?AI/uiBAecr‘C.SAMesTai
X tenth instalment
She raised her hand, holding
the glass, toward her lips, but
when the hand reached her Ups
there wasn’t any glass in it. For
Dick very firmly, indeed, had
taken it from her fingers.
“You’ll not drink to that
toast, Bllen,’’ he said, and he
wasn't, now, the same man who
lad kissed her a moment before.
“In tact, you’ll not drink to any
toast. In fact, you’U not drink at
aiir
Tony set down his glass so
carefully, upon a table, that it
asight hare been a bomb. He
walked across the room rather
slowly, and as he came the
crowd fell away from him. The
man who made the music put
his accordion behind him—it
was a good accordion, he never
risked it!
Tony came across the floor—
ke came so slowly that it seem
ed as it he must be tired, and he
didn’t speak until he was so
close to Dick that their coats
were almost touching.
“After all,” he said, and his
chin had an ugly line to it. ‘‘tak
as they come. In studios or 10
front parlors—call ’em drawing
rooms, if you like—^have it your
own way! I’ve done my kissing
early—and so’ve you, if I ^can
tell anything about it—but El
len hasn’t. Bllen’s different from
the rest of us. She—her name
was Church before she married
your boy friend—and the name
suited her! Ellen hasn’t gone a-
round kissing. She’s kepi away
from that sort of thing. She’s
the kind that always leaves \the
party, and goes home early . .
Jane sipped very daintily from
her glass. It might have been
molten fire that she sipped.
“auil,*’ she said, "it does
seem strange, doesn’t it? I mean
another man giving orders to a
girl on her wedding day. Kiss
ing her—on her wedding day!”
“That’s the way I feel about it
myself.” growled Tony.
■ “Of course, 1 couldn’t have ex
pected that you’d understand,’’
Dick said. He turned on his heel,
and then swiftly he turned back
again.
“I wonder if you’ll agree with
me. Brander,” he said, “in this,
at least! I’d like to tell you that
fng it by and large, Ellen is mar
ried to me. not to you. Whether! I think Ellen’s all in. You know,
she drinks, or not, is no business i your.self. that she was crying
of yours,
and me.”
It concerns us. Ellen
when you came to my studio, to
call for her. She was crying be-
Dick had set Ellen’s glass up- i cause ’she was nervously ex
on a nearby-table. It bubbled, all
6y itself, and where the
struck it. it was golden.
hausted. Tliafs why 1 didn’t
light ' want her to do any drinking—
I she’s never had a drink, you see.
“I should say so, too, old man.’’; in the whole of her life. The
he said. “.All of the worthwhile
things in the world concern onlv
you two, at this moment,
food (lod. boy—I';n older than
yon are. and I'm very lon.l of
Ellen, and when I see you mak
ing fools of yourselves . . .“
poor kid’s shot quite to pieces.
I think, Ttrander. that I’d better
But, i take her home- “
Claire hadn’t said anything for
a long time. Hut site spoke, now.
“I told yon, Dick,'' she said,
“a while hack, that this wasn't
“You wouldn't consider it l'.c-|ymir scr.ap. I'm saying it again,
mg foolish.’' Tony asked, “this j For heaven's sake, lay off this
business of ki.ssing a married ' Inittiiig in! "
Toinati when her husband was \ Ellen was solihing. Round
Tight here'? When he'd scarcely j tears were creeping down her
bad the time—’" the hoy's voice cheeks.
shook, suddenly, “to ki.s.s her- “Hick's right,” .«he wa.s sob-
himself ..." ' hing. “I don't want cliampagiie
""I'd say it was darn toolish." j —ami I don’t want to .stay at
Diek answered. “I’d say it wa.s a i U’.is party, either. I want to go
so-mrietely dreadful lapse, I’m i away from liore! .lane, she’s
ashamed of myself. Brander. and ■ right, too. We’re different—”
I apologize to you and to Elien.
ft’s only that I’m so fond of El
len--"
The girl in the white satin
frock, who leaned so nonchalant
ly against the bar, was interrupt-j him.
ing. “I want
"Thai'.k goodness for that!"
said Gay.
Tony WU-. s^nritig a! Ellen.
She was con.-icio’us of the stare,
althongh she wa.sn’t looking at
to
go
“Besides,” she drawled, “kiss- here.” she repeated
away from
wildly, “I
ing doesn’t mean quite so much I want to go home.
to you folk who are Bohemians. I
“After all, it there's any see-
Love isn’t such a staple thing! ing home to be done, I’ll do it!
with you. With ns— people like
Tony and me—it’s more import
ant. We don’t take sex as a mat
ter of course . . .“
Ellen’s .pyes were filliag. It
was twenty-four hours .since she
had met Tony, sTnee she had
first met him—it was twenty-
four lifetimes. She couldn’t
speak. Neither could Dick, but a
marnoii
to
flat,
she
After all Ellen’s
me!" said Tony.
