Show the jhc thc L lascky u alir ow A r A lawrence by KATHLEEN NORRIS copyright by kathleen norris service S SYNOPSIS the luck that brought the boston lawrences laurences Lawren ces to california at the beginning of 0 the gold rush has deserted the present generation from froin a acre ranch their holdings have shrunk to a small farm arm and ta the 1 e old family faintly home in ClIppers ville chii now twenty five has gone into the iron works Q gall all to the pullo library and edith to the book department of a store sam Is in school and seventeen year yea ro old ariel Is becoming a problem phil la Is faseli fascinated abed by that terrible lily cass casa whose husband has deserted her yo young un 9 van murchison hlson scion of a wealthy returns from yale and qazi has visions through marriage with him of tt alia turning of the lawrence luck DI dick c k stebbins phils friend has the run of the house arlel ariel la is sneaking 0 out t of the house hous 1 e at night tor for joy rides phil suggests to his sisters consternation t that hat they in invite v ite I 1 lily 1 I 1 y ca casa 9 to the hou house ao gall goes with van ilan for a weekend week end with the chipps his uncle and aunt she Is re received coldly at a roadhouse road housa s gall call sees artel ariel at midnight next day A ariel let admits she was at the place anil ami displays no nn remorse gall again accompanies van to los gatos tor for a i weekend week end visit CHAPTER V continued 12 1 I ma may be engaged to be married man led tills this time little tomorrow night she thought when slie she was in bed rending reading theres a moment when one and then suddenly one Is nil nii there Is to it girls do get engaged almost every girl gets en engaged gageL she thought of the fosters and the Delahan tys three busy homely unmarried sisters in each family two in the post office two teaching school one in the library one a stenographer galls heart failed her it was not fair that some girls should travel go places do fascinating things and that other girls should d rudge drudge away at the library year after year while hope died and youth faded and enthusiasms were spent like the fosters and the Delahan tys enthusiasms upon church fairs and preserving fruit its not right gall said bald solemnly to the shabby old silent room through whose windows the hot smell of pear trees and burned gross grass was penetrating from the dark night outside theres There 3 nothing in character if it only gets you what the fosters and the dela hantes have hare got im not sure she decided darkly but what arkels in the right ill IH bet she gets to london before I 1 doil do I 1 i CHAPTER VI the next day she rose and dissatisfied and dragged heavily through her preparations to go to los gatos as it the prospect were anything but inviting it would have hare filled her with ecstasy a year ago she felt dull and doubtful about it now ariel all helpful sympathy came out to the gate when van parked there honking wildly nt at ten here he said leaping out ill take that I 1 lie ile stowed galls suitcase in the rumble the three stood smiling and gossiping lu the soft foggy morning 1 I wish I 1 were going with you I 1 P ariel said frankly well why dont you cornel comel van exclaimed suddenly fired oh no I 1 ive got a date with the crowd tonight arlel ariel protested and I 1 anyway im not dressed I 1 and I 1 anyway for an instant the matter hung fire and gall did not know whether or not in that instant ariel sent her a glance of wild hope immediately the younger girl settled the matter and was running back into the house shouting g have a good tamel despite her sisters protests gall felt like a murderer its as vans car shot away across the long iong bare road away from dusty dull Clippers ville into the beauty and shade and coolness of var par clente the thought of that quick hopeful glance of arkels that glance that might not ever even have been sent or been thought of haunted her not that arlel ariel could have come no obviously that would have been a mistake e but gall kept wishing that she gall had urged it had impulsively ridiculously pressed it it would have made no difference in the outcome for even little arlel ariel knew that she Illus tnt expect to go places just because gall did she bhe have come she would know that they might snub her and yet the memory of the little flying pink figure and the shouted have a good aimel in aniels oddly deep voice would not let her be at peace she was gnawed by hunger for arle ariel incessant and deep vans mother proved to be a thin dark smart woman la in d a beautiful beauter ul transparent gown of orange and black she greeted her son with a fretful van I 1 suppose you know your fathers furious at you and making life simply wretched for me and gave to gall only an abstracted frown crown 1 I think you were to in school with my mother mot lier leditha