JOSEPHINE LAWRENCE
CHAPTER XIII
Big-hearted Sarah Oalfodil acts in ev
ery capacity for the four-family house in
Gerset alter her husband's death. The
irygaL elderly Mr. and Mrs. Peppercorn
and the newly-wed Andrew and Candace
Thane occupy the two top floor apart
ments and belo-v them middle-aged Bert
Fitts and his wife ? whc? is too engrossed
in war activities to care for her home ?
and King Waters, veteran of World War I
and his wife. Emma, a devotee of fine
crocheting- The Peppercorns wish to
help a destitute family found by Hen. the
jumcman. sheltered under his scrap
metal. Mrs. Peppercorn calls on Mrs.
Fltts to ask her aid but. Mrs. Fitts is not
terested. Toni Fitts censures Cnndace
lor refusing to devote evening hours to
volunteer war service and Mr. Waters
sneers at Andrew for marrying when he
may be called for selective training.
King Waters, who is expecting to sign uo
for making speeches before young men's
organisations to raise the morale, dis
cusses Andy Thane's draft status wWi
Mrs. Waters. Mrs. Waters, who lias al
ready developed quite a reputation foar
hoarding, goes on a shopping trip and
does some more hoarding. She drives to
tier cabin and as she enters find> evi
dence that someone is in the place ahead
of her, -y ? . ?.
Tht? screen around the other bed
afforded at least the semblance of
privacy. Behind it two girls were
chattering to Stacy, their every oth
er sentence beginning with "So I
said to him." Sarah put her square,
capable hand over the thin white
one lying on the coverlet. "Fvo
thought it all out." Sarah said.
What she would like to do, she
asserted, was to take charge of the
baby throughout the day. There
was no reason, she insisted, why
she shouldn't manage a plain, prac
tical day nursery for one. For the
first few weeks the baby would
require little of her, except to be
fed and changed. When warmer
weather set in. there would be the
garden. lie could sleep in his coach
while she worked in the flower beds.
Tenant repairs and services could
wait until she was free ? Candace
would be at home Saturdays and
Sundays. "You see, there's nothing
left to argue about."
"Oh, but Sarah, you have so much
io do. What about your marketing'.'
Suppose you had to go downtown?"
She would telephone, Sarah re
plied. or take the boy in his coach.
"We'll probably cover miles on his
wheels and my feet."
Candace protested. She couldn't
accept such a sacrifice. "It's won
derful. I do appreciate it, Sarah,
but I couldn't begin to pay you ? "
"It's to be my patriotic gesture,"
Sarah informed iter gravely. "I've
decided that individual service is
my niche and that caring for a baby
is important work in wartime, or in
peace."
It would be wonderful, Candace
admitted again, she couldn't imag
ine anything more perfect from her
point of view and that of her son's.
She had been so discouraged, try
ing to devise a plan which she
could afford to carry out Andy had
been worried, too ?
"Then let's call it settled now and
you toll Andy tomorrow,'' Sarah
urged. "Mind you, it's not upsetting
my life in any way. I'm alone so
much it will be good for nie to have
something human and alive depen
dent upon me."
Finally they loft it that Condance
should talk it over with Andy and
after Sarah had gone, in the hour
before the supper trays were
brought up. she thought intently,
trying to consider the plan from all
angles. Suppose Sarah found the
daily care of a tiny baby too heavy
burden? If that proved to be the
case, she could make other arrange
ments, Candace reminded herself.
and later she would be stronger and ]
better able to make decisions. It
would be marvelous to feci that she
could leave Michael in such strong
capable, tender hands ? no mother
would worry one minute about a
child in Sarah's care. Hers war the
kind of common sense that saw
each new situation whole, instinct
ively separated essentials from non
essentials, and made the best of
whatever was available. Sarah
; would never be maudlin about baby.
| Candace reflected, stretching lux
i uriously ? it was lovely to see the
| peaks that were her feet again ? Sa
i ah wouldn't gurgle and coo, but
neither would she be so rigidly de- ?
tached th;> ;he would freeze her af- ;
fection. i.iichael would know, as j
soon as he developed instincts, that !
someone who loved him was keep
I !ng him safe.
