Show THE LIFE OF THE PARTY 13 7 ELIZABETH ci 0 D v appleton Ap century co con co ino inc CHAPTER VIII continued 22 the sun was behind a bank ol of clouds and a light breeze had sprung up when they took their places rex caan caln calmly dy seated himself beside joan no need to consider stuyvesant now or be jealous of him stuyvesant was annexed and labeled as the property of another girl the talk was general and much livelier than it had been earlier in the day stuyvesant and hale were in high spirits the others did their best to share the mood it will really be nice to have you in new york joan told hale under cover of the mild discussion between stuyvesant and bert im thinking of lots of things you can do for me besides she added serenely id rather live in new york than in chicago or california hale shook his head at her youre trying to upset my poise lie he said severely it cant be done besides my present plan is to die of a hopeless love for you I 1 cant do that if you keep on encouraging cou raging me with these flirtations I 1 revive every time you smile at me how the devil can I 1 die if you keep on smiling you give up the funeral and live for me joan wanted to know but again hale shook his head at her 1 I will not marry you joan he said firmly neither will I 1 le let t you marry me but youre driving me to desperate measures I 1 think ill offer my heart and hand in self defense to aunt hosanna she can protect me 1 I doubt it joan said thoughtfully she even up to protecting mrs spencer forbes hale shot a quick look at her just what do you mean by that nothing its merely one of those enigmatic remarks that keep my friends guessing she dropped the subject so definitely that hale almost heard it fall the consultation with doctor nick crosby the following tuesday morning was brisk and businesslike business like crosby in his office was a very different person from the chatty man of the world he had been on mrs nases veranda during reas first meeting with him at joans suggestion bert had the first appointment at berts suggestion rex accompanied him into the private office it was assumed without discussion that joans examination would take more time all bert said was that he was nervously run down and wanted help in up building crosby made some tests asked some ques eions gave him some advice and wrote out a prescription a all 11 inside of twenty minutes then joan went in to the doctor alone and the two young men waited for her in the anteroom ante room she was gone three quarters of an hour when the doctor had bowed her out of his private office rex muttered a word of apology and went into the consulting room himself there he faced the doctor expectantly well he asked crosby shrugged everything in Kne elands case confirms what you told me in our talk last night hell soon so be all right with proper care and treatment and miss kneeland im not so sure about her I 1 dont like some of her symptoms its too soon to be definite def anite I 1 want to watch her a while what do you think the trouble is surely you must have some notion im holding my notions in abeyance ance she may have nothing but a nasty case of indigestion that can play the very mischief with a patient once it gets a bad start ive given her a tonic ive told her not to eat anything between meals and to avoid rich dishes she has no appetite the tonic may help that she has been living principally on milk all right for some me people but not so good for others ive av e stopped it for the time ill talk tail to you about her in a week or two crosby was crisp professional and not communicative his manner suggested preoccupation on and an undercurrent of perplexity perplex ity hale drove home in berts car with the two patients it was a shabby affair but good enough tor for the appalling roads of the region both patients doctor avowed that they liked U e d the he gives me confidence joan testified he asks some odd questions though id hate to be his wife and try t to 0 have any secrets from him the shabby car sank into a deep rut and the occupants g groaned im the only girl gir I 1 of 0 my set who a car joan said that shows how ec anical I 1 ani an she went on cheerfully 1 I have no expensive tastes at all god made me the ideal bride bior or a young nan man struggling along on a small income think that over rex she addad sweetly jt it bughi ought to suggest a lot of things to an intelligent mind like yours by jove hale I 1 believe ashes proposing to you bert exclaimed with more interest than he had shown since the discussion of the new partnership not yet im thinking about it and throwing out a few subtle hints joan explained Is this maidenly bert asked he gave the wheel a whirl that lifted joan from her seat no it good driving either its too soon for you to get jealous of rex he wont have me yet at any price I 1 can only live in hope hale said nothing girls were inexplicable he was thinking here was joan kneeland making these poor jokes in the presence of a cousin who was still ill and in love with her it like her she that type no doubt she was tensed up after her visit to the doctor hale rode back to the camp in in silence hardly hearing the desultory talk of his companions CHAPTER UX IX the next three weeks life at halcyon camp moved on almost as serenely as casper kneeland had once dreamed it would do under the care of doctor crosby bert kneeland was beginning to feel himself again joan too looked and apparently ly felt better than before she had put herself into his hands when hale pressed her for details of the improvement she said briefly that doctor crosby was very satisfactory and that she was following his instructions rex was surprised therefore he when late one night during the third week of her treatment he saw rose approaching the door of joans room with a small tray in her hand he passed on then on an impulse he stopped and retraced his steps he checked rose as she was about to enter the room that he asked looking ing down at the tray just a little milk sir rose was surprised by the question and showed it her expression confused the investigator after all what right had he 1 I thought miss joan eat anything between meals he said less incisively than he had spoken en before he was amazed by his own persistence and still more by his resentment of that tray it was a nice little tray holding nothing but a napkin and a small thermos bottle