Evening star., 1931-06-18
@SEA THE LUCKY LAWRENcES WIZ,
afSM 4 o. KATHLEEN NORRIS E~6V RH
o. KATHLEEN NORRIS

/ stupid party that had preceded them
/ from the dining room.
Come here, Duchess. that's the
| color hair meanl" Lucia said sud-
denly at Calls elbow, also looking down.
,"Ash blonde-and that's real one.
Lookl"
Gail looked, too. Looked down at the
bareheaded. loudly laughing girl q big
raccoon-ccated man was helping into
! q roadster. She recognized the ash
blond hair, the curve Of soft cheek.
It was Ariel.
Gail had a sick moment Of vertigo,
Of terror What she saw, what 1t sig
nifed, where she was and where Ariel
was-eyerything rushed together in
complete Generalization OF mind and
senses.
She remained at the window, still
holding tightly to the sash that she
] had pushed automatically downward
The lights in the black night below
her wheeled and flashed; engines
roared. the cars were gone.
After q while she turned and fol-
lowed the other girls downstairs, not
knowing where she was nor what she
was doing. Always her hands shook
and her lips treInbled.
There had been q rearrangement and
she was next to Van on the drive home.
|
night; the big engines throbbed on
the grade.
When they reached the top of the
long rise Gail spoke for the first time:
Wan, you saw those men and the
two girls-the ones who were making
60 much noise?"
Didn't notice 'em specially. why9"
Van shouted.
"Oh, nothing!" And Gail, actually
writhing, saying the soundless words Of
prayers with trembling lips, added no
more. But her soul was sick. She
needed sympathy, needed it desper-
ately. She needed help, advice. But
she could not get 1t here. It was like
horrible dream. She was miles, miles
from home, from Phil and Edith and
security and goodness and help. She
was not even going home now; she was
going back to Far Niente.
"Van, how far are we from homer"
From Los GatoS? Let's SEE"
mo. From Clippersville."
"Oh, Clippersville? Oh! Well, about
about 70 miles"
Seventy miles! They seemed to fall
on her heart like so many separate
blows. Was somebody driving Ariel 70
miles home tonight? What was she
Phil and Edith think she was?
The nightmare went on and on. Van
was happily conversational now, but
that only seemed part of it. Gail was
mad with anxiety, burning with fever.
His words only fretted her. Perhaps
Edith and Phil were securing the town
for Ariel, telephoning Dorothy, tele-
phoning the Lovelacesl And she not
therel It was impossible that IL hours
hafnVa "a
again and know the worst. Hours
hours! They proved to be. the longest
through which she had ever lived.
Vaguely secondary things penetrated
the flaming wall of thought that shut
her in. She realized, alone in her COM
Portable cabin room, that she was not
going to sleep. The clocks hands now
stood. oddly enough, at the half hour
after 3. Darkness outside-so 1t was
night. She was up on Chips ranch,
wakeful In the night. They had gone
to MockerSon's-
Then sne must have fallen asleep,
for she was awakened by the other
girls laughter and voices at 10 and
reused herself, stiff and half sick. She
took a shower in the deserted cabin
and crept down to the main cabin for
breakfast, only anxious to avoid notice,
to secure the earliest possible escape for
home.
This attitude perhaps, the Indifferent
absent mood, was what she might sue
cesSfully have taken all the time. Every
one was nice to- her now; she was sud-
denly one of themselves. Van moved
his place to sit next to her, and even
the naughty Lenore said thoughtfully
as she admiringly studied Calls pale
face, IT simply adore that shadowy,
RuSsiano sort of skinl"
They were all going up to San Mateo,
for 1t appeared that Van was to take
the place Of a missing polo player.
Every one was very much excited about
the game. It would all have been
smooth sailing today. But she was In
fever to get home. Vans arguments,
his pleading fell on deaf ears.
Come on, be a sportI Well leave
the club the minute the game is over"
Van said persuasively, looking very
handsome in his loose hannelS, with his
burned face, Indian brown, by contrast.
"I'n have you home by O'clock"
| I've got to send some one over for
some things" his aunt added hospit-
ably. Il can send a message to your
sister"
It'll go with whomever you sendl"
She leaped at the chance. She could
hear nothing else-thin k of nothing
else-but home.
In the end she had her way and was
established in the roomy, empty back
Of the big closed car, with Mason and
Annie in the front seat. Van saw her
of reproachfully.
why don't you stay and swim, any