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Show i fill Mm m TTW mwnr ( w lUui ka U1 ELul t.-.j ' B EE.HS&BEEBH JOESDnST - ' ,;i O D. Aipllon Century Co., Ino ' 'I . WNBSmic. Sl1 'SYNOPSIS I "Vultu.vs. waiting for nro . , . Vultmvs. waiting for their prey " wna the answer that came to Hale's mm, Verbally he continued to take Mrs Speneer Forbes lii;htly. she had boon very decent to hhn from the hour of his arrival. 'Very high-strung men and worn-en worn-en impatiently waiting lor som. thing to happen." he said Mrs. Spencer Forbes uttered' the bZe 1UUKh hS hed "I don't think that was hnt you wanted to say." she observid "But "'V NW ri1 GO and got ready to dazzle you on the beach. It's after ten." He escorted her to the staircase and then strolled out of the house and looked around him. His earlier sense of well-being had departed. He felt rest ess and at loose ends. He circled the house at a little dis tance. taking it in from various angles. an-gles. It had a long frontage, and a I one-story wing excrescence on each side. He was again impressed by the strange silence that enfolded it Even at the rear of the building all I ii I I l l the brief exchnnt l Say after his bnS , Greetings. In a Plucked ? made Rex think of th?t ml Vl0ped both oins that morning and led Rex to th mens bath houses. Therewere tw oi tncse-one used by Craig and Herbert the latter toH Mm, the other by Ainsworth and Casper Kneeland when he was at the Camp Come in to dress with us after- ward. ,f you like," Herbert safd in- diflerently Hale promptly accept- ?h, if lnVltation- H told himself that he must not encroach on "Uncle "Un-cle Cass." Really, he had a strong wish to avoid the intimacy of sharing shar-ing a bath-house with Ainsworth Craig appeared almost at once. Her I ing made me tired. This year the least thing does it. I'm paying the Piper for being an idiot last winter. I burnt the candle at both ends. I was out most of the night almost every ev-ery night. AU the girls I knew were doing the same thing and most of them are paying for it, just as I am. I'm certainly getting enough sleep now to build me up." she ended. "Your cousin doesn't look very well," Rex allowed himself to say. "Bert's all right, or he would be if he thought so. His trouble is worry." wor-ry." Evidently Joan Kneeland thought she had said enough. She shot for-ward for-ward and Hale swam by her side in silenca. "It's a revelation," he said at last, "to be perfectly well all one's life, and then suddenly discover that one is vulnerable. I've just had that experience." "I know you have," she broke in eagerly. "I suppose that's why I spoke as I did. A fellow feeling, you know." fti n,le"ins on Cnsper K-e- 'MVt"'s 'Vm ' to Halo"" Camp. Ms . Khmt, and promise -J u". f'r as hi sivrr lary 'Xi i "'unohby K.vd fijlf , JmomiUr college male. 1 sn"'K eaves him with a tr :)k' M,, ant mystery. tie t :-V,tPoyM. Wilbur Nash. Lt .-f" ,'I "u aooul the menace. '-,"'", disturbing premonl-.mllon premonl-.mllon is barely eased C'ble hospitality of Ho- :tellerly s.ster. and her ' ffl midd:e-ased sophis-Jm. sophis-Jm. Hale rtnds a soit ' "Tliis plase danjerus. " p r C rest of the stranse croup .'atrlst friend of Bert . . t'ervous younS son of Casper. rJ : :'i"u t-.it moody Joan Kneeland. 3 house. Ainsworth drops al ''I tmm questions him about his tells him of Berfs hope-I hope-I 'fhrhis heiress cousin, and that ?-v 'down and out. The whole F'f. lo set on each other s '"later Hale sees Hosanna fur-J fur-J f-KiW 8 shabby man In the , CHAPTER H-Contlnued L, v.-d morning." Hale said. "Has I-else had breakfast?" He with his likable grin, "I'm h ced of myself." 