yhnreday. December 26, 1940
« SNA fe4 V#\l M i^
CHAPTER XI
Synopsis
I Aud re y Swan, nicknamed
"Cygie," is the daughter of a
highly respected horse trainer
whose farm adjoins Judge
Castle's estate. The Judge's
only son, Jeffrey, has been Au
drey's friend since childhood.
He is educated to go into his
father's law office in Parville,
but marries Olive Cooper, who
scoffs at the idea and refuses
to lire In their beautiful coun
try home—Judge Castle's wed
ding present. While Jeff is
away, his friend, Vic Quinn, in
love with Audrey, substitutes
for him. Judge Castle closes
/ his door to Jeffrey and makes
J Vic his partner. Jeff, tired of
I loafing, approaches Oil v.e's
Harvey Harrison, for a
■job, and agrees to start at the
" bottom, advancing only on
merit. This does not please
Olive, and she goes to talk to
her father. In the meantime,
Audrey has been talking to
Judge Castle, and is just taking
leave of him.
"I will. Thank you very much."
j And Audrey made her escape in
some confusion.
I When Olive Castle went down-
I stairs to have her "understand-
I ing" little talk with her father,
I she found Mr. Harrison alone in
tads library, seated in an easy
reading a scientific mag
: Ke. He seemed unaware of her
until she uttered an
t Bpt, "Daddy!"
X Kfes?" He did not raise his
K, but his daughter lost no
MKne in coming to the point,
r "Will you please tell me what
I all this is about Jeffrey? He has
I been telling me some fantastic
I story about starting to work for
' you ... as a beginning salesman!
It's positively ridiculous! Start
*Jng out that way . . ."
don't see why, my dear. He
to me that he knew
■ nothing about the business. On
I that basis, I scarcely could start
■ him out as a department head."
I Harrison inverted his magazine
■on his lap, reached for his pipe
llying on the table, and lighted it.
■"I believe it was your idea that I
■find a job for him, wasn't it?"
■ "Of course it was! Anything to
Hget him away from the notion of
fettling down in that village of
■fice of his father. But I took it
■or granted that his education
■vould fit him for some sort of an
Byecutive position with an office
■his own. I won't endure it, I
f Br I'm not sure Jeffrey will
Kher, if he finds that he has to
cfepend on his little pay envelope
for his spending money. He has
expensive tastes and practically
nothing with which to back them
up."
-fr Harvey Harrison sat up with a
Jerk. There was a cutting edge
to his voice that Olive seldom
heard. "Let me tell you some
thing, young woman. I have
made two generous marriage set
tlements on you. It is too late to
£ahta
Went *Jctqet
•
You can take our word for it
—old Saint Nick won't forget
" v'. such good people as you.
Somehow we just know that
' you are going to enjoy a
* happy Christmas and we are
glad. We sincerely hope that
everything you desire may
. come true and that the New
T Year will be one of real happf
• nest for you. ,
'p ' ' 4 '
GRAHAM & CLICK
5c & 10c Store
Claude Farrell, Prop. Elkin, N. C,
do anything about it, except to
warn you now that there'll never
be a third. I have a great ad
miration for Castle. Your empty
headed set seems to think that
marriage is some sort of a game
with side trips to Reno thrown in.
If you have something like that
in the back of your mind again,
understand once and for all that
you're going to do the dirty work.
You'll hire the lawyers and pay
the bills. No more of it for the
old man. I've some regard for
my station, too."
For several weeks after that
there was an armed truce be
tween the younger Castles. For
the most part, the topic of Jeff
rey's new job was tacitly ignored.
Several times he had spoken ad
miringly of the corporation that
had its agents in almost every
civilized country on the globe. He
was enjoying his work, too. Olive
was waiting for a time to put the
situation to a test.
It came one Friday afternoon
when there was a suggestion of
spring in the air, a day when any
lover of the outdoors would be
longing for freedom. Dressed in
a becoming sports costume. Mrs.
Castle appeared in the lobby of
the Harrison Products offices and
smilingly inquired of the inform
ation clerk where she could find
the sales department.
Olive had pictured the general
sales manager as a wizened elder
ly gentleman with sharp features,
who talked in terms of discounts.
She was rather startled when she
was ushered into the presence of
a huge man with a smiling florid
face, who hoisted himself from
between the arms of his swivel
chair with some effort. "How do
you do, Mrs. Castle?" he boomed
hospitably. Is there something I
can do for you?"
"Just a little bit of a favor,"
she explained coaxingly. "It's so
beautiful out this afternoon that
I have arranged for a foursome of
golf at the country club. But I'll
simply have to borrow my hus
band. Do you mind?"
"Oh, I see." Mr. Michelson was
slightly taken aback. "Why, I
should think we can let you have
him."
"You are a nice man! Now if
you'll tell me where I can find
him, I won't bother you another
second. Thank you so much."
"I was just going out to the
main room," he explained. "If
you will make yourself comfort
able here I'll ask Mr. Castle to
come over."
Jeffrey appeared almost ,a t
once. He was in his shirt sleeves,
his vest was unbuttoned and he
had a pencil behind one ear.
"Hello!" he said in mild surprise,
closing the door. "What's up?"
"Get your things. You're going
out with me," his wife directed
briefly.
"Going out? What's happened?
Anything wrong?"
"Nothing serious. You're going
out to the country club to fill in
a foursome. Please hurry. We
haven't any too much time."
THE ELKIN TRIBUNE, ELKIN, NORTH CAROLINA
"But this is Friday, isn't it?"
