The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-09-25
CHAPTER TH1RTY-THREE

! WOHh1NG Tor FREDERICK ). STU
w art was not at all like work
ing in Brooks, Welliver and Brooks
law Office. Norma found her new
tasks easier. The letters were never
complicated and there were no diff
ficult, unfamiliar words to spell.
Stuart dictated at rapid-fire speed,
but Norma could transcribe her
notes leisurely. This was fortunate,
because her shorthand was more
accurate than her tipping.
Occasionally her employer asked
her to read a manuscript and tell
him what she thought of it. This
was fun, though Norma never had
any means of knowing what Stuart
thought of her judgment.
She had little means of knowing
what he thought Of anything. He
said little, never spoke Of anything
but business, and seemed an in
defatigable worker.
All sorts of people came to the
office-old men, eager faced young
women, housewives, a youth in a
purple overcoat who announced
himself as a poet; prosperous-look-
ing individuals and others who
seemed impoverished, a playwright
whose dramas were unusually sue
cessful and whom Stuart told Nor
ma was perpetually bitter because
the world would not recognize him
as a novelist.
In spite of herself during the
first week Norma was interested.
She liked to speculate about these
curious people, which ones had
manuscripts that would sell, which
were slaves of the pitiful illusion
of talent.
A GOOD part of the time she had
1 n to herself. Stuart was out of
the Office some times for entire half
days. Then all she had to do was
receive visitors and take messages.
Each morning when she awoke
Norma was grateful for the work
which somehow would fill the hours
until evening. Her days became
exact replicas Of one another.
She arose at 7:30, dressed, righted
her room and boarded downtown
car. She breakfasted at a cafeteria
across the street from the Office,
arrived there at 9 or a little
earlier and sorted the morning mail.
Her lunch hour was from 1870
to 1890. She worked until 5, dined
at an inexpensive restaurant, and
rode back to the rooming house on
the street car.
Occasionally she spent an eve
ming with Chris. Twice Dorothy
joined them and all three went to
motion picture theater. Norma
knew she was not good company for
the others and preferred to be
alone.
She could think of Mark when
she was alone, plan for the glorious
time when he would be back again.
In memory she relived a hundred
happy incidents she and Mark had
known together.
She would estimate the differ
ence in Marlboro time and that in
France and try to imagine what
Mark might be doing at particular
hours.
While she was eating breakfast,
it was well into afternoon wherever
he might be. When she left the
Office at 5 it was late evening for
Mark.
CHE spent hours composing care
~ fully worded letters which she
mailed to his business address.
Scrupulously in these letters she
avoided mention of how she was
spending the time.
She said nothing about Marks
parents, yet gave no hint that she
was not with them. She wrote
Mark that she missed him, that she
was eager to hear all he had been
doing, impatient for his return.
That letters for her had reached
Marks father home she never for
a moment doubted. 1t was harder
for her because she could not re-
ceive those letters and yet she had
brought this on herself.
Because it took so long, for a
message to cross the ocean, she did
not think Mark would consider her
own letters strange or be surprised
if he asked questions that we're not
answered. Everything would be ex-
planned when he came back.
There was one real Joy to look
forward to each day. Norma saved
it until the last moment before she
got into bed.
Then she took the fountain pen
that had been Marks and with very
black strokes crossed off that day
on the calendar. The row Of inky
crosses grew impressively.
Norma discovered that, whereas
she had thought of crosses as bur-
dens the first day she looked at
that calendar, the black marks sig
nified exactly the opposite. They
stood for burdens that had been
dropped. Each day new cross.
Each day bringing Mark nearer
The seven crosses on the calendar
grew to fourteen. If only a letter
would come telling her that in two
weeks Mark would be backl She
could not forget he had said the
four weeks might turn into five.
The fourteen crosses became fif-
teen, sixteen, seventeen. Christ
mas was only a few days away.
Store windows were filed with
Christmas gifts, holly wreaths, fes-
toons of greenery and gay crimson
ribbons.
Tall evergreens, glowing with red,
blue and gold lights dazzled the
army of shoppers. Downtown
streets from early morning until
late at night became avenues of
confusion.
Sidewalks swarmed with tired,
hostile and determined faces peer
ing from behind mountainous
packages. Santa Clauses in cheap
red-Suits jingled their Christmas
bells on street corners and the red
capes OF Salvation Army workers
loomsd bright in the turmoil.
Christmas only few days away.
ChristmaSl
NIORMA found consolation in