Evening star., 1936-08-01

A T THAT exact moment Patsy
~ was talking on the telephone
~ to Richard, who had an hour
n ago returned to Annapolis
from California, where he had gone
to arrange for the national distribu-
ton of Admiral Benson's motion pic
lures made in the Antarctic. That was
why her line had been busy when Lee
had tried to get her. She was saying,
In a remarkably steady little voice:
"Of course, Richard-I will marry
you. Aren't two years of waiting long
enough to convince you that I mean
it?"
Richard was answering, eXcitedly:
1T think I told you in letter from
the South Pole that wouldn't argue
this time, dearest. What-what Gay
shall 1t be? ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS"
"Oh, not that soon, Richard! But
how about the 15th!-thats six days
from now! You see, the 18th ought to
be a good marrying day for the War
fields! Marcia and Dr. Proctor eloped
on the 18th of May, and Ted and Mary
Jane Carroll were married at the
Chapel on the 18th Of June.
"Oh. my no, Richard, Ted and Vir-
ginia Keith broke off before you sailed
for the South Pole, though we didn't
know 1t for weeks afterward. Vir-
ginia'S in Paris. She remarked that
rich old husband Of hers. 1t seems
he had detectives following her and
found enough evidence on her to JUS
tify discontinuing the alimony. so
suppose he had to remarry him In
order to save her income"
Her voice broke off suddenly and
she said, with bitter little sob that
Richard missed completely-"Oh,
Richard-I can't wait to see you.
Come on over now!"
Richards laugh held relief. He
said, quickly: Patsy, thought you
were never going to say you wanted
to see me! Be right over!"
Then he hung up and Patsy stood
there in the hall with tears stream
ing down her soft pale cheeks. The
storm was gaining in volume now.
Lightning flashed. Somewhere close
by an old oak was split in two and
fell to the ground. Shutters ratified
like the dried bones of all the dead
in the world. But Patsy heard
nothing.
The storm ragged on for over an hour
and still failed to reach its destruc-
tive peak. Grandfather and Tippy,
Patsy and Richard sat in the library
waiting for the end of the tumult.
All Of the lights were out because
grandfather was old-fashioned enough
to believe that any current would draw
the lightning like a magnet. Old
Ephraim had fixed mint juleps and
was passing them around on silver
tray when, suddenly, there was q
crack over their heads like the pre-
lude to the ending of the world, fol-
lowed by burst Of flame visible from
the library windows.
For one split second no one could
believe that the flames licking 10 to
the dark sky came from Tree Tops.
The old house hadn't been struck by
lightning in $50 years. But in the
next minute Patsy was calling the fire
department, old Ephraim and Tippy
were calling the field servants in from
their cabins and ordering them to
bring buckets of water from the barn.
Richard was turning the fragile spray
of the garden hose on the highest
flames. Grandfather, suddenly feeble
| when action was necessary, climbed
upstairs against the warning shrieks
of the others who came numbering
back with the Oil portrait of his be-
loved wife under his arm.
Presently the huge fire bell Of An
napolis was resounding over the coun-
tryside. Volunteer fire departments
from small neighboring towns were
coming in trucks filled with young
men from the first families of Mary
land to fight the blaze
Tree Tops was an Annapolis ira
dition. If it fell, dreams and fancies
and picturesque musings would fall
and hoop skirts, lovely romantic
ghosts in satin breeches and buckled
shoes would fade forever and some
thing very beautiful and poignant
would be lost to all those who could
never remember a time when Tree
Tops hadn't stood spacious and white
and serene overlooking the Severn
Despite all the effort, the left wing
was giving way, the crumbling of
beams and bricks challenging the roar
above that split the clouds. Patsy,
her hands and lips icy with fear, stood
with a little knot of neighboring
women on the dawn. Tree Tops
couldn't burn, she kept telling her
self-it couldnt-it couldn't!
But it was burning and Tippy and
old Ephraim and Richard were trying
now to save some of the furniture and
the paintings and an old uniform
that the admiral treasured When
Patsy made a move to follow them
into the blazing house Richard barked
out at her:
"Stay where you are! Farther back,
Patsy! Sparks are fying!"
But when Richard disappeared in
tho house PATSY ierked awav from q