The Daily Alaska empire., 1931-06-16

for a moment Didn't you hate me? Oh, Fran, you should have hated mel"
 T did at first" Fran said hon. estly. Sometimes I thought, ever then, that in the end he and I /.
 but David has come back. He wants to make up to me for all
 those hard years. Not that regret
 them. You have something whel
 you've been desperately poor, fight
 ing with your back to the wall a
 kind of fearlessness, a strength
 you win in no other way. And
 David is changed too, Nora' | Fran, you precious thing. you
 would think that way! If I didn't 1 want things so terribly, if were
 only brave like you"
 | But you are. Nora. Ycl are | You'll be happy some day. Happy" Nora asked It
 wasn't in my stars"
 They heard Aunt Elm calling at
 he foot of the stairs, softly, So hat she would -o5 wake the chil-
 iren, Fran, Nora, VIC want you
 lown here with Gs."
 Nora knew that every moment of
 Trans time vas precious to her mother; though Aunt Ems forti- tude bore her up; yet she guarded these last hours jealousy
 l Nothing lasted, Nors thought. You must hold very tight to the moment, for it would rush away and you would be left wondering why you had not known, until too late, that you had been happy. In the dining room David and the children, Fergus and Hallie and Aunt Elm were all talking gayly. Nothing Nora knew, could ever divide them. There was more than the tie of blood, there was the deep knowledge of each other, the sacri- fices, the love, the struggle that made them secure and strong against the world.
 And as she watched them Nora wondered if this, after all, was what she had always longed for. this solidarity of the family, that was stronger than separation, this lkinship that would always bind them to each other Fran, Hallie, Aunt Elm. The magic circle that held them close. This was secu- rity, this emotional need that had driven her on always. Fran might be gone a thousand miles away but Aunt Elm and Hallie wou d never lose her.
 Nora tried to set the table but she was so absent minded that Aunt Elm. laughing, told her to sit down. But she could not look at Fergus, and it seemed to her when ever she lifted her eyes that his were upon her.
 l She knew she would never forget that last dinner together, though what they said, why they laughed she could not remember. When they had finished, David Lindsay began to talk of Arizona and his uncle's ranch.
 Now and then Nora stole a look at Fergus face, and her heart leaped with violence. He was sud-
 denly quite strange to her, this
 man whom she thought she knew
 so we'll She knew his awareness of all that went on around him, his sudden Illuminating s smile, h is , sweetness grounded in strength; l, but tonight his face was cold and
 strange and she knew he must be , suffering because Fran was going , away. She saw F'ran's face, the dark eyes breeding, as she sat with Dickie pressed close against her , lheart. Why hadn't Fran gone away [ with Fergus? Was Fran too timid or too brave? Or was Fran facing a reality she herself had not yet l found?
 It was Aunt Ems unfaltering spirit that bore them up through
 those last days, while the prepara- |. tions for Fran's going were moving , steadily forward. The childre n ) were wild with excitement. Nora heard Aunt Elm refusing any help :, from Fran with the words, We'll l lbe rich in March, dear" The last :. evening Nora came home from the | office to find the family in state l of suppressed excitement; the very t air tinged with it. Hallies cheeks were stained with dark color and 3 Aunt Elm had lost the strained ex- a precision she had worn all these . days.
 s They said good-by next morning p on the gritty platform. Fergus had . Dickie in his arms. Alice was cling e ing to Nora's hand Fran frankly n wiped away the tears as she kissed ,, her mother = good-by; but hel s mothers voice did not falter.
 Frances said rapidly, Don't bt y afraid to take any happiness that icomes your way, Nora. You're a young, you have everything before g you"
 D oh, Fran, l shall miss you so,