The Coolidge examiner., 1937-11-04
CHAPTER XV-COntinued
g Kathleen Norris
WNU Service.


beautiful pale gold hair was loos
.ened into a careless cascade that
hung in a web over the side of the
bed. There was a horrible sprawl
ing relaxation in her position, q
dreadful mysterious shutness in the
colorlesS lips that made Vicky trem.
BILE.
rs there anything to do, Quent?"
Not now" He did not turn from
his contemplation of the wreck OF
what had been so soft, so lovely
and aliuring and fragrant and
warm only few hours ago. mo,
1t was instantaneous, Vic" he NUT
tered.
Killed herself"
She thought he was dead. d'you
see?" the older man supplied sud-
denly. The Chinese woman had
come out of his room. 1t was while
we were all in the hall there, awhile
back. when we all thought that poor
Morrison had no chance"
Il thought, from the way you all
talked" Quentin said. that he
wasl / was amazed when Amah
said he wanted to see me. And GER
tainly she must have thought so.
Poor woman!"
An hour later Victoria and Quen-
TN walked across the Morrisons'
side garden, and through the gate
into the lane and through their own
gate. A perfect spring dawn was
strengthening over the world now;
it was four o'clock; the east was
flushed with exquisite delicate pink,
against which shoals and galleons
of delicate silver and gray and paler
gray cloud made long bars.
II feel-reborn, Vicky said.
Reborn. I'm terribly grateful,
Vic" Quentin said.
''Oh. grateful! If you knew what
was thinking of all night long.
Every horror that anyone can imag-
inc seemed to be sweeping over
me. had you in jail; had us all
moving to some remote place"
Perhaps you think didn't, Vic,
while we were working over him.
Perhaps you think I didn't have a
chance 10 think how I'd taken my
life and destroyed it with my two
hands. But thank God it's all over
nowi'
Il am tired. Quentin, doesn't the
tea for the Vienna doctors and our
lunch at the st. Francis seem longer
ago than yesterday"
THAT wasn't yesterday" he ex-
claimed.
That's all il was"
MY God" he said again, struck.
''She did do it, didn't she. Quent?"
Yes" he said with a serious
look. 'I guess she did"
Her killing herself f''-The words
sounded so strange that Vicky had
to stop short and think of them
her killing herself looked as if she
did" she mused-
''She had that-I don't know what
TO call it-ruthless quality" Quen-
tin said. ''She went over any OBJ
stacle that was in her way"
He reused the very worst in her;
he always did," Victoria mused.
He seemed to sit back and laugh
at her, and he never let her have
enough money even to get away.
She told me-she came to see me
every few days. you know-that she
had to charge even her lunches at
hotels. That day she seemed to me
desperate. She looked so beauti-
full. too; she was in a sort of corn
color, and her eyes looked so blue.
Mother said after she left. All
dressed up and nowhere to go!' /
suppose it was death-in-life to her
70 live in that quiet country house. :"
Quentin nodded, listening.
You've been a trump all night
long, VIC" he said, after a while.
If you'd been like most women,
and refused to go over there, we
might be in bad trouble this morn
ing. If you were like most women,
you'd have kicked me out years
ago, / don't know why you act the
way you do, but I want you to
know-this sounds damn fat-but
want you to know that / admire
you and that I'm grateful! I owe
everything I've got in the world to
you. I'm just beginning to realize
that it's an awful lot. You know
I'm not good at speeches. but when
I think about you-and this is what
I wanted to tell you'll get all
choked up. Pm-Pm grateful"
Thank you. Quentin!" Vic said
from the other end of the table.
Wen go on here. and some day
III have chance to show you that
I'm changed" Quentin said. 'It S
taken me a long time to wake up.
I've been a fool. / did the rottenest
thing to you a man can do to his
wife; it's just my luck, it's my in
credible luck that you've-well. I
won't say forgiven me; you don't
forget those things, and you can't