Show IV 0 ra J 3 aay C W y y r 0 IV r V m iri UV W 4 i C r L i 1 A S ate 4 fe CHAPTER xin continued 18 the ocean was not visible from here but the salt of it was in the air and james heard the roar ol of waves breaking against rocks As the sun disappeared behind a cloud the old man stopped laid down his bag and buttoned his coat higher about the throat shivering a little in summer this road would be alive with tourists he supposed it was deserted now a man made strip of 01 macadam that seemed curiously out of place between the rocky pastures which bordered it on either side strange james lambert mused as he started on again that 24 hours ago he dreamed of being here strange too that despite the uneasiness he felt at seeing nora he was happier than hed been for ayears and years after a time he found himself hurrying a little that short half mile which the conductor promised seemed very long yet he have missed the place this was a lonely stretch of broad with no lanes leading seaward me stopped again drew noras postcard from his pocket and was studying it minutely when a voice startled him say mister have you seen the ar R F D man moving a step or two forward james ijames saw that the voice belonged to a small boy who had apparently I 1 been swinging on a rustic gate half hidden from view by a clump of fir trees there was a mail box too this must be the place the old mans heartbeats heart beats quickened as he responded 1 I seen anybody since I 1 left the trolley are you then all because a sudden breeze ahad had blown the boys hair away from his forehead the question died on an games james lips where had he seen a forehead and hair like that he asked himself some half forgotten memory stirring to life alit ahl now he recalled it the door to his own library a tall young man stand ling upon the threshold youth ancar nate youre kind of out of breath arent you the boy was saying 1 I guess youve been hurrying if youre tired why dont you sit down on that rock its a good smooth one mother sits there when she ashes S waiting for the postman I 1 hope hell bring the money this afternoon shell be pretty discouraged if he alieve me james asked as he availed himself of the proffered resting place so your mother expects the postman to bring some money the youngster nodded his blue eyes very serious ashes been expecting it for moren a month and ashes pretty P stubbed bed about it A lady that lives in the biggest house at the port summer times owes it to her for teaching her little girl to play mothers a swell piano player and ashes a swell cook too are you going to nortons Nor tons mister its quite a walk im not going to nortons Nor tons tores replied james how old are you sonny ill be six and three quarters 1 before very long was the prompt answer your name please james doing a hasty sum in mental arithmetic failed to respond he said isaid then you must be im james lambert mason put in the boy im named for my grandpa but ive never seen him its sort of funny not to know your own grandfather it but ive heard a lot about him and seen his picture its on mothers desk do you know if you so old and have so many wrinkles look something like him queer it geel gee here comes the Post postman maril I 1 hope hes bringing mothers check chec kill eyes on the eager face james echoed this hope but the mail carrier merely tossed out a paper and the old man saw with consternation that his grandson was fighting tears of disappointment as he picked it up was it a big check the question was a kindly effort to make conversation it was normous enormous e replied the boy and swallowed it would buy two tons of coal and coals expensive last winter we burned wood and mother got pretty tired tending the fires daddy said he stand seeing her do it besides now he cant move fast any more hes sawfly cold days when the wind blows oft off the ocean he get warmed up at all ive got to go now mister but you can sit there as long as you want jo to its our rock thanks sonny but I 1 think ill biake a little call on your mother the childs face lighted goody we dont have much company tom pany if put your bag on this side ill help you carry it its not heavy james told him why why cant your father move fast any more because hes a hero the boy lifted his head proudly and again james seemed to behold a i 1 P e man standing in his own d ri 1 i y mothers told us about it heaps of c times limes its one of our best favorite favorit stories you see mother and daddy dadd were at a movie and the roof sort 0 of caved in and lots of folks were hurt hur and killed children and their fa and mothers too sad it well daddy grabbed moth er and got her out all safe and an then he went right back to help thi the others mother says he went where when no one else would go he saved a s life 1 I see said james and and an w where here was your mother while he saved if it she was out on the sidewalk near as let her get there was wa deep snow everywhere and pretty soon it began to snow some more mon and the wind blew dreadfully and anc she thought hed never come and anc when he did come two real kind firemen were carrying him but he was hurt so hard he answer when she called I 1 was a little boy 4 r 6 but she wait for him then so I 1 dont remember very much about it but I 1 remember one thing what was that james asked as the child looked up in expectation of the question it was next morning A lady came and told us us boys that mother wanted us we jumped right up and ran into her and daddys daddes room and mother got up yet and what do you spose was there beside her 1 I cant imagine A baby we thought santa claus was going to bring her but she wait for him it was my little sister iris irist at something in the old mans voice his grandson glanced up puzzled yep it was my grandmas grandeas grand mas name its the name of a flower too and daddy says my little sisters more like a flower than anything he ever saw P capt mother but we boys dont think mothers one bit like a flower ashes too useful well said james the nora he remembered might have been likened to a flower but she surely useful dont you think iris is a pretty name queried the little boy yes yes james murmured but hardly knew what he was saying A vision had come to him a picture of his sheltered luxury lv lov irig ing little nora standing for hours perhaps at that scene of tragedy snow driving against her face waiting waiting bied dread in her heart and her babe about to be born he had to force himself back to the present as the boy said happily our housel house see the roof 0 ver over beyond those pine trees you think it was a barn once would you its a swell house now mother calls it our shining palace 1 I see the old mans heart was thudding unaccountably Is is she at home now nope I 1 mean no sir ashes way down the beach with daddy and donald and my little sister you see mr perkins the sp ressman gave us an old wheelchair wheel chair that belonged to his