Jeffrey looked puzzled.
"What of it?"
"Saturday's my half holiday.
Not Friday."
"Don't always be tiresome. It's
all right with your boss. You
have his permission."
This brought a steady stare
from Jeffrey's brown eyes. "Let's
get this straight," he suggested
quietly. "Are you telling me that
you came down here to tell Mich
elson you were taking me golf
ing?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Well, it was kind of you. But
naturally I'm not going. What
would he think of me . . . not to
mention the other guys here? No,
t.hftnks "
"Consideration for me comes
last all the time now, doesn't it?
You don't worry about what any
body thinks of me. Are you com
ing? It's the last time."
"Is the car out front? I'll take
you down."
"I'd much rather you didn't."
She hurried out, leaving him
standing where he was.
Jeffrey followed more slowly,
without glancing in the direction
of the stenographer who was
staring curiously.
Out in the hall he met Michel
son returning. "Hope you have a
nice game. Castle. I wouldn't
mind going eighteen holes this
afternoon myself."
"Funny thing," Jeff returned in
a flat \ ;ice. "Mrs. Castle got her
dates mixed. Thought this was
Saturday. Good joke, wasn't it?"
With the advent of spring, life
seemed to get back more nearly
into its old cycles for Audrey
Swan. Jim Sweet had taken over
the cultivation of the farm in
capable fashion, the coming of
mild weather also brought a
number of riding pupils, and the
loose boxes in the large barn
opened their doors to arriving
equine boarders. Once more there
were horses grazing in the big
pasture and taking their turns at
exercising on the track.
In the house, Martha Swan
went about her usual tasks. There
was the spring house cleaning to
supervise and her flower garden
to be put in order with the aid of
faithful Julia.
Victor Quinn was still a fre
quent and welcome visitor. Au
drey turned to him naturally for
advice in every matter that
bothered her and he was con
scious that they were growing
closer as the time passed.
He would have felt highly en
couraged had he known how
lonely Audrey was on one occa
sion when business took him
away for a matter of two weeks.
She was rather startled at the
discovery, herself, and it was sur
prisingly difficult not to reveal
in an impulsive fashion her plea
sure at his return.
"I believe you're really glad to
see me," he had teased when they
met.
"What makes you think so?"
she smiled.
"Your nose told me."
"You mustn't believe in signs."
So matters stood one June
morning when Audrey was called
to the telephone and heard:
"Audrey? This is Mrs. Castle
speaking. How are you?"
"Why . . . why, I'm quite well,
thank you."
"The Judge happened to find
out yesterday that tomorrow is
Mr. Quinn's birthday. I thought
it might be nice if we had him
out for dinner in honor of the
occasion, and I want very much
to have you as our other guest.
Now please don't refuse, my
dear."
Audrey was thinking swiftly
and reaching a conclusion before
Mrs. Castle had finished. It
would not be fair to Vic to refuse.
"I shall be very glad to come,"
she answered.
"Thank you, my dear. I will
send Dean for you about seven
thirty. And, if you don't mind, I
shall not tell Victor. It will be a
little surprise. Thank you so
much. Goodby."
When the chauffeur deposited
her at the front door of the big
house, it developed that Victor
had not yet arrived, and Audrey
experienced something of a shock
when Mrs. Castle accompanied
her up to the dressing room near
the head of the stairs.
The older woman had changed
perceptibly. She seemed much
smaller and there was almost a
suggestion of ,frailty. But there
was a more subtle change, a
touch of wistfulness in her quiet
voice. And it showed in her eyes
when she remarked: "I am so
glad you could come, Audrey. The
Judge and I live here so quietly
that it seems delightful to have
young people in the house again.
We have both become very fond
of Victor."
Audrey understood then. It
was Jeff. His mother had not
seen him since he went back to
the city to stay and she was de
nied any hope of his return.
Victor was in the drawing
room chatting with the Judge
when Audrey appeared in the
doorway with Mrs. Castle. Blank
amazement and pleasure were in
his face as he hurried forward,
and Audrey felt a trifle self-con
scious as she tried to greet him
lightly. "Many happy returns of
the day, Mr. Quinn."
Victor recovered sufficiently to
greet Ills hostess properly. "I
didn't know it was a party!" he
exclaimed boyishly. "This is
j great! I haven't had a birthday
party since I was a little shaver."
"This is no party at all," Mrs.
Castle smiled. "It's only a little
family dinner. And I believe it is
served."
That explanation lingered odd
ly in Audrey's mind as Judge
Castle seated her while Victor was
performing the same courtesy for
his hostess. Only four places set
at the square table. ' Candles at
each corner giving a subdued
light, touching the dull polish on
the table top, the rich but sicple
service. A maid waited on the
guests tonight. The butler was
not in evidence. It was a family
dinner.
After a quiet period of conver
sation in the Judge's library af
terwards, the two guests took
their departure with Victor driv
ing Audrey home in his car. It
was Victor who voiced the
thought that was uppermost in
both their minds when they
found themselves alone. "You
know, Audrey, there was some
thing rather pathetic about our
little party, pleasant as it was."
"I know," she agreed in a low
voice. "They were both trying to
be gallant, but they're lonely."
"Quite different from our last
dinner there. It will be a year
next week." /
"You thought of it, too?"
"Rather. It was a very impor
tant night for me. I met a Miss
Swan there and I've never been
able to get her out of my mind
since."
(Continued Next Week)
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MERRY
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