Evening star., 1926-05-30
ONE GOOD TURN
Husbands and He Had Shared
the
the Opinion.

easy when he spoke. He wondered
for an instant how to work his vocal
cords.
''Who?" he said His tone was nor
NAL. restrained. yet 1t doomed into the
silent room as though he had shouted
it. The one word seemed to go out
into the air and bound back from the
wall. 1t resounded over and over In
his ears and he repeated 1t, his voice
growing softer and softer in the repe
tition: "Who? Who? .
| Who?"
She raised her head slightly. Phil,
she said. Phillip Oakes."
oh" said Vincent. 'Oh, of course. u
HE got UP and walked to the win
down into the half.lighted street,
warm In the June evening. A man
I and girl went by, arm in arm. gig.
Cling. The curtain blew inward and
brushed his hand, hanging at his side.
| Vincent Hall thought Of nothing what.
ever for great length Of time. He
could see his white shirt front re.
fected in the glass. his long head
above it. He thought Of Katherine
sitting there on the sofa behind him.
sitting there. bent over, crying. Low.
! ing Phil Cakes!
| He went back and stood in front of
| her.
You want to marry him?" he
asked.
| She looked up. This time it was he
who could not look at her eyes. He
stared at her feet in their small satin
slippers, noticed how one toe was
| wound about the other ankle.
| Yes" she said from a great dis
tance.
YES" said Vincent. There was 81.
lence. He seated himself on the arm
| of a chair, facing away from her lest
she catch his eve. He spoke again.
Reno" he said-"or Paris -. (.
you can get a-one quickly in Paris. -
He heard her own voice again:
"You-you won't be very unhappy"
NO" he told her. "Oh. no."
II thought 1t was better to tell you.
| Phil said"
Vincent Hall got up and walked
from the room. He stumbled across
| the hall and into their bedroom. He
was in front of the dresser, looking
at his own face in the mirror--his
funny long face with it's narrow nose
and the thinning, graying hair above
| it. 1t was older, much older than he
| had ever been able to imagine it. It's
eyes were wide open. staring. He
turned away and walked across the
| room two or three times.
Then he went to the table between
the beds, pulled out the drawer, and
put his hand into it. He felt his
| fingers touch cold steel. He brought
out a blue automatic pistol and held it
fiat in the spread palms Of his hands a
| moment while he looked at it. It had
never been fired. For four years it
hod LOTT in, hot x3V.aV f,,
| an emergency.
He dropped the pistol into his hip
pocket and went out into the hall.
In the library he found Katherine
curled into an indescribable. small. di-
sheveled mass, her head buried in her
arms. He made his lips firmer. He
stepped into the room and stood there
very straight.
Don't cry, dear" he said. Don't
worry. Everything is going to be just
as you want 1t. I will help you ar.
range everything. Please don't cry"
She stirred a little, but did not raise
her head. IT am going out for a
walk" he said. II think the air will
do me good.''
He turned and walked along the
hall. He hurried down the stairs.
The air in the street was sticky-hot
on his face as he stepped out of the
front door. He walked west toward
Central Park. His feet placed them.
selves before each other automatically.
He stared straight before him at the
purple-gray splotch on the sky where
the sunset had been.
x X y X
WELL, it was over. Katherine be-
w longed to him no longer. This
was the end of their marriage. Four
perfect years. And two weeks. And
II days exactly.
His mind leapt cruelty back to that