Show GEORGE crow 46 pa r A EASE TRE THE STOUT STORY THUS FAR borle corey lid bad a da date 1 a with paul duncan her dance bance which sh she feared she could not keep as a her employers wife had asked her to personally distribute 30 invitations for or her tea next week borle tried to get her fiance hy by phone at his boarding house but failed she feared he would scold her tor for not being punctual looking down at a burnished buddha on her desk she made three wishes one being that she might be whisked to a leisurely land of palms and jade green seas and of delightful people too talla gallant nt to take advantage ol of meekness later she called at her employers home and picked up the invitations she was tempted to buy stamps tor for the whole lot and mall mail them CHAPTER II 11 the next instant as she started to giggle over her rebellious impulse she unexpectedly burst into tears she leaned against the telephone pole and sobbed with her bag dangling from one hand the cellophane wrapped packet of invitations limply held in the other suddenly a mans deep resonant voice said banteringly dont cry my pretty ill buy your violets she looked up and saw him through twin waterfalls of tears he had appeared magically from nowhere he might have sprung out of the ground he too was leaning against the pole he was looking down at her there was something languid and lazy and perpetually relaxed about him yet there was a hint that with sufficient provocation oca tion he might go suddenly into action he was a big man of about thirty with a big head of curly hair above a big browned sun face everything about him was outsize his shoulders his hands his mouth it was a symmetrically sculptured mouth with the cleanly def defined ined perfectly matched lips of a buddha zorie zone lifted her face and the light fell upon it the strange man stared he jerked his head back hey he said softly his voice sounded breathless what the devil are you doing here zorie was bewildered for a moment this man had acted as if he knew her I 1 as if his glimpse of her face had shocked him then she realized that he was shocked by the woe in her face i and I 1 even the courage zorie concluded laughing to ring the bell again and ask that maid for an umbrella i he was nodding he smiled slowly and mysteriously always in case of doubt he said in his deep laconic voice obey your first f impulse since you obeyed yours I 1 will now obey mine he reached down and took the packet of invitations out of her hand before she could stop I 1 lim him he had stripped off the cellophane had torn the thirty invitations lengthwise had placed the two pads of white strips together had torn them across and had tossed the snowy quarters into the trash basket zorie gasped and delivered at that moment a small shriek of dismay at that instant a disembodied red face appeared in the doorway of professor McGon igles house and a shrill irascible voice cried hey come here aye aye sir the tall man answered then a strange thing happened the man grabbed zorie and pulled her behind the telephone pole A pale green sedan the kind you rent with driver for so much an hour was coming slowly al along ong maple street making plopping sounds as it went through puddles A man and someone else perhaps another man perhaps a woman were sitting in the the man was leaning forward looking out the opened window at professor McGon igles house then he turned his head and looked in she saw his face j clearly and she caught the glint of the street light in his eyes and she saw for just an instant the small white sear scar on his dark face it was about an inch under his left eye she only caught that glimpse of him because as the green sedan went by the man behind her maneuvered neu vered her by the shoulders so that the telephone pole was always between her and the car when it was halfway down the block the strong warm hands on her shoulders relaxed okay he said softly taxi he yelled the taxi turned around and came over it had been parked all this time she realized in front of professor McGoni McGon tiles igles house professor mcgonigle was the head of the department of psychology the mysterious young man opened the door and said get in zorie got in and sat down expecting him to follow he glanced at the meter and gave the driver a bill take this young lady wherever she wants to go he directed he gazed at zoa zorie as if he were troubled about her then he slowly nodded his head and said its high time you stopped being so gaga it baby good luck he closed the door the taxi started and zorie fell back against the seat with a gasp she was furious again partly at what he had said partly because the liveliest episode of her life had ended and she was returning to reality his mystifying spell was broken nothing remained of him but his deed and its consequences to her nothing but her knocking knees her banging heart her burning cheeks and her rapid breathing home miss corey the driver said she recognized him as a graduate of several years back for whom she had once copied a term paper yes don she replied and wondered what she would say to mrs folsome the door into the kitchen was open and zorie saw the usual stack of dirty dishes in the sink aunt hannahs luncheon and supper dishes with her senses sharper than usual zorie looked about the small smal 14 i q 11 ri V 1 ley he said softly what the devil are you doing here fu fussy assy overstuffed over stuffed living room it lo 10 looked untidy ashtrays were full th the e room had