The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1934-11-24

taken your mothers picture down
from the wall, Susan. You needn't
have done that. Il you'd asked for
i, I'd have given It TO you" Her
chins quivered % II Susan had hurt
her feelings. They seemed to b
much more sensitive than the rest
Of her face, - II they had . sepa.
rata life Of their own.
Il was afraid my father would
get the picture. and ] didn't want II
In Nrs. Hopper's house." Susan
said bluntly. She had taken Il down
from the wall and put it in the
bottom Of her trunk that morning,
thinking that neither Of her aunts
would notice Or care what had b.
come Of IL
e WAS dark when she reached the
Cullens' and somewhere along the
street WAS the appetizing odof Of
ham frying. But the white house
was dark from cellar 70 attic and
when Susan rang the doorbell there
WAS no answer. Only the sound Of
the bell itself @ il buxzed In the
kitchen.
She went On down the street q
Uncle Arthur's store. Sometimes
Aunt Nell slipped out TO get some
forgotten item for . meal from the
store, and she was probably thero
now taking down . jar OF bottls
from . shelf or asking Mr.. Jen.
nin4s, the butcher, to wrap up eight
veal outlets for her and 70 please b
quick about It.
But when Susan entered the
store no one WAS in It but Mr.. Jen-
nings himself. sitting behind the
delicatessen counter. reading tho
evening paper.
sMr. Cullen's been gone since
four o'clock" ho told Susan. "Ho
and Mrs. Cullen went down % the
commission house 70 zee some pink
grapefruit that had just come n
down there. Shaddock. It's called
He cooked IN eye ct the clock. "They
ought % b home soon. Been gone
nearly two hours.s
He leaned forward In his chair
and picked IN apple from . crate
that stood on the door near him.
sHow about . nice applet" he asked,
and held Il out 10 her. sDon't you
want 70 cit down and waltz"
~No, thanks. But viii you please
tell them was here?"
Susan was only . few yards from
the store when Z street car stopped
at the corner % drop two Of it, pas.
ssngers. A slender girl In . red
hat and fur coat and . tall broad
shouldered young man who seemed
TO tower above her ~ they started
mp the street side By side.
Instantly Susan recognized them
Mary Cullen and Allen. Their
heads were turned toward each
other. and 4ary's scarlet hat Was
like . live coal IN the glow Of :
street lamp that they passed under
|as they came along. Susan could
hear their voices through the still
cold aiI. She could hear Aliens
laugh.
Moving like . breath she crossed
the street and watched them from
the shadow Of . tree. They went
very slowly, and Il seemed IN are
before she heard the opening aud
closing Of the Cullen's front door.
A light flashed out from the win.
dows Of the living room. Not until
then did Susan move 3.
She never remembered her walk
home that night. But presently she
was there. walking past the iron
stag In the front yard and going up
tho stone steps.
After dinner she went upstairs
and finished packing her trunk. Her
books and her desk set, the six dot.
ted muslin dresses that had been
her entire wardrobe last summer.
her undertakings Ill hemmed 81
hands, her one evening gown. the
blue flannel dress that she had worn
the first time she saw Allen, the VIC.
let toilet water whose scent remind.
% her Of the cheap little bunch Of
violets that hs had bought her q
the library steps three weeks before.
And when she had put everything
IN and had locked the trunk IA
went ont into the carpetless hall and
stood for . moment looking into the
room that had belonged to him. IN
the mirror above the dresser she
could see her own figure silhouetted
against the light IN the hall.
Ito b Continued)
osssishe 1851. = Eins sssass sy.dses.. Inc