Henderson daily dispatch., 1939-07-25

CHAPTER FORTY-sIX

I CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
ROBERT RANSOM answered his
fathers question as to why he haC
lcome home from college so neal
the terms opening, with one of his
own.
why did you lie to me, sir?"
Lie to you? When?" The man.
!ufacturer leaned back in his COM
Portable leather chair, lit long
brown cigaret, and smiled at his
son. ''Tell me about it,"
The boys face was haggard and
his eyes burned. His head ached,
too. Corrinne was grand girl. He
knew that now. He always had
known it. But it wasn't of Corrinne
he was thinking. Whether she for
gave him or not wasn't especially
important. But this man, his ia
ther, who had been his idol and his
ideal, had failed him unless there
was some explanation. There MUST
be. He had not prayed for a long
time, but he felt the cosn1ic urge
to ask help and strength moving
within him now.
"Oh, God, don't let my father let
me down." he was saying silently.
Briefly he told his father what
had happened. His eyes begged for
some justifable reason. They were
so young and frightened the man
who could swing boards of direc-
tors whichever way be wanted the
wind to blow looked away uncom-
fortably.
"Why does this matter so much to
you, Robert ?" the financier asked.
1.-THE girls so important to your fu-
ture happiness?"
II thought she was, but this goes
deeper. It gets ct the roots of
faith and honor. Somebody's been
double-crossing me. Either you or
the minister. I want to know
which one. And Corrinne does,
too" Even as he said it, he knew
the minister was not guilty of di-
rected wrong. In the small church
bulletin, the man had pointed to
story which announced the gift of
the anonymous benefactor and told
for what it had been used.
If the minister had erred, it was
in understanding only.
Robert, I told you that gave
the girls father a check so she
would not hold you to that promise
TO marry her. It's the truth"
Then why did he give the check
to the church and why didn't she
know about it 2"
Maybe his ministerial con-
science began to annoy him"
Robert stood up, reached for his
hat. "You know better than that, |
sir. You gave the church gift and
then made me think it was a SELL
out. I knew it, but I thought maybe
there'd be a miracle and it would |
be explained" His voice broke.
There aren't any miracles! But
you might have told me the truth
now. I always thought my dad was
was perfect"
He barged out of the office, not
looking back, because his eyes
were hot and heavy and his voice
wouldn't remain calm and quiet.
He did not know that his father
stood up, reached out a hand, and
said his name twice.
On the street he remembered
something. He did not want to face
his father again. He went into an
empty office of the great building
and picked up a telephone. When
his father answered, he said:
I forgot to tell you, sir, that
I'm leaving school. I'll see that
the money for this year is refunded
to you"
Then he hung up and went to the
station. He had left his bag there.
He wished desperately that he had
someone else to whom to talk. His
mother had died years ago. That
was one reason that he and his ia
ther had been SO close.
He did not know where to 60
Some place on train, he supposed.
He had left his roadster ct the COL
lege. He'd better return. Well. he
would work hard, back there. and
try to get over this Then ha ro.