grandma so now daddy can go most anywhere we push him down to the water wat er when the tide goes out and he walks back going real slowly last year he walk hardly at all for a moment james was filled with a sense of horror confined to a wheelchair wheel chair that boy who had round found life in an office stifling it was unthinkable they had reached the house and feeling suddenly very old and very tired he said ill sit down on the steps sonny you tell you mother well tell her its someone who knows her father you yo bean can my gr grandpa anapa gee she 11 II ad to see fee you its get ting K agocs vou tj i I 1 11 james stood for a moment regarding the exterior so this was noras palace this weather beaten old stable a relic of more leisurely days when people drove horses instead of automobiles and it he mused even an attractive stable I 1 to be sure the casement windows gave it a pleasing look and the front door possessed a certain dignity but there was one of those abominations known as a cupola on topi indeed his namesake seeing that this unexpected caller was pausing for a view of the swell house came back to point out the cupola with pride our watch tower we can see the enemy approaching for miles and miles did you notice the windows daddy and us boys are crazy about the colors come on in and as james followed him this is a gorgeous room it mr littlefield says its miles too big but we dont think so you see its the ball room indeed responded jarnes james no its not too big and as you say sonny its gorgeous it was yet looking about him curiously riou sly james lambert pondered on what made it so the place was shabby enough in a way the builders paper with which the walls were covered was stained in places A big chair needed upholstering but on the wall opposite was a rug that would have done honor to a halans rajahs palace james went forward touching the beautiful thing with reverent fingers we picked that up in persia said the little boy his grandfather smiled at the oddly old remark you did well I 1 factly ive never been there it was daddy found it and its a magic carpet why mother sell it to the rug man from boston you see daddy can lie here and look up at it and then he remembers things like the queer place he found it in and oh you know hes had in foreign countries it makes him happier no one would sell a magic cullick Culli carpet ct would they 1 I suppose not said james and thought what was it nora told me about memories its very old went on his namesake older than I 1 am and so was mothers deimund that came way from south africa she and daddy were on their way home with it when I 1 as born did you know I 1 was born on the high seas you were nora had never written about that yep mother was sort of expecting me but she thought I 1 come till they got to england daddy says im the only fellow he ever knew per personally who was born on the high seas the small boy stopped to struggle into a scarlet sweater when I 1 get back he promised ill show you the watch tower if if youre young enough to climb a ladder ive got to run now and find mother oh I 1 forgot 1 I he turned at the door evidently remembering mem bering his manners just make yourself at home thanks smiled his grandfather 1 I believe I 1 will CHAPTER XIV so noras father was left alone in her shining palace he stood by the fire letting his eyes roam slowly around the ball room it was an unusual room a room of extraordinary beauty yet james had never seen anything just like its curious blending of poverty and riches in one corner stood a baby grand piano he was glad that nora had kept up her music but a baby grand when the stuffing was corn comi ing out of that old chairl chair I 1 ous evidently this improvident ca couple believed in spending when ther then was anything to spend that rug now that bit of the russian rus candelabra on the mantel only real money could procure such things the old man moved forward passing his hand over the lacquered chair its mother of pearl inlay shining dimly leonora had written him about that chair at the very first something her husband had picked up during his wanderings japanese of course no one surpassed the japanese when it came to lacquer his own chinese cabinet of which james was r rather ather proud for one minute compete with work like this he admitted honestly and here was a nest of tables to match it beautiful those tables belonged in a museum yet on the smallest stood a set of tiny dishes put out evidently in anticipation of a dolls tea party did noras children play with things like this extraordinary james turned again his eyes caught by a painting of a clipper ship above the fireplace that was a ship one could almost feel the wind filling its sails A venable of course one would recognize it anywhere well carl venable had been a friend of dons he understood the picture may have cost them nothing too bad the artist had been cut off in his prime a man with a gift like that it was a marvelous painting worth a great deal of money yet here it was in in a room where the bookshelves were nothing but boxes packing boxes piled one upon another and stained to match the woodwork books books and still more books A pretty penny they mus must have spent on books those two and yet noras father admitted almost with reluctance the books furnished this big room as nothing else could gave it atmosphere their varied bindings made him think of a camels hair shawl his mother mothe r used to wear how softly they blent with the fine old rug that hung above them well he must sit down for a while that walk from the car had tired him unaccountably despite its worn upholstery the big chair by the table looked inviting but he must get nearer the fire stretch out on the davenport a moment james paused staring down at what he had taken for a divan why it was nothing in the world but a pew out of some old church wo ever heard of putting such a thing into a living room and yet by george it seemed to fit the place belong herel here what beautiful carving in i on those old posts one seldom saw such work in these days well this was certainly the strangest yet A pew out of s some ome old new england meeting house but it looked surprisingly singly attractive with its thick crimson cushion and pillows of the same warm hue and it looked comfortable A great deal more comfortable james told the empty ba ball room than those modern overstuffed over stuffed affairs one can cant t get up from without a helping hand for a tired moment the old man sat down and closed his eyes wondering wearily if this strange home of noras possessed a guest room his sense of humor grown rusty since she went away lifted its head as he soliloquized perhaps allow me to curl up in the watch tower james chuckled the enemy in the watch tower would be something new then remembering that the boy had said his picture was on noras desk he forgot his weariness and arose briskly TO BE CONTINUED |