petrie in san francisco gall call said trying to seem at ease 1 I was jn in school mother and I 1 J wont be ba incriminated and I 1 praying the lord to grant me a long and prosperous thirty onel one 1 mrs airs said to the company at large thun to gall shell ii nver ver forgive you that as as ait nu u live gaill van ilan exclaimed ir ij uie tie r that followed gall laughed too but she felt hot and uncomfortable in all it was an uncomfortable visit t the least happy she had ever had nt far P ar niente even including de the first with its nervousness and shyness three men gall had never seen before were absorbed in the topic of the golf tournament at del monte and for a little while on saturday afternoon gall was excited by the possibility of their all going down to monterey to try a days preliminary playing placing but in the end it was decided that the three men and van should leave before breakfast nind and go there alone that Is I 1 would van said if I 1 feel it would leave leae gall in the lurch I 1 well take care bare of gall mrs airs chipp said we were going up to lunch with ethel and play bridge mrs eurchl son reminded her in a light droning voice not intended for galls ear oh well t bats all light 1 said mrs airs chipp who atho liked gall pleasantly well just leave leae ller ifer here to amuse herself and the boys bos will be back for dinner and well all go home monday afternoon gall had to protest her library job would stand no more trilling trifling she must be back sunday afternoon positively mason was going back with fruit and vegetables ege tables gall leaped at the opportunity port unity to go home with him it was arranged anan qed the bridge players placers plunged back gladly into the mysteries of vulnerability and redoubling the young mell men played placed tennis and gall watched and laughed and applauded later going to the cabin to dress she heard mrs chipp good reproaching somebody for something the voices came from behind a screen of shrubs and tall flowers where the hammocks were it was dreadful I 1 mean it was unmistakable I 1 moan mean it was enough to make him furious fu ilous said mrs airs chipps amused indifferent voice another comans w omans womans voice spoke quickly in answer laughingly and indifferently too but with more vigor mrs murch voice gall could not lot hear the first dozen words but the last trailed through her consciousness as she escaped scar let cheeked checked out of hearing with a ClIppers ville girl I 1 the tone the emphasis of the voice interpreted the whole to tier her perfectly if 1 I was in school with Nob odys Mo therl vans father would be furious with him film going with a ClIppers ville girl it served him perfectly right wasting his time with a ClIppers ville girl it did not matter whose feelings were hurt or were not hurt jt it was only a Clippers ville girl I 1 her face blazed her throat was thick and dry sile sue walked slowly up to the cabin entered into its peace and shadiness quietly and began her preparation for dinner in the brown walled chin chantz tz eu curtained erfal ned little room that was familiar now all the time her heart seethed like a boiling pot and her thoughts went round and round dizzily her hands bands felt call and she was shaking cing ill be home this time tomorrow said gall aloud more than once what did it matter what that vulgar smart rouged gouged thin dark woman said or thought I 1 it did not affect gall lawrence it did not affect van murchison hlson it did affect van of course Wad wandering derIng about the room in a thin cotton kimono she addressed herself aloud you poor foell you tou thought you might be engaged tonight I 1 well you may be id like to be just to get even with lierl her I 1 id like to be so stun stunning stunting hing so smart so popular that she was wiped right out of sight 1 I hate her no I 1 dont sup pose I 1 hate her yes I 1 do 1 I despise biej id like her to break her leg I 1 would I 1 want her to get a cancer exactly but id like some something illing to happen to her the childishness of her own monologue made her begin suddenly to laugh and she found tears in her eyes this do there was nothing to do but go through with wath the evenings program with what dignity she could muster the boys seemed to tier her very noisy very much absorbed in their own affairs nt dinner and alter dimier anere wits was a halfhearted half hearted hoarded game of roulette in which lenore and mab whiting won everything while gall lost quarters and dimes to a painful degree it then appeared that the four boys boya were going over to del dej monte that night so as aa to play the pebble beach course early in the morning gall was careful not to let anyone suspect that it made any difference to her hut but she felt hurt and sore at half past nine the roadster with the shouting boys in it ii departed on its seventy mile run and