The Washington times., 1935-12-14

I won't have it on my head
rain!"
He turned and strode back into
the bedroom, slamming the door
shut behind him.
The red hat and the gay scar.
let raincoat slid out of AIMS
hands and lay in a shimmering
little heap on the polished floor.
She stepped around them and
walked slowly toward the blue
sofa. She walked unsteadily as
one does who is very i'll and not at
all sure of himself; she touched
things as she went past them,
leaned on them for a moment as
though glad Of their frail and
temporary support. When she
reached the sofa, she sat down in
one corner Of it. She sat very
still, one hand clenched Whitley
against the bruised red Of her
mouth. She was breathing hard
as If she had been running long
way; as if at any moment those
long, hard breathS would break in
her throat and become sobs; dry,
hard audible sobs. But they didn't.
She just sat there. Terribly still.
And after a little Kipp came out
Of the bedroom. He was wearing
q topcoat and his hat and he had
his bags. He stopped for a moment
and looked at her. From where
he stood all he could see was the
top of her dark head, and one
shoulder and her arm lying along
the arm Of the sofa. He couldn't
see her face. # he could have
seen her face, he would have
thrown down the pigskin bags and
marched across the room and
taken her in his arms; her would
have pulled her clenched hands
away from her mouth and kissed
1t until it was bruised with love
instead of with anguish. He would
have said: "Ann, what's the matter
with us anyway? This can't have
have happened. We couldn't have
said those things to each other. 80.
and if we did, we didn't mean
them. -"
But he couldn't see her face or
her clenched hand or the red
bruise that was her mouth. He
waited a moment; waited almost
without breathing and Ann did
not turn her head, did not speak
to him. So he walked the rest OF
the way across the room and
opened the door and went out,
closing it noiSelessly behind him.
Kipp looked at his watch. 1t
was a quarter to 2. Comparative
quiet had descended at last upon
the ship which had sailed with a
great deal of noise and Shrill con-
fusion and shrieked goob-b by>at one
minute past midnight. For an
hour now he had had the boat
deck to himself ..
For nearly two hours now he
had known that he was going to
sail without seeing Ann again.
He had telephoned the apartment
at 7:30 from the Yale Club. He
had telephoned again at 8. And
again at $3.50. Between then and
11:15 he had telephoned every is
minutes. At 1880 he had tried
to get Carlotta and at no time
had he succeeded in getting any
one.
Now it was a quarter to 2 and
the boat had sailed and he was
alone on dark, quiet deck.
For some time now he had been
tramping aimlesSly up and down,
smoking endless cigarettes, paus-
ing now and then to lean on the
rail and stare with bleak, unsee-
ing eyes into churning, black
water. But you couldn't keep this
up indefinitely. Sooner or later
you had to go to bed. even when
you knew you couldn't sleep. Even
when the mere thought of trying
was intolerable.
He flung a half-Smoked cigar
cite over the side of the ship,
turned on his heel and walked
toward his cabin.
Immediately he opened the door
he was aware of a mingled smell
of carnations and cigarette smoke
he closed the door with his
shoulder and jerked his hand
toward the electric light switch.
Francine Sayre lay quite still on
the bed and smiled at him.
Hello, darling, it's about time you
showed up. I've been waiting
hours for you"
CHAPTER 80
Kipp's eyes took her in slowly
from head to foot. her white
dinner dress, the dark, red curve
Of her mouth. the sheen of her
honey-colored hair, the sheen of
her gardenia-soft skin. and he
said: What are you doing in my
cabin, FFancine? Don't you know