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Show fZce- I Ql ! FICTION ADVENTURE LIMITED vM I (?t By IDA BREED J, ll But today, as she looked at her delightful self in the mirror, it was not to dream; it was with a plan for action. She was back in New York after an absence of two years. Nearly every Spring since her marriage, mar-riage, she had made the trip, and had always stopped off for a brief visit in her old college town. This time she was planning to follow the same course, but with what a difference differ-ence I One of her old school friends had written her last year that Lee Towne had returned to their alma mater to direct the research work there. So Lee was back and Carolyn that she could have stopped him with a word, but she did not speak it. This was the Lee whom she had treasured in her heart for eleven years! Lee, still tall, but with shoulders shoul-ders stooped; still lean, but with a hollow-chested look. Lee, his blue eyes intent now only with a nearsighted, near-sighted, peering expression; his hair no longer unruly, because there was not enough of it to be, just some wisps "borrowed" from one side to cover a pale bald spot. And it w!B obvious that for all he saw of tha life humming around him, he might have had his eye bent to a microscope micro-scope as he walked. CAROLYN TAYLOR looked at herself critically in the full length mirror, then gave her reflection reflec-tion a smiling little nod of approval. The smile was justified. Her mirrored mir-rored image showed a lovely young woman of thirty-two, who looked hardly more than twenty-five vivid, well dressed, confident. She was more charming, more desirable than the pretty young Carolyn of eleven years before when she finished college. col-lege. That was the Carolyn who, all her senior year at college, had to keep reminding herself that this was earth she lived on, and not really heaven, as it seemed, because of I Lee. Lee, who was tall and lean, ! with Intent blue eyes, and delight fully unruly hair. Lee, who loved her and treasured the secret of their engagement. Lee, who was so sweet about wanting to present her to the family as a beautiful surprise after Commencement. Not even his adored older brother had been let in on the secret. Commencement time was to be the climax of everything that seemed important to her. Then, with Commencement still three weeks away, it happened. Just after Lee passed the final examina-k examina-k ' tions for his doctor's degree, he was j offered an extraordinary chance to do the very research work that he I most wanted a unique chance for I "an unmarried man, prepared to devote de-vote at least five years to the project."- Carolyn remembered how honorable honor-able Lee had been in breaking the news to her. He might have let their engagement continue, he told her; he might have kept on seeing her, I deceiving her about their prospects for marriage, putting It off, or i promising to marry her at the end I of the five years. But he did not con-' con-' 6ider that the right thing to do. No, it was only the part of a gentleman to tell her that it was best to break off. She was not to feel hurt, there was no other girL just his career. ' He put anguish into Carolyn's heart, v but managed somehow to impress her with the difficulty of his own part in the scene. Even in the pain and shock of losing him, Carolyn told herself that Lee was the finest ' person she had ever known. That belief had never left her. ' Three years later she married Jef- ( ferson Taylor, a big, broad West-I West-I I erner, done in sh -. of brown. She '. ' : sometimes felf it disdain for. j I Jeff's substn- 1 i, iefifrSijioeriiig L 1 r . L"- fTiatocr'atic slenderness, but i I pressed the thought. Lots of j ' eff was, and with a practical ' tor business that made them j money to enjoy a pleasantly l's life. She loved Jeff, of c jj But there was a part of her- .'it she withheld, one section of hrt and mind walled off, that wJlways belong to Lee. Sjever spoke to Jeff of this rt sMon. Only in secret did Carols1 Caro-ls1 I and then open the door on th'cious might-have-been part of hianrj take it out to dream ovrj f Carolyn had to keep reminding herself that it was earth she liver) on, not really heaven. Carolyn sat and stared, helpless to force her gaze away from this changed Lee. What of the distinguished distin-guished gray at the temples, the impressive im-pressive look of the scientist that she had picturedl The men at the next table were noticing her concentrated gaze; she finally forced herself to look away. The next minute, with no more poise than a school girl, she jumped up and hurried away into the next wing of the building to the 'iUsph blanks. T' "Leaving for home tonight instead of next week," she began to write. There was something reassuring about the thought of Jeff's bulk; she was glad that her husband was such a substantial person in every way. Such nice, thick hair, too, and straight shoulders. She had never been as sweet to him as he deserved, de-served, but she would make it up from now on. Why, he was the finest person that she had ever known! Back at their table, the two curious curi-ous young men continued to speculate specu-late after they had watched Carolyn rush from the room. "Did you see her staring at Johnny Towne as if she were fascinated? fas-cinated? If it had been Lee, now, you could understand it he's a handsome devil.." was going to see him. Accidentally, of course. She had it all planned. There would be a casual drifting about the campus in her flattering new Spring suit, lingering over a table in Crofton House, where everybody every-body dropped in at tea time. Then when Lee appeared Carolyn had this part rehearsed in her mind she would give just the right look of pleased surprise, just the right degree de-gree of invitation to remember. Lee would see what he had missed all these years What would happen after theyr-juvhat did she want T6. ', -"nat Larolyn did not qii.Te Ato- t-rV-sS-e "stopped short of trying to decide. This was to be an adventure. The adventure proceeded as if acted from a well prepared script. Carolyn chanced into Crofton House at tea time. Two men at a nearby table stared at her with obvious admiration; ad-miration; they were younger faculty members that she did not know. Then, somehow, without the fanfare fan-fare of trumpets that would have seemed fitting to her, there was Lee in the doorway. Without glancing around, he went to a table straight ahead. He passed so near to Carolyn V |