a stale smoky smell she glanced automatically at the onyx clock on the mantel the ti time me shocked her it was almost eight thirty paul had said he would drop around at eight he might have called and not finding her home gone away furious with a whimper of dismay she ran to the telephone she called his boardinghouse boarding house he was out still its high time he had said you stopped being so ga gaga ga it baby it was indeed baby As she stared at her tired blue eyes they grew sharper behind them resolution was forming here was a girl who was some day going to do something drastic the day was co coming ming when no one not even paul was going to push her around the vehemence ol of her thoughts put color into her cheeks brilliance into her eyes ill tell them no ones going to push me around any more im sick of it do you hear the telephone rang she turned so ankle and bumped a chair with her knee limping ane ran it was paul the very sound of his voice had the same effect on her that oil has on a ruffled sea her tears became tears of gladness Dar darling lingi 1 she caroled cajoled car oled zorie where the devil have you been ive been trying to get you im so she began ill be late he said curtly that grandfather of mine just popped into town ive been trying to get away I 1 wanted to bring my dissertation around Is it done she cried 1 I dont know he answered in in the same cross way 1 I was up to my ears in it when that old pest found me ill be over as soon as ican I 1 can goodby he hung up zorie zone looked at the receiver in her hand and her eyes were quite dry she was seeing things once more in a clear perspective paul was not cross because of her but because of his grandfather admiral oliver hazard perry duncan retired who had paul had often mentioned the most maddening way of dropping in without warning on his twelve scattered grandchildren and upsetting their lives with his impossible demands he was a patriarch of the old school a tyrant he was one of the richest sugar planters in hawaii and when one of his grandchildren opposed him he would make vague references to drawing up a new will and leaving his millions to charity zorie understood all this yet she reasoned paul should not have ave taken it out on her paul was often inconsiderate just then the doorbell rang A tall lanky youth with worried brown eyes was at the door zorie concealed her disappointment and laughed anyway for here was a man whose disposition needed smoothing he was jimmy hoff brower a junior majoring in econ and she knew that he was making pretty bad weather of several coursel courses come in jimmy you know a lot about econ airn jimmy Y said anxiously if you see anything wrong just sort of fix it will you as you go along yes jimmy could I 1 have it in the morning first thing yes drop by and pick it up he was as grateful as a puppy the nice not the toby kind of puppy As she typed jimmy Hoff browers term paper swiftly and accurately making corr corrections sections of all sorts as she went along her mind was busy with matters pertaining to herself it never occurred to zorie that she had a rather remarkable mind that it might be considered something of a feat to correct and type flawlessly a sentence that had contained one misspelled word two mistakes in punctuation and a grave error in reasoning while she was wondering what she would say to mrs folsome tomorrow now and then through her mind like bright bricht arrows went thoughts of the strange mysterious man to whom she had babbled in the rain his magical appearance beside her as if he were an ultramodern ultra modern aladdin when she had rubbed what the telephone pole and she again wondered why he had pulled her behind the pole when the green sedan had come along aunt hannah sighing with weariness from the walk from her backyard garage to the living room came in at about ten thirty paused in the alcove doorway and said indifferently diff brently erent ly oh so youre working did you feed toby yes darling some of that pink stuff he loves so zorie answered meanwhile catching that familiar offender se as it went by and wondering if the mysterious man in the rain was really a psychologist and if so or if not it if he had told mrs mcgonigle and if mrs mcgonigle had already told mrs folsome and what paul would say about it when he heard aunt hannah sighing went upstairs and to bed one detail of zories problem was cleared up a few minutes later when the phone rang mrs Fol somes saccharine voice said 1 I just called dear to make sure delivered all the invitations caught unprepared zories agile young brain tried frantically to concoct a lie that would cover everything for one mad moment she was tempted to say yes dear mrs folsome they were all delivered to the trash basket on your corner she feebly yes mrs folsome that was all period just splendid dear I 1 hope you get your feet wet oh no just splendid I 1 good night dear good night zorie said thickly she hung up the receiver and fell back in the chair she jumped up and began to walk up and down the crowded little living room trying to calm herself she needed for the state she was in a word that would combine hectic and nd frantic no she returned to her typing and made so many mistakes she had to recopy a page at eleven thirty the doorbell rang again she opened the door with none of her previous joyousness with no laughter on her lips her hair was disarrayed dis arrayed and her face was shiny with the oil of panic and honest effort TO BE CONTINUED |