 could only be surel james lam lambert bert had sent his daughters entire wardrobe everything from my beautiful seal coat to the gold mesh bag he gave me christmas nora spoke from the floor while she extricated this costly trinket from the toe of a smart tan overshoe she smiled a little dad must have packed this stuff himself don martha would never have put that gold mesh bag in such a place why how queer this i is st I 1 her voice faded curiously into silence and don turned from preparing lunch to join her queer he questioned nora looked up a puzzled expression clouding her eyes veres theres money here here in this bag I 1 mean I 1 never carried mon g I 1 C ci pa f 14 I 1 but she wont always be beautiful ey cy in it don that is not more than a dollar or so for an emergency but this looks don knelt beside her taking a roll 0 of f bills from its golden hiding place it its a thousand dollars he said after a moment awe in his voice its ten one hundred dollar bills nora are you sure absolutely that you leave it here she laughed unsteadily of course im sure do you ima imagine ine that I 1 went round carrying a thousand dollars especially in a mesh bag for anyone to see even I 1 as careless of money as all that dad must have put it there when he packed these things don oh it was dear of himl him how how can anybody be so dear and yet so hard he bothered to pack my clothes himself I 1 know he did and he sent everything everything except my silver slippers I 1 wonder she glanced up wistfully 1 I wonder why he kept the slippers don Is it so hard to guess darling don answered and then perhaps because she had been fighting them courageously for days noras tears came CHAPTER VII looking back on that summer over a span of years it seemed to leonora mason the most tranquil of 0 her entire life for don the adventurer was too spent to be restless he wanted only the healing peace of woods and rocks and white capped water these and nora slowly steadily his lost weight came back his skin darke darkened tied to its accustomed tan his buoyant step which the girl had missed so sorely returned also though strangely perhaps this was the last thing to mend it was don who instructed his wife in the art of cooking not that I 1 mind being chef to the queen of hearts he told her but youve got to learn earn madam come times when your man gets home after a hard days work hell want his dinner but I 1 begin with soups if I 1 were you he added cautiously that tomato tomato bisque laughter sprang into his eyes as they met hers and nora said you were a hero to swallow it my ta fa would have thrown the whole mess out the door do you suppose ill ever ever learn don she looked so like a troubled little girl this usually sophisticated bride of his that don pulled himself out of the big chair to secure a kiss kics of course cleaml the fried potatoes this noon were marvelous and those last biscuits melted in my mouth fried potatoes nora echoed scornfully A newborn new born infant could f fry ry potatoes donl don it was a happy time and the rainy morning when don D 0 n opened the crates and boxes which threatened to crowd all firewood from the shed things he had found in far far corners of the world was a red letter occasion never forgotten by leonora it was these treasures though her unsuspecting husband guess it till long after which gave the girl her first sharp longing for a home hitherto she had thought only of possessing don but as she dropped to her knees in rapture before an arm chair of red lacquer exquisitely decorated with mother of pearl inlay something within her that is a part of every normal woman stirred to life don smiled watching the dreams lie he did not understand dawn in her eyes like it my dear ive a nest of small red tables too beautiful all of them and somewhere round is a piece of flawless make your eyes shine I 1 found it in tokyo pure rose du barry with a flight of butterflies spanning the entire bowl got it for almost nothing too though ill admit that chair youre worshiping left me without a single yen and see here girl he was prying up a box cover when I 1 first saw this candelabra it was the property of a russian nobleman a postwar post war exile its said to have belonged to a czar of all the dussias Rus sias thou though rh you may season that story i a grain of salt I 1 bought it partly because its such a beautiful example of russian brass but principally because the grand duke or whatever the poor guy was looked hungry therel there he held aloft an eight branch candlestick A stunner it oh don breathed nora 1 I I 1 am almost glad the grand duke needed nourishment don laughed dived into a corner for another box and stared at it puzzled wonder here I 1 seem to remember some venetian glass and by georgel george ive completely forgotten the jade pendant we simply must dig up that pendant nora for you can wear it now not wait as p have to for these other things until were old and wrinkled and settled down somehow I 1 cant just see us settled down darling it be so bad to settle down with possessions as beautiful as these to keep us company what on earth are you producing now don dont try to tell me its a jade teapot it is well you must have been in funds when you purchased that her husband smiled seated him self upon a packing case and answered eyes dreamy with reminiscence youre quite mistaken I 1 bought this teapot of a most gentlemanly bandit during that chinese rebellion in which I 1 had the luck to figure and paid him what amounted to about six fifty of our money it was loot of course but I 1 argued that since someone was destined to get a bargain it might as well be 1 I it a marvelous piece of carving the thing belongs in in some museum I 1 suppose but its yours lady it if you care to keep it nora reached out lifting the piece of jade with reverence what I 1 cant understand she said after a moment is why a man like you with no home and no desire for a home should spend his money collecting things of this sort what makes him don love of beauty replied the I 1 young man promptly it if strong enough my dear the love of beauty will account for almost any crime I 1 steal my very wife from her adoring if unreasonable father simply because she was so beautiful I 1 endure the thought of a long life without her but she wont always be beautiful the girl reminded him she will to me don countered beauty is more so much more than skin deep nora I 1 referring to that patrician nose which youre so proud of or your level brows or those starry eyes that transform you into a sort of dream come true but to something intangible something deep down within dearest the thing that made you relinquish a fortune for a tramp like me therel there he exclaimed slipping lightly from the packing case off my chest ive wanted to say it for a long time and was too shy you shy scoffed nora but the eyes she lifted to him were indeed stars and now said don im going to find that pendant jade is a symbol of virtue to the chinese you know and unless my eyes deceived me when I 1 bought the thing from an impoverished coolie imore more loot I 1 fear its lovely enough for th that ai most virtuous of wives my own he made her a formal attle bowl bow and nora retaliated laughing you talk like a book and you must have learned that bow in dancing school but youve aroused my curiosity regarding the pendant don where shall we look they found the pendant a thing of such rare beauty that the girl declared she should regard it as her wedding gift they found an ivory elephant from belgium and a vase from dresden so feminine and dainty that nora laughed at the thought of a mere mans buying it but I 1 bought it for my wife explained don soberly she must have been in kindergarten at the time while her husband a kiddie of eleven toured germany alone asked nora rising to put the teapot back in its case this jade is too valuable to be left here indefinitely don what shall we do with it ship it to vens studio in new york A friend of his looks after things while abroad hes got my rugs I 1 leave em here for fear of moths you know rugs gasped nora sinking limply into the priceless chair on top of all these treasures do you possess rugs only three lady don spoke as if confessing a grave fault but rugs if you must know the bitter truth are my pet weakness and the three in question well wait till you see em his wife drew in a deep breath of astonishment Is is there anything more don had to laugh as he responded books my dear to too many of em to unpack here I 1 lose my mind when I 1 go into a bookstore and unless you want your children to go barefoot nora you must lead me gently but firmly away fro from m such temptation she smiled then after a moment observed thoughtfully 1 I seem to have married a most surprising individual but why may I 1 inquire when father was probing your deplorable lack of bank balance you mention these treasures youve collected the young man stared at her eyes widening TO BE CONTINUED |