New Britain herald., 1928-12-01

all sorts of good things to eat-the
sort OF things that Mr.. Milburn HAD
brought home to the little yellow
house on feast nighta." Pate de fois
graA Camembert cheese. English
water crackers. marmalade. and
picked walnuts.
Emmy laid them all out upon the
little table by the window and lit
the tall candles. She pulled up the
chairs and turned on the radio while
HARRISON puffed away at his pips
and stared up at the ceiling as II he
were in deep thought that took him
miles away from her and the flat.
But when he did speak. he spoke
of her. Emmy" he said. quietly.
I've never felt 20 much at home
anywhere as feel herewith you"
There seemed to be an undercur.
rent Of sadness In his slow voice. He
stood up suddenly and laid his pipe
down upon the window sill.
CHAPTER Xiv
He turned. and Emmy could feel
his steady gaze on her In the misty
gold light from the candles. Some
woman-sense told her that he was
going to come close to her and put
his arms around her. and q queer
panic seized her. She did not
want him to! Why. she didn't
know, but she was sure-oh. very.
very sure!-that she did not want
him to make love to her. Not then.
at any rate.
The thought Of 1t did not frighten
her in the least. but 1t seemed to
chill her. She drew away from him
as he caught both Of her hands and
held them. small and quivering.
against his face for just an instant
She found that she did not want
him to do even that. She switched
on every light in the room. ana
dropped down into her chair at the
little table.
Lets eat-rm famished." she
said, in a bright. cheerful, unsenti-
mental way, and then suddenly her
voice deepened and softened. Her
eyes grew dreamy.
Listen, Wells. they're playing
Sunset and Evening STAR Its my
mothers favorite song" she muir
INJURED. As the waves Of radio music
rolled out into the room. filling It
with beauty and the sadness that
always comes with beauty. she be-
gan to sing:
Sunset and evening star
And one clear call for me,
And may there be no moaning OF
the bar
When l put out to sea. :"
For a minute or two she forgot
the room she was In - the candle
light, the swaying tops Of trees out
side against the night sky. the ma"
who watched her from the othe.
side of the table.
For that minute or two she was
back In the little yellow house. Back
in the si:escg room, with the Dying
Gladiator lamp pouring its radiancs
over the old piano. over the gera-
NUNS and the snowy muslin cur
tains, over the threadbare carpe.
and the threadbare chairs, owes
the smooth. brown head Of het
mother sitting beside the table, ana
over Robb. with book In his
hands. She was home once
more while the music lasted.
Then it stopped. and the voice OF
the radio announcer swept out into
the room, mysterious as the voice Of
the oracle of Delphi.
Emmy, you have 4 very beautl-
full singing voice." HARRISON said.
presently. picking up his form.
What was the name of the teacher
you said you used to have?"
Madame Hartxell." Emmy an
swered. she's really just plain Mrs.
Hartzell. but she calls herself
Madame She thinks 1t sounds
spiffy. l reckon"
How much does she charge for
lessons?" HARRISON asked, and En-
my told him.
He shook his head over it.
To think that the lack Of five paltry
dollars a week had kept her from
having a voice like her trained as It
should have been trained. 1t was.
he said, enough to make the angela
weep.
Listening to him. all Of Emmy's
old belief in her voice came back to
her. All the limitless faith she had
had in 1t ages ago. Vhen she. had
dreamed OF the Chamber Music 90
ciety, the Friday morning musicales
at the Statler Hotel. the concert
stage!
But you're certainly going to
start taking lessons again. now that
you're earning your own money.
aren't you?" he wanted to know.
Il can't afford them-and keep
up this apartment too" Emmy
said. promptly And this apart
ment means more to me than even
the singing lessons. think. although
you may think that sounds silly"
She smiled at him across the
flowers on the table. and said as
lightly as she could: Maybe I'm
temperamental or representative or
something foolish like that, but I've
got to live In a nice place. That's
more important to me than any,
thing else"
She would have gone on to tell all