Evening star., 1934-06-08
CHAPTER XIII.
~HE smart sedan slid to the edge
of the curb on silent wheels

of the curb on silent wheel:
and stopped. So silently that
i the girl, carrying the weeping
child along River street, STOP
ped also, with an involuntary excla-
nation Of surprise.
Before the chauffeur could descend
from behind the wheel the door of the
car had opened, and Rose found her
pathway blocked by quite the most i'm
posing figure she had seen since her
arrival in Catherwood.
Miss Abagail Therrold," Larry Nor
gan had said to her once, will un-
doubtedly be buried with full military
honors-bugler, TAPS" 81 guns and
all! You can't help liking the old girl
at that" he had added thoughtfully
always bearing in mind the fact that
she is Therrold to the bone"
How do you do?" said Miss Abagail
now in her level, unhurried voice
"I've been wanting to meet you. I'm
Harvey's aunt. was just on my way
to your house"
Whether or not this last were true,
she was most certainly there now. Be-
fore Rose could manage anything more
~'~-1A
Abby was walking beside her up the
path to the cottage door, the wide
eyed Kitty trotting in the rear.
The little house was in exquisite or
der within, the lilacs in the low jade
green bowl on the desk filling the Sit
ting room with sweetness.
With the ease of manner of one who
was a frequent visitor to the place
Miss Abby settled herself majeStically
into the brown leather chaise. Nerv-
ously alert, Rose seated herself oppo-
site
I'm sorry, Miss Therrold-" She
rallied a difficult smile. You rather
took me by surprise and some
thing happened to upset me little
while ago
Her caller made the brief, scornful
sound through her ariStocratic nose
that in any one else would have been
an undeniable snort.
BE rather more surprising if you
weren't upset." she said tartly. Then,
abruptly. so this is Harvey's daugh-
ter? How are you. my dear? Won't
you come and shake hands with your
aunt?"
Thankful for the respite, Rose turn
ed toward Kitten, conscious. in spite
of her agitation, of quite JuStiflable
glow of pride in the child's loveliness.
IF you'll excuse me-" Rose said,
"Kitten hasn't had her lunch. .
Can't make you cup of tea?"
There was race in this girl, Miss
Abby reflected. And fight. Miss Abby
was agreeably surprised. She had
acted entirely on impulse in coming
here today. Partly through indigna-
ton at the scene she had just wit
nessed-partly through a determina-
ton to show Barbara that she. Abagail
Therrold, was still mistress of her own
affairs.
What she had expected to see when
she accosted Rose she did not exactly
know Certainly not this shabby. tired
gir, with the white face and troubled
eyes, in which a wary hostility still
lurked when they lifted to meet her
own.
Rose, in her turn, surveyed her
caller between the spoonfuls of cereal
and egg she was feeding Kitten. The
arrogant profile, the same naughty
carriage which distinguished all of the
Therrolds. Grayish skin, gray hair,
gray eyes-above an expensive silk
frock. =.
like that garden in China" Rose
thought suddenly, her memory revert
ing to a strange, fantastic garden she
and Harvey once had fingered to ad-
mire A gray garden. Paths of fine,
gray pebbles, matched tea house
with roof of slate-colored tiles, rising
above thickets of silvery bamboo. A
moonlit garden, without flowers or
color or light. -.
Only Miss Abby's eyebrows were diff
ferent; heavy and black, set in the
still, gray face, like banners flying.
Shed make a fine friend" Rose
thought wistfully, as she encountered
that fiercely indomitable gaze. Her
bark's a lot worse than her bite"
From the first moment there had
been between them none of the in
stinctive wariness women usually dis
play toward one another. 1t seemed
somehow natural and right that Miss
Abby should be sitting there, talking
in her thin, high-bred voice-of the
village, of the beauty of the trees, of
the waning of the Summer =. watch
ing while Rose warmed the earthen-
ware teapot on the stove, measuring a
careful teaspoonful of tea to each cup
before pouring boiling water over the
whole.
I'm supposed to be on rabbit S
diet of lettuce and celery, spinach and
oranges" said the terrible old woman
caustically. "Dr Somers is fool
yet all of us listen to him."
Words. Hanging like a painted
screen between them. Inconsequential
things. Both women, as though by
tacit consent, avoiding the one subject
uppermost in their minds.
Miss Abby, for her part, was enjoy
ing herself thoroughly. Life in Cath
erwood held few enough high lights
for one of her capabilities. When
Barbara heard of this visit, . when
Catherwood heard. Miss Abby S
thin lips twitched.
"It has been long time since I've
watched any one make tea as it should
be made" was her dry comment. us
It one Of the things you learned in
China?"
"One of the things-yes," Rose said
with level, uplifted eyes.
Between these two women that Au-