Nogales international., 1935-04-27

father !. GO ON WITH THE STORY:
Your father was. away when l
made my discovery. He'd been
away for several weeks On some
thing that he called 4 big deal !
was expecting him home the very
night that / saw the doctor, and
l piauaed 10 tell him all about you.
at once. So / sat in the garden and
= waited for him, and watched for
his train And finally saw 1.-THE
: train that should have brought him
: to ue-sweep across the valley be-
low the house. l saw it stop at the
station, and l saw it go on again.
And I waited, with my soul full
of the news I had to tell waited
to give him the tidings of his son
(for l thought. darling, that you
were going to be a boyD but he
didn't come, although | waited all
Of that night. And the next
day, when | got the message that
told me he wasn't coming back,
ever, went upstairs. and into my.
room and locked the door And l
sat down and began to knit a blue
s"eater for you. And 3ehistled.
, hard, as l knitted | haven't
whistled. since - and l certainly
never .whistIed before, Ellen! That's
why, / guess, you were a girl. 8.
A boy wouldn't have had any use
for a mother who whistled so badly.
A boy"
An at once Ellen's mother had
stopped talking. Her voice had
dwindleA away into a funny, tragic
silence. And Ellen saw her face go
oddly white. felt her hand go chill
and iiinr >
It vas then that Ellen, starting
to zee feet. saw her mothers head
saF. forward.
"1'm going for the doctor" she
. hall sobbed. Your chest . Is it
year heart, darling? Is it,
ENen's mother had rallied. Her
sraiIe was less wan than it had
be, n.
"sIy heart?" questioned Elien's
mother. "Oh - nonsense! Indiges-
tion, no doubt. Something /" even
then she managed trife of gayety,
something | ate as child, no
doubt! I'm quite well. now. &. ="
1t didn't occur to Ellen in the
weeks that passed, to ask her
mother for the details Of what had
happened to her father. In her
mind she had a vivid impression Of
some major calamity-of train
wreck or an automobile disaster
Only a calamity could have kept
her father from her mother at such
a time, she was sure!
And then, perhaps a month later
the special delivery letter arrived
1t was the boy from the post
Office who brought the letter. Be-
cause her mother was at work she
had signed for it, and dismissed the
boy. before she spoke to the wo-
, man who painted SO absorbedly.
ITS a letter." she said, "a spe-
cial delivery for you guess it's
about the drawing you sent away
last week. We were expecting some
word"
With a start her mother came
back from the land OF her own
creation, to reality. With listless
hands she took the envelope from
her daughter, and slit it open. Ellen
watched her mother idly - so idly
that at first she could scarcely be-
lieve what her eyes were seeing!
For, as she stood watching, she
saw her mother change completely
and dreadfully. More dreadfully
than she had changed on that other
day. weeks before. In minute she
saw lovely, white-haired woman
become broken, shriyeled. parch-
ment-cheeked figure
You're i'll" Ellen cried. as she
started forward. "Was there bad
news in the letter? You're upset"
But when the answer came it
wasn't an answer. For Ellen's
Isotner, her hand again pressed to
her breast, was rising. And as she
rose to her feet, she was looking
beyond Ellen. She swayed slightly
-.-and then, as if she couldn't help
i, s!se sat down again. But her
y3ice was steady, though toneless,
when she spoke.
ITS that indigestion. l guess"
she said, gaspingly. And then
Br:nT ne my check book, dear.
r. E..tcn didn't speak. She senscd a
desperation il. that toneless voice,
iced cs hurry. Turning. she ran
irio the !;oake. scampered to the