The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1940-02-17

/ 1IIOI1Gy 1OI IlGI DGISOIld1 LGGuS.
The generous allowance he had
made her when they were mar
ried not only suficed her but kept
a comfortable surplus in the bank.
She was glad of this. It was, she
reasoned her money because she
had saved it; therefore she need
not serupfe to use itfor travelling
expenses-when she left St. Joseph.
Z AS she drove home from a last
moment shopping trip late on the
Afternoon of Christmas Eve, she
felt that everything was done she
could do to make this occasion a
successful one. Holly hung in the
windows, a gay wreath of it on
the front door. The pantry was
stocked with delicacies for to-
morrow, the great turkey was
ready for its chestnut stufing.
Two of the guest rooms had been
prepared for Allen and his wife.
The servants had been remem-
bered, the fees for postman, milk
man and various others were
neatly sealed in their tiny en-
velopeS. 49,.
Because snow had fallen that
morning, she wore her galoshes.
| Their rubber soleS made no sound
as she went upstairs and into her
own sitting room to deposit her
last purchases. The door was
slightly ajar and from within
came the murmur of voices.
/ I7oxyn na,-1xy1O
she thought, and with a light
hand swung the door gently open.
The tableau which met her eye
froze her where she stood. Bob
was seated in a corner of the
couch, his elbows on his knees,
1 his face in his hands. Before him
Patsy knelt, her half bare arms
pulling his face down to hers.
Poor, poor boy" she was
grooming. ''My poor darling Bob!"
| From those spread, desperate
1 fingers came a broken murmur.
'PatS, Pats! There's only you. -"
Violent Love Affair
|NOISELESSLY Sue, withdrew;
y gained her bedroom without
! the absorbed pair at the other
end of the room knowing of her
presence. Her face was flaming,
her palms were icy.
Sol While she had been Wrest-
ling with her conscience over the
coming separation with Bob, he
had been indulging in a violent
| IO1yo oHo;r ,,,;+L a. ,,,oz ,,,LaA
hurt, this was what stung her
pride!-with Patsy, of all people!
Pats, whom Bob had called
cheap" against whose greediness
he had warned Sue, at whose I'M
kindness to Allen he had rallied.
And now, in Sues own sitting
room, dressed in the very gown
Sue had bought for her, this scene
was being enacted!
AS always when in. the grip of
emotion, she walked to the win
dow and stared out. She stood
there a long time, not hearing
Aliens arrival, not even knowing
when Patsy and Bob went down.
stairs. Suddenly she threw back
her head with the gesture of one
freeing himself of a heavy bur-
den.
This certainly simplifes
things! was fool to let it upset
me. Why, it makes everything
perfect! Bob will give me a di-
vorce, and console himself with
Pats. Allen. dear Allen, will be
| free of her at last! Oh, it
couldn't be better!"
"Sue!" 1t was Bob shouting be-
low. We're all waiting for you.
Coming down soon?"
"In five minutes" she returned
composedly.
When she joined them around
the fire below, she fairly sparkled.
She had run a wet comb through
her curls and they framed her
face charmingly. Her lips were
crimson, her cheeks bore traces
of unusual color. Her eyes shone
as they had not done in years.
"Golly, Sue, what have you
done to YOURSELF" Allen asked
admiringly.
She answered gayly, stole a
glance toward Bob. He seemed as
usual save for a certain look of
strain about his eyes. Perhaps he,
too, had been, fighting a battle
with conscience, she thought a
little pityingly. How absurd that
she couldn't put an end to the sit
uation now. in few Fortnight
words.
You love Pats, Bob, and Allen
will be glad to be rid of her. AS
for me, I'm counting the days,
the hours, until I can marry Eric
Farraday. Let's all plan, like the
sensible persons we are!"
The words very nearly escaped
her; would have, she thought
later, if it had not been for her
brother Aliens sensitive face,
lighted now with happiness in be-
ing with his dearly loved sister,
checked them almost as they left
her lips. No, better do the thing
more decorouSly. The day after
Christmas she would quietly
leave the house, take a bus to
Kansas City, and from there a
plane to New York. She would
not talk to Bob, she would write.
No need now to distress herself
or him by the interview she had
planned.
1t was a queerly hilarious
Christmas. Bob seemed in wild
spirits though now and then. he
fell into fits of brooding which.
Sue thought. she would not have
observed had it not been for
what she knew of him. Pats on
the contrary was quieter than
usual. Only her new attitude of
tenderness toward Bob betrayed
her. Sue was gayest of them all.
If it was a brittle sort of gayety,
if her laugh had feverish note,