“But.’’ Dick’s tone was
“but man, she acts as if
scarcely knows you!"
Tony’s face was an ugly mask.
“Whether she acts that way
or not.” he .said, “I'm her hus
band!’’ And—
“>10 matter how I act." said
white rage possessed him. But Eilen. “and no matter whether
Gay, coming forward with an we’ve been foolish or not-—that’s
empty, slim stemmed glass in her | beyond the point. Tony's right-
hand, was protesting. he’s my husband. He’ll take me
“I’d like you to know,’’ said home,’’
Gay.'and her face was a saucy] With her head erect, she walk-
gamin’s face, “that some of us | ed past Claire, past Gay who had
take sex as it comes, and kisses j been kind, and Sandy, and even
etip dMkt ev%A itesM
Diek’p M
Into liet copt, pad oppned thp.
door that led from ^thp 8pm
Sonci to tho ptroet. ” ’
. The ptrpiks were pulet It was,
1^ter than they, either of tteai.
had thought.^ Tony drove ...ente-
fulll^] until he reached the broad
glittering , avenue that bisected
the city.
"Wlhere toT*’ he anW,tloned,
then.
Ellen's eyes, which were al
most inclined to droop with fa
tigue, opened very wide.
“Why, you know r^y address,’’
she said. “Take me there.” ..
Tony’s voice was cold and
hard.
"I suppose you’re too inno
cent to realise,’’ he said, “that
people usually go to hotels on
their wedding night. This is
supposed, you know, to be our
honeymoon.”
“But,’’ Ellen's voice was neith
er cold nor hard,' "but—how can
It be, Tony? We—-aU evening it's
been so.strange—^1 day! We
can’t he married, just ^ because
I’m wearing a ring. I can’t be
your wife Just because—”
"I thought,” said Tony, “that
my ring was supposed to be
enough, as long as my worldly
goods went with it—that seems
to be the consensus of opinion,
too. And this evening—begin
ning at the moment I found you
in Alven’s arms, ending vrhen he
kissed you (oh, hang his feel
ing that you’re a little sister!)—
seems to prove that you were
being as honest, about your emo
tions. as you said you were!’’
Ellen’s jaw was clamping
down hard.
“As tar as Dick goes,’’ she
■said, “1 don’t think he acted
very much less like a brother
than your Jane acted like a sis
ter. I don't see that you’ve got
any special license to talk as you |
do!” I
Tony’s jaw, also, was set. j
“I guess.” ho said, “that we’d
better go to your room, at that.
We’ve got to talk this thing out.
you and I.’’
They reached her room. It was ]
siu'li a cool, sweet litllo room I
Hiat tlm tears rushed to Ellen's j
eyes as she switched on the light. |
She’d bought everything in that |
room, hor.self—she’d made the i
curtains and the dayhed cover; i
she’d painted the furniture. It!
wa.s such a prim little room—it
was virginal, almost. A man' like
Tony could never understand
luiw mncii it stood for.
Tony sank down into a deep
chair. He siglied. again. This
time, however, it was an appre-*
elptivt Ilf b.
alcp.” lie iiildr "vrb«i
get hare!* ^
EUpb WPS remevin gber hate ^
and the Jacket that- aha wora.fT
•1 Wtib,"
might have
Md t.
tra
liked "'Vn athar,
But rm"titni« tt
Sba ran bar flngara through bar
.
“Do you know.'* be said ,;..at
last, atratehjng bit' legs out la
front ot'btffl, “thera’g.baan'a lot
of'. excitement and drinking and
smoking, but we haven’t bad
anything to eat since luncheon.
Maybe we!r^ hungry. Maybe
that’s what’s wrong with us.”
Lite was like that. It caught
you up to the heights of hyster
ia. It lowered you gently into
the caiin of homely things. ,
I could make us tried egg
sandwiches,”’ said Bllen. “Be
hind that screen there la a kitch
enette sort of arrangement. I
often cook my own supper, and
always my ewn breaktMt
There’s milk, too!’’
Tony wiggled his toes, in their
shiny brown shoes.
“That sounds swell," he said.
So Ellen retired behind--the
siereenjand^it WHn’t long before
the pleasant sputter of trying—
and the even more pleasant, odor
of melting butter and toasting
bread, began to drift from around
the screen. Tony sntfed appre
ciatively.
“We’re keeping house al
ready,” he called out, to Ellen.
It was as if there had never been
any melodramatic, ugly scenes.
