| OCR Text |
Show Ctjnthicif Pinies. What a dressy meal vou "PPoar to have had!" The D,ue "We've been celebrating 1 Mrs Aylesbury said gaily. "Do you know "lio this Is, darling? Geoff Ensloe-your Ensloe-your godmother's son !" Cynthia nodded curtly, kept her arm about the child so that there was no question of shaking hands. How d'you do? Are you staying In Denver long?" He detected distinct unfriendliness unfriendli-ness in the question. Deuce take the girl! What had he done that she should look upon him with such open hostility? "A year," he replied briefly. "He's going to stay with us. Isn't that keen?" Cary asked eagerly. Geoff glanced at Miss Nona a little lit-tle curiously. The happiness had all gone from her face, the warmth from her voice. Something like fear looked out of her soft brown eyes. What a brute of a girl this was, Geoff told himself, whose mere arrival ar-rival so changed the atmosphere of her home. The Captain had extinguished extin-guished the fat cigar he had lighted and tossed a napkin over it. The maid, summoned by Miss Nona, murmured something in a low tone to her mistress who in turn murmured mur-mured back, glancing apprehensively apprehensive-ly toward her daughter. Cary puffed Tenny's arms, took a step toward Geoff. "Xou shot Hadji?" "I had to." Something in the conviction of his voice reached her and she held out her hand. "I understand. Thank you." With Tenny tagging forlornly in her wake, Cynthia left the dining room and ran up the stairs. Geoff had an uncomfortable conviction that she had gone to her room to cry. Cynthia was driving Geoff down town. Why she had proposed herself her-self as hi3 chauffeur Geoff did not know. She had come into the old parlor, entirely calm and composed, no traces whatever of tears In her face and asked quietly If she might take the guest down for his luggage, Geoff had been a little astonished at the effect this simple request had upon her family. Miss Nona looked distressed, the Captain cleared his throat, Cary shifted his feet uneasily. What, Geoff, demanded of himself, was the matter with this girl that everything she said or did appeared to paralyze her relatives? Was she a lady bully, a girlish tyrant who traded on their love to keep them In a state of subjection to her whims? He set his jaw Geoff had a nice firm jaw of his own and rather looked forward to a brush between this Cynthia person and himself. 4 5- ! SYNOPSIS ! Urn to Denver, Geoffrey '''S engineer, take, up . rl- "Miss Nona" Aylw-"iJ""1 Aylw-"iJ""1 daughter; 7 ' hough likable youngster: rT-who ' levy-" c,h,a- longed for with his own mother: the understanding, the comradeship, the sympathy between them. Cary's eyes were brown like Miss Nona's. He had her fine profile, the crease In the cheek which was not a dimple but gave the effect of one. Geoff liked him at first glance. "When's dinner?" Cary demanded. "I'm starved! Are we waiting for Cynthia tonight?" "No, it's her day to stay until closing time. I thought perhaps nervously at his cigarette. Only Tenny seemed happy in Cynthia's arrival. She kept her thin little arms about the other girl's waist and when Cynthia said something about running upstairs to wash her hands, Tenny went with her. Geoff tried doggedly but in vain to restore the former gaiety to the party. A blight had fallen, Cary could only smile in sickly fashion, Miss Nona looked from the table to the door and back again. Presently Cynthia returned, still wearing the dark swiss frock which was her office dress but with little curls and ripples testifying to the wet comb she had run through her hair. "I'm starved," she began as she took her seat. "No lunch at all today to-day and " "No lunch? Oh, Cynthia!" "Absolutely no time for lunch and I didn't quarrel with that fact, you may be sure !" She stopped as the maid set a plate before her; raised her eyebrows questioningly. Miss Nona hurried into speech. "I'm so glad you could come home for a good hot meal, dear. Was it terrible down-town today?" "Pretty hot. Even the tourists felt the heat, and