Show D an T H K v ay 0 ll KATHLEEN NORRIS vis NORRIS IN V RELEASE STORY SO r FAR an orphan ph fine tho aee or of even sharlott Lh arlott chy ch y know almost her or early 1 history judge judson marib h her co amid cu ardlan b emu emm IT ha kou kell HIT ri ante so lor her la leave saint 1 dorothea or 0 i and ad lelli her emma hal 11 1 obtained 1 for ato her bol I a gitil tal WI position with 1 the oe arr porteous Porte oui porter of ban F francisco at where emm I 1 it home ii keeper she ll 11 ferit to so 0 to uie laiu marsh bk bank manibod a when ibe ibe dalr alone almi with di the judg u F vim ahli imami wile affo and d nil hii niece amy are din to IDE out m kally oil coa coated an ra artist drop ID and cherry ie elf at baie ini her convent cloth mn ch cherry become bitter birti ahto 1 ah she overbear P ild and amy am m make r reference to b her and so her clothe od cpr ouno are or when talc 1 dp 1 ae her job ib with I 1 old mn pr P porter r bot bat tier orono 0 arecki o the find III ule al 7 in Z now bodunu with 1 the atory CHAPTER V so emma and ferry ferny propped her hei up p comfortably and arranged the li lights becomingly and were barely finished BS as the clock struck the half hour after seven when dorothy and her mother came in to preen themselves under the old lady a s approving eyes eye to admire her and be praised themselves and in another half hour threes three or four mothers were there and quite a little reception was going on in the up stairs sitting aam atm g room at cherry a suggestion gg estion the arriving guests were to be sent ups upstairs t airs in detachments ial she e went below at half past eight to te find sty sixty of them milling about enjoying a succession uc EI of cocktails and was reminded of old days at saint dorothea a and school theatricals dorothea as she sent them up in parties of s six u unexpectedly l herry found arny amy marshbanks in the center of an admiring circle and hated herself for the wretched little prick of jealousy that rose even through her newfound sense of ease and power she looked for fran suit and kelly coates but they were evidently coming later they were not in sight when the time came for her to as say to amy that if she would please pleas would any four of there them go upstairs and say good evening to mrs porter amy stared at her amusedly entirely without recognition and said in an undertone to an adoring boy beside he her what a the bill big idea deal Is nursey telling us to say we had a nice t time a there was asdall a small library known as the den tucked away under t the he wide turn of the at stairway airway the door into the hall ball was open but when cherry approached it to answer the telephone in the hall near it she had no idea that anyone was in the room the he voice on the telephone was that t of an bat agitated ted gentleman who was bringing a lady up from hiu hill borough and had had the misfortune to break a spring while driving they 1 had sent nl I for a taxi a sd ch cherry y s yes eyes moved absently to th the open door of the den and rested acu incuriously piously upon a pair of satin hii slippers that in their turn were resting upon one of the tasseled tasse led abrera tabo that stood before the fire the wearer err of I 1 the these slippers whoever she was was surk sunk so de deep ep in a great chair in the com comfortable comforte forta b e position III she he had assumed her h hees eels were at least as high as her head bad the firelight twinkled on the slip b p pers per and on the swirl of her ver milion mihon velvet gown she was evidently w whispering hi spering f tor r cherry heard no w words r d distinctly cherry went upstairs with her to message age that tha miss trotter and MT mr B buddy abrown brown would be a little late to find the detachments coming cg 0 and going between the it downstairs stair rooms and mrs porters porter s apartments and any geri serious consideration ider of dinner as far removed as ever emma said with her usual air of stern ster but repressed annoyance yn that this would never do and just as the delayed couple arrived from hillsborough 11 past at twenty two minutes past nine the dighto clock dinner began to take a shape and form guests air straggled ogled toward the tables and looked for name cards and waiters began to serve smoking c cups u ps of madard madreene mad ruene ne I 1 it was at 1 this moment that at the couple whose privacy she had observed sauntered from the den cherry halfway hadway up the stairs to find keno kano and ask the little J japa pa nese se maid aid to keep an eye open for a lost evening bag of silver and amethysts oneth y am hipp hipped happened ed to dee thern them ome come out she paused on the stairs to watch I 1 them hem make their leisurely way toward tb it dining i ing room