The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1940-07-26


enemy who would iniure him if
she could.
Rose nodded briefly to Jan and
Pan up to her room
Derek, relieved, managed
grin. "Puss, am | forgiven YETI"
he asked Jan as she went toward
the kitchen. Getting no answer
he followed her and saw her wide
blue eyes were brin1ning with
tears. w. =
ooh, listen" he pleaded. at
can't be so bad as all that. Pm
sorry, l apologize. I'll even wash
and wipe the dishes or scrub the
floor for penance. Please don't
feel bad Jan. I'm a laundering
oaf"
Lets just forget it." she said.
swallowing hard. "Will you run
over to the store for bread and
milk? Wait, I'll give you bottle
and some change"
After delivering the purchase
to her. observing the stubborn
set of her lips and chin, he senSed
instinctively he should leave her
alone. He went upstairs. intend
ing to drop in on Lance, but out
side of Lance's door he heard
Roses voice.
Hang herl" he muttered. "Jan
ought to get rid Of her. She's a
keg of dynamite around this
house"
With a shrug he climbed the
ladder to the roof, glad of the
cold salt wind that smacked his
body. glad of this solitude.
At the back Of the roof facing
inland he could gaze into a dis
lance of palm trees, flower gar
dens, cleaning red and white
house tops. To the south. a mile
or so away, stood platoonS of tall,
steel oil derricks against back
ground of encroaching fog. They
looked, he unused. like an army
of besieging robots guided by an
enemy hand. Not far-fetched,
either. this fancy. for these der
rickS, set up on tidelands, had
deSpoiled the long sweep of wide,
sunny beach, casting oil with its
attending crude strength on wa
tiers that had been, before their
advent singularly untroubled.
Less interpretive
THE progress of civilization,
he Knocked. For every thing
gained. something equally valu-
able lost"
Money. he'd been told by his
teachers and adviser could be
employed wisely for great good.
He supposed he should have done
more than write out checks to
this one and that one. But he was
young and his own complicated.
twisted, thwarted being had de-
manded all his attention. Too
much. perhaps. Occupied these
days with the problems of the
MerrinerS. he had certainly be-
come less retrospective. more
comprehending.
So Rose wondered If he was
tired of the monotony of this ex-
istence. No. Net yet. But what
of Jan, who worked so hard that
her small. delicate hands were
calloused and rough? Didn't Jan
need escape, a little fun.
Il get paid tomorrow" he
figured. 'I'll give her my board
money and We'll splurge the rest
of it on the amusement pier! If /
can make her laugh and smile
like she did the night I took her
dancing, it's worth every last
pennyl"
During the preparation of din
ner Jan tried to Submerge her re-
sentiment toward Rose and Derek.
If he wanted to kiss Rose it. was
his business. She didn't own him,
even though he laughingly
claimed he was hers. Hadn't she.
herself. suggested to him that he
try to defect Roses interest from
Lance? Thinking, of course. that
he'd never take her up on it. That
might be the explanation, she
considered, but in all probability
it wasn't.
At least she had recovered from
the auctioning incident. absolving
Derek of malicious intent. And
she had been glad to hear him
touch the piano for the second
time since his coming, even if he
had played only an old popular
song. II
Things were geing badly
enough in the house right now,
without her making them worse.
While soup Simmered, potatoes
baked. and steak roasted slowly
IN the big iron skillet. she skipped
up to the roof in search of Derek
and found him teasing Neptune
into kittenish leaps with a string
and a spool.
Did you come UP to let me
out OF the dog house?" he i'm.
plored. his eyes dancing.
Out on probation only" The
wind blowing off the water cooled
her flushed face and rufffed her
daffodil hair. A stubborn ray of
sunset parted low hanging clouds
and shone with bright vehemence
on the horizon. creating a mirage
OF sparkling glass to wall. the
edge or ocean and sky.
The water looks quiet out
there, she said. pointing, "but il
isn't It's never quiet. It's always
restless. moving, changing, even
IN de: d calm People are like that.
too. You never know what's 60
ing on inside Of them"
To be continued