Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1920-10-01
CHAPTER x.

nington's woods, had showed her th:.
under more propitious circumstances
she might have fallen In love with that
tempestuous young man in sheer rec
ignition of the many lovable and man
" qualities she had discerneo In him
As an offset to the credit side of
Bryce's account with her, however.
there appeared certain debts in the
consideration of which Shirley always
lost her temper and was immediately
quite certain she Ioathed the unfor-
tunate man.
He had been an honOred and flor
Avght Shirley knew to the contrary
welcom4 guest in the Pennington home
one night, and the following day had
assaulted his host. committed great
bodily injuries upon the latter's en-
ployees for little or no reason save the
satisfaction of an abominabIe temper,
made threats of further violence. de-
clared his unfaltering enmity to her
nearest and bestowed relative. and fp
the next breath had had the insolence
to pirate of his respect and admiration
for her.
However. all of these grave crimes
and misdemeanors were really insig-
nificant compared with his crowning
offense. What had Infatuated Shirley
was the fact that she had been at some
pains to inform Bryce Cardigan that
she loathed him-whereat he had
looked her over coolly, grinned little,
and declined to believe her! Then.
seemingly as IL fate had decreed that
her futility should be impressed upon
her still further, Bryce Cardigan had
haen granted en- opportunity to save,
in a strikingly calm, heroic and pain
ful manner, her and her uncle from
certain and horrible death, thus plac-
ing upon Shirley an obligation that
was as irritating to acknowledge as it
was futile to attempt to reeiprocate.
That was where the shoe pinched.
Before that day was over she had
been forced to do one of two things
acknowledge in no uncertain terms her
Indebtedness to him, or remain silent
and to be convicted of having been, in
plain language. a rotter. So she had
telephoned him and purposely left
altar the door to their former friendly
relations.
Monstrousl He had seen the open
door and deliberately slammed 1t in
her face. Luckily for them both she
had heard, all unsupported by him as
ne slowly hung the receiver on the
hook, the soliloquy wherein he gave
her pointed hint of the distress with
which he abdicated-which knowledge
was all that deferred her from despis-
Ing him with the fervor of woman
Scorned.
The fascination which a lighted
candle holds for a moth is. too well
known to require further calculation
here. In yielding one day to desire
to visit the Valley of the Giants, Shir-
ley told herself that she was going
there to gather wild blackberries. She
mad been thinking OF a certain black
berry pie, which thought naturally in
duced reflection on Bryce Cardigan
and reminded Shirley of her first visit
70 the Giants under the escort of a boy
In knickerbockers.
Her meeting with MORA McTavish
mat day, and the subsequent friend
snip formed with the woods-boss
daughter. renewed all her apprehen-
sions. On the assumption that Shir-
icy and Bryce were practically
strangers to each other Gag assump-
uoh which Shirley. fer obvious rea-
sons did Dot attempt to dissipate),
Nora did not hesitate to mention
Bryce very frequently. To her he was
tae one human being in the world
Utterly worth while, and it is nat
u'al Tor women to discuss, fire.
4uehtly and at great length, the
subject nearest their hearts. MORA
Inscribed Bryce In minute detail and
te'd'ed to her eager auditor little I'M
1onscious daily acts Of kindness,
rloUshuulness or humor performed by
,D'!ce-his devotion to his father. his
eaHssic attitude toward the Cardi-
san employees. his ability, his indus
s SH And presently. little by little,
@u,riey recruitment against him
saue1 and in her heart was born
sui usefulness bred of the hope that
ao'ne lay she would meet Bryce Cardi-
san On the street and that he would
a~use' hft his hat. smile at her his
~ ~ pe'llng smile and forthwith pro-
80 go % bully her into being friendly
80 w. l0rgiying- browbeat her into adj
ta ,.',lg he change Of heart and glory
h.s ~ this rerarkabIe state of mind
~ ~ shirley sumner attained at the
r..' e 5ohn Cardigan. leading his last
az 5 trump IN a vain hope that It
.' enable him to take the odd trick
s., e huge game be had played for
n years deeided to sell his Valley
tA.n,s as explained In a preceding
>'e'' had been present the night