Show 5 FOE F piorry THE STOUT STORY THUS FAR borle corey who bho hates herself for being so meek is railroaded into taking a lob job she does docs not want assisting admiral duncan write his memoirs she Is in lave with paul duncan the admirals grandson aboard the steamship team ship samoa en route to hawaii she be dances with steve pauls brother paul Js furious and warns zoric against him claiming that steve Is a nazi nail spy on returning to her stateroom I 1 after fter taking dictation borje discovers that her notebook Is missing while alone on deck a brutal hand band is clamped over her mouth she Is scoop scooped ed up and thrown overboard she avoids the propellers and manages to catch a life ring which some sailor has tossed into the sea CHAPTER X the nurse told me not to disturb you for a while id like to see y you 0 U as soon as possible its very in important por tant are you alone 1 I will be said zorie she reached for her dressing gown and said to amber you wont mind going ing out for a while my fiance wants to talk things over there was droll amusement in ambers all ah yes your fiance not at all my dear zorie was sitting at the dressi dressing ng table thoughtfully considering ambers array of cosmetics when paul knocked she opened the door he came in and closed it she half lifted her arms expecting that he would seize her and h hug ug and fissher kiss her out of sheer relief that she was alive he looked her over quickly he e nodded jerkily yo you u were lucky he said you certainly were bucl lucky Y are you sure youre all right yes zorie zone said im all right she was surprised that her reeling feeling about paul ch changed anaed everything else had changed but she was still in love with paul with a little working over paul would be satisfactory well paul baidin said in a businesslike way ive just had a long talk with the captain with the doctor and the chief officer sitting in this is pretty serious zorie zone yes said zorie 1 I suppose it an everyday occurrence she realized she had had to make a decision her sole desire just now was to find out who had thrown her overboard 1 I have it all fixed up with the captain paul said the whole episode will be forgotten nothing will be said the incident will be closed im afraid I 1 dont understand zorie interrupted you see he explained ila a thing like this is very unpleasant for th the e steamship company 10 its rather unpleasant for t the he victim too zorie zone pointed out r you dont understand s said ai d paul this could easily cause a great deal of trouble for us a all the mainland and the honolulu papers if they picked up the truth P 1 paul zorie said youre wonderful you think of everything 1 I even dropped in on the wire less man they publish the shipboard newspaper you know I 1 ga gave ve them a rather amus amusing ing account 0 of f it for the passengers benefit and to plug any nasty rumors that might be going around now all you have to do is sign this he held out a typed slip and his fountain pen uncapped what is it A release it absolves the company of all responsibility zorie signed it paul waved the release to io dry her signature by the way he said my brother is quite ill steve zorie cried just about the time you fell overboard he was taken with an attack of acute indigestion that was why the doctor take care of you lie he was busy pumping out steves stomach how ill is he zorie gasped oh hell be all right in the morning does he get these attacks often no but he should the way he drinks I 1 dont want to sound like a reformer darling but you do know how I 1 feel about liquor I 1 hope youve had your lesson I 1 hope never touch the stuff again as long as you live there was a familiar ex expression ion in pauls eyes it usually went with one of his lec the importance of being earnest zorie zone he said you are still under the influence of those drinks and im afraid you dont quite know what youre saying saying I 1 zorie said gently oud better stop being so grim and better start stopping awfully soon I 1 am not the girl you knew paul I 1 am a changed person im not meek any more I 1 am a woman who intends to fight for her rights good night dear paul said hastily as he moved to the door you need sleep sleep as late as you can good night but zorie zone began with determination then she realized that she must be patient with paul there were many people with whom she the slightest intention of being patient but paul was not one of them she adored paul she would see to it that he lost his grimness and his stuffiness then paul would be perfect khevent she went to bed she was almost asleep when amber let herself in amber opened and closed the door so carefully that it make a sound she undressed noiselessly she took the greatest pains not to disturb the girl who had slapped her face the telephone awoke her at a little before nine amber reached for it answered it and handed it to zone saying its for you darling it was the admiral he hoped he waked her he Hei i hoped she was feeling well after her experience hm do you suppose you could drop around sometime this morning 9 he asked steve is very anxious to talk to you how is steve hell be all right steve is pretty tough you know was it something he ate zorie asked the doctor say ill tell him be around as soon as youve had a bite of br breakfast hm all right said zorie she would see steve when she got around to it J 3 11 4 honolulu and pearl harbor he said were bombed this morning she wanted to do some thinking first and there were other things she wanted to do she went to the beauty