you know they're usually indefatigable. However, we sold about a peck of abalone rings, and silver bracelets with turquoises in 'em, and shell chains." vlAPTER 1-Contim.ed li",, Geoff2 shuddered. Gift L his pet abomination. V ' e unew, he said, soon- g engaged in the sale of '(raies0and crepe-paper fu-iad fu-iad polvclirome candlesticks p- Lets and gilt edged book-"Vs book-"Vs stuck together; d;.miv did they set up these L ito expected Geoff . to ,hp them lavishly. And now ireJ Cynthia, about whose ami: beginning to cluster ad- rtici) did not express a r-.e desire on Geoff's part to S danghter of his mother's -SiiseU engaged in this fash- Spt; form of Piracy- "And ru Vorli r Speiis it with two p's and :e(oiii himself gloomily. He im' tot only to refuse Mrs. jy's invitation to make his nth them but to select a 'E 5 house as far away from Win j souse as possible. k it reckoned without his hos-HOTi: hos-HOTi: lis Nona took it for granted rt ' ioff n-as to stay with them. !'Ttl ied away his protests; she :ffl - ight of bis vague murmurs LSAIi certain hours; she told Her it lie must stay on to din-as din-as r that he was here, and aft-: aft-: Csry would drive him down We! to pack his bags and j luggage sent out. tain 'i should have come directly u-she reproached him. "Eun-J"J "Eun-J"J d In a hotel ! It's utterly the question. We have t Stic if room. That's one reason test able to take Tenny in with & i mite, she was in a board- tflmd she hated it " 'cisei ', a!" Geoff said involun- DJE know what they're like? I course It's worse for a lit-t lit-t than for a boy. Anyway" fced-'Tenny's father was an aZClpof mine and when his wife : m note and asked him to let J Tenny" jwas good of you !" jour own pleasure," she fin-I fin-I OtEffler father tried the board-Instfl board-Instfl first, then yielded and let . tie to 119. And won " oho onirl "Pretty sight," he commented as the car made its swift if unimpressive unimpres-sive way down the broad streets. The city was asparkle with lights, blazing against the soft darkness of the summer sky. "Yes. Denver's pretty," Cynthia assented absently. They drove for a block or two more in silence which she broke abruptly. "You say you're going to stay with us for a year?" "Your mother has asked me to," he replied with cool defenslveness. "That's all right I can see Miss Nona will love having you. The only thing you'll want to pay board?" The shock of it took his breath away. He felt himself turning scarlet scar-let in the darkness. "Naturally," he began stiffly. "A fellow's self-respect requires it. I offered to I Insisted, but Mrs. Aylesbury " "I know," she answered. ' 'You can pay It to me and not mention it to her." "To you!" "Yes." He remembered the Captain's comment on her gift shop. "An expensive ex-pensive toy !" So that was it ! The greedy young grabber needed more money and saw a way to get it without with-out asking her family. "I think I'd rather I think it would be better for me to pay it to your mother." "She wouldn't take it." "But if I paid it to you and she didn't know " She smiled, a faint, rather weary smile that held something of scorn and something of tolerance. "So It's the effect on Miss Nona you have an eye to, not the preservation of a fellow's self-respect !" He was silent through sheer annoyance. an-noyance. This was the most unpleasant un-pleasant girl he had ever met. "No use getting angry," she admonished ad-monished him. "I'm just trying to make it easy for you, that's all. I "! Ask You: Does She Look Old Enough to Be 'Mothered' by a Hulking Fellow Like Me?" you'd pick her up, Cary, when you take Geoff down to his hotel for his bags." Cary nodded. "Poor old Cyn ! I wish she'd ditch that infernal shop. She works too hard." "So do I," sighed his mother. "I hate to think of her down town all day in this heat. I'm always hoping that some time she'll listen to our protests and give it up." The Captain added a disapproving disapprov-ing comment. "An expensive toy . that gift shop !" ! Geoff had found this scrap of conversation