Evening star., 1936-07-11
2!
= ~ UhpE!!H MOORE GALLAGHER - rs

plCal, WOulQ READ tnAC I1ppy nau
been with Virginia Keith. She knew
that Ted would know then that it had
been Virginia's hpstick on Tippy's
cheek that night on the balcony. And
she knew, too, that Ted would never
forgive Tippy.
She flung herself on the sofa and
buried her golden head In her arms
and sobbed softly into the pillows.
Ted warf.eld's room at the Naval
Hospital was oblong and bleakly
white. In the 10 days that he had
been there he had grown to despise
the tall narrow iron bed, the smell
of antiseptic and iodoform, the grue-
some hushed silence that Is IS in
digenous to a hospital as ether.
Because he was not permitted to
read, he spent most of his time
when visitors were not allowed, sniff
fing contemptuously at the odors that
waited around him, listening for
sounds to break the monotony and
thinking about Virginia Keith.
1t was not pleasant to think of vir-
ginia and he tried not to. He forced
his mind to dwell on foot ball, the
prospects of being transferred to
Guatemala when the gridiron season
ended-trivial things like q green tie
he sometimes wore with "cits," o book
on mechanical devices he wanted to
buy and q cocktail called "Noble Ex-
pertinent" which he had once drunk
at the Harvard Club. He tried re-
membering the ingredients that the
headwaiter had given him.
But no matter where his thoughts
wandered they always came back
to Virginia. And thinking Of her was
not pleasant when the very night he
had been brought into the hospital
Tippy had gone to her apartment and
she had let him stay.
He supposed he would never have
known If some one hadn't tried to
murder Kitty Cavendish-if he hadn't
seen the headlines of the newspaper
when his nurse had gone out to pre-
pare his dinner. Somehow, with his
tightly bandaged back almost killing
him with the slightest movement, he
had managed to get his hands on that
paper.
A swift picture plunged through his
mind now. Tippy and Virginia stand
ing outside his door at the hospital,
Virginia with yellow chrysanthemums
in her arms, concerned little smile
on her lips as If his recovery was the
most vital thing in her life; Tippy,
q bit at the waist and yet
losing nothing of his grace by It, be-
cause he was SO superbly built; Tippy
solicitiously carrying Virginia's coat,
whispering into her ear while his ad-
miring eyes trailed the figure Of
beautiful Navy nurse down the cor
ridor. Saw it all Just as clearly as II
they stood there now, as If he were
shouting to his nurse: shut that
doorl Shut that door! Damn 1t all
can't you understand anything! I
don't want to see themr" The nurse
had closed the door In their faces, had
leaned back against it, puzzled and
wide-eyed. But, Mr.. Warfleld-rm
sure you can't mean that you don't
want to see your brother!" She had
stressed your brother-had stood wait.
ing as II he had made some grave mis-
take and that presently he would tell
her to open the door and let them in.
But he hadn't. He had closed his
eyes, his whole aching body tense.
He had said:
II never want to see themi Re-
member that! If I'm here q week, q
month, q year-remember thatl"
Alarm had been In her eyes. She
had come over then and had felt his
pulse-it must have been 140-and
had dropped . bromide in q glass
urging him to drink 1t while it still
f1zzed. Silently he had obeyed her
and had drunk the briny liquid. But
deep within him there had been that
wild pounding Of his heart-misery-l
disillusionment.
For 10 days now he had lain there
like that. Tense. Impatient. Ter.
rifically weak. When grandfather
ard Marcia had come during visiting
hours he had heard their voices as II
from vast distance. Only discon-
nected sentences had penetrated his
consciousness I'VE haven't heard
from Patsy" Grandfather tele-
phoned Dmetrieff last night, but
Patsy hadn't been to see him"-"Do
you think It odd she hasn't written,
understand Lees court
martial win be next week."-'Haye
you heard how kitty Cavendish Is |
getting on?"--I wonder II she VIII |
regain consciousness long enough to-
,M who tried to murder her?"-Thel