Evening star., 1930-12-17

morning air; nearer, the steam was
rising from the sloping tangie OF roof
that was Uplands. and Jim could iden-
tify the new windmill and the empty
pool, and even the small forms OF Tony
and Battersby. walking past the barn.
The cattle were toys now, of red and
white. ana Hang, coming out to get
pumpkin, only another toy. Jim rev-
elled in a sense Of largeness, Of su.
pefiority; his elders studied the stretch
ing magnihcerce and beauty Of the
panorama with eyes as full Of pain as
Margaret, If must marry Shirley,
III sell al thisl" Stan said, with sud-
ION. DON'T ever sell III" she pro-
tested.
"Where will you bea" he asked. after
Il thought Of Carmel, Stan. That's
warm and quiet and near the sea-won-
derful for the small boy. Or Inverness.
I don't know any one, either place."
Margaret added, her voice shaking q
little, against her will.
IT can run over 10 Carmel from Del
Monte in 10 minutes" Stan said.
Then IL won't be Carmel" she de.
cided, with q rueful little smile. 1T
simply mustn't be that we are con-
stAntiy meeting. II you dropped dead
today, should somehow get over it,
and that's exactly the way / must get
over it-all alone. If you marry, I'll
know 1t, never fear, and II you don't
and I am ever free"
"If it isn't Shirley-and 1t won't be
Shirleyl-it will be nobody, of course -
Stanley reminded her moodily. "If 1t
isn't Shirley, it simply means waiting.
Therem never be anybody else, know
- =
for, Margaret, any one thing that some
other woman might have" he said. 1T
isn't being in love! It's everything
your wrists and your eyes and your
voice and the things you talk about
and your point of view and the express
sions you use and the clothes you wear!
I'd rather feel" Stanley added, pres
emily, As she did not speak, "ttie way
feel today for years than go back
to where was before you came along
and changed mel You make life won-
where you are and do everything dc
with you and meet you in town and
help you into my car and discuss lunch
With you and tell you about the ONCE
and dig in the garden with you.
The words burst from him in q tone
almost of despair; his voice shook, I'm
mediately he sprang UP, stretched q
hand to the child and started down the
homeward trail.
Margaret followed him. The sun wAa
| yelled now and the air was Hnysteri-
ously cool and uneasy, the foliage OF
the live oaks rIlstled and a chill wind
went over the world. The dogs whined,
and when Stanley paused IN a tnicket
TO guide Margaret across particularly
tangled bit of wood they saw q deer, two
does and a rl1ottled fawn leaping lightly
and T1oiselessly away into the deep
forest.
Buck and Lily and Lady went after
the deer with mad barking and uproar
but they returned presently crestfalle1
and contented themselves with eartiiina
red fox and covering their magnificent
coats with a whirl Of fine black fiyina
dirt.
Back at the farm again, Jim was ifi
splendid spirits, talking fast through
Nora's hand and the washrag that were
making his small face presentAble fof
lunch. But Stan and Margaret's mood
oddly matched and stbdued, sad change
that had come over the bright day:
the girl felt her muscles sore; her head
ached little; she felt cold. It was /
o'clock already. At it would all be
over.
At S o'clock she was lying on A couch
the flowered wall and the decorotis ma
hogany furniture and the big, freshly
curtained windows that looked dowI
upon the gray, dismal wooden houses
Of San Francisco and the beauty Of the
crowded piers and the exquisite sweer
Of the bays and the islands and the
hills.
Nora and Jim had gone out; the
rooms were still. Margaret and Stan
aaG a. A.. 4. n
an hour ago. They had parted without
words, with just one quick and quiet
kiss.
The girls heart seemed to have been
torn alive from her body; life was dark,
empty, hopeless-she was dead. STAINS
voice still echoed in her ears; the touch
OF his hand was upon her arm; the
memory of his big figure in the tweeds,
his burned, lean face and twisted grin
was shutting everything else in the
world away from her senses.
He was gone. Margaret could not
cry. But the immense desolation OF
heart and soul and mind almost fright-
ened her. It seemed physically inpossi-
BILE to get up, presently, to brush her
hair, to order Jin1's dinner and take
even a faint interest In her own. She
must, Just once more, see him, speak
to him, be near him.
She looked at the telephone. She
could telephone him
Even while she looked at it, the bell
rang. The blood rushed to Margaret's
face, her hands were cold, ana she
felt sudden weakening and collapse.
Nobody else knew that she was here.
Her hand was shaking as she took
the receiver, even while she told her
self that was just the Office asking If
she wished a dinner card
"Stanl" she stammered, as the de-
licious, familiar voice fell Upon her
starving ears.
Margaret" he said quickly, "I've got
to see you'll"
She did not speak. She could not
speak.
I'm coming up" he said. eve had
wire from Shirley. She and Theobald
were remarked again this morning. She
says he's much better and that she's
the happiest girl in the worldly
(COntinued in TomOrrow'a StaT0