1 'responded warmly. She ap- . of the new arrival and his ti sat ways. Hosanna hoped you would . late, sir- She says you've "' illness. She ordered me not 2 4e breakfast gong. Every- eci ; is had breakfast but Mrs. jij, :St Forbes. Your breakfast is :;;reonthe sideboard, sir. If (j, .rf! choose what you like . . ." )01, :;::ded as Rex strolled toward mj. iirwarcl, "Breakfast hours are -;rj!ar here that we serve in the -bh way-" ii : that." Us lifted the lids from several jjj :. dishes that simmered over Ijj d-James, and regarded tlieir with enthusiasm. "I like :,.a :oo." he added. He selected .jj. m plate and helped himself gen-, gen-, jj ij to scrambled eggs, bacon, : learned potatoes. Rose poured . ::iee and offered him hot muf- Icot ii'i spirits were soaring again, sn't .i-ebodings of the previous eve-hat- :;;eaned absurd. Even that odd iter between Miss Hosanna She had turned her head to look at him. There was an odd expression expres-sion in her eyes. Hale responded to that look. "It worries one, too," he said. "Most human beings are used to ordinary physical ups and downs. They have sensations every day that would frighten you and me. They take them as the trifles they are. We don't. We magnify them. We remember that the good die young," he ended more lightly. "We decide that we are pilgrims here. Heaven is our home." She laughed a little. "Of course you do understand." Her voice held vitality. She was looking at him with so much interest that his head swam a trifle. They reached the float and sat down on it with their legs hanging over the side. For a time they were silent. Hale was afraid to speak again. If he did he might shatter the odd sense of intimacy that now enveloped envel-oped them. For a few moments they looked out over the sunlit sea and shining beach, down which Miss Hosanna Ho-sanna and Mrs. Spencer Forbes were making their way to the water's wa-ter's edge. Three heads bobbed on a wave not far from thA flnst f I fw I 1 I TIT I "Yon needn't waste time teaching Joan." Craig's was in the lead, Herbert's next, Ainsworth's some distance behind. be-hind. Craig reached the float and climbed up beside them. Hale was the : 4e unpleasant stranger ap-iesi ap-iesi a normal in the light of this -sitdajr. Perhaps she had been ti I -: to the aid of a sick neigh-thi neigh-thi : J something of the sort, and :ahad brought her home. No pro. -.there was a natural explana-:tei explana-:tei -the episode. Hale ate a big ize, -ast and told Rose how good tan food tasted to him. -e his second cup of coffee e-siing poured Mrs. Spencer o strolled in. Her pale mask 'aed slightly at the sight of 3 man. It developed that !glad to have company for bt 1 She had had a beastly 3 "tat then she always had i " nights. She hadn't done any a 5 reaUy. since she was a jl to prowled around the house ri a a good deal. She ate spar-f spar-f toast and coffee. i ' you bathing at eleven?" a . Mc Forbes wanted to A jj :wse." ''"fti can teach me to swim. ;t waste time teaching - Mess you're a wonder she , ' cwl all around you." ,4 a nder. I'll challenge e5 ,and to a race and ;'e i. Incidentally you can - .;; lesson observing our ! of wwch :tttsice ttoast- t ::i di .CUld be like "lis," bert said quickly, "Hale's going to use this one with us." Both men seemed to understand the reason, for both smiled Craig slightly, Herbert Her-bert with a sudden flash of teeth that made him look like a schoolboy school-boy while it lasted. . Hale left his bath-robe in a cor-"ner cor-"ner and hurried down to the water's wa-ter's edge. Joan was already there, looking lovelier than ever in a green bathing suit with orange-colored orange-colored cap and shoes. Mrs. Spencer Spen-cer Forbes and Miss Hosanna had not yet appeared. Neither had Ainsworth. Ains-worth. Hale issued his challenge for a swim to the distant float. Joan's reply was to plunge into the surf and start seaward with swift, clean strokes. She was a good swimmer, swim-mer, but he passed her easily, less than half-way to their destination. Then he looked back over his shoulder. shoul-der. She was steadily falling behind be-hind and seemed tired. He slowed 1 down, let her come abreast of him, and after that swam steadily by her side. She bit her lip. "I'm no match for you," she admitted. ad-mitted. "Doctor Craig can give you a run for your money. I'd like to see a match between you." "I'll suggest it," Hale promised. He was content to swim beside her, moderating his stroke to suit her and watching her face. "I'm not doing as well as usual this summer," she told him, with a hint of resentment. "Last year noth- the doors were firmly closed, though the temperature had mounted again and the morning was very warm. The woods that crowded so close to the house looked dark and mysterious, mys-terious, even in brilliant sunshine. When he re-entered the house he took in its general