Show rc COMES a MOMENT by ELINOR MAXWELL 0 ARCADIA HOUSE publications SERVICE L SYNOPSIS mary loring and her father jim an n ineffectual attorney mee meet a train which brings his wealthy sister enlaw n law unmarried linnie corswell Cot swell and her friend lelia leila ormsby divorcee for a christmas visit waiting at home tor for them are marys mother her younger sister ellen her lathers fathers nagging n g maiden sister aunt ilar mamie rale and peter the baby of the family at the depot dr christopher cragg helps the guests with their luggage mary Is secretly in love with doctor cragg in leaving her aunt L lynnle t oral e u urges rge mary to visit her in new Y york ork b but u I 1 M mary r refuses fay mary works in a rn rental 1 illar library U ry where she spends her spare time writing short stories marys father Is let out a as 5 railroad attorney the fees of which were almost the sole support of his family to earn money she decides to begin writing in earnest mary feels sure that her newest sto rv at sea would please the editors of national weekly after finishing it she calls doctor cragg who comes to the book store tor for a current novel falling from a ladder while retting getting his book she regains consciousness ness to find his arms around her he tells her he loves her and tells her he Is to be married the edmia s month to a girl he has known all his life despondent mary decides to accod ace rat her aunt linnies invitation in new york her aunt laughs at her for iier her plans to write and insists that sh she meet as many eligible men as oos possible sible th the new week brines two letters one from the national weekly with a check tor for her story makes her happy the other from her sister tells her that financial conditions at home are Retti getting naf worse the next day at t a party given elven by her aunt marv meets distinguished jerome taylor wealthy aped man about town and effusive count umberto BaU Balli ancl the counts oily manner nauseates her A note from her father the follows following r day pleads with her not to mention thela the fam a ailys ilys financial plight to her aunt after reading it she forces herself to begin work on her ne next t short story which Is more difficult to w write r ite than the first she labors on until her a aunt informs her that count umberto whom leua leila terms a sponger and fortune hunter Is to take them to dinner that evening he takes take 5 them to a garish restaurant in greenwich village that evening mary sends her story their son to the national nation a I 1 weekly she goes to see sec phillip buchanan editor of the national weekly to whom she has given her last story he invites her to lunch he congratulates her for the simple treatment given the first story and says that her last offering will receive immediate attention at lunch she Is introduced to attractive jim ormsby lelias leilas former husband mary tells lelia leila that she has met jim and knows from lelias leilas actions that she still loves him A letter from home tells mary that christopher crags cragg has finally married dazed by the news mary spends a miserable evening with her aunt at jerry taylors penthouse CHAPTER VIII 8 mary had taken out her typewriter several times during that first week after the arrival of ellens letter telling of chris marriage she had tried to write but her mind would give forth nothing and at long last she had decided not to attempt any work for another solid week she would accept every in invitation vi showered upon her by count Bali anci and jerome taylor try to divert her thoughts from chris by taking an interest in the amusements ments offered by these two men who appeared to be vying with each other for her company eventually perhaps she would be refreshed by their diversions and able to return to business in consequence of wl which ich she spent every evening with either Bali anci or taylor even went accompanied by aunt linnie to journeys end taylors estate in westchester for a weekend week end there she danced with jerome she walked with him she played a little atrocious bridge as his partner her mind however was back in hawkinsville Haw kinsville and she would never have dreamed of what was transpiring had not aunt linnie remarked nearly a dozen times a day my dear the mans simply mad about you and I 1 swear its the first time ever kno known wn him to be seriously in love with anybody marry him my dear if he asks you and he most certainly will just think darling what he can do for yau you mai mary ry would reply yes aunt linnie but geromes Je romes old enough to be my father I 1 really marry him to which aunt linnie would reply oh non nonsense what if he is old enough to be your father hes stunning looking and hes charming and hes rich as croesus all this talk about young love is poppycock poppy cock any love wears off after the first few years and then what have you besides worry over the grocery bill and how manage to pay the dentist for straightening the childrens teeth P linnies and lelias plans for a west indies cruise were now completed they were sailing on the itasca the fifteenth of march and expected to be gone at least six weeks linnie extended to mary a most cordial invitation to accompany