Show r laete COMES CO ME S a MOMENT M am ENT by ELINOR MAXWELL 0 ARCADIA HOUSE publications SERVICE gervice A SYNOPSIS mary aring and her father jim an ineffectual attorney meet a train which brings his wealthy sister in lawo law unmarried r 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 fathers nagging maiden sister aunt mamie and peter the baby of 0 the family at the depot dr christopher cragg helps the guests with with their luggage CHAPTER I 1 continued 2 aunt liante was in mrs lorings arms now and they were exclaiming and weeping and laughing all at the same time then mrs loring was greeting lelia leila and drawing them all into the hall while ellen and eight year old peter rushed down the bare steps with bar petes airedale following at r heels mary looked towards the curb to see ee if chris was pulling up yes there he was opening the door of the car dragging out linnies and lelias leilas bags she ran but to help him insisting on carrying three of the smaller pieces while he swooped the other six into his grasp she the loveliest thing youve ever seen chris whispered mary ike i they slipped and slid ovir over the ley icy walk to the house CHAPTER 11 II on christmas day there were gifts for everybody a sled and skates and a warm leather windjammer for pete a sweater for aunt mamie from mrs loring loging six yards of heavy brown silk to be made into a dress for mrs loring the gift of ellen and mary ties and gloves and a muffler for mr loring books bought at hormess Hor mels at cost for aunt linnie and lelia leila stockings and a sweater each for the girls from their parents lelia who had slipped from the K om unnoticed now returned her ms gadert with long narrow boxes im afraid think I 1 was terribly unoriginal in my little christmas offerings lelia was saying you see all the same and with a smile she extended a box to mrs loring for you janet with a great deal of love and tor for you miss mamie A second later mary was tearing aside the tissue on the flat oblong box which lelia leila had proff proffered her aie there were gloves inside C doeskin e kin brown hand stitched the kind that lelia herself wore the kind that mary had seen advertised in vogue but had never thought shed possess how nice of you leila she exclaimed but how in the world did you know that I 1 wear a six and AM k half aw y and that I 1 take seven demanded ellen ah due to aunt linnies excellent bookkeeping lelia returned with a laugh perhaps ashes never told you but she keeps a little book in which she has jotted down the size glove stocking and frock each one of you wears I 1 if only I 1 could always have things like this mary was saying to herself it if only I 1 could travel meet md et interesting people do things go placeit I 1 believe im becoming discontented with and main street and pot roasts I 1 wish I 1 could do something I 1 wish I 1 could dance or act or write of course I 1 have chave been writing for years but the stories have been so putrid that I 1 either destroyed them atter after the second reading read ing or later when been hurled back at me by kit t least six editors editor sl thank heavens nob odys ever suspected I 1 wanted to lo be a writer and that so f far ar it just worked why the family tami lyd Pd tease me to death if they knewl awl but I 1 believe ill try again its been two months since the last script came to an ignominious end in inthe the furnace I 1 simply must make myself write something worth while and get myself places I 1 look at aunt linniel linnie then look at aunt mamie now there examples of what can be done with a life 11 the loring christmas dinner was a success positively out did herself with perfectly roasted turkey golden brown and succulent oyster stuffing that would have tempted the most fastidious of epi cures cranberry jelly in the shape of a star plum pudding and rich rum ram flavored haro harjd sauce I 1 I 1 mary a little tired from her whirl of housework during the morning sat silent and contemplative between petty petey and aunt mamie its au all going off perfectly she was thinking to herself and then thed irrelevantly 1 I wonder where chris is having dinner I 1 wonder if hell drop inthis afternoon but three four then half after four came ind and went and chris chrls had not shown up well girls demanded linnie what shall we do with ourselves pow about a miserable game of three hand bridge its all right with me liance lelia leila agreed where do you hide bide your card table mary and the other prerequisites for a little ladylike lady like kam bambling bling 1 in the hall closet lelia leila ill get the table and some cards although I 1 bet there a whole deck in the house petty pete and his friends are alwa always s playing casino duty but I 1 wonder would you mind j if you play finished linnie certainly not my dear ill take lelia leila on for a thrilling battle at