Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1924-09-27


1 shrieked loudly as Ted Billings
'unged forward. In some myster-
ious way, strength was given me to
use my legs, which had been Quak-
ing beneath me. and tore headlong
across the hills toward the ocean.
Gaining the beach, glanced over
my shoulder. Ted had not followed.
The heavy sand of the dunes must
have proven too much for him in his
besotted condition. Fright spurred
me on. and I dashed into the water,
shivering as the whitecaps reached
out to me with their icy fingers.
Soon | was swimming beyond my
depth in the moon-swept ocean.
Then suddenly 1 felt the steady
pull Of the undertow and realized,
in my spent conditions, was not alb e.
to resist it. / turned nervously
shoreward and saw lone masculine
figure coming at top speed through
the breakers. / recognized the
swimmer 1t was Curtiss Wright,
and l called to him in utter exhaust,
ion, feeling the last shred of my
vitality weaken.
Whats the matter, trying to
drown YOURSELF" he asked with a
note of tenderness in his voice. When
his swift. sure strokes had brought
him beside me, l relaxed in the
'gafety of his arms and felt secure
l1n mis- protection.
% When we had left the fierce cur
rent behind us, I slipped from his
I oil f0lHh
bottom.
(. mice way to treat your guest" he
laughed pleasantly, sending me on
for refreshments, While you run
away and have our swim by your
self"
~ "Why. you poor kiddy," he con-
tinued gently, noticing for the hrst
time thai my arms and shoulders.
rising from the dark depths of the
water. were bare. whats the
matter? Did you have an accident?"
he questioned.
Nope" 1 stammered and made
up my mind that l would not tell
him what had happened. After what
Mari had said about his opinion of
fappers, my experience with Ted
would only add to his unfattering
conviction about the younger gener-
alton.
Z Id teE him nothing, and with
this decision, felt spirit of devil
try returning.
- MAYBE Mr. Shark decided he'd
like to have my little suit for an
,hors dOuvre and ate il" I replied,
wide in mprk and childish amuse-
ment. and then, again, maybe he
didn't.
A puzzled expression crossed the
brow of Mr.. Wright and he started
to question me further, but changed
his mind.
i'm deeply sorry, really" he
said quickly; zone would think that
you had granted me the special
privilege of dabbfing in your af-
fairs. which so far, it would seem.
have been more or less of a-er-
shall we say. PERSONAL nature. 1.
assure you shall be less meddlesomet
in the future, and if you will promise,
to stav away from the shark-infested
area, l will bring my raincoat in a
jiffy.
Returning, we walked in silence
I'D the beach to the bath houses.
The Inn was in darkness. 1t had
not occurred to any of the crowd to
look for me after my disappearance
with Curtiss Wright earlier that
evening 1t is an unwritten code In
our set to permit each person to go
exactly where one pleases.
ga thermos bottle with ice and
lime juice, as per request, reposes
,hind yon stately palm tree" Mr..
" light broke the silence lightly, and
for some reason, which / was unable
to analyze, his Indifference piqued me
after his former interest. In the
short time l had known him. / had
wavered from one decision to anoth
err in planning the attitude I would
adopt before him. At the Inn | had
determined upon role of racy indie
pendence and yet l was now ready TO
go to almost any lengths to keep him
from finding out about the episode
with Ted Billings.
What funny little bird the
frogs are" 1 quoted.
"Apropos of what, may ask?''
Nothing, I was just thinking out
loud. A sign of tottering old age,
isn't ito" I responded. go get the
bottle. Pm worn to fragile.
He looked at me understanding
scrutiny.
Yes, right at this moment you do
look like an old woman,R he an
nounced critically and save for his
innate refinement, which one felt
and the impersonal tone in which ne
had spoken, his remark would have
been rude; as it was, it hurt me
for / knew he was Serious
During the drive@'home rested
my head against Curtiss Wright's
coat sleeve and slept soundly.
When we alighted from the car
MIR. Wright gathered up my swim
ming things and handed them to me
Good night" he said, Il fount
this in the sand dunes. You nigh
need it," and reaching in his poke
he produced stfip of black an