New Britain herald., 1927-07-14
SalN$ ;. Shoulders !!!l!! 81? &: =:

Hello" he said shortly. when HI
| came in and took his usual seat or
one corner of the well-scrubbed ia.
BILE. Where were you tonight?"
She looked up at him with hel
clear. eager gaze.
why, out at Aunt Emily's," she
told him, wondering why he looked
SO grim and serious and why he
seemed SO moody and down. t-the-
mouth.
He said nothing more, but chewed
the stem of his pipe thoughtfully
while she went in and out of the
room. stacking the soiled dishes on
the sink.
Wrapped in that same heavy ST.
lence, he watched her wash and
away on the shelves. His eyes fol-
lowed the quick play of her hands
as she poured Miles shampoo into
a bowl, and poured cold water into
the pan where it had been made.
BE back in a jiffy." she told him,
disappearing with it.
When she came back he was
standing out on the back porch.
Through the screen door she could
see his stocky figure, outlined
against the darkness.
At the sound Of her footsteps be-
hind him on the floor of the kitch-
en- he called to her: Come here a
minute. l want to talk to you"
wait half second" Sally an
swered. 1--WE got a couple of things
TO do"
She did them with that same deft
quickness of hers. The tread was
rolled in a clean white cloth and
laid in the bread-box. The cold
sliced meat that was left over from
the evening meal went into waxed
paper. So did a head of lettuce and
half a cucumber that Mile had
left in the kitchen an hour before,
when she helped to get supper.
Then Sally filled a lard pail at the
sink and went out on the porch to
water her geraniums and to see
what Ted Sloan wanted. She
thought she knew
Move away from my flower box"
she told him with elaborate care
lessness when she stood beside him
at the porch railing. II want to wa
ter my geraniums. There were only
three of them in the wooden box
Vol inc
But Sally loved to see their red
blooms nodding in the wind when
she stood at the kitchen washing
dishes. She held a passion for flow
ers.
well. what's on your mind,
Theodore ROOSEVELT" she asked
him when she had finished. Ted's
name really was Theodore Roosevelt
Sloan.
You" he said, without turning
to look at her. His arms were
crossed over his chest and he drew
on his pipe thoughtfully.
Suddenly he did turn with
single movement that brought him
so close to her that one of his bare
arms touched her shoulder.
you" he said again, and slowly
and deliberately took his pipe from
his mouth and laid it on the railing
in front Of him. Then he put his
hands on her shoulders and drew
her so near to him that she had to
lean back to look at him. He
seemed very serious and grave.
looking back at her through the
dim starlight.
"Tired?" he asked quickly. ->
She shook her head. She
was hardly ever tired. She was dead
for sleep many a night: but her
strong, vibrant young body hardly
ever ached with sheer WEAKNESS.
mo, I'm not tired" she answer
ed him. moving uneasily under the
pressure of his hands. She didn't
like to have him hold her in tEat
way-as if she belonged to him.
She hated it.
Lets go in and make some lem
onade," she went on, after tiny
pause. She was sure that there
wasn't a lemon in the house. She
had used. the last one in Miles
shampoo. But she had a. sudden
panicky wish to get away from
him. To get back to the lights Of
the kitchen. To get out Of the soft.
darkness.
She turned to go, too, but he
stopped her with a tighter grasp
on her shoulders.
II said I wanted to talk to you"