double solitaire 1 I thought id like to take a walk mary explained 1 I been out all day here lelia leila is the table and two perfectly mangy decks of cards mary slid into her lapin coat then hesitated before the hall mirror tor for an instant to pull the brim of her soft felt hat down over one eye linnie glancing up regarded her through a ring of cigarette smoke youre a pretty thing mary she said thoughtfully just what are you going to do with your we life settle down here in hawkins ville and marry chris cragg or whatever his name is or strike out for bigger and better things A deep scarlet suffused marys face and neck marry chris cragg she repeated slowly hes the only ell eligible gible man in the town he countered linnie distributing her cards into seven disorderly plies piles but t I 1 bet hes tat not so eligible at that probably makes about ninety dollars a month from his precious practical marys lips straightened into a firm defiant line he took in a hundred and forty dollars jast last 1 I dont want your mother to know month she returned in a low voice cometh something ing in her heart urging her to rush to the defense of christopher cragg and doing pretty well considering hes been in practice only a short while 11 huhl huh W grunted aunt Lin lincile rile slapping an ace of diamonds on the table that enough to keep a beauty like you in shoes better go back to new york with me my dear and hitch your wagon to a star dont by all holy let yourself be satisfied with small tripe dont worry aunt linnie mary r retorted etor ted pulling on the gloves lelia leila ina had d gi given iven her that morning and revil reveling ing in their touch chris propose proposed d yet besides im nothing to be entered in a beau beauty ty contests cont estl linnie corswell Cot swell halted herself in the act of placing the three of spades on the deuce oh but you are arel I 1 she returned and I 1 want to talk to you about if it before I 1 leave town so chris is small tripe is he mary said to herself as she emerged from the cheerful stuffiness of the house into the cold brisk str air of concert street well hes just about the grandest thing ive ever seen and I 1 only wish I 1 thought he might Ma maryl ryll shouted a voice from a passing car maryt maryl mary looked up her heart turning one of those foolish somersaults as she recognized christopher craggs disreputable snow spattered coupe he brought the machine to a Is top stop and leaped out where are you going just Ju stout ut mary replied her dark eyes smiling up at him ive been in all day and I 1 thought it was about time I 1 breathed some come fresh air chris took marys arm and propelled her towards his little car well come on and breathe it with me im on ray my way out to see the haesili child on johnson road arid intended tik ta drop in at your house after id made my call how about it therall the call wont take long you dont mind going along do Y au you and inside his car chris shabby latrobe wound about her legs chris laughing blue gaze upon her she thought this is happiness no mat ter what aunt linnie thinks going with chris to make a call tn in the country on christmas afternoon knowing hes coming back home with me and perhaps staying for supper just sitting beside him and hearing him falkl I 1 dont want anything better than chris ever as long ai as I 1 live it was the first week in january and the loring household had at last settled back into its usual routine linnie corswell Cot swell and lelia leila had departed tor for new york three days after christmas and it was almost with a feeling of relief that the loring family had seen them go linnie and lelia were charming amusing good company but to have them as guests was an expense the lorings could ill afford mary had returned to her post at hormess Hor mels rental library she sat there now looking over the membership cards jotting down the titles of the books mrs cyrus phipps had telephoned to reserve tor for her her thoughts going back in retrospect over the week that had just passed aunt linnia had sought her out in her bedroom the last night of her stay and extended to her a glowing invitation to return to new york with her perhaps even to go to miami later on but mary had bad refused she was warmed by the memory of christmas afternoon when after their call on the hat hae slip child she and chris had returned home for supper which they had all taken part in preparing 1 I wonder it be all right for me to call chris up and tell him his book Is in she thought hes asked about it several times with an almost guilty feeling she picked up the telephone and called christopher craggs number perhaps she thought im just finding an excuse to call him but I 1 want to hear his voice I 1 want to hear his loicel and when she did hear it an instant later she experienced a sudden panicky paralysis and was unable