| Show va 17 iii V the aw aw S A novel by henry kitchell webster copyright by the bobba merrill co service SYNOPSIS acting in good faith in an effort to ald id a nels libor ruth hutli ingraham in a 11 bus business ness way edward patters batterson rat terson on b cashier a I 1 I 1 er ot of t the he chicago agency i of df a life insurance nau ranco company Is wrongly suspected ja p c t e d b by y h hla Is wife julla of 0 infidelity her e r accusation ion in a letter from a summer resort unfits him for business and he ta takes k 9 a short vacation on his return he Is deeply wounded by his daughter judith edith telling him hla his por per tonal lonal belongings were in the spire spare room having been aten re removed m ovea from the room LOOM which had been bee ri his and ills his cifes bedroom patterson accepts the situation aa proof of his cifes belief in his gull fallt t edith seventeen years old Is 13 worried over the estrangement of her parents iler her mother only partly succeeds ceede L in her efforts to comfort her tin the son eon edward junior la is at college A bus business hess matter brings brines an inventor james mariner into Patter sons s to ife mariner rIner needs C with which lo 10 push its his invention an automobile choke choice and patterson Is interested after a brief investigation lie he decides to to eo in with mariner without informing his in family he resigns from the ansur knee nce company devoting ills his whole time to the pushing of the invention an old friend albert willard Wll lard li Is frankly skeptical of the alue ot of the choke patter patterson a on tell telli hla his wife of the cha change ngo I 1 he has made she accepts the situation edith Is made aware of the change in the family fortunes by tier her mother telling her she has de decided ellei to part with ft ath the cook she ehe and edith to do the housework bou CHAPTER IV continued 7 7 edith said le ive really got to go im helping mother now you jou know with the house work and I 1 done a thing today good byl she was trembling the tears would show in her eyes in another minute she got out of that house as fast as the she could it must have been ed who ft ho telephoned if it ind had been ainone yone else agatha would liale liae told her who it was nas she must have hae tow told him lie had to go right after lunch tint that was wag why hy she been sin surprised when he rushed off like tint that but shed told him lie could come back after ills hla sister had gone she was probably pro bibly to have hare telephoned him but tie he waited hed said illas has she gone yet that was when agatha had said no lied hed asked how much longer she was going to stay and agatha hid had said bald she know and then hed asked agatha he be must le bave to tell edith she had another engagement and agatha had said of course she ft t and told him not to be silly but she cared really she was telephoning him now that the coast was clear and that he could come edith knew it as well as if thed shed heird heard the whole thing a 0 she quarrel openly either with agatha or with ed she even een forbore to inquire whether she bhe had grounds for a quarrel and so kept alive the possibility that shed misinterpreted that telephone cill call with each of them separately she ind had some really good times it was only as a couple that ed and agatha made her unhappy she puzzled it good deal over oer hoi her feelings about tills this phenomenon As suming burning that ed had to get silly about a girl and agatha about it a boy shed have hae thought it better that they turn toward each other than that they should drag in a pair of outsiders but she bellee believe now that shed hilve minded the latter iatter alternative so much there wits was something subtly ing about a relation between those two which left her out it seemed like a betrayal it was perfectly terrible the way eds engagements kept him film running around from the time lie he got up along toward noon until lie came home to ile bed at some unknown small hour in the morning they never saw him nt at nil all except when he dashed home to change his clothes dad slie she could see was getting betting pretty sore about it though tl louIl it was s several seral dis days before he said anything an thing but one night at dinner two or three dais after christmas lie blew up they expected ed to be tit at home for tint that meal rind hall had a place set for him but lie he appear 1 I dont know what want toni to make nhe of the boy did dad said last summer I 1 thought lie he showed signs of being a man lie he worked liard lie he acted like a cespon sible elble being now lie he shows no signs of responsibility for anything or con of anybody iles hes neglecting edith going off to parties that ashes not included in ili he makes extra etin worl work for you iou getting special meals for him and so on find and lie he knows that you sou and edith have to do it all and lie even pretend to take an interest intel cst in my concerns think tint that ordinary curiosity and self interest even cien if lie he has no natural affection for me would lead him to come and see what wha tere were doing if this Is what college does docs for him I 1 doubt if its it a worth tile the sacrifice I 1 dont feel like sacrificing you ou and edith for him and the truth it was