Ellen called back:
“I like this a lot beter than the
Sans Souci.’’
And Tom answered:
“I’ll say I do, too!”
They ate their sandwiches
eagerly, and drank their milk,
from gayly painted five and ten
cent store trays. There were
olives, too, and cookies, and pre
served peaches. It wac like a
party—a juvenile sort of a party.
Ellen, as she bit into her sand
wich, knew that she had been
ravenous. Maybe that -was what
was the matter with them—may
be they had been hungry. Many
to the way
I fMl about Atvan. He’s a ulcc
gay, anfl I don’t donbt g good
arttot~-bat T’m afraid beto out.
So tar. as I’m coneamd.” %
"Diek,” Ellen roia and dgMa4
her tray away to tbo kltohanetto
place, “Dick to so regalar, Tony,
yon must understand that. Jle’d
asked me to marry him, yes. But
never—never—has'be ever IMss-
ed me, before this day—^you’ve
got to believe that! And hf’ll
never kiss me again, I’m euro—
unlees 1 tell him to. You can
count -on Dick, Tony. Dick to a
gentleman.’’ - A
"And Jane." eaid Tony short
ly,, ."to a gentlewoman. Yon can
count on her!" ,
Bllen eonid. have killed herself
for saying It,' but sbe>, epald|»'t
'1&
foaght iKi!
:ake «m
-^alw iaagbt to
of her father. — _——,
permoft.
''^'•ni net let you get ne,*^ she
nlASu trifle breathlessly, more
man a trifle wildly^
*Tony*i arm grew'‘tighter; he
hadat.unite eanght the wordi.
Bnt I have got you!" he said.
"You’ll never get me,’
she
woaprjiistter
nlBf that.
wm
Jane." O’"
Next Wieek.^
mm
unfcocw
o
said. "Not .j:.itelly; Remember
Celis. Coaite Ben
r .
help herself.
"Jane didn’t make it Yen’
easy for mo;.tonight,’’ she saTd.
"I didn't think she aeted Uito a
gentlewoman, exactly. ' She gave
me a rotten time.”
Tony was flushing, but oddly
enough, he held hto peace.
“I don’t think she behaved
very well, either," he said. "And
1 don’t know whether of not she
was in love with me. Our fami
lies were friends—our summer
places were adjoining. I‘m fond
of Jane, too. She rides well and
plays a swell game of golf, and
tennis, and she can dance.”
"I can dance," said Ellen. She
offered it babyishly,' as an apol
ogy because she couldn’t ride or
play golf or play tennis . . .
Tony agreed
“I'll say you can dance,’’ he
agreed.. All at once he was com
ing across the little prim room
—and then he was on the arm
of Ellen’s chair, and his arm
was around her.
“I’ll never forget our first
dance together,’’ he said. "Will
you—my darling?”
But even as their lips met,
Ellen found, herself wondering
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Effective Decmbcr 10, 1034 One Hour Qnidfer^
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truce has been declared over a! whether her father had said that.
sandwich! Many a :
fried egg ^
home has been reunited across j E.VECL'TOU'S NOTICE
preserved i-eaclies and a dish of j Having qualified as "executor
little cakes. | of the estate of E. F. Spainhow- !
Hut even so, there were things ; er, deceased, all persons holding
to he said -this pleasant inter
lude couldn’t go on forever. .\s
.she ate her second cooky, slowly,
Ellen wished that the argument
might start, so that it would the
sooner he over.
Ellen precipitated the crisis.
She was alwa.vs saying things
she didn’t intend to say.
"Could Jane cook’’’’ she asked.
Tony shrugged.
claims against said estate are
hereby notified to present the
same to the undersigned execu
tor on or before December 10th,
193.5, or tlii s notice will| he
plead in bar of recovery. All per
sons owing said estate are noti
fied to make prompt payment.
This December 8th. 1934.
A. E. SPAINHOWER,
Executor Estate E. F. Spain-
hower, Dec’d. 1-14-61.
1935 License Plates for the
Town of North Wilkesboro
are now on sale at the Caro
lina Motor Club office at
the Yadkin Valley Motfjr
Company.
Resident owners of automo
biles are required to pur
chase and display the City
Plates on their cars along
with the State License by
January 1, 1935.
W. P. KELLY, Clerk
The Sign of
C. D. Coffey
& Sons
DISTRIBUTORS
NORTH WILKESBORO, N. C.
Y OU never know when a badly worn roof
will spring a leak. But you do know that
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Check up on any doubtful roofs, and get our
money saving prices on Carey Roofings or
Shingles to replace them. We can supply the
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Wilkesboro Mfg. Co.
'a
"1%