Zither would come twice a week
to wash and iron and to clean the
i apartment. Leila had sounded hei
I out and had discovered that fac
I tory jobs did not tempt the colored
| girl. Someone yelled at employees
| who made mistakes, Zither quaver
i ed, she had no intention of puiiitig
herself at the mercy of production
managers. "I'll work for Mis'
Thane and Mr. Michael till his papa
come back," Zither had said.
They had su much to talk about!
When Andy, his lean, brown face
cold against tier smooth cheek, his
gnarled hands holding hers, sat
hunched on the side of her bed late
the next day, Candace unfolded Sa
rah Daffodill's generous plan to him.
"She is so good, Andy, she will be
so cheerful and strong. And Mich
ael will be in the garden all day. as
soon as it is warm. I shall not have
to worry about him, or wonder if he 1
is unhappy or neglected. Shall we j
accept, Andy? Or shall we be tak- |
ing too much?"
It was taking too much, Andy as- '
sented soberly, "But let's say yes."
He stopped with that and Can
dace glanced at him curiously. She
had expected him to argue, per
haps, certainly to weigh his deci
sion carefully, to be surprised, or
pleased, or touched. He must be
tired, not to express greater appre
ciation for Sarah's kindness, it
wasn t. like. Andy to be so brusque.
"You know," Candace said, "it
will mean a lot to us. As soon as I
get out of here, I mean to hunt for
a job. I wrote to Hacker and Hack
er, but they art? not even going to
open the repair shop they half plan
ned to open. It's just as W'Jl ? they
couldn't pay me my old salary."
Andy put the palm of her soft
hand to his lips. "Don't worry.
You'll be all right."
"Oh, I've made up my mind not
to worry," Candace assured him.
She looked at him and knew and
even in the shock of knowing rea
lized that a certain measure of re
lief came with the acceptance that
one had reached the end of the
bridge. "It's all right? I'm all
light.' she whispered, her hand
stray ing blindly in search of her
handkerchief.
Andy gathered her into his arms
and her brief storm spent itself
against his breast. We have had sc
much, she kept saying to herself, we
j have had so much . . .
I Drying her eyes on Andy's capa
| oious handkerchief, Candace said
i in her normal, soft, clear voice,
! "When, Andy?"
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"They notified mc this morning.
To report tomorrow. They send you
direct to the Armory, then to camp
I've had my first, physicals, so
there's no chance of a delay."
He could stay with her till nine
o'clock, he went on, they would
have supper together and he'd jolly
the nurse into bringing the baby in.
"Unless ? that is, 1 don't want to
rnake things harder for you. Dace."
"Stay till the last minute, dar
ling. It's only what we've been ex
pecting and preparing for." Can
dace added that he would have to
tell Sarah, but she hoped he would
u!l no one else. "I don't want to
hear the other tenants talk ? I don't
want to hear anyone talk about
you."
Candacc had a job waiting for her,
Andy disclosed at supper, if she
wanted to take it when the doctor
gave his O.K.
"My bosses have been stewing
around, since I told them I'm leav
ing," Andy said, quite unable to
keep his eyes from his wife's face.
"When I told them 1 was coming up
to the hospital. Bacon asked some
questions about you and when he
heard you'd been a private secre
tary. he suggested that you take my
place. Only till I come back? that's
understood. " He didn't like the idea
of women holding on to men s jobs
after the war, Andy explained. "Not
when the woman is the wife of th?;
man and the job was his in the first
place."
Toni Fitts sighed that sne had be
gun to think she would have to wait
to see the baby until Candacc
brought him home. "My dear, I
never have a minute to myself any
more ? wo packed fifty layettes yes
terday to go abroad."
On the other side of the bed, Mrs.
Waters asked about tea. "Do they
still have it for the patients? They
say it's going to be rationed. All
foud, they say, is going to be ra
tioned."
