Show CT M KATHLEEN NORRIS I 1 by norris IM TIRED Synopsis doctor strickland reared red la is living in milt mill valley near ear A n francisco his family consists tan I 1 his daughters AUX allx 21 and cherry h rry 18 an and d anne hla niece 24 belr gir c closest I 1 f friend la is peter joyce sort of recluse martin oyd a visiting m mining ining engineer elds I 1 ch cherry marries her and car att her ot oft to el nido a mine WD peter ti realizes ea azes that he loves justan lattie boos anne il herry herry comes home tor for annes edding cherry realizes tier her mar t als ge Is a failure allure peter tells without chery ot of his grand passion without RZ arning the hie atri martin comes tor for k bietry Mi therry etry ij CHAPTER vill VIII 7 atins work was in the contra aa ja valley and lie and cherry had hall ball house la in red creek the only Z at beof of any size near the mine red ked W ic was vi as in a fruit farming and 1 region and looked its prettiest kae spring evening when cherry ift it first p little house was a cottage W with ith running across the front re win windows dois looked out from the RW tang I 1 room and the front b Iw droom of these rooms a klark dark lit Nat bathroom broom that connected ithe front broom dooni with another smaller bed n 1 a little dining room and a bahen lien martin lawn fashion had ely camped sti in kitchen and bedroom kle le aNi awaiting alting bis li is wife but cherry zoned on hor crisp little apron on oil p iti orning after tier her arrival and aed the accumulated dishes in aenk sink arst and the scattered shirts and infirm I 1 rs bravely 2 jor or a few weeks the novelty lasted wt K cherry was nas enghu enthusiastic insole about Z slie she looked out across her pan at green ereen fields and the begin g ot of the farms she saw the lilacs ast bt into fragrant plumes on the p branches of tier her dooryard tree mg g flushed the whole world with i kiness ell ness and she was young and 5 athy ty and too busy to be home aili r rhe he days went on and on each ning its round of dishes beds raping I 1 ing marketing folding and un k ing tablecloths going back and ill h between kitchen and dining B n martins breakfast was either aptly served and well cooked in ich case martin was silently sails 11 bof cr it was late and a fal failure lure when las was very articulately disgusted in iler ler case cherry was left to clear il 91 wash and plan for another meal ineal ilour hours more she soaked fruit a at aa A up cake chopped boxes into All id lings heated a kettle of water nater I 1 another kettle of water dragged from the bed only to replace lain cm filled dishes with food only to ji 11 them empty and ready to wash L alln ln pi 1 I get sick of it slie she told martin j f t well lord he be exclaimed dont 0 I 1 i think everybody does dont I 1 balck isack of my work you ought to jre re the responsibility re of it all for fr kl tille ille ai a tone was humorously reprove reproving ving I 1 than unkind but such a tech ech would fill cherrys chernys Cher rys eyes with nith ars irs frs and cause her to go about the ase jise all morning with a heavy f she he would find herself looking I 1 at martin in these days him as it if he were an utter olinger hanger it bewildered her to feel at t he be actually was no more than it after two years of marriage she conly only did riot not know him but sh she 1 a baffled ense dense that the very arneus of their union prevented her 4 n seeing him fairly she knew that thai i did him injustice in her thoughts must be injustice decided cherry martin seemed to tier her less clever i just less intelligent and less erous arous than the average man dian of tier her 1 l a ain tance aud and yet he did not j m n ito impress other people in the dihe ahe impressed tier her e was extraordinarily healthy and is small mall sympathy for illness weak jj eltor the unfortunate aud and the 0 laining lie ile whistled over ill his S j absing na read the paper at breakfast 0 was gone at noon lie he rustled in flys Ys late detoured deou red his lunch ap 4 clatl ively vely and was gone again at A 9 0 ht t be v was as usually tired inclined to irrel el about small matters inclined J of the new dew positions of it be droom farn furniture iture or the way arys s hair as MRS dressed e loved to play poker find and was hose bose we to a certain extent lie would le ie and joke over the A ifor f 0 r a rarebit after a game and X a willingly willing y walk wait five blocks for if f cherry had for forgotten to get it sunday lie he liked to see eee her prettily re aad ed now and then they motored this bis friends from the mine more i walked balked ate a hearty bearty chicken f r and went to a 1 cold supper aupper in 11 neighborhood with rhe file alun ci 61 to follow at ma en their hostess d flutter into hr kitchen there i H d be lem vide and beer and rich A r caje aden the men would bey bep to 1 katch ancl poker hands and the ien ell to discuss babies in low tones terry erry never fiad her fco 60 atad ted or so I 1 interested ite rested as when he hart had known before chanced to into town toly na loloi men from ne ke vadd vada or from el aldo or men inen lie he lind had knoeri in college they would discuss personalities would shout over recollected good times would slap each other on oil the back and laugh tirelessly