Show PARADE pamain 4 by evelyn campbell copyright by evelyn compbell service THE STORY linda Haver hills neer ne er do well father dies when she Is seven teen leaving her little beyond some worthless tock stock theae thee she bhe takes to her fathers firle alerd nd senator converse to dis pose or of after a w whirlwind couth courtship I 1 1 linda marries courtney no roth h too lute she bhe eri ere h he a I 1 a pen penniless ile adventurer I 1 living Iving by his alts nits roth dies in switzerland L linda nd continues to 1 0 live lat a woman worris tj of 0 wealth the senator supplies her with a mon money keeping up the fiction that per her stock sto k in 19 i it t on a trip she meets brian A anthey n 11 he h helps 8 ps her out of an embar rasa raea UK ns situation CHAPTER ill III continued 7 their eyes met hers tool cool and mock ing ills his a little hurt und and bewildered bewilders d suddenly they realized how little they the knew of one another yet et chiy were wasting time in gc generalities and tomorrow morr ow this 1 over the worldliness ur of a flying flung train would obliterate till nil this lie ile drew her to a window outside till radius of the big re 4 stove love where the other travelers were unhappily congregated tile the panes were cov ered with lovely frost castles and ty peaks that reminded I 1 linda inda of swit zer land but brian obliterated nil all tills with his warmed handkerchief A little town drowsing with its covers coders halt half over its heird head was as revealed lights winked through the drift that was beginning again dark smoke e from burdened chimneys tolled coiled slowly upward belated fugures 11 ures huddled in shapeless wraps hurried past do you yon like it he ask ed when she bad been silent a while 1 I would like to go 10 and walk there she ebe said in a subdued voice this time they borrowed gaiters from the landlords daughter da ug liter huge knee ince high cloth and r overalls lined with thick cheerful red wool their owner called ailed them aret les and cheerfully helped to fasten straps linda so eo clothed could scarcely lift her feet and when a red knitted shawl was tied around tier her head and neck she gasped and c called herself a mummy the group of women beside the stove murmured together and looked nt at her hei superciliously hut but brian anstey seemed to cou consider sIder these precautions merely sensible out of doors a piercing cing still cold ness ines pressed theirl lungs until they gasped out words worda that were frost nipped before they left their tb throats linda wits was trying to say sa slie she could not endure it she must go back but lie he took tier her hand and drew her stumbling jIng after him along the beaten paths of the little town ton little houses hidden by christmas trees larger houses shouldering tho storm lights everywhere warm and inviting 1 I want to see inside linda pl pleaded eadel childishly and then they began a game that only children or lonely grownups ever play creeping carefully over the ali muffling anuw they would reach a win dow and peer fearfully within sonie some times they saw raw it a little family father mother and children and sometimes it was a young mother alone rocking her baby then there would be louns people w tolling one another shyly and secretly married or about to he be mar ried lt it showed upon their revealed faces that this wits was all that mattered but it was as all pantomime silenced by walls and windowpanes window panes they could never hear ir a sound from those inov ing voiceless lips they went too far in this engross ing game and found themselves at the edge of the town where life suddenly ceased in the midst of blank fields linda wits was exhausted 1 I must rest she gasped and leaned against a fence post but how can we know that they are happy happi she asked bitterly when she could speak we only saw the outside of things it might have been frightful inside those houses ile he looked nt at her in a troubled way weve come too far 1 I intend to carry you hack back ile HP seemed to hare forgotten what they were about linda started and laughed nervous ly what nonsense 1 she exclaimed she looked around they were utterly alone in the midst of fin an emite world distances magnified by bv it ahr intense whiteness and stillness tl bar came enormous she remembered that she ohp did not know this man he was a stranger lu ili tile the gloom she could not see ills his fact face but only the bulk of ills broad ders and the length of ills his arms strange evil terrible thoughts surged upward in her mind all AH tile the arma that had reached for her hungrily greedily in these elusive years were there here around her site she bit hir her lip to keep from crying out realizing that tier her exhausted exha uste d voice could make no headway in that thickened air lie took a step toward tier her and she put pill oit ait her hands bands feebly ile he put hl arms anns around her and lifted her lightly and easily shil bhe could not struggle life and strength were werd ebbing from her under her breath she whispered something trying to tight fight the onrea coning terror that had her in its pos session just put your arms around my dece said brian 1 I can do this easily eba obeyed because the she bad no strength she was an inert bundle of clothes end and helpless body lie ile could have done anything carried her anywhere for she had no resistance but instead he stepped out on the path and began haenn to walk steadily toward the town again she could hear the easy measured murmur of his heart hearl she closed her ber eyes and imagined she was lvang against a warm wall his breast wa was like that ills arms were like a cradle she remembered she had been afraid and wondered why that silly terror was as aa far behind her its as weariness for now life V ds coming hack back strange life that sea searched relied burthe out the r remotest al nerves of he her r hady body and turned them into line quiver quivering lim strings she felt ills his arms arm tr trem emide lile and her ch cheek against his breast told her his it henrt fee r t was pounding suddenly ud denly she was hot ho and gasping put iut me down she cried struggling 1 1 I sin am so heavy you must be ha half if dead but no hii he was not even a tittle little dead ile he let jet her slip to tile the ground but ills his own hands fell to tier shoulders and clung there ills eyes lighted with queer yellow sparks held her cpr own she felt ashamed and under tinder what she read there foi fin she knew that he knew about her benr and what she had feared they walked slowly ani hack k to tile hotel nearly all the lights were out an and I 1 they realized they had gi ahn dpn gd grounds ands for scandal when they I 1 sav the face of the proprietor before his hocked chocked hoc ked eyes eves they went up tip the stairs and stopped before andas dour door 1 I 1 will see you ou in the morning or of course she stifled fi a yawn slie she was thinking of something that gave her nn an ugly shock she had to see him film in the morning slie she had counted upon that flint and it would hit have ve been so much nicer to let jilin him go now 1 walt she was turning to open her door but she had to obey his voice i it was wistful again 1 I 1 wish belles believe e in things again its easy if you try she laughed CHAPTER IV Flutter ings linda was dining with senator con verse 1 I old ilari to see to the duckling he grumbled find and see what he lias has brought no wonder youre not eating where Is lie he glanced around the room but linda inter there Is nothing wrong pray ira dout dont make a scene she said in her ley icy sweet iween voice she never touched anything when she dined with him to watch hini pawing over his food ordering more and devouring it with his eyes was too much the dinners were alays perfect and she felt eyes humid with reproach upon tier her every moment but unless she could have haie closed tier her eyes and ears throughout the meal she could not conquer the distaste with which converse always affected her their meetings intermittent and in frequent for two or three years hart had begun to occur with some regularity linda did not dread heeln him as site she had before courtney floth 8 time Soi something hard and brittle bil like a thin shell had grown over tier her spirit in this time so that words and looks even es en the contact of his hot hands could not reach tier her she did not fear him there were remote fast fastness fastnesses nesses ps within tier her where slie she could retreat and ft where here lie he could never neier follow the unlucky duckling had gone its way when the senator mumbling behind ills his napkin wanted to know the to which he owed the pleasure of her society she flushed bushed slowly playing with her fork why are arc you so certain that there Is a reason perhaps I 1 was only bored lie ile gave her the little glance she hated those small eyes from their ledge of flesh seemed to know everything nonsense my dear all women want something besides food when they telephone on an old man and ask him to dinner TO BE CONTINUED |