| Show LADY LARKSPUR by MEREDITH NICHOLSON by Cit arlea scribners sane a CHAPTER IV continued 11 As aa they resumed their talk alice it was relating something of lent for Arrow arrowsmiths smiths bener benefit it referring now and then to mrs IT farnsworth i as s thou though h for corroboration the scena benc in the box was almost as interesting te as any in the play arid and the audience watched with deep absorption alice the least self conscious of mortals was I 1 knew utterly unaware of the curious gaze of tle house whatever she was saying with an occasional gesture of her gloved hand or a shrug of her shoulders possessed her completely I 1 thought she might be telling arrowsmith of her adventures at barton but the length of her narrative was against this and Arrow arrowsmiths smiths attitude was more that ot of a critic appealed to for an opinion than of a polite listener to a story ile he nodded his head several times and finally nally fl as alice with a slight dip of the head and an outward movement of tier her arras arms settled back in tier her chair he patted his hands approvingly in my absorption I 1 had forgotten existence but as the ahli d act began I 1 saw that he had gone whether I 1 should put myself in alices way as she left the theater was still an undetermined question when the play ended with ban banging ging about I 1 felt a certain db obligation to warn her that he had been watching tier her I 1 was among the first to leave and in the foyer I 1 met forsythe Forsyt lie the house manager who knew roe me as a friend of searles you not notice I 1 ce that were ere still turning ero em away he be remarked we dont have to worry about this piece everybody who sees it sends his friends the next day searles looked in for some time hope hes writing a new play lies iles west visiting his folks dont know when hell be back I 1 answered 1 I must write him that sir cecil ar row sinith enjoyed who killed cock robin just as much as common mortals forsythe had paused at the bo box office and in my uncertainty I 1 stuck to him as the crowd began to surge ay Arrow arrowsmiths smiths approach was advertised by the pe peculiar ullar type of tall hat that he affected and the departing audience made way for him or hung back to st i e at his left were alice alic e and nd mrs lars farnsworth and they must pass quite close to me who killed cock robin was a satisfying play that sent audiences away with if light lit tried ned hearts and smiling faces and uie the trio were no exception to the rule listening inattentively to forsythe I 1 was planning to join alice when the trio should reach me she saw me there was a fleeting flash of lecog altion in her eyes and then she turned toward arrowsmith she drew nearer her gaze met mine squarely but now without a sign to indicate that she had bad ever seen me before she passed on talking with greatest animation to arrowsmith well remember me to searles it if you write him I 1 heard forsythe saying I 1 clutched his arm as he opened the office door who are those women 1 I 1 demanded you may search met mel I 1 see you yon have a good eye that girls rather nice to tool look at ill I 1 crowding my way to the open I 1 blocked the patti path of orderly sane citizens awaiting their machines until a policeman pushed me aside alice I 1 saw baw tor for a bewildering instant framed to in the window of 0 a big limousine that rolled away uptown I 1 had been snubbed I 1 no snub had bad ever been delivered more deliberately with a nicer calculation of effect than that administered to me by alice bashford a girl with whom until a moment before I 1 had bel believed lived myself on terms of cordial comradeship she bad cut me alice who had asked roe me at t the very beginning of our acquaintance to halt ball her by her first name alice had cut me without the of a lash I 1 walked to the thackeray and settled myself in a dark corner comer of the rending reading room thoroughly bruised to in spirit in nay my resentment I 1 meditated flying to ohio to join searles always my chief resource in ID trouble affairs at t barton might go to the devil if alice and her companion wanted to get rid of me I 1 would not be sorry to be relieved of af the responsibility I 1 had bad assumed in trying to protect them with rising fury I 1 reflected that by the time they had shaken off mon taril and got rid of tile the prisoner in the tool house they would think better of me telephone call sir air I 1 followed the boy to the booth to ta a rage that any one should disturb my coy gloomy reflect reflections lous sir mr singleton ohl this Is alice peaking aking P 1 I clutched the shelf for support not only was it mice alice speaking but in the kindest voice imaginable my anger passed but my amazement at alice and all her ways blinded me if she had suddenly stepped through the wall my surprise could not have been prenter you told me the thackeray was your usual refuge in town so I 1 thought id try it are you very very cross im sorry really I 1 am bob I 1 the bob was added lingeringly propitiating huddled in the booth I 1 doubter doubted my senses wondering indeed whether alice lindet a a double even whether I 1 dreamed everything that had occurred at barton 1 I wanted to speak to you ever so much at the theater but I 1 very well without introducing you to sir cecil and I 1 ready to do that it might have caused complications cat ions it if anything could have multiplied the existing complications I 1 was anxious to know what they were vere but her voice was so gentle so wholly amiable that I 1 restrained an impulse to demand explanations are you on earth or are you speaking from paradise I 1 asked oh were in a very nice house constance and 1 I and were just about having a little supper I 1 wish you were here but that cant be arranged no really it eanet we shall be motoring back to barton tomorrow to morrow and hope you can join us let us have luncheon and motor up together when I 1 suggested that I 1 call for them she laughed gayly that would be telling things thing sl I 1 and we spoil everything when everything