The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1936-01-18
Chapter 80
RUNAWAY

Chapter 80
RUNAWAY
THERE were several noteworthy
features about the town of Car
teret.
First, of course. was the way In
which the town had held its rustic
integrity against the onslaugbts of
state highways.
Then there was that statue In the
square - noteworthy because very
few towns had their own private
heroes: usually there was statue
of q Civil War soldier; or Minute
Man. or a World War veteran. that
symbolized Heroism as a whole.
And again, a person sensitive to
those things might be able to assimi-
late the spirit Of bugle calls. march
ing men. families burying their sill
yer In mint beds as the guns Of the
invader drew near, and snowy-polled
slaves leading fine saddle-horses up
ito porticos of an early morning-all
those things. in short. that exuded
from the fine old houses and colonial
gardens in and around the town.
Conceivable. indeed. that a person
might come here on impulse and re.
main to think. to wonder. to dream.
and forget for the moment an out
side world that seemed to be going
around in circles.
It had been impulse that started
Allaire of that night-the impulse
Of a girl who couldn't possibly have
sat at one of her mothers lengthy
state dinners like the torpid Trigger
Fish Of the Arundel Bar.
Not that she Fnew where she was
going. but she wanted to be on her
way with the hum of a powerful mo-
tor at the top of her shoe and the
rush Of wind past her ears. 1t wasn't
until she had worn of the first edge
of her speed that she had her idea
Drop over to Carteret sometime,
he had invited ironically. and take q
look at a new marker In the church.
yard. It said something about, "The
storm Is over now"
In the swift flow OF anger he had
intimated that her evening on the
docks had an association with a new
marker In a Virginia churchyard.
Feminine curiosity did the trick:
she turned her wheel for Carteret
and the next morning she had In.
vestigated markers under the kindly
guide of an old minister who intro
duced himself as Doctor Ross.
He was a venerable. kindly man
with faded blue eyes behind pince-
neZ.
"The storm is over now. The stars
are out and the night wind is fresh
and sweet" Lawrence Willett?
Lawrence Willett?" she repeated.
"Was he Terry's father?"
The minister looked at her with
sudden interest; Terence Willett
knocking around footloose would
seem to have made the acquaintance
OF very attractive girl.
eyes," he said. HE died recently
Of fever down in South America
where he was working on an engi-
neering project Terence brought
him back home"
at was his father then" she muir
INJURED. 81 don't understand. but D
~i'h-rd 'h FoEP;" ~ 9oGliu1
"VIIHY?,, asked old Doctor Ross
w curiddsly. watching this grand,
ly alive young person as she stood
among those who had departed.
TERRY came to see me. I wasn't
very nice to him, Doctor Ross"
I'm sorry to hear that" he said
gravely. Terence needed sympathy
when he left here. Not routine words
but stimulating and inspiring under
standing. He loved his father and
yet he felt that he had been failure
as son. Why. don't know"
She was silent for a moment. She
still didn't see how she was asso.
ciated with the death Of Terry's
father.
Wouldn't you care to tell me
about it?" he invited gently. Come
on up to the house and tell me about
Terry"
For some strange reason she felt
she would like to tell his gentle old
man all about It. She had an uneasy
feeling that she had made one OF
those silly. inane gestures she de-
tested. SO she accompanied him up
on the wide shady verandah OF a
house gnarled with ivy and latticed
haneuCraHIa