Show rc COMES a MOMENT by ELINOR MAXWELL 0 ARCADIA HOUSE publications SERVICE CHAPTER IX continued 9 good lord phil buchanan exclaimed incredulously youre youre not crying my dear child please dont take this thing so seriously riou sly after all the national weekles Wee klys not the only magazine in new york I 1 mary averted her face and gazed blindly out ot of the window no she finally managed to say the national weekles Wee klys not the only magazine in new york but it if you say their son is trite and lacks conviction vic tion theres no use in my trying to market it anywhere else and what a fool you must think I 1 arril am crying because you dont dont like my story I 1 I 1 bet im the only woman who ever bawled in your office 11 buchanan grinned showing those trong strong teeth that looked so startling to white compared with the tan of a face well perhaps you are nut ut lets lers forget it mary smiled through her tears maybe you can but im sure the memory of my making a fool of I 1 myself before an editor will haunt me to my dying dayl mr buchanan yes mary throw that script in your waste baskell ba why I 1 cant do that its your property you know 1 I never want to see it aga again iril no I 1 wont be mallid mailed to you in proper form now tell me the new tale about and do you feel that youve allowed yourself enough time on it mary looked at him with troubled eyes why I 1 dont know I 1 worked on it constantly lor for two days and a half and after an all a short is only a thousand or so words in length do you think id better take it back home no leave it here ill glance over it myself instead of submitting it to the regular routine then f I 1 feel it should be improved upon U H return it to you for revision before afore putting it through the usual reading procedure are you having that picture taken this afternoon by the way mary glanced at her watch yes I 1 am and its time I 1 was getting to the photographers thank you mr buchanan youve been nice hand and im sorry I 1 acted so silly rj phil buchanan followed her to the door well theres something you might do to ah make up for having floored me just a bit there for a moment mary smiled at him obliquely and what is that never darken your doors again to the contrary I 1 have to drive oscar up to westchester this afternoon and I 1 wish go along oscar dont tell me youve forgotten cart my dog you know kno w hes working up an attack of something or other and I 1 want to get him to the before he breaks out with distemper or the rickets or whatever great danes have we could can call tor for you at the photographers if go then after getting oscar settled drop in at trudas on the boston post road for a beefsteak dinner mary hesitated she had bad a accepted an invitation with count ballanca Bali Bal anci lanci tor for dinner somewhere and one of their usual walks but an evening with phil buchanan suddenly appeared tar far more desirable than an evening with the suave italian she could phone Bali Balf anci ancl cancel her engagement with him id love to go with you and oscar she finally said 1 I dont imagine the photographer will keep me ane re than an hour do you not a chancel chance shall I 1 cau call tor for you say at five yes at five goodby good b by y he was by the grace of a friendly policeman waiting for her in his low slung coupe when she came out of the building at five minutes after five oscar looking regal in spite of a nose that was definitely definite 1 y dripping occupied the rumble seat mary hastily slid in beside buchanan and slammed the door 1 I know anybody short of the mayor could park on fifth avenue amenuel she said hows oscar oscars got a decided case of the sniffles phil replied looking really worried and spike says you can hear a sort of wheeze in his bis chest like an organ in a country hurch n when the organist misses a te 11 srmary mary turned about and looked at the big dog through the back window he seems to be enjoying life right now she reported sit ting up very straight and regarding the traffic with enormous inter estl he loves people the man replied fond fondly 1 y and I 1 bet hell be furious I 1 with me when he finds im dumping him at the dog hospital eventually they arrived at doctor Hor homers ners country retreat for city dogs and cramped an and d cold alighted from the car mary could discern through the gathering dark of the march night a rambling frame building once a barn so phil buchanan informed her now a model hospital for canine pets A A united howl from the inmates had set up the moment phils car had pulled into the driveway oscar feeling he had been betrayed by his master and this girl who had allowed him to lean so comfortably against her slunk beneath the car and for or exactly ten minutes steadfastly refused to budge eventually they wheedled him out doctor horner having produced some bait in the shape of a very large hunk of round steak finally assured by the veterinary that oscar merely had a cold and would probably be in the pink of condition within a few days they told the dog goodby good by and followed by his accusing eyes made their way to the coupe I 1 it was nearly midnight when mary reached home lella leila had