they stopped top ped once in the lower hall the man speaking earnestly the woman listening with bent head giving him only i occasional swift upward ga glance a me kelly and fran and fran the sight made cherry feel first a title little weak and then heartsick they had c come me supposedly to keep an eye on n the younger crowd to help with the party they had real ly C come me to seize an opportunity of be being OR alone and unobserved er of course of course A all U her bright vague hopes ool what this evening might bring were destroyed instantly Every everything n g was a dull and dreary blank n now ow cher ry ey hated every detail of the party dragged herself through the lexi next hour or two by sheer hear force of will th there e re ta was plenty tor ter her to do fo tor r the cocktail hour had been a I 1 bu ol of great confusion and the koa 9 W A aa 1 J zap 1 ilk 1 couples were leaving the during dining room to dance for a few minutes downstairs rooms were a scene of 0 wild disorder during this busy hurried time to messages were constantly coming downstairs from mrs porter up to whose room cherry ran a dozer dozen times her employer wanted blood bland ly to know if everything was going nicely was enthusiastic as to her hei own share here of the festivities and aou would d like one another t her cup of that de licious madr madalene ilme ming wo so ra rare ly made and she had al ways been so fond of ill it the dinner party had progressed party to the breast of milk fed chicken with virginia ham bud and mushrooms and to procure another cup ot of the soup was like r turning returning e to some event of the d dim P past t when that was accomplished mrs porter was delicately picking at some rich con of crab meat and allowed the soup up to cool untouched ll 11 ridge bridge and backgammon had been be set t out in one me of the parlors now new the orchestra concealed behind the inevitable palms was playing p provocative dance music couples were leaving the din dining r room am to dance for a few inmates we were E a return returning ir ng to play absently with alligator pear or frozen pudding cher cherry looked into I 1 the upstairs bedro bedroom or in to find alma and hatty it deep ep in a muttered conversation they re dom doin bothin but makin tun fun of the old lady said hatty her champ champagne agnes s good enough for them and her dinner a good enough for them but oh am it she a scream and am ain t this a queer old vault and lore lord my dear you let me into this I 1 never ver would have come an they says how early can we get out and go some somewhere where and nd dancea added alma cherry was the more disturbed to hear the maids views be because e they confirmed an uneasy and ashamed impress impression I 1 0 deaf of her own an I impression plas im th that at the flattery and kisses that went on in mrs per porter s s room were not sincere eie that beh behind i d the old 1 lady ady a back there were war patiently resigned sighs gl and shrugs and a good deal of the raising of aroused amused and contemptuous eyebrows eyebrow mrs porter a dinner dance a for the debutantes debutante would be long remembered but not with the cratit gratitude ode she imagine imagined the words horror and awful and 1 lousy Y and just st about the limit would be aused used more often than more c complimentary coma m terms cherry felt a sudden rush of resentment of p pity ity for her employer stepping back into to the hall and going to look down at the lower floor to see it if the dinner was about t over che cherry r ry was eh shocked suddenly y to hear the sound of sobbing who was crying it came from dorothy a room oma cherry went softly toward it and as the door stood open pe a rack crack she pushed it further open and went want in dorothy her party frock crushed in into to stringy limpness was lying across the bed crying bitterly she had a chiffon hand handkerchief kerchief pounded into a wet ball in her hand and was digging at her eyes with it and snuffling and sobbing like a heartbroken child 1 of I three the he end endless less evening dragged it its way to midnight and the guests b began to disperse mrs porter when they came in to say their good byes protested kindly it was early yet why when she was a girl they had often danced right into the morning but the pretty girls and nd th the hoarse polite young men w were re firm some of the boys boy were working they ex pla ined ared they had to keep early of ties fice hours by twos and it fours four they dwindled way away cherry knew that they were nil il going off somewhere else to dance she heard them prom promise one me another the to meet later she heard them laugh mg ing at their evening a entertainment and their chews I 1 of relief as they ills disappeared a speared mt into the dr