slie site thou thought lit him an ex extremely tr emely difficult naan man to live with ith and was angered when her hints to this effect led him to remark that she was the limit they had a serious quarrel one day when lie he told her that she was the most selfish and spoiled woman lie had ever known ile he called tier her attention ten ton to the other women of the town busy contented women sending children oft off to school settling bables babies down toi naps in sunny dooryards door yards cooling and laughing and hurrying to and fro yes and look at them cherry said with ready tears shabby thin tired all the time I 1 the trouble with bilth you Is martin sald said departing youve been told that youre and sweet all your life and youre spoiled you are pretty yes lie added more mildly but by george you sulk so much and you crab so much that im darned it if I 1 see it any more I 1 all I 1 see Is trouble with thisbe this he left tier lier left tier her to a hurst burst of angry tears at first when sho she dropped tier her lovely little head on the blue ging gingham liam of her apron sleeve and cried bitterly the kettle began to sing on the stone stoe it a bee came in and wandered about the hot kitchen the grocer knocked and cherry let the big lout of a boy stare nt at her red eyes uncaring then she went swiftly into the bedroom and began to pack and change cl iange shed show martin lloyd shed show martin lloyd she was going straight to dad shed take the take the she fro frowned Nned she had missed the nine train she must wait for the he train at half past two wait where well she could only wait here very well she would wait liere here she would not get martin any lunch and when lie he raged che would explain slie she finished her packing and put the house in order then in unaccustomed midmorning mid morning leisure she sank into a deep rocker and began to read aubet and shade and order reigned in the little house steps came bounding up to cherris cherrys Cher rys door tier her heart began to beat a evock sounded she got to her feet puzzled martin did not knock it was joe robinson his bis closest friend at the mine say listen mrs lloyd mart cant get home to dinner said joe he dont feel extra well he was in fhe I 1 it I 1 I 1 IP 1 6 1 1 NJ he was in the engine room and he kinder fainted 10 engine room and lie kinder he kinder fainted cherry asked sharply turning a I 1 little ittle pale well kinder lawson made hira lay dovin don joe sat said and hes coming home when the v n agon comes down at three ue he says to tell you hes ilde I 1 oh 1011 thank you joe cherry said she shut the door feeling weak mid and 1 frightened she tew cew to unpack tier her bag hung up tier her hat and coat darkened the bedroom and turned down the bed waited anxiously for marts marls return she was deeply concerned over the news from martin cherry met his limp f form orm at the front door and whisked him into a cool bed and put chol chopped ped ice fee on the aching forehead and got him grateful and penitent oft to sleep for a day or two martin stayed in ili bed and cherry spoiled and potted petted him and was und aina thanked for eiery step slie she tool took alter after that they took a little trip into the mountains near dear by and cherry sent alls alix postcards that made tier her sister feel almost a pang of envy put but then the routine began again and the fearful heat beat of came too red creek baked in i smother 0 of dusty heat beat the trpe tree the try dry orchards beside the dry road dropped circles of hot shadow on the clod ded rough earth fnnnk dozed under shimmering lines of dazzling air and in the village from ten until the afternoon began to wane I 1 there was no stir flies files buzzed and settled on screen doors the creek shrunk away anay beewen crumbling rocky banks the butcher closed ills his shop an and d milk soured in the bottles the turners and some other fail families it always camped together in the mountains during dilling this season and they were off when school closed in an enviable state ot of ecstasy and anticipation cheiry cheairy had planned to join them but an experimental weekend week end ead was enough the camp was in the cool woods truly but it was disorderly swarming with the tents were small mall and liot hot the whole settlement laughed and rioted and surged to and fro in a manear utterly foreign to tier her she returned to tell martin that it was vas horribly common and weather the rest of the summer in red creek martin sympathized ile he had never neve r cared particularly for the turners was as perfectly willing to keep the friendship within bounds lie ile sympathized as little with another friendship she made some months later with the wife of a young engineer who nho had recently come to the mine pauline runyon was a few lears bears older than her husband a band some thin intense woman who did in an entirely individual way she took one of the new little bungalows that were being erected in red creek park and furnished it richly and inappropriately and established a tea table and a samovar beside the open fireplace cherry began to like better than anything else in the world the hours spent A with pauline pauline read browning francis thompson and pater and introduced cherry to new dew bonds of thought she talked to cherry