she usually rose admitted a d only once in a while jane said I 1 was to bring this up because she eat much dinner hale nodded and walked on to his room there seemed nothing more he could do tonight he would certainly speak to joan in the morning about that milk it would not be easy his relations with joan were becoming a trifle strained she alternately tormented him teased him bullied him and was charming to him that was all right of course if it was the wa way Y she wanted to act but this too did not seem like her he took redge refuge with mrs spencer forbes and bert both of whom were very friendly and with miss hosanna him at times she admitted that she was tired there were days when she was impatient almost snappish he suspected that all was not going smoothly between her and mrs spencer forbes mrs spencer forbes he saw was closely abs observing erv bert at times as she watched him her pale eyes eye held something of the look Ain had so often held when he was observing the humans around him the look of an interested spectator drama following a crosby had formed the habit of I 1 dropping into the camp at tea time v though never during the weekends week ends when he might meet the elder kneeland finding himself alone with the doctor one day before the others had come downstairs rex hinted that joans progress was not as rapid as he had hoped ive no right to butt in he admitted just the same just the same youre in love with the girl youre mighty anxious about her too as well you may be crosby spoke shortly his cheerful sunburned face wore a look of perplexity just what do you mean by that rex spoke sharply why should I 1 be anxious because im anxious myself because youre perfectly right the girl is improving but she coming up as fast as she should every now and then when im feeling most encouraged about her she has a setback set back im beginning to think I 1 may have been remiss if we had been in town id have had her x rayed before this As it was I 1 want to drag her to bew wew new york in the heat beat and there seem any very good reason for it they were alone on the porch the doctor had been lounging in the big wicker chair now he sat up and looked at hale almost resentfully sent fully all ali her symptoms might mean acute nervous indigestion as ive 44 4 I 1 5 lv ail ashes taking a milk nightcap once in a while said he went on irritably the general condition girls of today get themselves into by the fool things they do passes understanding she tells me she never went in n for much cocktail drinking but that last winter she smoked a lot twenty five cigarettes or more a day sometimes she admits that last winter too she was going out every night and getting along on five or six hours sleep she says she get to bed till three or four in the morning and that she was usually awake by eight and go to sleep again all that would account for the state ashes in if she kept it up but she doing that ashes leading a perfectly healthy normal life ashes di eting she has all the air and sunshine and exercise she needs with her natural constitution which is fine she ought to be forging ahead steadily not up one week and slipping back the next like the proverbial cat in the well she has me guessing but she swears ashes taking her tonic and following my instructions not about her diet rex told 01 him ashes taking a r milk nightcap once in awhile I 1 caught her at it one night this week and spoke to her about it the next morning what did she say oh that she had only done it a few times when she was thirsty she likes milk it seems she had been just about living on it this summer till she went to you she has been brought up on the theory that milk is the ideal food for us all ashes got to let me decide decide that cr crosby 0 aby said shortly ill speak to her about it he had no opportunity to do so that day joan come down to tea and the doctor refused an invitation vi to stay on for dinner the little conversation lingered in hales mind however and when that night he again met rose taking a thermos bottle to joans room he was ready for the encounter indeed he was more than ready he was ruffled and disturbed out of all proportion to the incident his eyes had the reddish look they took on in anger milk he asked curtly yes sir did miss joan order it no sir I 1 was told to leave it in her room in case she wanted it during the night she used to have it every night you know now s she he often drink it but you leave it there every night no sir only nights when she eat much dinner who told you to jane sir rex took the thermos bottle from the tray and held it in his hand ill take care of this he muttered and added more calmly rose you want miss joan to get well dont you oh yes sir of 01 course I 1 do well the doctor want her to eat anything between meals so dont tempt her dont leave any liquids or food of any kind in her room after this those are the doctors orders you wont forget that will you no sir ill tell jane what you say rose spoke coldly she liked this young man very much but she had just decided that in this little matter he was exceeding his privileges rex smiled at her and took the thermos bottle into his own room he left it in the bathroom and made his night toilet slowly and thoughtfully he was wrestling with one of the hunches that always irritated him useful though they had so often proved to be at last when he was ready for bed and should have got into it without further hesitation he abruptly gave up his mental struggle he put on gloves poured the milk from the thermos bottle into a new glass bottle that stood on an a shelf corked and labeled it and packed it carefully in a small wooden box he then packed the thermos bottle with equal care it would reveal a choice collection of fingerprints his own roses janes and perhaps others but he now had in his growing collection the fingerprints of everyone in the house just as he had bottles and packing cases in which to ship specimens for fingerprinting or analysis in a household where so many happenings out of the normal had occurred it would do no harm to take some precautions he grinned wryly as he took this one it was time to get out of halcyon camp he was having too many hunches he was getting morbid nevertheless h he e walked the three miles to the nearest post office early the next morning and sent his parcels to their different destinations TO BE CONTINUED |