funny that mother peak in eds de defense rense after a while fald it if you ion mean the alverns SIa At herna party I 1 dont think ed neglected me I 1 think it would bould be silly for him to stay home just because I 1 asked ile he sad if I 1 wanted to go lied hed get agattia to ask them to invite me and I 1 told him I 1 want to go so you dont have to worry about mp nip I 1 dont tool feel as it if I 1 was as being sacrificed iut but her defense have the result shed looked for dads face tw twitched I 1 t ca led with pain lie ile looked na as it lie might be going to cry in a panic she turned from him to mother there were tears in mothers eyes edith pushed back her chair slipping gripping the edge of the table with w ath both hands 1 I cant stand it she said I 1 just cant stand it I 1 know something perfectly horri bles going to happen that I 1 dont know enoi about I 1 want aitto it to happen and get it over its just like tills this im sorry mother I 1 dont wint want any more dinner she managed to hold back the sob that was coming until she had got out into the hill hall she fled flea upstairs to her room where she could cry as much as she liked and where hi by virtue of that fact it was much eisler easier not to she turned ori on the light looked at herself dispassionately in the mirror and wiping away the two incipient tears proceeded to pull herself to gether shed made a good start at tills tl its when fit at the sound of mothers mother s step on the stair her heart turned to lead mother t finished dinner either shed never have left dad to come to her unless unless that random shot 11 bout about something horrible that was about to happen lind had lilt the mark there was something there really was she cried us as her mother appeared in the doorway youve come up to tell me what it lk mother lother nodded but before she said anything she came across the room and sat down on the edge of the bed it a life or death matter she said it ani hang tint that need make tiny any real difference except but it seemed she go on with that I 1 suppose lads business ha has failed edith said dully Is tint that it tills this seemed to help mother out 0 no o it that at all it isn t near nearly ns as bad us as that in some wa enss ys the business looks better than it did only it does need more money to got get it started thin than your father thought it aou would id lie ile thinks lip could got get some one else father perhaps to put money in as an investment nut but that would mean giving cang him a sharp share in the busi business just as mr failner haj had to give dad a share so instead of doing that hes decided to borrow the money himself and put it it in and besides that will give him the con arol instead of mr mariner but bor arwin rowing the money its as hell have to do it menns means that we vve must help him by bv saying saving every penny tint that we pos sibly can 1 I thought we were doing that al ready edith sald said we can save several hundred dol lars mother said in a scared sort of vo voice ice by alian duncing dunging in your our school send ing you sou to high school for the last half benr where there lan t any nav tuition to pay your tuition Is paid for tile the first half year up to february first if you were going on so you sou see we must decide now As far as education goes tile the high Is as good as tile alir tl ir you know 1 now we n e sent bd I 1 d there ther for the whole fours cars lt lesonly sonly oil oh I 1 know it will he be bardl dad a knows too ile he see it at first but since the play find and all it makes him almost sick to a ask sc I 1 it of you sou ile he do it now if it that I 1 insisted flut but the three thice hundred dollars will make mil e such a dif ference to him just at tills this time to all of us I 1 want you ou to go down and ancl toll tell him that it isn t going to ninke make you sou unhappy mil you ou do that I 1 acir tonight I 1 mother was holding out her arms inviting tier her to come to them and bi be comforted but the girl ignored the gesture and went and sat down stolid ly in a chair where her face would lit bo turned away aw a just now nov slie she felt per numb rind and slie she ft wanted anted to kee keep 1 on feeling tint that way w h as long a as s she could the one thing slie site t bear would be ba to have h iv e mother go on talking to her in tint that enc ourn ing be a good girl voice shed have to say something thin herself oh its till all right of course she moan mean her voice to sound as hateful as that but she t licup tell it I 1 dont don t mind not going inck back to school so much you can tell him that I 1 suppose I 1 could stay around home and help you ou more or perhaps I 1 could get a job mother I 1 dont don t have to go to marthas party tonight do I 1 I 1 just t you can tell id ia when lie comes homp home tint that ive gone to be bed with a headache hea diche ile he wont mind going without mo me tints a cinch and ill really go to bed I 1 guess ill go now for a minute she was afraid tint that mother would try to reason with li her er try to tall talk about unselfishness and sacrifice and things like that but if tint that had bad been what she meant to do she changed lier her mind tor for site blie got tip 1 and vv walked albed to the alie door from there zo the said all right ill III