Carolina watchman., 1936-04-17

~ 2Ss
els that you, Jerry?" she asked.
lips to the woman's cheek.
'When did you get back from
Chicago?"
To-day. This afternoon
'tFIave good trip?"
| eyes. They liked my drawings
and gave me some more work. I
got a new story to illustrate, too.
Butt was all broken up over the
murder, of course! l left here the
next morning, you remember? l
didn't hear of it until that after
noon-then just the bare account.
Gee! 1t was shock. l felt as if
ought to get on the train and
come right back. l wanted to be
here for the funeral, too, butt
couldn't get my money in time and
I didn't dare try to borrow from
that EDITOR
Mrs. Holmes smiled family, al
most sneeringly. "The funeral
went off all right without you.
"Ycu don't understand how felt
towards Mr.. Ethridge. You never
liked him, after what he did for me,
but did, for he gave me my start;
made it possible for me to have
career. Not many rich men would
interest themselves in a ragged, OBJ
scure young"
''In the son of goose woman!' %
Mrs. Holmes broke in. ''Of course
you read the papers and saw what
they called me?"
Gerald flushed. eyes. Yes, I
rcad-everyt',;ng.'
| "The rotters. Well, you're not
ragged now, are you?" Mrs. Holmes
stared at her son, and in her gaze,
oddly enough, there were both pride
and resentment. As an artist she
hated Gerald, as man she-well,
he was her son, blood of her blood.
What she beheld was a handsome
youth-a boy of sufficient good
looks and charm of maner to warm
any mothers heart. Gerald's face
was frank and sunny; it was un-
usually expressive, too, but cur
tanned with that veil of conscious
repression common to supersensltive
people; it was the eager, dreamy
face of an artist, writer, musi-
clan. The boys faults and his
weakness, Mary Holmes we'll knew,
were the faults and the weaknesses
of most dreamers.
She had never dared to analyze
very closely her feelings for this
child of hers-it is doubtful if she
would have succeeded very well had
she tried-for ever since she had
nursed him at her breast he had
reused within her emotions that vio-
lently clased. There were times
when he filled her with a great
satisfaction, a sublime contentment,
then again times when She hated
him fiercely-yes, hated him. There
were occasions when she lavished
upon him a sort of savage affection
these occasions were rare, by the
way-and again occasions when she
treated him with cruelty that was
positively feline. Nearly always,
however, her feelings were mixed
and he excited that distressing war
fare within her bosom. He was at
once her comfort and her torture,
her blessing and her bane.
Gee. 1t gave me fright to
realize thar hadn't been gone from
here for half an hour-an hour at
most-when it happened" Gerald
went on. ''Why I might have been
involved in it,
''You? Nonsense. Whoever
killed Ethridge drove up in an auto
movie and left it standing in that
pine grove across from the lane. l
saw the tracks the next morning.
Young Holmes started: he eyed his
mother apnrehensively. ''By the
way, you must have met Mr.. Eth
ridge on your way back to town?''
s'N-no."
'You must have met him. You
couldn't have had time to walk to
the end of the street-car-line before
he came along. 1t didn't seem to
me you'd been gone ten minutes
when l heard his car pass and then
the shots. Of course, it was longer
than that