Show W U EL ASE v THE STORY THUS FAR borle corey tad a date with paul duncan her fiance which she feared she could not keep as the wife of at her employer mrs fulsome folsome wanted her to deliver some thirty invitations to a tea in person after office hours she calls at her employers home and ad picks up the invitations As it Is to buy stamps for or raining she Is tempted the whole lot and mail them she leans against a telephone pole and cries suddenly listens to her lie he a man appears story gravely then he rips the invitations from their heir cellophane covering and tears them to pieces he hallsa halls a taxi and tells the driver to take her where she directs mrs folsome phones and asks if the invitations are delivered CHAPTER III but pauls face was shiny too and his eyes were an angry gry and oblivious she backed into the room as he erit entered ered hoping he would take her in his arms and make love to her a little but paul was too preoccupied there was a sheaf of yellow paper rolled up in his hand 1 I can only stop a moment he said vigorously what a night ive spent my time trying to wheedle that old pest into taking a plane west but hes got another of his obsessions hes on his way back to the islands and some publisher whose motives or mental processes are certainly worth looking into has sold him on the idea that his life would make a wonderful book pauls expression was so dour that zorie laughed it she asked from what youve told me about it his life has been awfully colorful you dont understand paul said hes picked on me to help him write it you zone gasped she had worked on enough of pauls compositions to know his literary shortcomings yes said paul savagely met me I 1 loathe the story of his life I 1 was weaned on it I 1 cut my teeth on it I 1 grew up on it im a problem child because of it paul was pacing up and down the small room weaving his way adroitly among tables and chairs and brandishing the yellow scroll as if it were a sword he whirled on her did I 1 ever tell you the story of how he helped george dewey win the battle of manila bay how he ran in under the very guns of cavite and let the torpedoes go you never mentioned that zorie murmured paul stopped again facing her with his mouth twisted into a wry grimace his hands spread fingered shrugged up in a gesture of comical hopelessness I 1 1 I tell you darling im a desperate man zories smile was made up largely of compassion do you want me to take him off your hands while you work on your dissertation he can sit here and play with toby while I 1 copy a term paper I 1 no zorie theres something else he has another brain wave on he thinks im wasting my life he calls what im doing childish n nonsense 0 he wants me to give it up go back to the islands with him and go to work as a cut cane luna on the old plantation and work up seriously zorie asked ill say seriously i and I 1 have to be awfully careful with him hes been dropping vague references all evening to drawing a new will when he be hits honolulu if I 1 dont watch my step he might even cut me off do you see now why im desperate 1 I see zorie murmured she wanted to say that in her humble opinion his taking a job and working up on a sugar plantation in hawaii sounded infinitely more attractive to her than his going on and becoming a professor of psychology but she wisely refrained where is he now at McGon igles he has a way paul went on of bully bullying ing and cajoling you into doing what he wants and he uses some kind of mesmerism too it almost always works but when it he hes S furious ii it working on me tonight and hes fit to be tied this the dissertation is finished or as finished as it can be with all this in the air will you copy it tonight darling and will you take special pains with it spelling and grammar and reasoning and what not and catch anything ive gone wrong on you know how my mind works bettor than I 1 do than I 1 do ter he held out the scroll to her and she automatically took it its in your hands now zorie zone he said but paul she protested ive already promised to copy a term paper tonight the glow went out of pauls eyes and the drama out of his posture whose is it jimmy Hoff browers but Hoff browers going to flunky its in the baal 1 I want to help him all I 1 can zorie zone said gently but you cant put that tripe ol of his ahead of minel mine paul cried angrily for heavens sake zorie McGon igles promised to read it as soon as you can get it done tonight how important it is to us hell be up all night reading term papers it may be the the fork in the road youve got to do it right away zorie 11 wery very well zorie zone said submissively it meant she would have to stay up most of the night to copy both papers he must know it meant that because h he e must know she would not let jimmy Hoff brower down paul kissed her quickly and meaninglessly ing lessly on the mouth and opened the door youre certainly a peach darling he said with the effusiveness of a man who has got his way and is happy because you have come to heel with his head turned he was looking at her whimsically you know zorie be the ideal person for that job what job working with the admiral on his memoirs 1 I she walled wailed dont be silly dont be so modest darling you virtually ghosted fergusons Fergus ons book on econ for him and the amount of original stuff you write into these papers you copy often saves them paul was grinning at her sure you would he teased her hed storm up and down dictating that garbage to you and just sit there in your sweet meek way and Z Z 1 fru m 1 I 1 NJ you dont understand paul said he picked on