The Hardin tribune-herald. [volume] (Hardin, Mont.) 1925-1973, 1935-08-02
MISS MURPHY

"
Published by Special Arrangements with The
Chicago Tribune-New York News Syndicate.
Incorporated
Copyright: 1895: By BROOKE HANLoN
IN TWO PARTS-PART TWO
This sort of nonsense she been hun
cry for, too, perhaps. The potatoes
Slid into the hot grease and the pan
clattered to the floor as her hand came
quickly to her lips. .
"Here!" He was off the stool. whats
"Just a little grease burn" Janice
looked down at a livid mark On her
thumb.
Good Lord! Let's see. Well, we'll
fix that all right. Just a moment"
He was gone. He was back with iodine
and an instrument. There. There"
As quickly as that it was done, his fin
gers moving swiftly. 1T won't hurt q
bit now" he said.
THANK you," Janice murmured. 1T
was clumsy of me"
He hadn't moved. He was standing
over her. Certainly, certainly. Lee
Richmond would have eaten him at
sight. Not even looking at him now,
S11C wac ou4C VI UAA0Us
MARY, Mary" he said musingly.
Mrs. Kennedy always says, You're a
Say that"
you're a grand boy" Janice said
obligingly. Was this becoming a STU
alton or was it only that the senseless
burning Of her cheeks made it seem
so?
mot that way, Mary" His voice was
teasing. you're a GRAND boy"
She turned quickly, but not quickly
held. She was %forcefully kissed. She
raised her eyes once and let them drop
but at her glance his arm fell away.
"Oh, good Lord!" he breathed. Good
Lord!" he repeated, and plunged vio-
| lently through the door.
She'd been kissed before, of course,
and on as short an acquaintance. BY
men who'd had a drink too much at
a club dance, by all-conquering sopho-
well meaning fellows in the homes Of
friends. She'd been kissed, but always
as Janice Campo. Never, never had
she been kissed as Mary Murphy, cook
ing a strange mans dinner in his own
kitchen.
It made a difference. Her face was
a little whittier and her lips were set.
She moved about the kitchen more
swiftly, all her memories washed away
! over her. Mary Murphy, she supposed,
would at least have left things ship
shape.
"Everything's ready" she said dis
family from the living DOR doorway.
She had her hat and raincoat on. II
have to go home now. I suppose you
won't mind serving yourself"
I'm damned sorry, you know" He
followed her erect, stiff back through
the house and out into the kitchen.
1T was as much a surprise to me as
| to you. You're so Internally pretty,
you know. Wait, my dear child" She
didn't wait but proceeded evenly on her
way. "Of course you'll go off thinking
I'm the sort of physician who kisses
nurses in hospital corridors and pa
tients behind screens" he lamented.
only it's not true. Please listen to me,
Mary-Miss Murphy. It's not true. I
haven't kissed any one for a year and
a half. That accounts for it, perhaps.
That and the fact that you look like
Il don't know why you bother ia
nice said. And if you'll stand away
from the door I'll go now. My mother
doesn't know where I am-and you'll
find everything ready"
Its because of that look you gave
me that I bother" He rubbed the back
of his head ruefully. "A sock would
have been better"
Its all right" she said listlessly.
the door for her.
Good night"
The rain had stopped and she walked
briskly, the fresh April wind on her
! cheeks. What sort of impulse, she
wondered, had led her to go into the
house in the first place? If only she
hadn't. That mood was collapsed now;
even the tulips were spoiled. She shiv-
cred in the thin coat. hurrying.
She pulled her hat on in the locker
room at MERGERS and studied her face
for a moment in the mirror. The
only significant thing about that eve
ming was that she missed her visits to
the house. Just walking by the house
had given her a set-up feeling which
had often lasted for days. You couldn't
explain a thing like that.
She was tired, that was all. She
was undoubtedly paler, thinner. Per-
haps MERGERS was, after all, wearing
bad here and the mirror wavy. But
in any light she didn't look SO hot.
She shouldered her way disconsolately
out of the press of girls.
She passed Jamison avenue at the
comparatively safe upper end, her head
bent. She walked swiftly through an
other section of the town and home to
the Fremont Arms. 1t was home, after
all. It was clean and cool and May
smelling, with early spring flowers on
the table.
Rita Pryor called, dear" Her mother
came in. "She wants you to make a
fourth at bridge tonight. Why don't
you go? I told her you'd call bacl:.