Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-01-03


firmly. alive or dead"
| X + X X
A ND so Larry found himself in
- vited to Hamilton. He found him
self the following Friday swinging off
the train at Hamilton.
In a smart roadster sat Judy wait
ing for him. This was the first time
he had seen her since 1916, for to see
her that night on the Rec had been
impossible. So until she smiled greet
ing he was not sure 1t was she. Then
he realized that she hadn't changed
unrecogniZably since she was II. Yet
it did not occur to him, as it had the
other time, that Johnny Sears daugh-
ter was nothing to write home about.
Father she told him, said some
thing about a potential foursome be-
fore dinner. l feel sure you are
! elected"
Then after dinner Judy claimed
Larry. They drove off together to an
other North Shore show place where
ii dance was on. The younger set
now-sleek. well groomed young men
with Il Harvard crew captain and a
ranking tennis player among them;
assured audacious girls.
They all accepted Larry as casually
and unquestionably as had Johnny
Sears friends. The prettiest girl, who
captain and then the ranking tennis
| player, apparently found him game as
| fair when ii came his turn to dance
with her.
You aren't" she protested plain
lively, zone of those horribly strong,
silent men, are YOU"
They had been dancing for all of
20 seconds then. Larry glanced down
at her pretty face. Her eyes met his,
wide and candid. yet deliberately be
quilting.
I'm afraid l dance like one" he
said. I'm rather out of practice"
oh that's it, she said. II hoped
1t was my effect on you. l sometimes
have 1t on the most finished perform
precious privilege of dancing with me
that they forget all they know"
Larry smiled. Il can imagine It."
Imagine it-but not feel it your
self: Are you in love with Judy?''
What" gasped Larry.
Ihere's no reason why you
shouldn't be-" she retorted calmly.
muntty to me. Would 1t be too much
TO ask you to hold me little closer?"
Then before he could recover she
launched fresh audacity. Judy Is a
dear" she remarked. Isn't it too bad
she has no sex attraction? Oh, don't
iooh SO norrlled, Or as IL you thought
l was being catty. / am just repeat
ing what she herself says. / tell her
all she needs Is a line. Do you like
mine?"
In spite Of himself Larry smiled. Il
think 1t suits you better than it would
Miss Sears"
Naturally-mine matches nv tip
tilted nose and the come hither in my
eyes. Judy's would be different
n Tor y,.I D~k
mother type. Stray cats and slightly
damaged young man have an irresisti
BILE appeal for her.
Larry, murmuring an apology for
the step he had involuntarily missed
tried to smile. I'm not a stray cat,
he remarked. 80 1 suppose"
oh, don't mean that you are the
least bit damaged" she replied. only
| unresponSfVe to my best efforts
That's why 1 asked If you were in
love with Judy"
Larry simply smiled again. He
wasn't, OF course. The idea had never
! occurred to him. But on the way
home 1t did occur to him that some
man might well be in love with Judy
Almost any man, in fact. save him
self.
! NOW, of a Sunday morning, they
sat wet and glistening on the
edge OF the raft that was moored off
Johnny Sears private bathing beach.
Larry wore one OF Johnny Sears
| suits; Judy wore her own. This, of
unrelieved black, suited her mar
| velously
| Aren't you ever going to tell me
anything about China-or your adj
| ventures there?" asked Judy abruptly.
The question to Larry was like the
| intrusion Of a serpent into an Eden
Of sorts. Il told a friend OF mine a
| little about China as 1 found it," he
evaded. land he asked me to spare
his Illusions"
But" she protested, China sounds
| SO interesting. Do" There she
| stopped short. A veil had fallen over
! his eyes.
| IN race you ashore" she chal-
! lenged and dove off at once. They
| emerged together from a smother of
surf. She faced him. 1.-the and alive
and-adorable. AS his eyes met hers
| they were no longer yelled. 1t was
| her eyes that became suddenly yelled.
| They were both young; as he had
| torn ashore in pursuit of her some
| thing inextinguishab bly, male had been
aroused in him. This she saw and
| them, caught them unsuSpecting and
| thrust them shoreward. They recov-
cred themselves laughingly. but her
eyes still evaded his.
! I'VE must hurry" she said, Or
Wen be late for luncheon"
| And she set him an example by
! hurrying off to her dressing room.
| But once there she stood for an ap-
preciable interval still in her bathing
suit. with her lips a little parted and
| in her eyes the expression of one who
! listens. Judy was listening. To lit
/ tie song her heart was chanting
| shamelessly, exultantly.
| He does. He does. He does.' 1t
! sang.
| But Larry! He was like a man who
has ventured unwittingly into a trap
with no realization of his danger until
| the trap suddenly snaps shut. He
might have so excused himself But
| he didn't. His heart was singing no
little song.
You've made forty different kinds
! Of a fool of yourself" he was assur-
ing himself, land you'd probably made
the forty-flrst if she hadn't saved
YOU"
So he interpreted Judy's sudden
withdrawal-she had sensed his mo-
mentary madness and fled forthwith.
Well he was glad Of that. He told
himself so.
What time can ] get a train this
afternoon" he asked at luncheon.
! This was addressed to Johnny Sears.
Larry had not even looked at Judy;
his eyes were avoiding her. And so
he did not see her swift glance of pro-
| test.
This afternoon?" protested Sears.
why, I'm going over the road myself
I, in the morning. Can't you wait until
then? / wish you would; / haven't
had a chance to talk to you about
| China and I want to-