of 0 new york which she loved and of the men and women slie she had bad met inet there them she sometimes sighed and pushed the bright briglia hair back from cherrys chernys Cher rys young and innocent and discontented little face and said tenderly on tire stage my dear anywhere anywhere you would be a aurore lu rorer I 1 anti and thinking in the quiet evenings for martins work kept him later and later at the mine cherry came t to 0 see th that a t 1 her er and ad been a great mistake she add not nm been ready for marriage she it ii on the back steps as the evenings grew rew cooler and ana watch the exquisite twilight fade ana the sorrow and beauty ot of lile life irin tier her heart e wo wring ring A dream of ease and adoration and beauty came to her she did not visualize any special place any special gown or hour or person but she saw tier lier beauty fittingly environed she saw cool rooms darkened against this blazing midsummer glare heard ice fee clinking against glass the footsteps of attentive maids the sound of cultivated voices of music and laughter she had bad these dreams before but they were becoming habitual now she was so tired so sick so bored with her real life it was bLe becoming oming increasingly harder and harder for her to live with martin she was always in a suppressed pres ed state of wanting to break out to shout at him brazenly 1 I dont care if your coffee Is weal weak I 1 I 1 like it weak I 1 dont care if you don dont t like my hat I 1 do stop talking about yourself fl various little mannerisms of his b began seriously to annoy tier her a rather rathe grae g gr a ne symptom had bad cherry but known it lie ile danced his big fingers on the handle of the sugar spoon at breakfast sifting the sugar over his cereal she had to turn tier her eyes resolutely away from the sight lie ile blew his nose dole folded his handkerchief and then brushed ills his nose with it f firmly left and right she hated bated the little performance that was neler altered lie had a certain mental slowness would blink at her politely and patiently when she flashed plans or hopes bopes at him 1 I dont follow you my dearl dear this made her fr frantic antle she S was twenty undisciplined and exacting she had no reserves Yit lD herself to which balch she could turn bad things were hopelessly bad with cherry her despairs were the dark and te tearful adful despairs of girlhood prematurely transferred to graver r mat matters teni martin was quite right in some of his contentions girl like she was sr A and unsystematic in her housekeeping slie she had times of bolus being discontented rind and selfia selu self ih sli slie ll 11 hated economy and the need deed for careful ilia managing D lit in october alli alii chanced to write tier her a long and unusually gossipy letter allx alix had a new gon goin of black grenadine and slie she had bad sung at an afternoon tea and had evidently succeeded in her first venture en ture also they had had a mountain climb and enclosed were snapshots peter had taken on the trip cherry picked up the little kodak prints there were idour or five of them she he studied them with will a pang li hi lir li r heart beart allx alix in ill a loose loode rough coat with tier her hair mowing blowing in the alie wind rind and the peaked er crest t of if Ta malpais behind her allx busy with lunch lundli boxes arx standing on the old bridge by the mul A wave of 4 swept oner the younger sister tiff lift tasted bitter she hated allx alix hated peter above nil all she hated herself slie she wanted to be there in valley free to play piny and to dream again A day or two later she told martin kindly and steadily that she thought it had all been a mistake she told him that she thought the only dignified thing to do was to part she liked him she would always wish him well but since tl it e lo loie loe e had gone out of their relationship surely it was only honest to bendit end it the matter martin demanded nothing special cherry assured him her eyes suddenly watering only im tired of it all im tired of pretending I 1 cant argue about it but I 1 know its the alie in wise ise thing to do go back to your father I 1 suppose martin said yawning until I 1 could get into something cherry replied with divinity A vague thought of the stage flitted flirted through her mind oh martin said politely and I 1 suppose you think your father would agree to this delightful arrangement he asked 1 I know inow lie he would cherry an eagerly all AJI right you write and ask him birn I 1 martin agreed good cherry was surprised at his attitude but grateful more than surprised not cross mart she asked not the least in the world 1 he answered lightly De because cause I 1 truly believe that wed both be happier the woman said hesitatingly martin did not answer the next day she sat eat down to write her father she meditated with a troubled brow her letter was unexpectedly hard to compose she could not take a bright and simple tone asking her father to rejoice in her homecoming somehow the matter persisted in growing heavy and the words word 3 twisted themselves about into ugly and selfish sounds cherry was young but even to tier her youth the phrases plira ses the misunderstood and the uncongenial the friendly parting before any bitterness creeps sn in and the free to |