parlor she had her hair washed waved and arranged in a becoming new way the beauty operator was clever she was an enthusiast she knew just what zorie wanted and she knew just how to help her zorie bought rouge and lipstick and the beauty operator helped her them tellingly now the girl said when zone paid and tipped her you are beautiful miss corey you really are zorie rie did not have to be told but it was nice anyway the mirror told her everything but it just the new hairdo hair do the rouge the lipstick it was something new in her face there had been an indefinable softness before a vagueness her chin line seemed clearer and bolder but the great change was in her eyes they were clear and bright and sparkling they had assurance they had arrogance she went to the ad admirals suite and knocked on the door not with her old timidity but with assurance she had two lovely battles on her hands beyond that ahat door and they going to be battles of manila bay they were going to be outlands Jut lands the admiral opened the door he was smiling absently he looked at smile became tremulous it faded it returned in the form of a delighted grin zorie coriel Zo riel I 1 he be cackled why I 1 hardly knew you my dearl dear and after what you went through last night you are lovely 1 maybe id better fall off this ship fill where is stevet steve on the lanai zorie walked out into the lanai with the admiral trotting along behind her steve in a white toweling dressing gown was stretched out in in one of the long bamboo chairs his pallor was shocking his eyes were pale he looked really ill he grinned slowly and said chel hello glamour giell the admiral said zorie zone do you think youre going to feel like working today yes zone answered 1 I feel very much like working today 1 I wanted to get on with the battle of manila bay then I 1 thought wed go back and finish up those chapters on my first fir st years in annap olis 11 for a moment her resolve faltered habit that detested old habit of meekness made her pliant but the wavery feeling passed cassea im sorry zorie said im sorry to let you waste all that time if you want me to help you with your memoirs admiral the chapters on annapolis and everything perhaps but a short chapter on manila bay go 90 overboard now wait a minute the admiral began 1 I mean it she said steve was right yesterday youre the only person alive who can tell the story of the duncan family from the little ive heard of it its a fascinato fasci fascinating nati ing story a really wonderful story if you want me to help you on a book going to be the book she heard a chuckle from the bamboo chair the admirals eyes were f fiery lery his obstinate chin was unusually prom prominent his right fist was clenched with it he banged on the table nobody is going to tell me how im going to write my book he shrilled not even you zorie no sirl sir I 1 write my own book my own way or there wont be a bockl very well zorie said serenely there wont be a book As a matter of fact there any portion of any book all of yesterdays dictation she lifted her hands in a gesture indicative of emptiness you destroy atit the admiral gasped gone said zorie good girl said steve im sorry admiral zorie said but how it is admiral duncan glared at her all ali right he snapped if you say so zorie borle all tight right but only because I 1 have the utmost respect for your opinion ionI not because I 1 agree wit with h you for a moment hm and that steve said languidly is the first time since grandmother died that anybody has backed down the old fire eater he strode out of the room A moment later he came back almost running his face usually so red looked very pale ile he was panting when he stopped beside them honolulu and pearl harbor he sa said id breathlessly were bombed this morning japanese planes flew in from a carrier destroyed our planes at hickam wheeler and kaneohe Kane ohe were hel helpless the radio says coming over shatter shafter again in new wavell waves the road into uluwehi E kai ran along the edge of a purple red re d cliff beside tall ripe sugar cane with sil ver bronze plumes then it dipped rather abruptly into the palm trees which fringed the cove zorie caught a glimpse of a golden beach on which waves broke in a snowy smother and of pale green water deepening to dazzling blue offshore through the palms she caught a group houses with flat blue we tile roofs and an immense garden against the sheer mountain wall in back the mountain side was a shivering purple flame ot of bougainvillea and she recalled that uluwehi E kai meant a profusion of growing things by the sea it was a sparkling g morning golden and blue schooner ner clouds ghosted along an indigo horizon zorie unpacked in the charming airy guest room to which a japanese maid had taken her then wandered out under the banyan trees and into the garden a fragrant jungle of strange exotic flowers she hoped that steve would join her and tell her what some of the flowers were but she presently saw aw him and the admiral walking briskly along another garden path toward the garage they passed within a dozen feet of her but the largest terns ferns she had ever beheld screened them she heard their voices clearly in the jungle stillness well all right steves g grandfather was saying in a sharp voice but it may be hard to arrange at the last minute this island is U under n A total otal blackout a and nd people arent ar ent going to like daiv driving i ng over these narrow twi twisty sty little roads with tho those so dim blue headlights 10 TO BE CONTINUED |