Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-06-13

n VOW. on her tWenty-third birth
I N day, unexpectedly Van Mrch-
son had given her back her
/ dreams and Gail lay wakeful
in the dark after Edith had
left her, giving full rein to the Joy
of them turning the key to a girls
heaven with 81 worth Of pink roses.
oh. how good she could be, how
gracious and sweet and fine she could
be if Van Murchison fell in love with
her! That was all she needed, Just
BREAKFAST an indication that Won
derful things could happen, that poor
girls were sometimes sought in mar
riage by rich young men.
Herself up at the big Chlpp manson
Van at her side, Arthur Chip smiling
at her, Mrs. Chip asking her to call
her Aunt Martha"
And what do you two young people
well, my sister Edith is to be my
bridesmaid"
Young Mrs. Murchison. After all,
# she was married at-Say this time
next year-nobody could say that she
had been an old maid. TWenty-iour,
! that was young to marry. And then
Fdc should marry; 1t would be easy
! enough to find bCaus for the ether
! girls with the MurChison money and
| position behind herl
what an adorable baby, Mrs.
Murchison.'
YES, and have you heard. Mrs.
Hunter. that my clever wife has a
story coming out, in the Atlantic?
Written before this young man ar
rived"
The fun of it! The beauty Of It!
And why not? Other girls had had
that much luck and much, much
more.
browsing off to sleep in the sweet
Summer darkness Gail heard door
bang downstairs Just as the clock struck
a droWSy II. The LaWrenCes, having
little to protect, rarely locked doors.
Perhaps this was Sam coming in late ::
perhaps it was Phil Anyway, unless 1t
banged again. she did not propose to
get up to bother with it.
AS it happened, it was neither, but
Gail could not know that, and so she
drifted happily off into deep sleep Of
tired %. Van MurchiSonS laugh, his
voice still in her ears.
Sam had been in bed and asleep for
an hour when the clock struck II. Phil
had walked home from night school
with Lily, who had recently developed
an entirely ridiculous and adorable in
terest in her mind and had decided to
study French on the very evenings Phil
was at school. He was now sitting on
the steps of the Cas- shanty at the end
Of Thomas street, looking down on the
6oorvard rubbish that was softeued
into something like beauty in the star
light and murmuring lncoherent and
foolish absurdities to the little ear that
smelled of heavy, cheap powder and
perfume.
No. the door had been slammed by
Ariol-Or rather it had been caught
and slammed by an unexpected gust of
wind when her small frail hand had
opened it upon the Summer dark. She
had stood there. trembling, terrified.
But there had been no disturbance
upstairs. and after an interminable 81
lence Ariel had opened the door again,
noiSeleSSly h time, and had slipped
down throu I. the oVergroWn garden
and into t deep green-black shadows
at the gat III sky Ct clear dark blue
millions of stars had been tWinkling
and in the side lane. deeply rutted from
Winter rains there had been two other
stars-the Watchful lamps of a SHIN
ing. low, open car.
Ariel knew Buddy Raisch very slight
". but She knew. as all the town knew,
that he was an overgroWn, big boy who
had been at Stanford University for
about three years and was still a Soph-
omorc. She knew what the scent Of
Buddy's breath signihed, too.
OF the couple sunk in the rumble
seat, an overcoated man with a COL
lapsed little, bobbed, slick head on his
shoulder, she had known nothing, but
she had settled in beside the driver
with a little gasp of satisfaction and
excitement
Hear me w'istle?" Buddy had whis-
pered.
Sure"
Listen. We're only going down the
road a ways and come back"