The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1925-11-24
JOANNA

that asks no questions and gets no
snubbing." She measured Joanna
from smart little hat to smart, sap
phire- buttoned suedes and reached
her own conclusions over the swag-
ger stick, but she said, only:
"Of course you can, Miss. You can
go right in. Mr. Johns been gone
since breakfast. He isn't been doing
much work Of late, it seems, because
he's seemed kind Of restless like"
For some mysterious reason the
landlady's gaze rested on the sap
phire slipper buckles, as if the
depths of them contained the expla-
nation of her lodgers sudden ILL
ness.
ct know that Mr.. John will have
nothing to say about the likes of you
paying his rooms a visit whenever
you wants."
| But that is what you must help
me about" JOANNA announced. II
don't want him to know that 1 have
been here. You must make little
plot with me not to tell him. If
you say that you won't, I know
may trust you"
+" S to this the landlady was
IIA not at all sure Her watery.
shrewd eyes narrowed a little
and appraised the face of the girl
who, plainly, wasn't Johns girl"
any more.
well, now" she temporized' as
to that, Miss I'll have to think a
bit. A mans house in his castle,
like / used to say in the old days
when 1 was ingenue for Raymond
Hitchcock who, l must say, had his
pick of ingenues and knew how to
do the picking. OF course that was
only in comic opera and 1t was a
scene even Hitchy couldn't put over
If 1 wasn't there to feed him right,
but still that's the way it is, you
know"
Joanna had listened patiently.
but it will be all right" she pro-
tested. John and 1 haven't any
secrets-you see, I'm still Johns
girl" and always will be, no matter
what happens, although he has
another notion just now. This must
be secret from him, your secret
and mine, and it's just something 1
want that he mustn't know about
for a little while" She gave the
landlady the full benefit of a smile
and pleading from deep brown eyes
that were irresistible. Grudgingly
the woman gave in, shrugged her
angular shoulders and agreed that
'if that's the way it is, I guess it'll
be all right. I don't think you'll
find any love letters from other
girls. Mr.. Johns not that way with
girls"
Joanna opened her handbag and
added to the bills which already
crumpled in the landlady's hand,
left there by the chauffeur. a much
larger one. Then she tripped up the
stairs to the door through which
John had delighted, in the past, &C.
casionally to usher her
When she crossed the threshold
she faltered. For an instant Joanna
Manners, the girl of mystery and
| money, was Miss Twenty-Seven"
again, violating all the conventions
of more particular age and stealing
in with John to cuddle up on his
frayed sofa and listen while he built
wonderful structures that reached
to the sky as surely as ever did a
castle that grew up in Spain. On
! nf io~Iof oh l.
preferred to be out dancing. They
were, in way, her sacrifices. She'd
told him. once, that If he'd put his
drawing board away and use the big
room to practice up on his fox trot
he'd make a bigger hit with her.
T JOANNA brushed this remi.
niscence away with the back
L@1 of her hand passing it petu-
lantly across her forehead. She
crossed the room to a huge chest of
drawers in which John kept his pa
pers, great sheets of blue prints and
! tracings.
AS If she well knew the contents
Of those drawers Joanna plunged her
gray gloved fingers directly in
among a sheaf of papers in middle
! drawer. When she brought them
out they brought also a big blue
square on which there were lines and
diagrams in a confusion that many
times had wearied her eyes. There
I were other sheets that were similar
ly marked, as if they were duplicates
on which infinitesimal alterations
had been made. Joanna had chosen
one of them, seemingly at random,
and appeared>to be satisfied.
Ruthlessly, careless of her deadly
affront to the /smoothness Of an
architects drawing, she folded the
blue print into a minute square and
thrust it, crumpled, into her bag.
Then she turned back to the door.
Just for a moment she stopped and
dropped into a corner Of the sofa.
! She pulled her legs under her and
curled up. She patted place In a
cushion and rested her elbow in 1t
and proper her head on her hand
And as if she were talking to some.