enlightening. Cynthia, it appeared, had not been driven into the realm of commerce by necessity ne-cessity but by her own desire. Another An-other one of those females who craves .self-expression, he thought disgustedly, though God alone knew what they expressed by means of Cape Cod lighters and snowstorm snow-storm paperweights. i "Did you sell any more rings like your jade one?" Tenny's voice asked interestedly. "Wasn't it lucky your godmother sent you that just when the lady from Detroit wanted one?" There was an appalled silence. Geoff was maliciously pleased to see the color rise in the girl's face until it flooded her temples and was lost in the waves of her hair. He asked blandly: "The jade dinner ring? Too bad you didn't like it. I rather flattered myself it was a bit unusual. I helped my mother select it, you know." "It was a mistake Tenny, you shouldn't" Miss Nona began agitatedly. agi-tatedly. Cynthia bit viciously into the roll she had buttered. "It wasn't a mistake at all 1 It happened that I needed other things more than I did a ring, and as I had a special customer who wanted want-ed It, I sold it. Sorry if your mother moth-er will be hurt!" The implication stung the young man. "I hope you don't think I mean to tell her !" realize that you've been put in a difficult position; that you really would hate It, staying with us for a year as a nonpaying guest. So I'm suggesting that you pay your board to me" "So you can put it into your gift shop 1" She slewed around In her seat to give him a cryptic glance. "What d'you know about my gift shop?" "Nothing," he said curtly. "Only that you have one." ir w. ; J ' " , pielirace of coquetry, "might as eHeli in tie beginning, for I ,n.Mn to take no for an an- a. wed embarrassed. "Noth-please "Noth-please me more, Mrs. l cfl If if you would let me e financial arrangement? In'' visit here indefinitely, itrtii-' offti insMnot?" it Was the Captain He had entered from iifjln time to hear Geoff's pro- "We had your mother for ' IJny years was it, Nona? eftr 'fewas no foolish talk about All " arrangements in connec-0A connec-0A her visits. Also Nona :: 'Vw York and spent a wln-"ie wln-"ie Hamptons and I don't flff that I offered to pay her m Come upstairs with me, an,and pick out your room, tt-ik e hunting room?" he JJMs daughter. It f ' H'ess in these determined flowed meekly. The "hunt- aLopened on one of the ,nL balcon'es in the front H GeofE had a superb C L , mountain range. " rbwy had arrived when t ,me wnstairs again. He o.Z meet Geoff. ordlal f, 1 Rlfh welcome. oCT te"S me she's Per- 100 to cast your lot in with I'M at 1U 1 then as Geo looked L, ' , by's designation of uCl he la and slung ;lCaT'nd her shoulders. "I a she look old enough Vfte5',by a hu'king fel--4sw Te called ner M'ss CHAPTER II A Brute of a Girl. DINNEK was a surprisingly elaborate elab-orate meal. Knowing nothing of the benign services of caterers, Geoff found himself believing that the family usually dined on such dishes as squabs cooked with cream and mushrooms, white cherries cher-ries In aspic, ice cream frozen in the form of rosebuds. He thought it one of the pleasant-est pleasant-est meals he had ever eaten. The gentle courtesy which prevailed In this charming family, Cary's blithe nonsense, Miss Nona's motherly solicitude, so-licitude, Captain Cary's interesting reminiscences, even Tenny's occasional occa-sional childish pipe were a revelation to a young man who had known no family life whatever. He thanked his lucky stars that his year In Denver would be spent beneath this hospitable hos-pitable roof. Just as the last bit of the ice cream was disappearing and Cary was holding a match to Geoff's cigarette, ciga-rette, Tenny sprang up with a joyous joy-ous cry. "There's Cynthia! Oh, Cynthia, you did get home for dinner, didn't you?" At once there was a soft bustle about the table. Miss Nona held out welcoming hands to her daughter. The men rose, Geoff looking ap-praisingly ap-praisingly at the newcomer. The girl was small. She had the bluest eyes Geoff had ever