just got in and was rifling the icebox ice fee box while miss corswell Cot swell propped up in bed was reading come on in here girls she called from her bedroom and bring some cheese and crackers where in the world have you been mary mary stepped into the bedroom why aunt linnie addle darling youre not falling in love with him are you give you my message I 1 telephoned about five but you in and I 1 told her to tell you I 1 was driving to westchester with mr buchanan he had to take his dog to a feterl barys and asked me to go along heavens Heaven sl how domestic and unexciting but it was fun aunt linnie really lyl we stopped at trudis on the way back and had beefsteak and german fried potatoes and pancakes and we sat in front of a big log fire in a room that cant be a day less than a hundred years old did no one else was there and after trudl trudi served our dinner he and his wife who cooked it came and sat with us and we talked sounds cozy commented lelia leila entering the room with a tray of food phil buchanan loves to hobnob with an all kinds of people perhaps why hes so successful he be knows every phase of life half the policemen in new york have named their first born son after him miss corswell Cot swell regarded her niece with speculative eyes darling youre not falling in love with him are you the butter knife with which mary had been spreading some c heese cheese c clattered latt ered to her plate no she said coldly im not falling in love with him and a darned lot of good do me if I 1 were lies hes interested in me as a writer not a woman and not so terribly interested at thail he turned down their son today said it was trite and banal urn um murmured linnie and bit into her cracker well I 1 cant say my dear that I 1 can shed any tears over that the sooner you discover you were never meant to be an author the better be for you something will have to wake you up to the advantages of marrying jerome taylor mary placed her plate on the tray with a bang that was almost fatal im never going to marry that silly old man aunt linnee and you might as well know it right now also I 1 have umberto balland with his hair and perfumed cigarettes tor for a gift im sick to death of their fatuous glances and their silly speeches it was wonderful simply wonder ful bulto to spend this evening with a man who never once mentioned my so called beauty nor attempted to kiss me no aunt linnie im not falling failing in love with phil buchanan buchanann nl and heavens knows he certainly is n not t falling in love with me in tact fact there are times when I 1 feel eel quite sure he even like me that he secretly thinks im something of a 8 foell and leaping to her feet her eyes burning with unshed tears she fled from the room CHAPTER X the script 0 of their son had reached mary the second morning after the drive to westchester with philllp phillip buchanan and the very sight of the long envelope I 1 in which it came and the printed rejection slip that automatically had been enclosed sent a wave of nausea over her there was a small fire burning on the hearth in the living room the march morning being chill and mary seeing that aunt linnee was wa s engrossed in her man mall stepped to the hearth and dropped the script on the burning logs enatt she told herself 1 I never want to see the th thing ing again only remind me of how futile my efforts are in that same morning mall mail there had come a letter from janet anet loring and mary seeking what privacy she could seated hers herself elf in the wing chair by the window and slit it open with a hairpin mary dear I 1 am getting more and more worried about dad every day ile he is so BO terribly discouraged and as yet not one ray of hope has come our way concerning a position tor for him also he Is not well and has contracted a hacking cough that keeps him awake night alter after night ive I 1 ve urged him to go see doctor cragg who chos s back from his honeymoon you know but dad always says oh its it s nothing ill I 1 U be better tomorrow I 1 know however the truth of the matter is hes afraid 0 of what the doctor will tell him and also he feels he cant can t spend the money even on such a necessary thing he wont won t tell me how much money we have left in the bank but I 1 know it must be practically gone after pete petes operation two years ago and what dad s had to draw for expenses lately morning after morning he leaves the house right after breakfast just as he 6 done for or twenty five years when there really was some work to be going to each morning he bathes and shaves and dresses so carefully and there actually seems to be some hope in his face but he be always comes back to noon dinner and again for or supper with no news to tell us and a look of defeat in his yes ive come to the conclusion that we ought to tell linnie about our affairs ask her tor for a loan five hundred dollars would be a lifesaver life saver for us right now would give dad some relief until he can find a position but when I 1 mention this to him his face gets red and he says no jenny janny we come to that yet I 1 dont don t mind your sisters sister s sending you valuable presents and giving mary a lovely time