The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-08-30

Chapter One
Telegram

o. ~ - -
painted side. Cecily
touched an experimental
finger to the side that was up
permost, frowned and wiped
her finger on the seat of her
stained denim s | a C k which
v ere hitched about her slender
waist with piece Of string.
She got dow on all tours,
squinted at the section of boat on
the underside which was above the
sand and, dropping to hel stomach,
dipped the brush into a can of
white paint and wriggled forward
comfortably. She propped herself
up on her left elbow, cupped her
chin in her left hand and happily
pursued the even swish-swaSh OF
her brush as she welded it ex-
pertly.
The hot mid May sun had
warmed the sands beneath and she
was pleasantly aware of the heat.
It was not yet summer on the Cape
and the breeze that came from the
water and tapped her trouser legs
against her ankles in short socks
was cold. That same breeze
brought the clean, exhilarating
smell of sea-salt to her eager nos
trils.
She wriggled back out of the
shallow of the dinghy and sat up.
She had done as much as she could.
~DoggoneI" she said to two small
sandpipers who had been watching
her interestedly. THAT won't be
dry until tomorrow and ] wanted
it to be surprise for Doug"
Al slight frown darkened the
clear gray eyes beneath her smooth
brow outlined by short, tawny hair
blown by the wind. She felt in the
pockets of her leather jacket and
brought out a small square of yell
low paper, the telegram that had
arrived that morning. She unfold
ed it and read it again, trying to
read more than the words told
her:
MEET BUS ARRIVING GRANNIS
FOUR O'Clock SATURDAY STOP
DON'T WORRY ABOUT NEwsPA-
PER STORY BELIEVE EVERYTHING
oKAY
DOUG
THAT'S what comes from not
reading the newspapers; you never
know what's going on in the world,
do your" she said half-aloud, and,
since there was no one there to-
hear her, she looked off into. the
incredibly blue horizon for the an
swer. What story was she not to
believer
Doug-Douglas Stuart was Geo
ily's twin brother--was not an
alarmist. It wasn't like him to
worry her needleSsly, she knew.
She searched her mind for what
could have been the reason for his
message, which was cryptic. Obvi-
ously he wasn't III, and it didn't
seem likely that he had been seri-
ously hurt In an accident, since he
was arriving this afternoon.
His arrival was most certainly
unexpected. He hadn't expected to
join Cecily at their summer home
on Cape Cod until his exams were
over in June. He was graduating
from Yale this year and preparing
for medical school. Cecily had pre-
coded him by month because
claccaS AZ arf crhoo1 in Noyx Work
had adjourned two days before and
she had left her small apartment
for the beloved cottage on the
Cape as quickly as she could get
away.
Her concentration was inter-
rupted by a little noisy fishing
boat which hove into her view. It
saluted the small figure on the
sands with a raucous horn that
split the silence. Cecily raised her
arm and shouted, "Hil"
She recognized the Portuguese
fishermen and the familiar odor of
nackerel. She liked that odor. She
liked everything that it suggested.
1t was part of her enchanted sum-
mers. The happy sun-drenched
days and fragrant nights. 1t was
one with the sparkling waters, the
purple-shadowed pines, the gliS-
fening sands, the soft, wet fog. It
was one with picnics. roasts on the
beach, with lovely long nights be-
fore hickory fires in the hearth of
the pine-paneled living-room. It