for a brief second to say anything in response to his hello chris she finally brought out this is mary your book came in this morning do you still want it oh hello there maryl chris replied his professional tone cast aside his voice all warmth and friendliness now yes you bet I 1 still want it can you hold it for me ill drop in some time this evening before your closing time yes I 1 can hold it till then mary replied in brisk businesslike zones tones goodby good lood by she sat motionless at her desk tor for a moment after she had bad hung up the warm blood coursing ahr through ough her veins even hearing his voice does things to me she told herself oh christ chris christ I 1 love you so terribly 1 then suddenly seeing a familiar figure pass the hormel display y w window in 1 she jumped up and ran to the door idadel dad she called mr loring wheeled about and mary could tell by the expression on his tired face that he had not wanted her to see him are you on your way home to lunch she a asked s ked and she was struck by the droop of his mouth the harassed expression in his eyes for the length of a block they hey P plodded I 1 0 added silently wordlessly along the then n taking her courage in her hands mary said something Some things s worrying you darling what is it ltv silence and then well have to know some time or other I 1 suppose mary ive ive iveleen been let out by the railroad they they w were ere now in front of lauber sh eimers elmers grocery and as if by one accord came to a sudden halt and faced each other quite oblivious of an occasional passerby there was consternation written in every young curve of marys face bewilderment in the stricken eyes of iter her father but daal mary began in a hurt voice how could they let you out how could they youve been attorney for this district for fifteen years yes mr loring repeated dully for fifteen years but they can always let a man out and they did I 1 guess I 1 just up to snuff mary and now I 1 dont know which way to turn weve depended almost entirely on my salary from the railroad tor for the past five years they said I 1 aggressive enough that I 1 just have enough fight in me but lord mary I 1 have the heart to fight in those last two cases my sympathies were with the other side its be because cause youre so darned good and fair daddy mary said compassionately but something will turn up dear well get along im going to write stories and articles and things and maybe ill be making money soon mr jenkins of the courier has already accepted two of my book reviews I 1 was going to wait and let you read them in the paper surprise you and mother but now I 1 think you should know of 0 course he paid only two dollars apiece for them but his accepting them at all goes to show I 1 have some ability dont you think so mary dear it takes years and years for authors to make a living at their writing and darling you had any training 11 mary smiled grimly but dad I 1 have had bad training of having been penned up in hormess Hor mels book shop tor for the past tour four years ive read everything worth while been published in that time and besides ive ive written a few short stories myself darling dont pin your hopes to a dream it takes so long to make good at anything besides and here he squared his shoulders with a gallantry that flooded marys heart with pity im the father of the family god knows I 1 should be able to support you all mary yes dad 1 I dont want your mother to know enow until its absolutely necessary ive let her down so terribly ive let her down about this and so many other things im a failure mary your fathers W a failure dont daal dont talk that way dear youve been the finest husband and the dearest father in the world and a man who is those things cant be a failure but we wont tell mother just yet darling well smile when we go in the house and well pretend every things lovely and that we just happened to meet on the way home charter CHAPTER III christopher cragg did not show up at hormess Hor mels that afternoon and mary frantic over the news her father had just told her almost forgot for a time his failure to appear she had determined to embark upon u pon her career that very day and during her lunch hour at home had hunted up ellens typewriter dusted it off and inserted a new ribbon which she found in ellens desk drawer she had been reading for months on end the short shorts appearing in a weekly magazine she had ev even en submitted to its editor three or tour four of her own the results however had invariably been discouraging cou raging always after a two weeks wait the scripts had been returned to her a printed rejection slip ilip attached to their leaves well ill try again she told herself most writers admit after reached the top that they lad had from ten to twenty rejections etore before their first acceptance TO BE CONTINUED |