Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1923-02-13
CHAPTER VIII
Katherine Meets Anne


TT ATHERINE had sudden intense de-
~ sire to see this girl who had reused
John Steele's interest, if only tempo
rarily, but she kept her eagerness well
hidden under a semblance of well-bred in
difference This manner of hers had been
carefully cultivated and it served her well
now, for not even to Johns mother would
katherine betray the slightest evidence that
shes cared one way or another what John
did.
Marcia went on to tell how she had
questioned the girl.
"She had some terrible secret in her
past, / am convinced of that she said, a
slight frown between her eyes. This little
frown came only in moments of great stress,
for Marcia was quite marvelously preserved.
She was massaged and manicured and
groomed each morning, and her skin was
almost as fresh and youthful as Katherine's
own. But today she looked older and as
she looked at her Katherine realized that
all Marcia Steele's hopes were bound up
in her son.
Don't you think that very fact would
make him hesitate?" Katherine asked slow
ly. On, I'm sure, dear Mrs. Steele, that
you're borrowing trouble. John doesn't i'm
press me as the type of man who would
ever do anything on impulse"
Marcias eyebrows went up quickly.
''That's just it. He never impressed me
that way either, but I'm beginning to think
that | never have understood him. I tell
you that girl has bewitched him. There's
something uncanny about her. The night
he brought her home 1 was about to insist
that she be sent to hospital, but there
was something so young and child-like
about her, and sheF1ooked at me with such
terror-stricken eyes, that before I knew it
was completely won over"
"She sounds intensely interesting Kath-
crime said, keeping her tone very light. It
don't know when 7 have been so intrigued
1t makes one believe in romance, doesn't
it?'
But Marcia's face did not relax Having
talked of her trouble magnified it in her
own mind, and she had looked to Katherine
for help in the matter. She had been sure
that Katherine cared for John, but she had
shown no evidence of it this afternoon
Would you like to see herr" she asked
suddenly.
Katherine had been wondering how she
could lead up to this very thing without
betraying too much eagerness and she re-
sponded quickly to the suggestion.
moment later with her heart beating
rather faster than usual, she was follow
ing Marcia down the corridor and into
room at the far end
nurse rose from beside the bed as the
two women entered, and then as Marcia
said lightly, I've brought you visitor,
dear" Katherine gave an almost audible
gasp of amazement as she looked down at
the girl on the bed
1t wasn't SO much that Anne was more
beautiful than any one Katherine had ever
seen before, it was the strange almost eIfin
charm OF her. The short taffy-colored hair
and long amber eyes contradicted each
other, for one made her look childish and
there was an expression in her eyes that
was mysterious, almost as though the girl
were deliberately yelling something that lay
in their depths
The thought that John Steele had held
this girl in his arms leaped suddenly into
Katherine's mind, and with it the convic-
ton that once having held her so he would
never forget that fact
Next-The Threshold of Love.