OCR Text |
Show ' WW r2,rt.1IBo,mo,orinB v , ,,er 111110 lrUlKe club 'ii t to the house, and the never om I.JR drudgery of her worl began t e l on her heavily. She not only Mew very thln herself, but the baby s,opp,(1 gaining, became fi I. ami turned blue under the eyes Sr,,,nne cons,,ud d' I nt t and he told her that unless M.e had regular help and equally regular recreation, she would have to wean Nancy. u "And that,1 he added, meaningly you should not, of course, consider consid-er In this warm weather." Amies dread of the "servant problem" rose from a deeper source tlmn the horrible stories she had heard from her mother-in-law about the depravity of all domestic workers; work-ers; It rose also from her very sincere sin-cere sense of her own probable Incompetence In-competence In directing, rather than doing, work, and her unwillingness to entrust the care of the children to anyone else. But to her infinite surprise and relief, Dora King, the first applicant In response to' the advertisement, came when she said she would, contentedly took possession pos-session of the attic, and seemed perfectly per-fectly satisfied to remain. She was, like Anne herself, a farmer's daughter, daugh-ter, who had drifted to a little city. She was willing to learn ; and Anne, far from resenting her ignorance, marveled at the quickness with which she overcame It. Through her tears she saw In remembrance re-membrance the man she had marriedso mar-riedso gay, so kind, so loving and tender. Through her tears she saw, too, in reality, the man to whom she was married somber, selfish, indifferent, curt. If she had loved him less, it would have been easier for her. But to her he was still as he had been on the day when he first held her Id his arms, the most wonderful being In the world. She had the wisdom, greater than might reasonably be expected, to neither reproach nor nag him ; after a few weeks, he pulled himself together, to-gether, and flung himself into his law practice with renewed vigor. He was making money now, real money, and if he kept his nose to the grindstone, and closed his ears to the humming of the political bee for all time, he could become well, very comfortably fixed financially. On Christmas day he gave Anne the deeds for a large lot on the outskirts out-skirts of the city which she had long admired, and suggested to her, a little gruffly, that he thought the time had come when they could build if she would like to, and that he would tell an architect who was said to know his business to start drawing plans whenever she said the word. She knew that this was his way of seeking to make amends, and responded re-sponded with delight. With the plans spread out before them, their heads touching, they came closer together, mentally and spiritually as well as physically, than they had been in a long time; and, with the coming of spring they spent every spare moment in supervising the building. They had found a common com-mon Interest, a common enthusiasm again and both were happy. The new house, when it was finally done, was extremely comfortable, com-fortable, and very attractive. It stood in her name, unmortgaged and fully paid for. They had built for all time, and built welL Their first guest, after they were duly installed in the new house, was Clarence Hathaway. He appeared in the wake of a telegram stating that he was passing pass-ing through Hinsboro on his way back to Washington after a vacation vaca-tion in Canada, and would like to "spend the week-end if they could put him up." And Anne felt a stirred excitement, even greater in mm to her, but couldn't because his voice shook so. At first, that Is afterwards he collected himself and spoke better. But not until she. had soon how shaken he was how sorry, and, forgiving him, forgot for-got there was anything to forgive By the first of April, Anne was sufficiently better so that Miss Keep could leave, Mabel caring for her since now she did not need so much care and doing the housework, house-work, too. By the first of May she was up for a little while each day. The session of the legislature was over, and Neal was home again for good, home, that is, until another election at least he had decided to run for otllce again then, this time for the state senate. He was very kind to her, very thoughtful. The first of June, Mabel went home, leaving them alone again, and they were very happy. Anne did quantities quan-tities of sewing, sitting on the little porch; she trimmed a bassinet bassi-net with pink silk and white dotted muslin and lace which the Golden-burgs Golden-burgs sent her. Mrs. Simmons did the washing and Ironing and the cleaning, and Neal took care of the garden ; but except for this help, she did her own work again. Anne's baby was born in the Hinsboro Hins-boro hospital on a torrid night near the end of August. She was in labor la-bor for thirty-six hours. When the doctor began to give her whiffs of ether to take off the sharp edge of the pains, Neal, who had stayed with her up to that time, became deathly sick from the smell of it, and left her. When Doctor Pratt finally held the ether cone to her re' ,rjjj vi Continued ev . hf been fair to me, 1 d "t !wt-I wouldn't have oi "'what was the matter jlrs. Conrad luulu't told ,ss if It "ere my fault Seal had nothing to ,lland as If it were crime. She had three Y'if, didn't she? -Dou't fAtine,' she said sevoro-3 sevoro-3 oau't afford to have a j -j then she said some- self-control she never son about self-con- 3 "te could afford a baby on the money Neal turns a And she won't come s;re of me because she il to get up and take j rsercise !" ' ! ; sen a doctor?" s Conrad said that wasn't She said it would be a 1 i-eDse.' That this this had to 'run its course' ' what you did. So I isburg, disengaging his ;ri over to the telephoue. j doctor in Hinsboro, I a?' he asked sarcnstl- ,;;or Pratt? So led me ;i number seven-thirty- res." .stt was in, he would be right away. And, in islf hour that elapsed ;?pearance, Mr. Golden-rled Golden-rled to "tidy things up" nerity and a swiftness :in so plump and placid But, even with Dora's help, her working hours were long and hard. Indeed, as time went on, Anne be- came more and more appalled at the number of things that could happen to children, normal, reasonably reason-ably healthy children. They had croup, and kept her awake all night; they had colic, and kept her distracted all day ; they had measles and mumps and whooping-cough and chicken pox ; they had nasty little sniffling colds, and deep frightening coughs. But they adored her. She was to them far more important, far more precious than their father. They loved him, of course; but he did not figure largely in their field of life, not nearly as largely as she did, not even as largely as Dora. He was away from home a great deal, and they learned to take this as a matter of course. So, in the adoration of her children chil-dren and of Dora for she attained face, telling her to breathe as much as she wanted of it, she snatched it from him, and pulled it down over her mouth and nose, tightly, tightly, oblivion the only mercy she sought if it could last forever, if it only could, her last conscious prayer. Her consciousness returned in waves. She babbled, telling secrets se-crets she did not mean to divulge, and yet unable to be silent. She felt bruised and beaten, she longed to be left to die in peace and still they kept doing things to her, things that disturbed her, things that hurt her. If they would only go away 1 She cried, weakly, the tears dropping drop-ping down from her cheeks to the pillow, and yet she could not move to wipe them off, and no one else seemed to notice them. Then suddenly, Neal was there beside her, kissing the tears away; and between them on the bed, lay their little son. that aiso Anne round, ror a long time, all the beauty and romance which her life contained. If she had no talents towards directing political destiny, she at least had undeniable gifts as a homemaker. The dingy little cottage became gradually more and more lovely. She "put up" more fruit and vegetables vege-tables than any woman in Hinsboro. She kept hens, and supplied not only her own family and her mother-in-law's with eggs and poultry, but sold some of both besides, until Neal put a stop to that; then canned her extra chickens and stowed away her extra eggs in wa-terglass. wa-terglass. And so the seasons sped past, filled to overflowing, with hardly a landmark to show their passing. She had been married five years, six, seven ; Junior was five years old and starting in kindergarten; she had been married eight years, nine, ten ; Nancy was five years old and starting In kindergarten. She was not so busy any more, and the than Neal s surprise, when the message mes-sage reached them. "Good old Clare he doesn't forget for-get his friends, does he? He's first secretary now, you know, in Paris getting on the way he planned all right, and look at me" "You're getting on all right, too, aren't you? I think sol Oh, Neal what shall I wear?" Neal burst out laughing. "Well, you look all right to me whatever Hathaway may think, and that ought to go as big with you as it does with me when you say you think I'm getting on all right whatever what-ever " "It does go big with me, darling. Only" She realized how big the "only" was with the first casual glance Hathaway cast in her direction after the mutual greetings had been exchanged. ex-changed. The house was quite all right; Anne felt sure of that. And Dora was all right. She carried off her unaccustomed but wholly correct black uniform and spotless frilly apron with pleased pride, and served tea without a visible tremor. The children were all right, too. And of course Neal was all right; his old charm, his old buoyancy, had come to the surface and bubbled over again at the sight of his friend. Hathaway himself, for all his elegance, ele-gance, had no more distinction, no more magnetism. But she There had been so much else to do in preparation for the great visit that she had found herself with only fifteen minutes left in which to dress; so she had washed hastily, hasti-ly, and hastily twisted her curls Into In-to a knot on the top of her head. Her "best dress" was nearly a year old, and she had made it herself, as she did all her dresses; it was a brown taffeta, many seasons behind be-hind the style, too long, too full, over-trimmed. She had thought it pretty once; now she hated It. And when Hathaway gave her that casual cas-ual look, she felt that she could gladly tear it oft and throw It into the scrap basket. house was empty, terribly so. Then war was declared, and suddenly, she was busier than ever. She was spurred to supreme efforts In "conservation" "con-servation" because Neal had been appointed food administrator for the state. He filled the position with the greatest brilliance and thoroughness. Twice he was actually actu-ally "called to Washington" by wire, and on one of these occasions, he went to the White House and talked earnestly to the President for five minutes. The press of the state, which, up to this time, had paid scant attention, began first to notice and then to "feature" him. By the time the armistice was signed, there was no doubt