The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1938-04-22
SHINY NC pa LAC 3
ny CHR TIM TING &IIAIIAYI En-
EYI$I 1skXHay3 NJ s. NI$Y.X

eyes-that she was to fight for the
life of little boy tossing with fever
in far off Cape Town.
Her first son was born in England
on a May night. The winter had
gone well. AS Carl Venable- prom
ised, Don's Letters from Capri
were welcomed with enthusiasm by
the London editor; and the same
letters Supplemented by thumbnail
sketches by the great Venable)
found a ready market in America.
And living in Italy was inexpen-
sive. Nora soon made a home of
the tiny pink villa with its glimpse
of sapphire waters and rocky hill
sides, which Constance Venable had
ready for their arrival.
'This is the most heavenly spot"
(she wrote her father) land I'm
fast becoming a thrifty Italian
housewife, or should be if I weren't
compelled to stop my work every
few minutes to drink in the beau
ties of this twin-humped camel of
an island, kneeling so gently in
the blue, blue waters of the Medi-
terranean. It's well worth the ef-
fort of climbing the million or so
steps that lead to our front door Il
can hear you say, Don't exagger-
ate, Nora. It's bad habit'D, to
gaze down on this wealth of flowers
and foliage. Nature was in lavish
mood when she fashioned Capri. l
wish you could see it, Dad. In fact,
the only thing needed to make me
supremely happy would be to look
out some day and discover that
my handsome father had overcome
his prejudice against every country
not flying the Stars and Stripes, and
was climbing that rocky path,
though he wouldn't have breath
enough to kiss me when he reached
the top
"The Venables are only five min
utes walk (perhaps I should say
climbD away; and if you could look
upon the seascape VEINS painting
now, you'd mortgage the house to
possess it. Incidentally, they have
a beautiful piano on which they
seem to consider it an honor for me
to practice; so my fingers won't
grow stiff, as I had feared they
might. There are four young Ven
ables ranging from sixteen to six
such jolly youngsters! And their
mother is every bit as good moth
er to me as she is to them, though
she can't be fifteen years my SEN
ior
This was quite true. Nora had
not counted on Constance Venable
in vain. "You say it's to be in
May?" the older woman questioned
thoughtfully. And then: eve must
take you to England. Not that bam-
binos don't arrive daily in Italy!"
she smiled; "but my Phil was born
in London and had most skillful
doctor. The nurse was a wonder,
too. I'll write at once and engage
her for you, Nora. I'll arrange ev-
erything. You'll want a room in a
nursing home; and I'll write the doc
tor. We were planning to sail for
New York the first of May. I must
tell Carl to put it off another
MONTH"
And no protest on the part OF
Leonora would make her change.
''Of course I shall stay with you'll"
she said, almost Indignantly. Don't
you know that our Alice wouldn't
be here if it weren't for Don? He
kept on working over her when ev-
erybody told him it was useless.
Nothing you ever ask of us, Nora,
will be too much"
What Don and Nora never knew,
was that half the expenses incurred
by the arrival of this first son of
theirs, were paid by Carl Venable,
who would have paid them all had it
been possible to do so without arous-
ing Don's suspicious. All the young
couple ever knew was that the bills
were far, far less than they'd antici-
pated; for Nora was very sick in
deed.
Don sometimes wished he could