them but mary finally managed to COIn convince vince her aunt of the sincerity of her desire des ire to write 1 I can never I 1 thank you enough aunt linnie she said in con conclusion cl but I 1 am going to make writing my business and it wont ever amount to much of a success if I 1 go gallivanting off on glorious pleasure trips then j it linnie said firmly the thing I 1 for you to do since youre hell bent on belong belonging ing to the intelligentsia ligen tsia is to remain right here in new york and work you cant accomplish anything by returning to hawkinsville Haw kinsville and you might as well just stay in this apartment addie will b be e running it just the same mary rushed to her aunt and threw thre grateful arms about her shoulders oh aunt linnie how wonder wonderful full 1 id love to stay here thank you so much why in the tune time youre away I 1 can write at least six shor shorts I 1 it t was the morning of the second day in march that addie called mary to the telephone its miss the mulatto said in a stentorian whisper or anyhow all I 1 could make out of the name perhaps ashes calling up about their son she thought rushing to the telephone or do editors have their receptionists attend to things of that sort but miss business did not concern the manuscript instead she informed mary that she was calling for mr buchanan he had asked a number of people to his apartment for cocktails at fi five ve that afternoon could mary come mary accepted with the only bit of enthusiasm she had elpe experienced for anything in days thank you miss she replied IU ill be there mr buchanann Bucha nans apartment the second floor of a house which had once been so very smart town home was located in the east fifties mary climbed one flight of the graceful old mahogany staircase and stopped timidly before a tall paneled door through which could be heard the buzz of conversation no bell was to be sein seen but a knocker of dull brass occupied az 40 0 ap 40 OVA F eventually mr air buchanan found time to come and sit on the arm ot of her abair a spot in the middle of the center panel and with a gloved hand that trembled in spite of the self control she was trying hard to exert mary lifted the metal hammer and knocked this process had to be repeated three or four times before it elicited any response but eventually a husky male with a large pugnacious face turned the knob and asked mary to come in he wore darle dark trousers and a white duck coat and mary assumed that he was mr buchanann Bucha nans servant he looked far more like a pugilist than a butler valet and she learned later that day that spike actually had been more or less actively engaged in fisticuffs until a night several years previous when phillip buchanan had literally dragged him out of the gutter and installed him in his modest bachelor abode phil buchanan surrounded by guests and in the act of mixing a highball at a wheelin wheel in bar looked up a bit startled and beheld mary standing in the doorway all right spike he replied with cometh something ing akin to a sigh of resignation and came swiftly forward im so glad you came miss loring do forgive spikes manner of armoun announcing cing Y you ou he simply cant see any sense in the more esthetic points of the social amenities and maybe the guys right you see everybody else has been here before and just barged in 1 I rather liked it mary admitted smiling up into phil buchanann Bucha nans amused gray eyes it made me feel at home if anybody in haw kinsville had a manservant man servant im sure hed be just as informal as spike slowly he took her about the big camf comfortable room introducing her to one group after another enunciating her name cl early clearly speaking it in full this is mary loring he said and mary warmed to the gracious kindness in his voice her first story at sea will appear in the national weekly the fifteenth of next month miss loring may I 1 present and in turn he mentioned the name and connection of each person there iles hes press ag enting me mary old herself bless his heart hes rather sweet eventually the introductions were over and he placed her in a low chair before the fire of channel coal that crackled in the hearth asked mrs van winkle who appeared to be acting as hostess to fetch her a cup of tea then left her to the mercies of two intense young men who after greeting her effusively enough returned wholeheartedly to a discussion of the relative merits of two recently published historical novels A black great dane of rather startling proportions evidently the dog that spike was known to walk either blinked sleepily before the fire or else made himself a nuisance by begging first one guest and then another for food he was a beautiful lumbering animal slightly gray a round around the snoot and knotty at the knees and his name was oscar conversation buzzed and crackled about the room over by the east window three men and a dowdily dressed young woman were shrilly discussing the colossal sale of a new bestseller best seller eventually mr buchanan found time to come and sit on the arm of her chair ive been meaning to drop you a note he said balancing rather dangerously a highbau highball and a cigarette in the same hand wed like a