that Neal had become the most conspicuous conspic-uous figure in his state. Emboldened Embold-ened by his progress, he ran the following fall for lieutenant-governor. He had been confident, glowingly glow-ingly confident, of victory. And, by one of those strange turns of fortune for-tune which make gambling a safe . j, o.f enmnnreii to poli- CHAPTER VII IN THE next eight years, Neal built up his law practice, which continued to grow, not indeed by leaps and bounds, but steadily and satisfactorily. He also served four terms in the state legislature, the third as speaker of the house, the fourth as chairman of the most important im-portant committee in the senate. During the same eight years, Anne, smothering again and again her disappointment at taking no tangible part In her husband's campaigns, cam-paigns, and at being left behind when he went to Belford, washed-, cooked, cleaned, sewed, and took care of Junior; presented that husky youngster, when he was three years old, with a little sister, Nancy; took care of them both; washed, cooked, cleaned and sewed some more. When the second baby was Imminent, Im-minent, it became apparent that the little flat, in which they had continued con-tinued to live up to this time, would not suffice for the family needs any longer. So they moved to a six-room cottage, which they were able to rent cheaply, and which was sorely in need of paint, paper, and plumbing. By degrees they persuaded a reluctant landlord land-lord to make It more comfortable and attractive. Mabel came and spent a month with them when Anne left the hospital hos-pital after Nancy's birth a complacent com-placent Mabel, engaged to George, who had become more and more prosperous and who had the largest farm and the finest barns in Ham-stead. Ham-stead. After she left, Anne was Complete Composure He the Surprised Physician. - Then with complete he admitted the sur- . iiclan, still wearing one aprons firmly tied about ?"att was not long in ren- verdict. There must be tfe and skilled treatment May. Anne's condition dangerous, but he could r to describe it as oth- s serious. Would she moved to a hospital, or lrs and maid Installed? lrse her husband must be ' Mce. it was useless for 'West. Appeallngly, she JIr. Goldenburg. ' a suppose, if ' you tele-'aH tele-'aH she would come and 1 wouldn't know id a maid, or what to do Awards. But Mabel "J best friend," she ex-the ex-the doctor, "except Mr. f Go,denburg. We've often ; ' Jt she should come and lu' somehow " :ot telephone? Then she I we sooner." L n!irg was already in ' ln- Without much diffi-l0C!ted diffi-l0C!ted Mabel, and Mabel I would be delighted to - e would be there ln I '.f TI)e doctor departed, i ' 8end around a nurse J y within an hour, the ;nalUed. Mr. Golden-1 Golden-1 M first Mrs. Simmons, s s wmrad, and finally e last train to Belford S r k.new exactly what he ' ill t them : she was, In -1 .,, t0 Nulre, or to care, r 4leeks- But- as lose their slow course k ,;(vaguely and comfort-' comfort-' s'ck as she was, .,. u'haPPier than she had Hi, 0Dg tlme- Mabel s if KeeP the nurse, ' ,e':r- by inches. Neal " m , king' very -much ;t J tightened all the 4 ,fc'nce. "the driving en-his en-his face. ne sat , un the bed, his ebln5 and tried to talk ana suie oL- - tics he bad been overwhelmingly defeated. The blow was the more bitter because Low, the man run-nin" run-nin" for governor on the same ticket, was elected by a substantial majority. . Neal was not a good loser, he had been silent in his success-that Is at home seldom discussing his progress with Anne! now he became be-came coraplainingly loquacious. He went sullenly about the house, or shut himself up In his office, declining de-clining to come home to his meals. Tms political success had been difficult for Anne to bear po-Htical po-Htical failure was doubly so. When she left the two men to "talk over old times together" and went to her room, exhausted, from emotion as much as fatigue, she flung herself down on her bed without with-out undressing, and sobbed aloud. "I'll take the first train to New York after he goes and buy myself some clothes. I can leave the children chil-dren with Dora perfectly well, and I don't need to scrimp and save any more. Why have I been such an awful fool as to keep on doing it, and on, and on! I'll have my hands taken care of, too; they're as rough as nutmeg graters! And my face massaged and my hair treated. I I am probably the most hideous looking woman in all the world." Meanwhile, downstairs, the conversation con-versation had taken a turn which she was very far from guessing. Hathawav talked of himself for a while of his satisfactory advancement,' advance-ment,' his delightful post In Taris, his hopes for an even more not able appointment; easily and quietly quiet-ly without arrogance, without even a" 'too apparent complacence. And it was he who finally began to talk of Neal. (TO BB CONTINUED.) "sTORYFROM THE BEGINNING . !ohliie touches to her lawyer, Is to be the ..."rceives Anne's fine crc',cn0 the following Jealous. Conrad readily P0 Mrs. Griflnn on , Mcn friendi to accompany him and Ms h f ., for the tr P from the day Nefll Sunday. Anne uy eultaW e tQ ner. At the e is solemmzct, Goldenburg. The picnic is a engased. .The rJ the Conrads declares his love. d Washington, on 'h8Jr lpyIomat. The young nuletly but impressively. At f Neal s, yun? ' N al engrossed meet Clarence Hathaway, frJs nealth beg ns to faU bu( does 3. start housekeeping. Anne . t , Al0ne in politics, does not "Yegfslator, practical ly lm b Goldenburg. not tell Neal. now a 'Vvfsit from her old fr.enfl. and suffering,-Anne has a |