Show f 9 p 01 1 een u eanes y d cace S alt asto by FRANCES PARKINSON KEYES C frances parkinson key key service CHAPTER APTER XII continued 30 oh no thank you this time neal was standing above her his weight heavy against her weary shoulder bad news again I 1 I 1 knew it iff I 1 youre holding your own holding my owal own t good G d ive got to do more than that I 1 you will darling you will would you not like a cup of cocoa or something no no dont leave that telephone it may ring again at any moment hut but it the silence like the darkness grew oppressively heavy dora came in and suggested that it was past dinner time anne shook her head and dora went out again i roy griffin who knew so many lawyers george hildreth who was state master of the grange sir goldenburg whose one small shop had grown into a great chain with links all over the state low who had appointed neal to the senate and abd who had political wires running in every direction from his gubernatorial seat would they all do their share and if they did would it counterbalance stetsons strength with the labor vote where neal had no strength the wallacetown Wallace town bugle and the other weeklies week lles a great many of them if they were all friendly to neal would that make up for those two big papers of fletchers fletcherr Flet chers which were hurling denunciatory editorials at neals head spring came glad and golden mag nolia scented to washington and anne asking herself these troubled questions shook the beauty that was all about her impatiently from her consciousness ness and strained with eagerness to reach Hin raw and windswept and bleak as it was but this was the year of the long session and neal would not be at liberty to go home early in march it was actually mid july bafo before re adjournment came at two one torrid morning when ugly feelings had been unleashed by fatigue and ugly words spoken by lips which were merely the mouthpieces for overwrought nerves neal who had been steering a filibuster lost his temper that night and said unforgivable things to men who had been his friends for years these unforgivable things were printed in the record and circulated through the country were they unforgettable able too junior wanted to go to a camp in the yellowstone mine estall was taking her little family to europe for the summer and had invited nancy to accompany them but both children were kept at home they added immeasurably to the p picture leture ju juniors na ors more and more famous smile nancys sweeter and sweeter manners made an indelibly favorable impression on wavering constituents who came to the house and so much had bad to be jammed into such a short time that not a single consideration could be overlooked neals enemies had been at work all the time he was chained to his chair in the senate and now only august september and october were left in which to tear down what they had built of course the children must do their share even though it was a tiny one anne must make them see must never let them forget how much that share might mean to their father and she must do her share too must adust shield neal spare him save him but HOW she went everywhere that she was asked even when she was faint with fatigue she picked up the threads of her old association with her church her historical societies her pupils she wore clothes that were spotlessly fresh delusively simple she was gracious cordial democratic dignified tireless decorative what did it all amount to how much influence after all did a wife have in this frantic powerful hideous struggle of politics probably very little perhaps none at all still she had done her best and if only neal did not feel she had failed him it would not matter what anyone else thought but how would he feel toward her it if he were not elected she remembered the hard months after his campaign for the lieutenant governorship when ile he had bad been defeated was it going to be like that again hello hello senator conrads house the polls have just closed here in weatherby allen alien first select man speak speaking ing yes two to tc one for neal we are banking on him mrs conrad to come through in belford yet 11 would defeat in the long run be such a calamity she saw herself living in Ilin hansboro again in the house she loved so much and into the building of which her very soul had gone comfortable happy unworried no more calls to make no more appearances to keep up no more admirers to contend with time for her children her music her real friends ilow how much simple satisfaction how much real joy she was denied because she could never find time for these things would she ehe not be happier no longer deprived of these homely pleasures and yet act even as she asked herself the question she knew that she would miss the insidious cadi charm rm the fascinating excitement of political life as much as neal she see could bear that philosophically tut but because of her own feeling she he could gauge his ho he must he must go on she slipped to her knees with the same simpli simplicity elty with the same ardor that she had prayed on her wedding night she prayed again now for neal for neal for neal still on hoe he knees she reached for the telephone headquarters calling ag ngali ain mrs birs conrad weve heard from the last five wards in belford oh god let him win lot let him win 1 you must get your husband to the telephone she spoke to him her voice sounded strange and distant like that of a foreign woman calling from some far shore you will have to answer neal this time oh god let lim him win let hin him 3 win lot let him win I 1 she pressed the receiver into neals neala hand threw her arm around him from the wire she could hear the crackle of laughter the tumult of triumph and staccato sharp the words that were being spoken you old crape hanger you youl I 1 what in h ls the matter with you you have the handsomest margin a what do you call a handsome mar gin neal shouted through the receiver clutching at annes annea shoulder well it if fifty thousand look handsome to you come on down hero here you old son of a gun and celebrate I 1 I 1 11 I 1 CHAPTER XIII with neal conrads senatorial career every reader of any dally daily paper la Is familiar there Is the tariff which bears his name there Is his speech on the british debt funding plan which Is used as a model in elocution for every schoolboy there is his unshakable stand on the league of nations which sent him at the head of a special senatorial committee to geneva all this and much more Is so well known that it needs no further comment besides this Is not the story of neal conrad to which numerous fa biographers have already failed to do justice it Is the story of his wife w ife and of his wife as the only hostess to achieve a real salon in washington as the only american woman whose dress drew forth royal commendation mend men dation atlon at buckingham palace as aa the only this and that in various conspicuous capacities enough has also been said her dresses and her dinners have been described a thousand times why therefore attempt to describe them again it Is neither the beauty nor the belle with whom we are primarily concerned it Is the woman the woman who on a certain hot afternoon in rold mid june boarded the congressional express with her husband bound for the great nai lional convention in vew new york the lobby of the waldorf astoria as they entered it weary after their warm and dusty journey was so jammed that they could hardly wedge their way through it to register with every step that they advanced some acquaintance stopped and seized them shouting at them excitedly with every turn they took placards and posters of rival candidates most of 0 whom had their headquarters in the hotel crackled above their heads beads scurrying bellboys distracted room clerks helpless assistant managers strove in vain to perform their normal functions laden elevators sank and rose in the hopeless endless endeavor to convey the mass of humanity which bounded into them like a phalanx from one floor to another it was nearly an hour before they reached their suite and neal mopping his brow and snatching up a glass of ice water muttered as he drank that he was infernally fer nally late for the cursed committee meeting and that he must be off at once committee meeting tonight anne asked in astonishment why its after ten now probably shant get in before three he informed her hastily well gooby goo by better order yourself an orangeade and a chicken sand sandfish wish and have dora see you unpacked and settled before she goes to bed try to get some sleep have a hard day tomorrow refreshed by a bath and a cooling drink anne slipped into the lacy nightgown which dora had spread out for her and settled herself for slumber her hopes for repose were however entirely unfounded a party of men who were occupying the next room and who had apparently met in secret conclave were either unaware or unconcerned of the fact that they could be overheard and that they were disturbing the public peace their voices reverberated through the thin wall their lack of harmony rent the air they were it appeared delegates dele gatea from chicago in revolt against their boss and violently distrustful of each other when neal returned haggard and hollow eyed about five he found anne sitting up in bed taut with nervousness neal dear just listen to that racket I 1 it stopped for a single instant I 1 cant stand it I 1 well have to go to some hotel where its more quiet 1 quiet 1 at a national convention good G d anne you dont know what youre talking about there is nt any quiet those fellows arent really ob just haying having a little friendly argument you should have heard beard our committee turn over old lady and go to sleep 1 I cant sleep 4 TO no BH CONTINUED |