architectural plan. There was a wide central hall on both the first and second floors, with big rooms at the right and left. The lower right wing held the living-room, the dining-room and some sort of a library or study as he discovered through its open door. The left wing held a long library and billiard room. The kitchen, he inferred, in-ferred, was in the rear of these. The central hall was spacious imd the living-room and library on either side of it had wi-ie windows facing the sea. There were evidently plenty of bedrooms upstairs, on each side of the upper hall. The screened-in verandas ve-randas along the front and right wing of the house were finished as outdoor living-rooms, with gay chintz and painted wicker furniture. It was all very comfortable. Just the same, it was rather odd that there wasn't a cat or a dog around the house or grounds. Hale said as much to Rose when he met her in the upper hall about an hour later. "We had a nice dog, sir," she told him. "It was a Pekinese that belonged be-longed to Miss Joan. It wasn't much larger than a kitten, and that cute and clever you wouldn't believe it. annoyed but received him affably. Her little laugh and her tone had both been friendly. He realized, too, that she . had been observing him more closely than he had known. This was a pleasant discovery. As if underlining it she spoke again, ignoring Craig's arrival. "You don't know how nice it seems to have someone come among us who can laugh and joke," she said. "We're a dull lot. I usually have two or three girl friends here, but I haven't asked them this summer. sum-mer. They'd expect to be entertained enter-tained every minute and I don't want to bother with them." Then she drew Craig into the talk. "Aren't we dull, Doctor?" "Most of us are a bit on the sober side," Craig agreed. "But you're not, and Bert oughtn't to be." "I wasn't, but I am. I'm afraid I'm going through the process known as 'settling down.' " "Not a bit of it. You're too young for that." Craig spoke with such unusual emphasis that Hale glanced at him curiously. Craig did not see the look. His eyes were on the girl between them, and Rex was struck by his expression. It was a long look thoughtful, deeply intent, slightly puzzled. (TO BE CONTINUED) It got kind of delicate and sickly. Then last month it got lost. We all hunted for it but we couldn't find it. Miss Joan offered a big reward. She thought it mifht 've strayed off in the woods and got picked up. But Joe found it two weeks ago under one of the tents. It was dead and in such a state he buried it right away. In May the same kind of thing happened to Jane's cat. Jane's the cook, you know. It was just beautiful that cat. It was jet black with green eyes. It disappeared one day and was found dead on the road. It must 've been killed by a car. Since that we haven't had any pets. It looks," Rose added sedately, "like animals don't seem to thrive here. "They certainly don't," Hale agreed and went on to his room. It was almost eleven. He did not know whether the family put on their bathing suits in the house or in the bath-houses he had discovered on the beach. He undressed and put on his bathing suit in his own room, adding a bath-robe for the journey to the shore. He carried his flannels to redress in a bathhouse. bath-house. He had a suspicion that wet bathing clothes worn into the house would make no hit with Miss Ho-sanna. Ho-sanna. On the path to the beach he saw two figures in bath-robes in front of him and promptly caught up with the Kneeland cousins. Her- But i 2 y own- after a iCId t of the Vf eXactly lik Lil- i! ,ttShe', been in 3 ttl0r years." ottered Vi " ihk v uf his cigarette " Ch?gthter for her, and !S;e "grange eyes. They ing in "fg "Shts in them. ;iiC;sevression' as . h spine t6nt 3 little chU1 i tteW ft I Was a cold" ! He couid ,there ever was Forbe, lmaine Mrs. -!inhe anvthi"g ' 00 his arm h' She laid her ' zrtAl he st00d be" li. p. he touch added 'handTfeel the CW-l CW-l :!,Wa?0U8h the tin lte It u annel cat. i"Zhy'" she told sociefV h ant addition t ' '"H 1 hope you i Ar,vrSe fr b"t ' her ;sterious m ,S0 confund-a' confund-a' en 'n, e Srumbled. "',0'rea ffe and on the r. ' each 0ftghtful lot' In" Stated yU Seems to SMrln d0we seem to be'" |