Show THE L inife EF 1 OW of N THE wk HE PARTY A RT Y BY ELIZABETH JORDAN 0 D apilton Appl ton co inc t arvice SYNOPSIS young rex itale hale calls on casper kneeland friend of his father in new york and lands finds him proudly successful but strangely preoccupied he tens tells hale of hi his S cifes death while insane invites him for the summer to halcyon camp his home on long island and promises him he will be useful as his secretary there hale is joined at lunch by fred ainsworth an unpopular college mate also at halcyon who leaves him with a feeling of unpleasant mystery he Is met net at the train by mrs wllbur wilbur nash yora nom he questions about the menage al 11 s J experiences a disturbing premont on n the premonition is barely eased by the comfortable hospitality of hosanna Kne elands elderly sister and her friend ruth forbes middle aged sophisticate in his room hale finds a soiled paper printed this plase dan jerus hale meets the rest of the strange group dr craig psychiatrist friend of bert kne kneeland e nervous young son of casper and beautiful but moody joan kneeland niece of the house ainsworth drops in at his room questions him about his reactions and tells him of berts hopeless love for his heiress cousin and that mrs forbes Is down and out the whole group seem to get on each others nerves later hale sees hosanna furtively meeting a shabby man in the woods the maid tells of the recent poisoning of a batand dog mrs nash suggests that ainsworth has some hold on them returning from a swim hale finds in his room a clever sketch of skull and crossbones kneeland arrives for the weekend also curious about hales reactions and asks him to be his substitute host a life of the party and meanwhile try to solve the mystery of the behavior of them uli all bert confides in hale his grow ans 9 annoyance at craigs nightly djs and endless talks of ca davers parts M which he preserves in his locked iab laboratory 0 taken care of only by himself and hale advises the boy to discourage the visits he finds another sketch of a cobra colled coiled to strike with the caption why wate for this CHAPTER IV Continued 10 the next fortnight was spent by mr Kne elands new employee in an occupation one of our distinguished presidents has described as watchful waiting he mm mingled he cultivated every member of the group even ainsworth th he was rekso reasonably i successful in concealing his growing dislike ot young man though he frequently intercepted and returned Ain barbed darts at his employer he also interrupted without hesitation and sidetracked side tide tracked many of craigs lurid medical yarns he went on fumei numerous motorboat excursions with bert and was pained to find the youth increasingly crea singly nervous and fidgety hale took frequent walks in the woods and along the shore with joan or mrs spencer forbes miss hosanna explained that she herself had all the exercise she wanted around the house bouse she had bad she was up early and late she was constantly busy hale picked up her balls of silk or wool in her rest periods he played frequent games of desperation or backgammon with her he listened respectfully to her dietetic theories and her reiterated statements that all the dishes he liked best were poison he became increasingly popular with joe banks and rose and won janes heart by friendly attention to daisy he successfully concealed his interest in the fact that the animal so robust when she arrived was now in a low state of health she moped and objected to petting he had two more long talks with casper kneeland once kneeland again referred 5 ato his bis cifes tragic death she had bad puerperal insanity he explained she tried to give me another son and it finished her I 1 spoken of it since not even to bert cant bear to talk about it hale took care of all letters to casper kneeland which came to halcyon camp he wrote a number of letters of his own two of these were addressed to distinguished psychiatrists he knew one of them in chicago and the other to whom he had once been of some service in paris unostentatiously and with considerable ingenuity he secured the fingerprints of most members ot of the household those prints when developed might lead to the discovery of the mysterious artist at halcyon camp and the writer of the anonymous letters atis collection of letters and 4 had grown there was a S aith etch of 0 a grave and a tombstone auh his name on the latter there were dancing skeletons labeled in the same way they reminded him rather uncannily of his dream after the first office interview with casper kneeland there was a large sketch of a skull it was treated with a phosphorescent preparation and grinned at him brilliantly from the foot of his bed one night after the lights were off there were more misspelled notes urgently repeating the advice of the original note that tle tie leave halcyon camp on one occasion there was a frog in his bis bed later a colony of ants were sheltered there several nights after this half a dozen wasps were let loose in his room twice his room was ups upset ethis his bed dismantled the furniture overthrown a whirlwind of newspapers and torn scraps tossed about once rose discovered this and cleaned it up hale made no explanation and the maids manner was distant for several era days the other time he found the litter first and cleared it away himself why should someone be so anxious to get rid of him he tell anyone about the petty persecutions but he was increasing ly irritated by them meanwhile he chafed chafee mentally under his apparent lack of the progress kneeland wordlessly demanded he held himself in with a tight rein ive got to learn all 1 I can learn about the characters and interests of these people he reminded himself ill turn them inside out before I 1 get through with them but not yet the objects of his special study were the two younger Kne elands he was increasingly disturbed about them both bertmas bert Ber was riding fora or a nerve crash he was increasingly moody and erratic but it was joan who was hales greatest interest he walked swam talked with her daily he danced with ifer her at night they discussed countless subjects with apparent intimacy yet he never felt that he really knew her if she had been the victim of a desperately unhappy love affair she might have looked and acted as she often did like a detached being wandering in space at such times it was impossible to interest or amuse her at others she was animated almost gay there were hours even days when she was as natural with him as she was with bert there were other hours when she teased him unmercifully she professed herself one of his countless victims and assured him that his indifference was blasting her life really the matter with joan kneeland he once asked craig when he could endure the problem no longer the psychiatrist looked at him in surprise nerves he said coldly half our young girls are like that nowadays too many bad habits she any bad habits hale insisted except perhaps that she smokes too much far too much the doctor agreed his thin lips