tell ld 11 1 aa 11 A spurt of unpremeditated linger finger made the girl soy 1 I that tha three hundred dollars will mean a lot to him ile he can go on living at 1113 fraternity house and having till all tile the tan there Is slie she was aghast over tin the words as she herself saying baying them but mother give her time to tty try to take them buck back she just shut the door behind her quietly and went away edith rut put out the light rind undressed in the dark already the headache was no ino mere pretext it would be a relief to cry but she 0 0 mother her room putting on her wraps so it possible thou though li edith feel like speaking a word to anybody that morning to go by down therall the hall without stopping im just oft off to the guild lunch mother explained its the last meeting of the year and I 1 cant get out of it very well I 1 was going to push a note under your door and then I 1 heard you moving about your breakfast Is all ready except malting making the toast and boiling up the coffee 1 I suppose ill have to get something for ed when he comes down edith remarked put but mother offered the surprising information that ed had got up early that morning and gone out she kissed her daughter briefly and wits was gone it more than a minute before the front door shut behind her thank goodness she tried to talk about last night the girl said that very definitely to herself and yet she quite sincere about it anyhow she ulis was glad ed was out of it 0 k r once more she was struck speechless did did you do it she sha stammered the hie way it was a comfort to have the house bouse all to herself she want any breakfast but she he might as well go down and got get it over with then rhen she could settle down and really decide what she was going to do she been able to do that last night the thought of the bunch getting together next week in classes teams committees the e fabric fab ric of a life that had been hers going on with her torn out of it had hurt her unbearably the thing for her to do was to make up her own mind while solitude still gave her the chance already it was halt half made anade up she knew what she going to do she S lie w 11 ant going to high fifth school they make her she noted with reluctant satisfaction that mother had cleared and reset tile the dining room table for her solitary meal with the electric toaster beside beide her place really ready to do its duty slie she went into the kitchen nil and lighted the name flame under the coffee pot then crime came back and stilled started the toast tile the doorbell rang just as shed turned on the current in the toaster it was rather dark in tile the liall hall and when she blie opened tile the door tile the glare from the sunlit snow on oil the lown halt half blinded her and she blinked lil linked bewildered fit at the visitor Il hello lello edith lie said cheerfully it was roger morgan she said good morning and automatically stopped stepped back from the pitiless betrayal of that glare of light it was too late to do any good ot course one glance would have been enough to show him how perfectly horrible she looked iler her eyes swollen with last nights crying her hair a mess and th then enthat that beastly old serge i i skirt with spots all over itt it I 1 it was almost too horrible to be true and shed only made matters worse by retreating into the hall tor for hed taken that naturally as an invitation to come in ile he had followed her and shut the door behind him bin im im awfully sorry she said but ed cd home ue got up early this morning for or once and went out oh im sorry I 1 missed him koger said but it matter you can say goodby good by to him for me mother and I 1 decided at breakfast this morning flint wed go to new newyork york for two or three days before college opens so were leaving on the afternoon train but im awfully glad I 1 found you I 1 thought id see you ou at marthas arthas Bl party last night hight I 1 asked ed why you ou there and he told we me you feeling well I 1 hope youre better this morning oil oh im fine she said it was just a headache well then he said it if you youre TO not busy wont you let me come in for a few minutes ive been wanting a chance cliance to talk with you ever since the night of the play really you know P lie broke off short and sn sniffed ifred ills look fixed itself over her shoulder upon the door into the dining room something burning he be asked in the same instant she smelled it too tile the toast 1 she cried and fled flea ile he came along too of course anxious to help though there a thing he could do the room was full ot of smoke and the toast was charred black and stuck to the wires site she was busy for a minute removing the debris and when she next neat looked up at him he was in the act of disappearing into the kitchen shed shad caught her breath to ask him what he was doing that for when the smell of gas answered the question for her the coffee pot must have boiled over and put out the flame she got to the kitchen door in time to see him at the stove turning oft off the gas it seemed to her just then that a coffee pot which has boiled over was the most disgusting sight in the world it was one calamity too many more mora than she could stand she started to say oil oh never mind let it alone but her voice work she felt |