in new york but I 1 cant allow you you to ask her tor for money to feed us people dont seem to like chris craggs cragg s wife very much I 1 saw her at sullivan and the other day and she was being positively rude to poor miss ackley about their line of chin chint chintzes tz zes es I 1 overheard her say with a little toss of her head 1 ill I U simply have to go to chicago to get what I 1 want why I 1 cant can I 1 t e ven even g get e t a decent ha haircut jr or manicure were so excited over the news that your story will appear in the national weekly next month mr chickering called up the other night to ge get t the details and hes going to print a nice article about you in the evening paper to think my daughter should be a successful a author tin 0 rl have a good ta time m e darling and as long as D dad a d Is s so 0 adamant on the sub feet dont don t let on to aunt linnie in any manner shape or form that we are so frantic about finances here at home mary read the letter again her icart heart heavy with compassion have a good time darling dont let on an to aunt Lin linnie niell ito to think my daughter should be a successful authora au thorl the brave pitiful sentences danced about in her tired mind poor daal she thought poor mother so gallant so de eatedal I 1 wanting me not to tell want ing ng me to have a good time thinking me a successful author when at sea is probably my one and only story ever dver see itself in print suddenly unable to bear her thoughts in the narrow confines of aunt linnies home she jumped to her feet aunt lynnle she began and her voice was breathless im going out for a walk miss corswell Cot swell glanced up from the announcement of an art exhibit why meryl maryl so early its only nine ocl the older woman discerning the girls unrest studied her lovely young profile the matter dear you received bad news from home have you no every things all right I 1 simply feel restless I 1 wont be gone long linnie corswell Cot swell sympathetic to something she could not fathom continued to search the girls lace face all right my dear she finally said run along but dont forget were leaving for journeys end at eleven geromes Je romes carll be here promptly on the hour 1 I know mary murmured as she left the room to get a hat and coat and oo 00 to herself she was saying journeys end oh my godl how can I 1 stand driving out there today filling myself with rich food be ing shown those thoroughbred horses and dogs talking fool noth angst the days wore on fruitless sterile days for mary she longed with every fiber of her being to write but the words would not come it was futile to try she finally told herself until after she had learned the fate of concerning anne it if phillip buchanan accepted it her belief in herself would be restored the dried well of her mind would again gush forth until then she must go on in this helpless daze eating bathing dressing attempting to sleep attending farewell parties given for linnee and lelia it was now the twelfth of march and they would be sailing in three days maybe after they had gone and she and addle were left alone in the quiet of the apartment sh shed id be we a ble able to think maybe lt it was early in the afternoon of the twelfth that coming home from a dull luncheon at the ritz with some of linnies friends she found a letter from the national weekly on her dressing table her heart flooded with hope when she saw that it was thin and flat that it could not possibly contain a script with clumsy haste she tore off one end of the envelope and snatched out the single sheet of paper it contained why its in longhand she said to herself how st strange rangel I 1 did mr buchanan write it it himself yes there was his signature phillip buchanan scrawled at the bottom of the page then with joyous anticipation she began to read my dear miss loring ive just finished reading concerning anne and my dear child their son was a gem in comparison it at least had pos possibilities abilities that Is perhaps for or some som e ma magazine g ne other than the national weekly what has come over you why cant the girl who wrote at sea produce du ce another perfect sho short r its it s in you mary loring it Is only something about which I 1 cant possibly know is destroying your beautiful talent please try to overcome it or shake it oft off or forget it I 1 feel eel sure you can do it I 1 have absolute faith alth in your ability that Is why I 1 am writing you these words which in all probability you will consider brutal concerning anne is not being returned to you by mall mail I 1 dont want anybody in the office to see it instead will you lunch with me at the brevoort saturday the fifteenth and talk things over sincerely phillip buchanan mary never knew how long she stood there at the dressing table staring blindly at phillip buchan ans letter A dull pain pounded at the back of her neck and for a while she thought she was going to be sick the frankness of f his words was reacting upon her with physical violence her mouth felt dry and hot automatically she moved towards the bathroom took the peach colored glass from its niche in the wall and turned on the cold water faucet TO BE CONTINUED |