me to help him write it take it down in shorthand then work it up glibly into chapters it would be right down your street zorie its a one way street zorie answered and im walking the other way thank you she finished copying jimmys term paper a little before two thirty she made herself a pot of coffee took it into the alcove with a cup and saucer and sugar and lanced glanced through pauls dissertation it was entitled differences in intellectual functioning among normal paretic and schizophrenic adults she asked herself Is this nearly so important as raising this sugar that im putting into my coffee it certainly to her starting in on the old family plantation as a cut cane luna whatever a cut cane luna was and did sounded much more exciting and worthwhile bothering your head over than intellectual differences between normal paretic and schizophrenic adults at a little before four the doorbell rang again it startled her even though she was occasionally called to the telephone or to the door by a student or an instructor at some such scandalous hour to have something copied A pang shot through the small of her back as she got up from the typewriter she was so tired she staggered her hands felt numb her legs ached and her neck was tiff stiff the bell rang in long urgent peals she opened the door A thin tall old man with a furrowed red face ace china blue eyes and curly snowwhite hair stood on the doormat doorman still jabbing with his stick at the door button he wore no hat he had an air of eagerness and im patience and his untrimmed white brows which grew up into peaks on his forehead gave him a whimsically ferocious appearance his eyes were mischievous and his jaw was large and prominent and this as any student of human nature knows is a dangerous combination even before he spoke zorie knew that her untimely caller was pauls crafty willful meddlesome grandfather youre zorie corey hm he said the girl who is so clever at doing manuscripts that the entire faculty leans on her lim hm it was she would learn a confirmed old habit that hm acquired from years of dealing with hawaiian japanese portuguese filipino and other plantation laborers who might not understand the simplest order you savvy hm im zorie corey zorie said in a meek voice he quickly looked her over he was really a very distinguished loox ing old man so tall and erect with his striking white hair 1 I am admiral duncan he introduced trod himself my grandson paul has been telling me about you I 1 know its very late but this is a very urgent matter may I 1 step in for just a moment hmelo hm of course zorie said helplessly he looked quickly about the room unerringly selected the most comfortable for table chair and seated himself with his stick across his knees paul says youre the cleverest girl he has ever known that youve worked on books of all sorts with professors that youve a wonderful talent for literary collaboration and that youre just the girl to work with me on my autobiography hm zories mouth was dry but I 1 she began dont be modest my dear he checked her paul says you do the real finishing work it will be a nice job with easy hours admiral duncan was saying and ill pay you whatever you think its worth we wont haggle over price hm she realized that paul had sold her down the river to spare himself but admiral duncan she understood now why his twelve grandchildren were in such dread of him much as she wanted to get away from ellerston Ellery ton much as she would love to go to hawaii she did not want to go at the cost of having to work with this old tyrant on his memoirs zorie would never know how he accomplished it but the next thing she knew she was in her room packing and he was lounging in the doorway wearing a whimsical self satisfied smile and telling her what interesting work it would be and what a gallant girl she was for coming to the aid of an old man with a great story to leave to posterity a story of which the world might be robbed if it were not put down on paper at once my dear because he was old he was eighty six and he might not last much longer hm she wanted to laugh at that with his energy which was that of a steamroller steam roller on a downhill grade he would doubtless celebrate his one hundred and fiftieth birthday she packed her two suitcases and a small hand trunk the doorbell rang over admiral duncans voice she heard pauls they went downstairs paul was standing in the open doorway with his feet planted apart his eyes were dark with anger and his mouth looked thin and hard he was obviously trying to control himself he was white and he was trembling so here you are he panted you pulled another fast one you what did you tell McGoni mcgonigle gleo admiral duncan managed to look annoyed and vague at the same time what are you talking about he snapped what you said to McGonig lel when just before you sneaked over here oh that his grandfather said 1 I asked him to excuse you so you could go to the islands with me hm but you know examinations begin in a few days paul said hotly you know I 1 have a million things to do before the holidays it was pitiful zorie thought without a twinge of pity to see him struggling he was furious and trying so hard not to go too far H he e wanted to say so much more but he was as helpless as one of the white rats he used in his control experiments yes I 1 know the admiral said genially its all arranged hm ill go next term when school closes paul said grimly no I 1 want you to go now paul had his hands in his co coat at pockets zorie knew that his fists fist were clenched he was white with with fury TO BE CONTINUED |