The Coolidge examiner., 1936-09-18

all. It's his"
"Oh, DEAR" Grandmother muir
INJURED, laughing. You two keep
me in a perfect state of bewilder-
ment. I don't suppose l shall ever
be able to tell whether you are
talking sense or nonsense"
"Tubby's fault" Bryn answered,
thrusting the letter into his pocket.
"Tubby's an awful ass, Grandmoth-
er. You have no idea"
Deborah stood tensely before the
window, hands locked together,
waiting for Bryn to come down
stairs after taking Grandmother up
to bed. Tonight of all nights, Grand
mother had stayed up half an hour
later, and all the time Stuart Gra-
hams letter, filled with all sorts
Of unimaginable possibilities, lay
unopened in Bryn's pocket.
Bryn came in quickly and shut
the door behind him. Deborah broke
away from Madeline's arm. She
took a step toward him. She put
her hand out mutely.
Bryn drew the letter out. He
looked at it. 81 don't like opening
other peoples letters" he said SLOW
ly. 1T might be only an eXtraOrdi-
nary resemblance, Deborah. You've
had it on your mind. you know"
She took it from his hand and
looked at it. The very touch Of the
envelope made her shiver. 'I'm
sure" she said.
Bryn ripped the end off the enve-
lope. and drew out the folded
pages. He glanced at Deborah's
face. "Shall read it. Deborah?' p
She nodded mutely. Bryn
Strengthened the pages and began.
My dear Mrs. Larned:
Naturally I cannot imagine Just
what Deborah had told you regard
ing the failure of our plans in San
Francisco, but I am afraid she may
not have shown me in a kindly
| light.
| 1 suppose it is useless for me to
expect that after hearing Deborah s
| story, whatever 1t was, and after
| this long silence on my part, you
| can have any sympathy for me and
the position in which I now find my
self. But / must ask you to accept
| the explanation which 1 have made
| in regard to my silence in view of
| the fact that I am an enlisted man
| in the navy, completely under the
arbitrary control of any whim of my
| superior officers and subject to the
restrictions Of anyone on board a
| ship out of touch with land and such
| conveniences as mails.
And now for Deborah's story.
| What she has told you, / do not
know, as l mentioned before, but
looking at the matter from her point
| of view, and trying to be just and
| generous, l am forced to the conclu-
sion that whatever she told you must
have been both exaggerated and BIZ
| ased. was very much disturbed
| over the whole business, and spent
all my shore leave when in San
| Francisco trying to find her and ex-
plain, but of course it was an impos-
sibility to do so.
I don't know whether 1t has oc-
| Cured to you, Mrs. Larned, to think
how completely ignorant of the
world and it's ways Deborah is. l
was prepared, of course, for a GER
| tain amount of unsophistication,
knowing to some extent how she had
| been brought up, but I did not real
ize that any girl could possibly, in
| this day and age, have remained so
| entirely unaware of all trends of
modern times. l grant you that it
must have been difficult for her to
| come down alone to meet me, and
| perhaps if had known just how diff
| ficult, If / had realized Deborah's s
state of mind and lack of under
| standing Of modern life as it is lived,
| I should have been able to overcome
her objections and explain away her
difficulties. AS it was, I could do
| nothing. Deborah was in a state of
| frantic terror before l had a chance
to see her at all, and by the time
reached her, she was beyond ordi-
nary reasoning.
Even as it was, 1 might have been
able to overcome Deborah's childish
terrors had it not been for the abso-
lutely unwarranted interference of
some unknown person in the law
yer's Office. Deborah will probably
have mentioned him to you, and
made some satisfactory explanation
as to her conduct. / was certainly
panied and astonished to discover
that she had so little good taste as
to be willing to take up at once with
a stranger. The fact of Mr.. Hol-
worthy's presence was all that rec
onciled me to leaving her. angry as
l was.
The really serious question be-
tween us is that OF your husbands s
will and Deborah's estate. With my
copy of the will l have consulted a
lawyer, and it is his opinion that
under certain circumstances we
might make a fight for the estate
that would ultimately prove success
full. The circumstances are, of course,
marriage between Deborah and
myself which would take place with
| your approval. This, unless there
| are aspects of the case with which
l am not familiar, seems to me to
| be, from your point of view, an abso-
| lutte necessity. / have examined the
| list of securities named in the will
| as the source of your present income,
! and, as you doubtless know only too
well, most of them are completely
| worthless. How you have managed
for the past few years is mystery,
and may possibly explain Deborah S
appearance and obvious lack of ad-
| VantageS. In any case, no mitigation
| of your circumstances may arrive
except through me, and although l
| am deeply hurt and mortified, not to
mention my disappointment and the
general disruption of my plans. l
| am Willing. for the sake Of the