picture of you for our edition of friday the eighth and a short biographical sketch sort of introductory affair to the appearance of at sea a week later can you manage it heavens I 1 dont knowl know I 1 had my picture taken since I 1 was ten 1 urn um well that would scarcely do were exploiting you as somewhat of a prodigy but I 1 hardly think we can make our readers believe youre as young as all that ill tell you what miss will make an appointment for you with a photographer some time this week and he can take a few shots at you if you want me to certainly then glancing at her watch its later than I 1 thought it was I 1 must be going dinner engagement d I 1 I 1 well yes im sorry A bunch of probably drift into tonys later on tonight and id rather hoped go with us 1 I wish I 1 could mary replied thinking how much more stimulating an evening with these hectic interesting te people would be than the one she had in store jerome taylor was calling for her at seven the dinner would be delectable they would have the very choicest seats at the theater and later go on to a club for supper everything would be perfect but suddenly she wished with all her fervor that she might just stay on here with phillip buchanan and his friends CHAPTER IX spurred on with a new enthusiasm for writing because of having met although rather casually and at no great length a few arrived authors mary again set to work the next day she entitled her new story concerning anne and with a feverish zeal but not much conviction devoted the entire day to working on it aunt linnie and lelia were occupied with some last mm min i ute shopping for their cruise and the apartment was blessedly quiet miss sounding slightly more cordial than she had that day at the office telephoned mary around three and informed her that she had made an appointment for her for some sittings at the photographers at four the following day and would she mind dropping in the office before going to have her picture taken mr buchanan wished to talk to her mary acceded happ happily uy to both quests saying to herself mr mir bu chanani cha nans probably made his decision on my story and I 1 believe I 1 really believe its favorable otherwise he would merely have returned the manuscript with a polite note of refusal the following day she refused luncheon invitations both from jerome taylor and count Balian BaU ancl ct concerning anne must be retyped and whipped into shape in order to present it to mr buchanan Buc banan that afternoon her heart was light while she made her plans one story was finished and another was about to be accepted she was she felt going places and tor for the time being although she did not quite realize it she had completely forgotten christopher cragg at ae least ast the hurt of his marrying lisa ilsa grace land was not bedeviling her every conscious thought she arrived at the national weekly quarters at exactly three a large envelope containing her new manuscript under her arm there were three people seated in the waiting room but much to her amazement miss escorted her immediately and with somewhat of a flourish to mr bu chanani cha nans office he was seated at his desk gazing angrily at a typed letter in his hand the afternoon sun filtered through the venetian blind of the window behind him and settled on that strangely sunburned hair of his making him look mary thought like a little boy who has spent too many hours on the beach buchanan rose hastily from his swivel chair oh miss lorings how are you wont you sit down mary seated herself on the edge of the chair that faced his desk im very well thank you and ive really been working since I 1 saw you the other day meeting all those interesting people at your apartment stimulated me immensely and I 1 got busy at once on a new short sh 0 rt P auml fine have you finished it mary placed the brown envelope on the desk before him here it is I 1 thought I 1 might as well bring it with me since I 1 was dropping in this afternoon anyhow miss en said you wanted to see me phil buchanan extracted a crushed package of cigarettes from the pocket of his tweed coat extended it rather vaguely towards mary who nodded a refusal helped himself and lighted a match yes I 1 wanted to talk to you about their son of marys heart turned a somersault oh so youve read it yes after mr van winkle turned it over to me with a recommendation men dation for thumbs down for what thumbs down he like it miss loring he said well to speak quite frankly he said it was trite mary felt the hot blood rushing to her face but I 1 decided to read it anyhow buchanan went on arid and im afraid I 1 have to agree with him it come up to the standard you set for yourself when you wrote at sea the well the snaps just not there the plots weak the story lacks conviction mary felt as if she had been slapped in the face the mans words seemed so brutal and his rejection of their son was such a shock she had definitely counted on receiving a check for it this afternoon A foolish lump filled her throat and to her dismay she felt hot tears welling into her eyes and sliding treacherously from beneath her lashes she could not trust herself even to look across at the man on the other side of the desk TO BE CONTINUED |