Show k toie he limited mail by uv T E P VATS VANCE A love story of steel rails V Contin tid 1 I want you to kno know im gorr soro that I 1 arri annoyed lou ou said brit bb hastily in a penitent anti anil atense noice loice she placed mil bit coffee anti anil turned to go away aay err er r all ali f mrs dale please dont be anan lie he begged miserable she hesitated hesitate resting the rim of her trai on a fir far t irner of the table and looked at him him ste sta idil na M rudeness came from ro ni branse at seeing an anyone one so nice as 3 ou in this place after all aelise ve us you are not a native natie then she asked in a forgiving tentatively in w fter after a brief sc scrutiny rutin bob shook hook hi head negatively and i started to put ugar cubes in his cof 1 fee he felt on terms of good fellowship with the whole wide mide world the june scents of aich which acted wafted through the open windows a lulling message of aal awakened ened un things tile the distilling dp tilling forces of an artful nature were nere at work mork with rolled up sleeves on the second growth enthusiasms in bobs soul 1 I hope that after youie oue seen more of me here ou wont mind if I 1 ask iou ou if I 1 want vant iou ou to if I 1 ask ou to be friends he endured continuing to put sugar cubes into his coffee Is that a threat or a promise she laughed genuinely amused bl b his big cautious approach bob laughed too they had a second laugh then together miss aliss brisk who had bad not missed a trick did not laugh nor did bramley the one looked jealous the other resigned their opportunity for hilarity came within a minute though when a wild eyed call boy dashed into the room came to a disgusted and panting stop stop NN when hen he spotted potted bob and the waitress who were acre lost to all superficial influences fluen ces then advanced toward them and spoke sarcastically wilson ine ie searched all over for you going to send rend your dour train out with a sub if I 1 ou aint there in half a shake iles hes down in the vard chew in an oil cin can now and six inch sparks is comin his ekes ees I 1 want mant to be in bour our shoes sign here cleasel pl easel bob gasped in panic as he saw tl th time twenty minutes to eight ten minutes past the scheduled tart of his run ile he signed the call book jumped up smiled at caroline anti and hurried awa aia ahe memory of the look of concern on her faccas though she were cre fearful that somehow me it was as all her fault and that he would get into trouble on account of her stopped hina him at the door ile he went bent back shook chook hands with her then departed all in a laughing excited happy rush that even the c expectations of being struck liv bv bolts verbal lightning t could not despoil le luckily his dais dabs job was on a local freight 1 ai I while a delav was serious enough it was nas not vital or unforgivable in the whirlwind of his departing wake caroline dale stood looking with a guilty let happy smile at the table he had vacated and the breakfast he had left untouched but for the single bite of N waffles that had been well the cause of it all A soggy dank pyramid of sugar the entire contents of the sugar crock which bob had bad db ab sent ent mindedly transferred piece by piece into his coffee cup was vas a sweet monument to the ga havoc she rhe had wrought rought upon his mental processes gee kid youre a fast worker nor ker complimented miss task brisk back handedly a little later youre the first one who ever vamped bob wilson into looking as though he knew that such things as girls existed in this here mortal plane vamped him why by ahat v hat do vou OU mean said caroline aggrieved bour line hull huh sweet baby innocence budding daughter asking mama how bow do cats get kittens stuff and yet jet ive known others to pull that pose on him and never neer get past his jumper buckels caroline swam sam deatly wide aside from the current of miss frisks fuated sex lore Is that his nar bob wilson cute but the rest of the family amily statistics I 1 cant give vou OU ll 11 she R e volunteered cattily iles hes been the elinor glyn mastory of this burg so go long we ine aint hoping no more to solve it now caroline wa was oung remarkably pretty and intelligent lifes rarest triangle inevitably and industriously romantic all in all her here vas a nature vibrantly reb responsive ponsie to khz lilt and the warm urgings of ta t petal sweetened spring nir air and sh slip was eidl aware that the boung man had somehow deposited with nith her a glowing gloning consciousness of his own freshly youthful clean cut rood good looks even in the un dipper habiliments of his daily toil tell he was the one bright tracing in the drab tab pattern of her first impressions of this town and its sweaty swearing careless bustle miss bliss talks alluring hints about bob constituted a bracing challenge to Caroli caroline neb spirit ant and she met it ea eagerly r dissembling with the se sex craft of a thousand centuries cloaking her real interest under a co coy air of casualness so well done that it even fooled herself but not miss brisk A real honest to goodness mystery how interesting yeah aint it if surely he has some rome rel relatives atnes that you know of someone lie he writes to or visits 9 not sos vou could notice it but ou cant never neer tell about them tramps damps tramp in horror what hat I 1 said autey miss task brisk assured lier her with comfortable satisfaction in her bet ct own n swordsmanship ile he was mas a plain ordinary bum when he first came to this town the thin cashier paused to enjoy her sport and caroline inwardly ini ardly writhed while she fought to check an outward otti show of too obvious disappointment he had been a tramp picturesque and but rather rough she could feel a rac ing of hot lot blood to her cheeks checks for the J rest however howe hONe vei ei she rhe was able to meet miss frisks nari oed eves ekes on a cool level leel then I 1 think hp he deserves all the credit in the world orld for staying and living down his pasty past she maintained bravely admiration for tile the girls steadfastness iless in her interest inte iest softened miss frisks mood admiration and a keen sense enge of the COMITi communal debt to bob wilson ile he saved the limited mail ye e night ani and after that it Nas nt no trick for him to get a job around here for he stood aces high with the trainmen and the home folks too because believe belie e me old have been crepe on man a door on only I 1 v for him gee have hav e given lurn him the he keys to the cite she finished nihed fi with an attempt at humor to cover coer a panicky realization that it was nas her own emotions that were ere in full cry now only it locked and a 1 d there aint all no kev ken for it anyhow caroline felt unaccountably proud of this man she rite had met but once and then in a bus business ineRs way aay Mean meanwhile hile miss frisks mood had undergone a complete change perhaps it was nas the fragrant outdoor breeze that hail had touched her thin cheeks cheek too but to her it carried instead of pubescent impulses onla reminiscent echoes coming hollowly hollow lv back through dina dim years to a sterile present and future to be continued |