The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1940-06-26

She gave one last hard swallow.
wiped her eyes openly. and smiled
at him.
~Give me five minutes to pow
der my nose and get my hat and
coat onI"
It was after ten when they got
back, laden with queer, knobby
bundles. kobel had returned from
a special broadcast, Eric had spent
the evening browsing tiredlY on
the couch in the living room Both
greeted the shoppers with enthusi-
aSm.
This is something like!" Eric
said In whisper. Its high time
we had a celebration"
The reaction from anxiety and
sadness had set IN. Even Brenda,
though she knew the days to
come, even the months to come.
might be filed with remorSe at
what she still termed her med
ding, was almost ight-headed
with relief tonight. The others
were frankly hilarious. Somehow
it added to their fun to know they
must keep their voices down:
must be careful not to drop any.
thing. When Eric caught an over
turned chair just before it
reached the floor. it seemed ex-
quisitely comic to them all, for
some reason.
At midnight they trooped to the
kitchen and foraged. Brenda made
sandwiches Of the remains of the
roast. isobel brewed a pot Of cof-
fee black enough to have fright
ened sleep away from Morpheus
himself. Mac brought out pickles,
strawberry jam, and the big black
olives intended for tornorrow's
dinner. Eric sat on the kitchen
table, swinging his long legs and
cheering on his fellow boarders.
Reunited
IT WAS nearly one o'clock and
they had almost finished their
impromptu meal when a knock
at the back door startled them.
who on earth?" Isobel ex-
claimed.
Mac shot the bolt and opened
the door, peering into the dim
light. He peered. he stared. his
eyes almost popped from his head,
as Eric told him afterward.
"Saltusi"
"And Linda" announced the
artist proudly. LET us in, Mac.
We saw the light on in the living
room and went to the front door
but were afraid to ring for fear
of waking Adelaide. Then / caught
sight of the light streaming out Of
this window and we came around
to see what's going on out here"
He gazed radiantly from one to
another, the bitterness gone from
his eyes, joy fairly leaping from
them. At his side stood a slender
woman whose face reflected some
thing OF his own emotion.
"Will you tell me-" Mac de-
manded, what in the name Of
all that's sensible you're doing
Strolling around at this time Of
Here's Linda" Hugh said
again. as il that explained every
thing. "You all know her-all but
Brenda. Brenda. you blessed
child, this is my wife!"
"Why is Brenda a blessed
child?" Eric wished to know.
"Because-bless her little inter-
fering heart and soull-it was she
who brought Linda home to me-"
rHow?" asked a chorus Of
voices.
Saltus threw his wife a humor-
Gus glance. May tell 'em dar-
ling?"
For the first time Linda herself
spoke; in sweet. drawing voice
which held a thread of laughter.
mo. I'll do it myself, Hugh.
You're sure to make it out worse
than it is. It was Brenda" she ex-
planned, "only not in the way she
had planned. / mean having Jim
talk to ne didn't do any good.
He'd done it before-lots. But
that girl in New York that Brenda
wrote to! She kept telling me that
Brenda said Hugh was wonder
full and-well." she admitted with
charming honesty.N%I got jealous,
that's all You see, I'd planned to
come back when Jim-when Jim
did. suppose that I'd thought !
had Hugh IN sort Of cold storage,
waiting to be called for. The idea
that he might get interested IN
another woman didn't appeal"
She smiled at Brenda.
SO she thought the matter over
and came to claim her property"
was her husbands triumphant ad-
dition.
Brenda had paled and flushed
and paled again. It frightened her
to realize how greatly she could
influence the lives Of others. A
gentle pull on the reins here, a
flick Of the whip there, and peo-
pie seemed to respond like high
spirited horses. II was lucky that
things had turned out well for
the Saltuses.
"But they quite easily might
not" she brooded. MY letters
might have made Linda run away
where Hugh could never have
found her."
She was very quiet during the
Subdued chatter that followed.
She made more sandwiches for
the callers. she smiled and said
an appropriate sentence or two:
but for the most part she sat.
eyes heavy with WEAKNESS. heart
heavy with new grief.