smiled unpleasantly her love affair with bert helping any he ended what the devil do you mean by that just what I 1 say though perhaps I 1 should have said his love affair with her hes crazy about her and she knows it she knows he is suffering pity Is akin to love perhaps after au all nature Is trying to push her into marrying him tp damn you hale said under his breath it was the first time he had lost his temper with any of them he walked away fuming under the memory of craigs lifted eyebrows and ironic smile one monday morning the third after hales arrival at the camp casper kneeland came down to his eight breakfast he found his new employee already at the table consuming eggs and bacon hale was dressed in his new gray business suit there was an air of alertness and energy about him which kneeland privately felt was oppressive when exhibited before nine in the morning he greeted hale with a nod and ambled over toward the hot dishes on the sideboard good morning sir the secretary said cheerfully 1 I thought if you mind id drive into town with you eh the lda idea of that kneeland interrupted his inspection of the breakfast dishes to turn and stare at his godson realizing that his attitude was not hospitable V 7 T N 4 TA in the speeding roadster the two men were silent he added gloomily it will be hot in new york it will hale agreed but when theres work to be done I 1 like to get started uh huh kneeland filled his plate he was always at his worst belore before breakfast and he be hated cheerfulness and conversation in others till he had drunk his coffee he was also experiencing perien cing some dark doubts as to the wisdom of his arrangement with young hale he had started something he rather wished he the whole thing might be nothing but a mares nest he had given it entirely too much importance in their talk lie he returned with his plate meditating on the best way to let down the exuberant youngster at the other end of the table before undertaking this he swallowed a cup of coffee he felt better simultaneously joan entered the room both men were startled by her pallor and the dark circles under her eyes but she seemed in good spirits she smiled and nodded and hale hurried to the side board to serve her he always moved with surprising lightness and agility tor for so large a young man A little ot of everything he be asked as he raised dish covers heavens no joan shuddered you ought to know by this time that im never interested in breakfast only a slice ot of hot toast and a glass of orange juice please and yes rose IU ill have some coffee thanks hale brought her the toast and orange juice and returned to his own breakfast feeling soft pedaled he was impressionable it had not taken him long to discover that the life of the house party would not be required to function at breakfast nevertheless it was a time when he always felt at his best he ate eggs and kidneys and bacon and three hot muffins and waited for someone else to speak no one did rose refilled the coffee cups as seriously as if performing a religious rite uncle cass stoked solemnly and grew more reconciled to life at last joan spoke we have now reached the point where it is safe t to 0 smile across the table at uncle she told hale not hands across the table you yon know merely smiles dont speak yet you have committed several times since you came to us the faux pas of wishing uncle good morning 11 1 I have hale sighed and a frost hung over the table and icicles hung from uncles eyebrows while the hot food congealed on the sideboard I 1 know joan said sympathetically 1 I saw it all every time you did it it I 1 used to do it every morning when I 1 first came to live with uncle I 1 was young and heedless then at last I 1 learned that it if I 1 neither breathed nor spoke till he had eaten his breakfast all would be well hes quite human from half past eight on rex looked at his watch its only eight twenty now he said under his breath ive already told him I 1 thought id drive to new I 1 york with himl him you s see e joan our uncle has given me one ot of these government emergency jobs to keep me busy during the summer I 1 myself must find the work for or my little hands to do today im going to trace down a rumor that some north river coal heaver is fastening his shirt to his trousers with one of our uncles patented safety catches in direct violation of the code if I 1 catch him at it there will be something doing in the industrial world it if there Is it will be the first time this summer kneeland groaned but he swallowed his third cup of coffee with resignation and winked at joan thinks pretty well of himself this lad he told her did you hear him calling you joan and ne de tore fore he had been in the house three weeks did I 1 do that rex looked looked s sur ur and then thoughtful 1 I suppose it was because I 1 always think of 0 her that way where do you want me to stop uncle cass the days im in town 1 I suppose you might as well come to the house kneeland said resignedly im in it nights from mondays to fridays I 1 have a darky there to keep the place in order amid ad get my breakfasts he may keep you there too if you never speak before nine joan contributed and if he occasionally stops speaking after nine kneeland muttered your luncheons and dinners you can take wherever you like rex as I 1 do 1 I wonder if I 1 like the name of rex joan roused mused aloud of course you do its irs a beautiful name find that it comes very trippingly from the tongue it rather pretentious I 1 thought only young men in books had bad it there are a few poor devils in real life who struggle along under it too rex confessed with sudden gloom it if youre going to new york with me young youn man kneeland broke in you will be at the front door in five minutes and in five pieces in ten minutes I 1 know will you excuse me joan ill break a lance for you during th the e combat of the day or perhaps it will be only the springs of uncles car I 1 think ill drive he raced upstairs tor for his hat raced down again flung himself into the roadster joe had left at the front door and seized the wheel kneeland lumbered after him and joan stared after them both what inexhaustible vitality that young man hadl it was impossible to think of himas him as ill or suffering andyes and yet he had been both and that very recently she herself felt like a rag she decided to go back to her room and rest a bit before the bathing hour bour the bathing hour seemed to take a lot butof her hershe she went upstairs with dragging ragging I steps in the speeding roadster the two men were silent kneeland was observing hales driving and deciding that it was all right the younger mans mans thoughts were on the girl he had just left she had looked really ill this morning her beauty was dimmed by her pallor but the pathos of it made her more appealing to him her eyes looked as it if she had not slept which of all the strains in that sinister camp was the strain that was consuming her these somber thoughts continued to occupy his mind until they arrived in new york TO BE CONTINUED |