darkness kes outside the front f mt door the whole thing had bad been ridiculous and it a failure she decided going downstairs for the twentieth time that evening to see if the bridge players were still at their game fran was playing mg hard two oth er tables were deserted littered with cigarette ashes he and chocolate frills frill scribbled scores and torn paper she was returning upstairs again for the purpose of asking emma if she could stay up to put out lights when kelly coates came down stairs met her halfway smiled at her and arrested her with a hand on her rin arm sit down here a minute he said immediately seating himself on the landings landing s top step hows how it gonea gone had any fun out of it I 1 ve seen you coming and going and know whether it was any fun for you yen or not get your bandyl oh it 11 was wonderful MT mr coates not your first box of candy I 1 suppose 7 cherry was too dizzy to know what she said by the way of reply she tried to make it grateful but merely talking to him confused her the lost evening was suddenly aglow with color and light she was was to have hoc her in moment om t after all alii I 1 in her agitation agnitti she ho said exactly what she would h have al ve wished not net to say swallowing hard and with a nervous quick laugh she asked dian didn I 1 didn dian amr t mrs marshbanks look lovely tonight 7 for a minute his expression express was so odd that she was terrified he didn dian t like her saying thail then than he said briefly lovely blundering on in spite of a half defined benned feeling that he would not like to elk alk about her cherry said 1 I u used sed to think she was almost we well homely but when you know her face you see that she s beautiful he had folded his arms in a favorite gesture of his and was looking ing at her seriously fran he said simply but the word brimmed with some secret magio magic for him and she felt its echoes reach her bud and was chilled the Rn randalls dIls are taking her home he added 1 I ve got to be on my way back to sausalito Sau sahto but you what kind of time have you had he asked after a moment rotten she said suddenly hungry for his sympathy and understanding it was unwise it was impulsive she knew it even as the ground slipped away from beneath her feet 1 I hate that amy A m y I 1 she said that I 1 is I 1 d dt don t h hate at e her eh she e amended it but she treats me as if f I 1 wasn gasn t there count 1 I suppose oppose so he conceded with a a thoughtful look give it time ke he went on with a little stress on the last words give it time you 11 leave amy behind you some day and then this will all seem very small girl stuff patience e e cherry his use of her name his serious C consideration elderts n for her ill timed out to bursts burst destroyed the last shred of her reticence she was tired a ex cited jealous io lonely n ely she wanted somehow to h hold id him and blindly reached for whatever claim u upon pon his interest she could find no matter what I 1 did she said I 1 oking looking down shyly an and it fingerit fingering n g the ornamental end of one of the brass rods that held the stair carpet in campot place im no matter what I 1 did I 1 would d never matter to you I 1 know knew that t you d never think of me as any thing but a girl from saint doro core theas thea s who count you d go on falling in love with mrs marsh banks of course re C cherry fl floun dered on bratche wretchedly ill y 1 I ry know new I 1 U never be like ike that dressed that wa way I 1 laying and playing bridge and all she a been in europe but if I 1 had clothes a and nd money if my husband was as wonderful as judge marshbanks bank 71 I 1 couldn coulden t I 1 know I 1 coulden couldn t she stopped in a tc terrifying re j byl ne si in tence lence she could not net raise h her er yes eyes As kelly got to his feet she rose too but still she could not look at him 1 im I m sorry she said aid thickly when she could not bear ba E it an in stant slant longer belll E III the man said dryly on a surprised breath as she came to a horrified and frightened pause and forcing herself at last to meet his eyes cherry saw that he was smiling in a sort of annoyed indulgence as one no might smile at a forward child at the look her soul died wi within ti hin her th eyes could ne never I 1 er again hold anything but contempt and dislike for he her pres presently with h a nod and a quiet go good or d night he left her de descended ended the stairs then the front door closed and he was wa gone gon for the first time in her life cherry spent an entirely wakeful night her w wearied mind thrashed over and over again the last episode of the ill starred party her weary body twisted and struggled in a phy al misery sery that patched matched th torture in her soul ato TO BK 89 CONTIN |