The Washington times., 1938-03-08

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the chain stores, cheap bunga-
lows and gas stations that had
dared to spring up around it.
The other cave-dwellers of the
city, like the Kents, had long
since deserted the decaying
north section for the Kenwood
suburbs. Peter by birth be-
longed in Kenwood now, too:
but the death of his parents
and the loss Of their money had
made that impossible.
And Gloria thought now, sick
ly, Peter can't do things for
Isabel. Not for years, no mat
ter how brilliant and successful
he is. And maybe-not even
then" For brilliance and sue
cess weren't always rewarded in
cold cash.
Gloria liked Peter Kent. Last
night, in their crowded parlor,
she had watched Peter sitting
a little apart from the others,
not able to keep his eyes from
his fiancee. He was trans
formed, she had thought, into
someone she had never seen
before even as well as she
had known him. for the last
five years. He looked superb
cially the same; attractive,
lean and tall, with unruly
sandy hair and gray eyes and
an engaging grin. But there
was something about him
an almost inarticulate joy, q
burning pride in his possession
of Isabel, an excited way of
speaking which was just short
of imbecility. She had Won
dered in her mind, not ever
having been in love, how people
got that way"
LENA'S KITTEN
A shouting voice broke into
Gloria's reflections. Barney
Trapp was crying out Justify,
Gloria! Hey-y! - there goes
Lena!"
And Gloria, swapping back to
reality, saw Lem, her Angora
kitten, agog with excitement.
The grayball of fluff leaped over
the magazines, across the candy
counter and, like q flash, down
the lobby, coming up short on
the trailing lace Of Marcella
brakes bridal veil.
Once there, she rode serenely
down the lobby until people
laughed, cameras clicked and a
shiny black toe came out Of no
where to unseat Lena and send
her rising in the air, stunned
and wounded. The Baron spat
out angrily: "Of all the loath-
some phenomenal cats hold the
dazzling supremacy"
And then he and his wealthy
bride were hurrying down the
long lobby, leaving Lena crushed
against the bell captains desk.
GLORIA ran and gathered
VI Lena in her arms. There
was compassion in her blue eyes
and anger in her heart. Months
later she would be forced to re-
member clearly Lena and the
Baron and this wedding.
Tommy, leaning across the
front desk, said in a whisper:
IT told you to get rid OF that
cat, Clio. Giving the guy IN
412 hay fever wasn't enough!
Lena had to go for ride on
the Drake veil! Lord, If Barney
runs that picture you'll lose your
concession here!"
A little muscle twitched along
the lean line of Tommy's jaw.
He was looking at Marcella now
-Marcella being helped into
the luxury Of an ermine cape.
His face was tightly closed and
completely under control. Clio
ria, watching him, thought. Il
wonder if I am imagining it,
or If something happened to
Tommy's face just then"
Tommy saw his young sister
studying him and he smiled, and
Gloria thought, II imagined 1t.
Marcella brakes wedding isn't
important to him."
RODNEY ENTERS PICTURE
Then, suddenly, something
was quite important to Gloria.
She stopped short in the
crowded lobby almost as If
something had caught and held
her. For a long moment she
stood looking across space into
the vivid blue eyes of stranger.
She thought, What on earth's
happening to me?" But even in
that first moment she knew.
It wasn't merely his height and
breadth and the moodily ro-
mantle set of his dark head. 1t
was something indefinable, a
miracle reaching out to her
across the lobby and claiming
her. She turned to Barney
Trapp as he sped toward the
telephones. She caught his
arm.
Barney" she said quickly, her
eyes still tranced, who is that?"
Barney said, Woman, go
way! I'm buSy!" And then be-
cause Gloria clung to him with
something almost like importu-
nate desperation, he said, un-