She looked about the room a little
distractedly, as if seeking some
thing. "You've probably heard that
tramps got into our cottage and
ruined my summer supplies? Sim
ply wrecked everything ? -I can't be
gin to tell you what the money loss
is, to say nothing of foodstuffs we
can't replace." Her husband, she
continued in a listless monotone,
had suggested renting a fire-and
theft? proof rxim in a furniture stor
age building. "But 1 don't know,"
Mrs. Waters said forlornly, "All my
ambitic~ is gone. And my confi
dence. i tell King that I don't trust
life any more."
Mrs. Fitts lowered her voice dis
creetly. "I was saying to Mrs.
Waters this morning that I did hope
Mr. Thane wasn't ill. We haven't
seen him since ? when was it, Em
ma? Thursday morning. I believe.
I sent Bert up to ring your bell, but
no one answered."
"Andy's inducted."
"You mean he's gone? With you
here in bed? Why, how dreadful!"
Mrs. Fitts appeared to be genuinely
disturbed. She had no idea, she
fluttered, that it would be so sud
den
Mrs. Waters agreed thai it was
terrible. Unnecessary, too, she de
clared- "My husband read last
week of a case where the man ap
pealed his rating as soon as his
child was born. Decision is still
pending, but the man is home
meanwhile wilh his wife and baby.
You could probably have got a do
lay."
"Andy never planned to ask de
ferment." Constance wondered how
much longer this must go on. In
the wards the nurses hustled visi
tors out after a decent length of
time, but in the" rooms only the
nine o'clock curfew was enforced.
Mrs. Fitts regretted that no one
had gone to the train to see Andy
off. "I've always understood that
the military officials and the rail
road men, too. preferred that peo
ple kept away from the stations
But we had a speaker at a dinner
last week who berated the indiffer
ence and complacency of the public.
He told us it was our duty to give
the boys a cheerful farewell."
"I don't suppose your husband had
a soul to say good-by to him?" Mrs.
Waters suggested. "King would
have been delighted to stage a little
celebration for him. if he had only
known in time."
"For the love of Lulu!" muttered
Stacy from her bed.
The visitors turned slightly to
stare.
"Is she refined? In your class?"
Mrs. Waters whispered uneasily.
"Well ? I only asked. I had a friend
who shared a room with a perfectly
awful woman, the regular gutter
snipe type. You never know what
youll get."
Toni Fitts glanced satisfiedly to
ward the dresser where her daffo
dils filled a green jar. "It's a privi
lege to be young at a time like this."
She spoke solemnly, patting the
coverlet softly. " Many of us, my
dear, will envy your opportunity to
give your husband to your coun
try." "v: < r
"How dare you!" Candace jerked
upright; her wonderful, clear voice
cut through the room like a blade of
steel.
-I ' i^Maaas^aHHIi
"Wha-at?"
"1 said liow dare you. How dare
you say such a stupid, cruel, dis
honest thing! My husband's life isn't
mine to give ? his life is his alone.
Do you believe that when a woman
marries a man she owns him, like a
table or a chair? What Andy de
cides to do with his precious, beau
tiful life ? his own dear life ? is for
him to say It's the l.ien who offer
their iives and who lose them ? not
the women at home who talk as you
do of 'giving" a husband or a son."
They were startled at her as if
frozen inlo silence. In her bed Sta
cy O'Neill rocked back and forth,
clapping her hands soundlessly.
Against the background of her
pillows, Candao-'s flushed face and
enormous blazing eyes were star
tlingly alive. Her tumbled hair, her
trembling scarlet iips had in tiiem
something furious and beautiful and
pathetically yeung.
"I have a son." The exquisite
voice faltered, but the little head
remained proudly erect, "'There
may be another war when Michael
is old enough to fight. Perhaps
there will always be wars ? who
knows? But if my son, if Michael
goes to war, I'll never say I gave
him to his country. His life is his
to give as he chooses. No one ex
cept himself shall claim the right to
offer it for any cause, de dicate it to
any plan. Not ever."
"That's telling tlieni!" Stacy
O'Neill said.
(THE END)
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