gall found herself quietly in bed rending reading again after awhile slie she let the book drop and my lay thinking staring into the dim cabin room with faraway far away serious eyes eybs and with the bushy lawrence e eyebrows ei drawn together she felt very homesick she wanted sara sam and arlel and phil above a all 11 she wanted edith sensible lovin loving g loyal thoughtful she was torn with pangs of anxiety for them all A ClIppers vIlle garli she said to herself in the night stillness well what I 1 am I 1 I 1 dont know why that should make mo me mad shamed courageous thoughts possessed her she plunged into I 1 them hem as into a river despite responsibility and precocious cares she had done little philosophical thinking in her twenty three years slie she deliberately faced the situation now faced her own soul the next nest morning slie she slipped away from far clente before any member of the family was astir and with every mile of the home trip her heart grew lighter and her mind steadier and her quiet determination greater at two cool and trim and sympathetic she was back at her post in the library she felt wearied subdued yet et oddly content this was duller than death but it was ans peace no one would hurt here her humiliate tier her here she belonged she was not only in her proper place but she was doing a follow fellow creature crea tuie a service no ani animal ra al creeping back into the safety of its lair ever eier felt a deeper sense of gratitude and then as always on library sundays edith was there slipping about the alcoves coming up to the desk to beam to whisper big sister xi aibel lel home no edith explained too cheerfully too naturally dot camp telephoned to the greeleys greelegs Gree leys to say that they might not be back until after dinner but why dot or arlel ariel telephone us lou said she said slie thought our line was out of order it never an awer sw ered ed the sisters exchanged a level expressionless onless look a new one gall presently murmured well what I 1 thought edith agreed reluctantly where do you suppose they are 1 oh just on one of those sunday runs when they eat greasy fried chicken oft off dirty board tables and think having a wonderful athriel edith said impatiently at six dora poster foster come came in and edith and gall call could walk biome through the broiling late afternoon lets not have supper until seven and lets get everything ready and then take baths and be beautiful P 1 gall suggested they fussed bussed away in the shady kitchen together edith straining tea into tall glasses gall assembling sem bling the materials for one of her famous salads chives lettuce enormous firm cold tomatoes cucumbers sliced as fine as tissue paper they set the table out under the big oak in the side yard close to the house so that the smaller furnishings could be passed through the wide open kitchen window dick and phil arrived they all sat about the table while the last of the art rhoa latr n hn ing murmuring passing back and forth the old brazilian silver salad bowl that grandfather lawrence had brought to yerba buena on that long ago wedding journey the moon had risen and the strengthening silver light was beginning to drip down through the branches of the great trees that roofed the dooryard where Is that naughty arlel ariel edith had asked drowsily affectionately and gall listening to the strokes of the cuckoo clock in the hall had answered more reassuringly than she felt only nine not latel late I 1 when suddenly there was a stranger strang pr in the garden A stranger at the first glimpse of him galls heart stood still and her mouth filled with water Flor horror horror they were all lost the moonlight touched the star on his breast dick was the first to speak ak in a quick authoritative voice what Is it officer theres been a bad accident up near the cement works A little girl has been killed the man began gall was beside him fingers gripping his arm my illy si sister sterl no maam it your sister she was mixed up in it I 1 brought her over here bore to see your brother she aint hurt tie said answering the wild question in galls eyes eye ashes just run upstairs inside im waiting for her I 1 seen you out here so I 1 came over what happened officer dicks voice asked the others were stricken dumb she was driving a car sir and another automobile hit her she have a license and ashes booked for that and also on a charge of manslaughter in the a little girl in a third ear car was thrown out on her head and killed ashes liere here nowa now my sister I 1 mean IM ahl asked in a dead auml silence yes sue she just now run in the house to find you after tier her phill she may hill 1111 herself 1 gall said sharply shar tn lit a whisper edith put her hands user CAT her fa fiu for or ia a moment praying pra ing before they incy all ran n together the hitch pit tl dor r TO DEC CONTIN |