seen. Gentian blue, sapphire blue, a blue that had light and sparkle in it and was made bluer by the long dusky lashes in which it was set. Her hair was brushed severely off her fore- She lifted her shoulders in a little lit-tle shrug. "I didn't know. You might feel it your duty to write her about it." She pushed her plate away. "I don't seem to be so very hungry, after all. The heat, I guess. Tenny, Where's Hadji? Tell the rascal ras-cal he's lying down on the job. He didn't meet me at the front door tonight." This time Geoff partook of the feeling which kept them all silent. He glanced across the table and saw that Miss Nona's eyes were brimming with tears and that her chin was quivering like that of a terrified child. The sight gave him back his own composure. A girl who could frighten her mother like that deserved anything. Quickly, before Miss Nona could falter out the news or Tenny blunder into it, Geoff spoke. "I'm afraid I've got bad news of vour dog," he said, real sympathy in his voice. "You see he got out somehow this afternoon and the dog next door" ; Cvnthia sprang to her feet. Miss Nona ! You didn't . . . after all I s.,id . after I'd warned you 'he stopped, visibly fighting down She nodUed. un, yes, 1 nave uue, all right. And I can use whatever sum you decide on as a financial recompense for the home life we offer you don't I put it nicely? I can use it in my shop." She laughed, a mysterious, mirthful little lit-tle laugh which increased Geoff's Irritation. She was finding him funny, fun-ny, was she? "It's the Odds and Ends, you know." "I beg your pardon?" "The name of my shop Odds and Ends." "I can imagine that describes it very aptly." To his amazement she pulled the car to the curb, stopped it and offered of-fered him her hand. "But why?" asked the dazed young man. "I'm saluting you as a foeman worthy of my steel. I was so afraid you were going to be a polite supine sort of chap, horrified to death of me but covering your consternation with courteous murmurs." The description amused him. "Taken from life?" "Yes. We've had three of that kind In the last year." "Had 'em? Had 'em where?" "In the house; guests of Miss Nona. It was necessary to get rid of them since they didn't pay hoard ! so I mocked 'em and I shocked 'em and finally they left." He digested the inference of this in silence. She started the car again. "I'm In dead earnest about the board money. Sixty dollars a month d'you think Hint's too much, considering all the petting and the mothering you'll get from Miss Nona?" "I hate to hear you speak of your mother like that." he told her severely. se-verely. (TO BE CONTOn-'ED.! She sioppeu, viaiu.j the emotion that shook her. I beg your pardon, dear! I'm sorry ! She turned to Geoff. "How badly s he hurt? Where Is he? Oh, why d.dn t you tell me when I first came home instead of letting me" Tenny's arms were around her neck, Tenny's cheek was laid lov-inglv lov-inglv against hers. nadjis dead, Cynthia," she sa.d with a clod's wise directness of Speech "He was hurt so bad Geoff hPa to shoot him to stop h.s suffer itl Don't cry. Cynth.a. Geoff didn't let him hurt long!" "Dead?" She gently loosened head and caught in a knot at the back of her neck. Her mouth was too wide, and far. far too firm, Geoff told himself. She was tanned ai most as deeply as Cary. No hint or her mother's charm softened tier severe young mien. Geoff felt a rising ris-ing antagonism at the sight of her "Hello!" She put an arm about Tenny but addressed the room at '"Darling, if we'd known you could come early of course we should i have waited !" . "I didn't know It myself until the last minute." The blue eyes swept the table where the last of the rose- ere i-, , " I' ever since iKlthe I ldren' PIed it up t ' , know Grandfather p hf !;ls Kaintuck ..'fence . h,m' He fU'iG a Ratine Captain. "The V Pe lh6rD accent has !i.v To 'Wo Pcllng us." m C"r MI, Nona Jst her , , for a moment J1. slSht of T S hroa(1 shoulder. "e Dnn Tse two gave Geoff the sort 1 exemPfied so ex-ot ex-ot relationship he had I |