Is going so beautifully remembering the man I 1 had locked up in the tool house and the explanations I 1 should have to make sooner or later to the unimaginative torrence I 1 wh wholly olly convinced of the general beauty of the prospect Alon Monta tant nl was in the theater I 1 suggested iier her laughter rippled merrily over the wire oil oh he be tried to follow us in a taxi I 1 we had bad a great t time line throwing him off in the park im not sure lie he sitting on the curb right now watching the house ungraciously you have the fan with you montan jumped right out of his seat I 1 4 0 1 A telephone call sir ir fl when you opened it in the theater this she received with more laughter amused her immensely she said she in the least afraid of him returning to the matter of the luncheon she suggested the bam you know I 1 want very much to see mr Bash fords old home and the place all our veteran retainers came from at one yes good night alice and mrs farnsworth reached the Ty tyringham ringham on time to the minute As I 1 had spent the morning on a bench in the park analyzing my problems I 1 found their good humor a trifle jarring you dont seem a bit glad to see us alice complained as she drew off her gloves how can any one be but after that delicious cock robin robina it Is so dell bously droll 1 I I 1 remarked with an attempt at sevi severity rity quite your knack of ignoring disagreeable facts there was montant right in front of me jumping like a jack ln in the box every time you flourished your fan theres that fellow weve got locked up at barton just hear bear the man constance she interrupted with her adorable laugh we were thinking that he was only beginning to se see things our way the only true way the jolly way and here he cometh like a melaD melancholy chOlY jacquest jacques 1 well have none of it we must confess said mrs farnsworth concilla tingly that mr singleton gleton Is passing through a severe trial we precipitated ourselves upon him without warning and immediately med lately involved him in a mesh of mystery nis imagination must have time ime to adjust itself they were spoiling my appetite I 1 vas perfectly aware of that I 1 lind bed ordered the best luncheon I 1 knew kne w how to compose and they were doing full justice to it but I 1 was acting I 1 knew like a resentful boy 1 I love you that way said alice as I 1 stared vacantly at my plate but you really are not making yourself your seli disagreeable to us really he Is not constance 11 1 mrs farnsworth affirmed this I 1 knew that 1 I was merely being rude nod and the consciousness of this was not nol uplifting at the luncheon hour the th influx of shoppers gives the ham a cheery tane tone and all about us were people apparently conversing sanely and happily the appearance of uncle bachs ghost in the familiar familial dining room would have been a welcome diversion I 1 was speculating as to just what lie he would say about his hie widow and the whole mess at barton when sirs mrs farnsworth worth addressed me pleadingly it if you knew that we want you to play with us only a few days longer three days shall we say alice 11 you knew that then well untangle everything ery cry thing you be nice very nicel nice in spite of myself I 1 resist this appeal I 1 was more and more impressed by the fineness the charm ol of mrs farnsworth when she dropped the make believe foolishness in which she indulged quite as amusingly as alice she appeared to be a very sensible person the humor lanced danced in tier lier eyes now dow but her glance was more than an appeal it was a command it if you knew that our troubles are not at all the troubles youre thinking about but very different please pardon roe me I 1 muttered humbly and wished that alice were not so bewitching in a sailor hat it may have have been the hat or only mrs Farn pleading tone that brought me to a friendlier attitude toward the universe and its visible inhabitants the crowd thinned out but we lingered talking of all manner of things we must come in again very soon sand alice and next time we shant run away which was very naughty I 1 suppose when you begin a story you just have to keep it going or it will die 01 your hands the way with our story you know of course its unkind to mystify you but you are in the story just as we are my mystification was certainly deer deep enough without this sug suggestion suggests gesti on that thai I 1 was a mere character in a tale whose awkward beginning aroused only the gravest apprehensions as to the conclusion cl she looked at her watch and continued im so absurd really I 1 am in ever so many ways that no one would ever put me in a book everyone would say no such person ever exI existed 1 its ita incredible and so I 1 have to pretend im in a story all the time its the only way I 1 can keep happy and so many people are in my bspry now not only and the poor fellow locked up at barton oh what it if he should escape escabel 1 constance it would be splendid if ile he should escape I 1 you finish your enumeration of characters I 1 suggested Is my part an important one or am I 1 only a lay figure fl gure my ily dear clear boy cried sirs mrs farnsworth you are the herol hero I 1 you have been the hero from the hour the story began it if you should desert us now whatever should we do it if im the hero I 1 replied in her own key 1 I shall bej begin n making love to alice at once alice far from being disturbed by my declaration nodded her head bead approvingly on we had expected but you be in a hurry in a story like this one that runs right on from day to day we must leave a lot to chance and there are ever so many ch chances an ces not all on the side of failure I 1 hope we must be going she laughed I 1 wished she that characteristic little turn ot of the head that was so bagull beguilingly ing I 1 folly rode with us all the way to barton it if anything sensible was uttered on the drive I 1 cant recall it our talk chiefly of knights and ladles and wild flights from imaginary enemies had the effect of spurring flynn to perilous spurts of speed TO BE CONTINUED |
