The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1937-06-11

the most enchanting adventure Of
their lives. All day long, and far
into the beautiful summer nights,
the two girls talked and laughed,
swan and cooked and walked to-
gether, giggled their way through
adventures that supplied them with
endless material for laughter and
Renaissance.
The little cabin was on the east
side of the lake; it was so small
that the happy party had the feel
ing of living out of doors.
A mile or two to the west was the
hotel, in a settlement of informally
grouped lake homes; the Brock
place was all by itself, with little
triangular sandy beach of its own.
Anna and Magda and the two girls
concocted for themselves the sort
of meals that women love in sum-
mer: salads, bowls of berries, boxed
cookies, fruits.
Victoria's beautiful mother had
for a friend one of the homeliest OF
women. But Anna Brock had an
odd abrupt charm of her own, and
she. was extremely brilliant. She
spoke French and German, and in
September she was going to New
York to teach Latin in boys
school. And then Catherine-joy OF
joys!-would be placed with Vic
toria in the San Rafael boarding
school. They would still be togeth-
erl
Mother, how can we afford
that?" Victoria asked one day.
Magda and her daughter had
swum out through the shallow clear
water to a great rock and were
basking on it.
''This is a good chance to talk to
you, Vic, without Anna or Kittsy
hearing" Magda said, by way OF
reply, after moments hesitation.
"Vic, don't want you to feel
badly about this" her mother pres
emily began. I'm getting a divorce
from Dad. We're in Nevada-did
you realize that? Aunt Annals cabin
is well over the line, and on that day
when we took long drive we went
to Reno and arranged it,"
Victoria was looking at her
mother steadily; she had not moved
a muscle. Now she swallowed with
a dry throat.
There were tears in Magda's eyes
and in her voice; and she stopped
short and looked away over the daz-
zle of blue water.
'Oh, the break is terrible, / know
that know it now! But after
few weeks-after month or two
everyone gets used to it-and the
two persons who have grown nerv-
Gus and irritable and wretched to-
gether are free!"
"But then when will see Dad?"
Victoria asked, tears gushing from
her eyes. "Can write to him?"
"My darling, of course. And he'll
come to see you at school, take you
out to movies! Why, I'm writing
him today, and I'll put your love
in"
It seemed less strange the next
day; Dad and Mother separating.
Still Victoria tried to adjust her
thoughts to all the amazing angles
of this new turn of affairs, thought
that she would 60 and see Dad
often, too, if she could get away
from school. And perhaps next
year he and she would have their
little dream house on the shore for
a few weeks, and cook waf1es and
scrambled eggs.
This was late August. It was in
early October that Victoria, slim
and busy and happy in the dark
blue Dominican uniform, with the
dazzling collar of her bluejacket's
blouse turned back at the neck, and
the pale blue scarf that marked
her as a freshman blowing in the
autumn wind, was stopped as she
was racing in GATHERINGS wake
across the school playground.
Letter for you, Victoria" said
Sister Beata, extending it in clean,
cool hand.
"Oh, thank you, S'ter," Victoria
RdSPC0, SCA111i6 Ats ~ WoS - WILL AIS1
mother, who was down in Santa
Barbara with the Arnolds. 1t told
her happily, simply, that her mother
and Ferdinand Ainsa y CASTILLO
Manners, "for you may as well
have his whole name, my darling,
although I've only got the first and
the last on my new cards." had
been married that day at noon.
Her father came to see her now
and then, on Sundays. They were
oddly silent, oddly i'll at ease with
each other.
Victoria saw her stepfather only
in flying glimpses for the remainder
of her school life. He and her
mother were at the big Manners
cattle ranch down in the Argentine
for two years, and when they came
back Victoria was preparing for a
second trip to Europe. Mother Ray
mond had written to her mother
about leaving her in the school there
for the final year of French and
music and culture generally, and
Victoria had only one real visit with