Evening star., 1931-06-22
INSTALNTENF XIV.

A RIEL came in, exquisite in pale
~ ness and dishevelment. She sat
~ down Laughing at the end of
4 \ the table where Gail was
working.
my dear, feel my handl I'm ac-
tually co-o-oldl Can you believe it, a
night like this! Van MurchiSon was
waiting for his siSter-for Mrs. PhippS,
you know-outside Dobbins' when
came out. So thought that the least
I could do was stop and tell him that
she'd gone home with the Hunters. So
then we got sort of laughing and he
said he'd bring me home, and when we
were in the car I said I wished We
knew of a cool place nearer than Nome,
Alaska, and he said any place was cool
If you went 10 an hour. We laughed
and screamed at each other all the
way!" she said finishing the story.
Gail knew exactly how; she could
hear the wild laugh. "Oh Ariel, what
fun!" she said warmly.
"Oh, he's darling!"
Ariel was still for perhaps whole
minute, her eyes fixed on space. Then
she said suddenly. "Oh, Gail,
wish" she stopped as suddenly
"Yes, I know. So do II" Gail said
turning scarlet and laughing.
He certainly" said the little sister.
"He certainly pays you-well atten-
tions," she persisted awkwardly, that
would-well, would mean that any other
boy was deity about you If he did it!"
Gail, red-cheeked, her ironing halted,
watched her expectantly, perfectly COM
pretending.
But you-you ought to know"
Ariel said.
"I don't" Gail answered truthfully in
q troubled tone.
IT'S funny, isn't it?" Ariel presently
asked simply.
IT'S awfully funny" Gail agreed.
Ariel said nothing more, presently
drifting from the kitchen. Gail hung
her frock and her scarf carefully on a
hanger, and went slowly upstairs.
II may be engaged to be married
this time tomorrow night" she thought,
when she was in bed reading. There's
. a moment when one isn't and then
Suddenly-one is. That's all there is
to 1t. Girls do get engaged; almost
every girl gets engaged"
She thought of the Fosters and the
Delahantys. Three good, busy. homely
unmarried sisters in each family. Two
in the post Office, two teaching school,
one in the library, one a stenographer.
Calls heart failed her.
Resolutely she resumed her reading.
The story Of an English father and of
a little daughter who died. England
Meadows fenced with hedges and
cathedral spires over oaks. Homing
crows and thatched roofs.
Oh, it would be fun to travel, to go
to England! To see yellow fog clos
ing in over the Thames Embankment.
Sudden rage and resentment shook
her. 1t was not fair that some girls
should travel, go places, do fascinating
things, and that other girls should
drudge away at the library year after
year while hope died and youth faded
and enthusiasmS were spent-like the
Fosters and the Delahantys' enthusiasns
upon church fairs and preserving
fruit.
And it was not fair that her par
ticular prospects should depend upon
a casual Scatter-bra person like
Van. The age-old humiliation of the
waiting woman smote her, and her
cheeks Redeemed.
"If a girls life really does depend
on the chance of mans asking her
to marry him." she reflected, then
what nonsense all this talk is about
character being fate and the fault,
Gear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in
ourSelveSp
I'm not sure" she decided darkly,
.but what Ariel's in the right! Ill
SSG SAAC 6ECo " GOLIOO1I hC4OIC uO1
And the next day she rose unre-
freShed and dissatisfied, and dragged
heavily through her preparations to go
to Los Gatos, as if the prospect were
snvthing but inviting It would have
filled her with ecstasy a year ago:
she felt dull and doubtful about it
now
When Van parked at the gate at 10
O'Clock, Ariel, all helpful sympathy
came out with her
Il wish I were going with you'll"
Ariel said frankly.
We'll. why don't you come" Van
exclaimed.
For one thing, mister, I'm not
aXed!" Ariel reminded him with the
deep boyiSh note of laughter that was
in such odd contrast to her ethereal
beauty.
Oh, nonsense; they like whomever I
bring!" Van said.
Calls laugh was a trif1e constrained;
she wondered If Ariel was thinking,
as she was, that her own first invita-
ton to Far Niente had been slightly
irregular
She had told Ariel a hundred times
that she. Gail, would love to take her
some week end to Los Gatos and in
troduce the younger sister to all its
delights. And she had meant it.
Therefore, Gail hated herself now
for the unwillingness that rose like a
tide in her heart; fear, reluctance,