The Washington times., 1931-02-28
NOw Go On With the Story

that.
Lorrimer nodded.
Mothers Suggestion
"I-do admit it. That boys
dead" he told her wearily.
Now, if-if you're sure she
wants to see me, I'll come down.
stairs"
why don't you go out and
look for her?" his mother sug-
gested, trying to control the
nervous unevenness Of her
voice. She's somewhere on the
grounds"
"All right"
His mother bent over him
and kissed his cheek lightly.
Il know it's terribly hard for
you, Travers," she told him,
low. .
Lorrimer, after che had left
him, looked for and found a
top coat and cap. He moved
reluctantly. His heart ham,
mered in his throat. He was
realizing that, no matter what
had been his long dreams, his
sense of infinite loss and beWll-
derment, his hours upon hours
of speculation-where was she?
What had become of her? Did
she live or had she, incredibly,
died? Did she still care or had
she forgotten? The girl he was
going out to meet that sunny,
blue.gold day was, as his mother
had said, a complete stranger to
him. Yet she was his wife!
He went downstairs encoun-
tering no one, stopped in the
hall to look in the coat closet
for a stick, and went on out.
He walked, sometimes, when
the burden of his thoughts grew
so heavy as to be unendurable,
walked abstractedly, sometimes
alone, sometimes with his
mother, about the beautiful
place which was familiar to him
since childhood. But he walked
unseeingly. At first, when he
returned home, he had been
physically i'll, unable to leave
his room. Later, as he recoV'
cred, he kept to himself as
much as possible. He remem-
bered now, suddenly, the up.
roarious greeting of a dog he'd
had and cared for, grown to Sc
date doghood since his depar-
ture, but with a tenacious mem
ory of his old playmate, reme1n-
bered his shrinking from the
animal his shattered nerves
shrieking against the noisy in
trusion upon his silence and soil
tude, remembered the way the
dog had looked at him before 1t
lad skunk away. Well, Reddie
was dead now. but there were
other dogs in the kennels, kept
carefully away from the house
because their barking and leap
ing friendliness might disturb
him.
At the Kennels
He hated himself for it, but
he couldn't help it.
But it was at the kennels he
found her.
Coming out of the long
stretch of woods finally she had
found herself there, little
dazzled by the full sunlight
after the brown-green gloom.
Half a dozen dogs raced about
the wide runways-a setter, two
Scotties, a cocker with silky
trailing ears. and two police
puppies. Mary Lou stopped and
pressed herself close to the wire
fencing. She spoke coaxingly
to the animals and was reward
ed by cold noses pushing
through the wires to nuzzle her
bare hand. If someone were in
charge of them, she thought,
who would let her take one out
for a run. She loved dogs and
hadn't had one of her own for
many years.
She heard a step behind her;
thought it that of the gardener
she had seen early in her wan
derings, or perhaps whoever
was looking after the dogs.
They're darlings," cried Mary
Lou-"could-could they come
out and speak to me?"
They are yours, to choose
from" a voice replied quite
quietly.
She whirled around and played
her part better than she knew,
for. taken by surprise, the color
left her face and then returned
in a bright crimson flood. tint
ing even her throat and the
tips of her little ears.
"Oh, how you startled mel"
we're the first words she spoke
to him.
LorTimer came closer TO her
and, somehow, managed a smile.
Il didn't mean to-" he said.
II hope I'm all done with
startling you. You must for