Evening star., 1935-10-01
FEATHER FEATHER
INHERHkT
b1 JULIE ANNE MOORE
given a decent interval of grace before

given decent interval Of grace before
saying yes"
When they were riding back to
washington Rita found herself seri-
ously speculating on the possibility
that Carl meant more to her than
she had let herself believe. and In an
unguarded moment-hardly aware OF
what she was doing-she dropped her
head on Carl's shoulder and said,
softly, You're nice, Carl >. You're
the sort of mans man a girl would
fight for"
1t all happened so quickly that the
first Rita knew the car was motion
less at the side Of the highway and
she was being gently crushed in arms
so powerful that resistance was use
less. Startled and little fright
ened by the unexpectedness and vio-
lence of his impetuous embrace. Rita
strained against him. But when his
lips were pressed to her own and
his hot breath beat against her face
she felt as If all the strength OF her
body had gone out Of her and she
lay limp and unresisting In his arms.
Rita ."
Her eyes were closed, but her lips
moved, soundlessly.
You do love me, don't you?"
She opened her eyes then and. be-
cause it seemed the right and natural
thing to do, and the thing she wanted
to do, she slid her hands along his
arms and over his shoulders and
slowly drew his face down to hers.
Both Mollie and Ann were In bed
when Rita came in, but Ann was
awake and asked, why don't you
turn the light on, Rita? You can't
see to undress in the dark"
But Rita was thankful for the dark
ness, thankful that Ann could not see
the high flush Of her cheeks.
I'm getting along splendidly,
thanks" she said. How did you and
Mollie find everything at Runbreck-
er's?"
About as you'd expect, I imagine"
Ann replied without intentional NAL
ice. "The Senator's suffering from
bad conscience over Deane-and Sci
mas grieving her heart out about
Carl" Rita said nothing to this and
after a moment Ann asked, why
don't you be a good egg and let her
have him, Rita? II you loved him
it would be different matter"
"You couldn't, I suppose, be wrong
about that?"
AIMS eyes strained through the
darkness, seeing nothing. why. yes,
I could be-" she conceded. Am II"
Out of a newborn conviction, Rita
said quietly, I'm afraid you are,
darling" But she had no intention
of amplyfying this-it was all too
new and thrilling to be subjected to
prosaic discussion. Whats all this
about Senator Runbrecker's con-
science? You don't think he killed
both his secretary and his own son?"
you're not serious, of course" Ann
said after a moments silence. but
if you want plain answer l am not
thinking"
Rita sat on the edge Of the bed and
kicked of her shoes. Sometimes We
think whether we want to or not. But
still don't know where the Senator
comes in"
Selma says he and Deane never
got along as we'll as they might have"
Ann told her. And they had a hot
battle the day before we went to
Boston. Deane was pretty insolent. I
gathered, and he finally had to leave
the house when the Senator flew into
a rage and practically threatened to
take him apart. The next time his
father saw him he was a corpse. You
can imagine what that is doing to
the Senator"
Casually, Rita said, "You know,
there's a possibility the police ought
not to overlook. The Senator always
seemed to me a nice sort. but you
never can tell"
The morning papers told Of Lees
failure to break the transcontinental
speed record, but before Ann saw
paper she had the news direct from
Lee himself. His wire was delivered
while they were having breakfast and
she read it aloud:
Motor trouble prevented breaking
record. Heart trouble responsible for
fact I didn't care whether did or
not. Mother disappointed you not
with me. Just told her would make
good next time. love you. I love