Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1933-05-12
Ninth Installment

and slowed away her w S%uItcaSeS.
The bank teller at the bank
greeted her with a friendly smile.
Good morning, Mrs. Packard. Say,
+has was sorle little tumble you
took, How do you feel after i1?'
"Oh, I'm all right" replied Joy
ce hastily, She pushed her check in
at him and STOOD on tiptoe with
breathless i1npatience while he de-
Iiberately counted out the money.
Then she seized it, thanked him
abruptly and almost ran out to the
car again.
When they woe well OUT of the
town, humming swiftly alcns the
smooth roads, Joyce felt he; ner-
vous fear evaporate under the
stimulus of an irrrstibly mounting
spirit of adventure, This was go
ing to be fun, she reflected happily.
They reached San Francisco "a
bout O and Joyce parted from
Sam with mingled feelings of relief
and regret. As o as she was in
stalled in her clean little room at
the big Y. w. c.. A. building she
proceeded Immediately to carry out
her plan of action.
The days passed rapidly. In the
mornings Joyce went out for her
instructions in driving a car. In
these drives, much to her surprise,
she had little trouble in learning to
handle a machine.
She spent the afternoons riding
in beautiful golden gate park. Her
first timidity vanishing very quick
ly she made gratifying progress and
every day looked forward to her
ride with greater pleasure.
One day she overheard some girls
in the Y. w. cafeteria talking a
bout the Chinese restaurants, and,
her interest aroused, she set out to
explore these exotic places.
One evening she went there for
dinner, pleasantly weary after a
day of riding and driving the car.
Dreamy and %contended, she pre-
sently wandered out of the restaur-
ant, % realize a moment later that
she had left her book On the table.
She retraced her steps.
A mar was sitting at the table
she had occupied, and she was dis
concerted to find that he had pick
ed up her book.
'I say, is this yous?" He was on
his feet in an instant. please sit
down. l want to talk to you a
bout it. This is really very extra
ordinary"
Joyce sat down, her embarrass-
ment vanishing. She felt at home
with this man, as if she already
knew him we'll enough to be casual
about the meeting. Why should
she feel that with a man she'd new
er seen before? He grinned at her
with such informal friendliness
that Joyce thought he must, surely,
be a friend of Frills Packard. And
yet-and yet-he was SO unlike the
Manzanita men! She stared at him,
frankly curious.
He was much taller and looked
almost as young as Neil. She guess
ed his age as about thirty-one or
TWO. A splendid physique undoubt-
eddy, with wide shoulders and
strong arms. AS for his face, the
details of it impressed themselves
on Joyce SO strongly in the first
few minutes of their meeting that
she felt she would never lose the
picture.
Pm afraid I'm not altruistic
enough to give the book to you,"
laughed Joyce, Robert Ainsworth
is one of my favorite authors, and
I've wanted get hold Of this book
for years, but never could. It's out
OF print, YOU know"
The little Chinese waitress, sub
thy smiling, approached. Some
tea?" she asked.
Joyce rose hastily. "No, no, I
must go"
"Then I'll go with you," he said
at once, thrusting a bill in the hand
of the little Chinese girl, and fol-
lowing Joyce, who was a little be-
wildered but glowing with pleas
ure.
They walked for over an hour,
and Joyce discovered that her new
frined had read nearly every book
that had been written, and that his
enthusiasts were largely hers. He
agreed eagerly with her opinions of
Robert Ainsworth, whom, he said,
he "revered above all other mod
ems He praised Ainsworth so
lavlshly in fact, that Joyce had a
sudden sense that he was making