The Durant news. (Durant, Miss.) 1882-1985, 1936-12-03
his wife. his reply would have been

his wife. his reply would have been
an astounded - "Of course"
Presently q repetition Of whistles
and various signals told that It
was not only noon, but q o'clock.
and Vance. without closing his desk,
dropped the blue-edged letter in his
pocket. seized hat and cane and
went out. meeting Kitty Mack In
me passage-way exhaling fresh air
and the excitement Of her lunch
hour.
Better wear your overco~', MI.
Vance" she said with a 81 ma
ternal decision that was the I verse
OF holiness: weather has dropped
a lot since morning, and IT'S windy
besides"
The girl always looked full at her
employer when she spoke, with a
cheerful convincing directness. Yet
today Vance thought there was
something questioning - even pity
ing-in her eyes. and wac for the
moment puzzled.
Not needing the warning about
the coat. he pushed into the crowded
elevator and shot down fourteen sto-
ries to the street, but 1t was not
until he had been elected from the
rotary glass door Of the building
that he realized the cold. or even
that the girl had spoken OF it. In
stead Of going to the club where
he usually lunched, he turned into
a small grilIroom near by, where
the tables were partly separated
by OAK panels into liftle hooks.
There were but two of these COM
p~artnents unoccupied. Vance chose
the furthest, a corner section and,
while waiting the filling Of his or
der. realized from seeing the file
on the rack that he lad not fin
ished his morning paper. an omis-
sion that fairly Jared his sense OF
business method. AS he rested the
file frame against the wall, SO that
he might turn the paper with nj
hand, his eyes were held by .
paragraph on the financial page
1.-THE annual meeting of the di-
rectors OF the Railway Equipment
and Tool company, for the election
Of officers, will be held in the New
York office Of the company on
Monday. January fifth. From ru-
mors aHoat, the election will not
merely be the cut and dried affair
Of several years past, and a new
ticket may be presented. Emery
Vance, the president and manager,
has always maintained a conserva-
tive and tight-grip policy, that is
deemed in some quarters perilous
to healthy expansion"
For a moment the room whirled
round. Then the folly OF such a
feeling Of panic pulled Vance to-
gether, and he remembered by way
Of a reason that he had break
tasted that morning upon a single
roll and a cup OF badly mixed cot.
foe, and that he had left the house
before Eleanor had even come from
her o
No matter how well-made coffee
may be. the blending Of it with the
sugar and cream is the critical test.
Eleanor knew the art TO perfection
and when II was lacking. even
though he was unconscious Of it,
the day began in~differently. Vance,
however, had not formulated all
this. but now he suddenly realized
that he had poured his own coffee
more than usual of late. Could his
wife be feeling Ill? 1t had not oc-
Cured to him to ask. In fact Il
was by such skillful silence that he
usually avoided domestic discussion
and responsibility. until he had
come to consider it a profound wis.
dom in which he took pride.
Settling himself to his meal, he
was attracted by mems voices COM
ing from the next alcove; one tone
was high-pitched and fluent. tn e
other, deep and rather hesitant, an
swered in monosyllables. Instantly
he recognized the voices as be-
longing to a couple Of the directors
Of the company, who were then
seating themselves. One. John
H%aviland, coming from another city,
he was especially anxious to meet,
but had no previous inkling that he
would be in New York before the
New Year. As Vance was pushing
back his chair to ask the men to
join him, his own name was spoken.
and before he had the will to move
he was listening and the chance
gone. while he stood rigid. his hands
gripping the chair back.
II TO BE CONTINUED IL