Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1942-03-06
Miss Hall Decides
IN THREE PARTS-PART TWO
copyrisht: ls42 By News Syndicate Co., Inc.
BY ELIZABETH JORDAN

by ELIZABETH JORDAN
Usually she went to the front door
with him. Tonight she sat in her big
chair. listening to his footsteps as he
went down the hall. to his fumbling
at the hallrack till he found his hat
and coat. to the opening and closing OF
the front door. Mingled with its closing
she seemed to hear his voice. In the
meantime we must wait" and with 1t
another voice. young, eager and pas
sionate. II shall love you. Edna. to the
last day Of my life!' She sighed. set
tied back in her chair, and closed her
eyes Life seemed very difficult
Hilary came the following Friday
evening. His evenings with her, for
three years, had been Tuesdays and
Fridays. He looked trifle self-con-
Scious and he talked more than usual.
Then. abruptly, he asked her If she
would care to go and see a moving
picture, and they went. This was moth
ing new. He often took her QUITO
skate on the river, or see moving pic
lures in the winter. for long bus or
trolley rides on hot summer nights.
Tonight he was unlike himself. She
had an increasing impression that he
was not at ease. But they enjoyed the
picture, and their parting at the front
door of EdnaS home was as quietly
friendly as usual.
The next night, however, Edna went
skiing with Bob. He had turned up as
casually as if his proposal of marriage
had never been made. He was a mas
ter of his skis and she loved the thrill
OF spinning down mountain slopes
with him. Hilary never INDUCED in
such pastimes. She suspected that he
worked and studied good deal at
night, and that his Tuesday and Fri
day evenings with her were his sole rec
reationS
She had Subconsciously expected a
tremendous reaction in her feeling for
him. Certainly it had been there when
he had left her after their discussion.
She had been sure-and had been ap-
palled by the prospect-that it would
increase. 1t did nothing of the sort. In
stead, her evenings with Hilary soon
settled back into the quiet, relaxing
routine Of the past. Sometimes he
brought her a new novel and read
aloud for an hour or so; frequently he
took her out to see moving pictures or
an exhibition. Occasionally, but more
rarely than before, they put in a quiet
evening at her fireside. They always
had the living room to themselves.
Mr.. and Mrs. Hall we're nothing If
not tactful Also, Edna knew, each of
them assumed that she would some
day marry Hilary Though they never
spoke of it she knew. too, that they
were glad the day still seemed far off.
She was, they were fond of saying,
"all they had" They put in their eve
nings contentedly in their upstairs
sitting ROOM or in the small first floor
room Mrs. Hall called her sewing room.
She liked to work there while her huS-
band read their evening newspaper
aloud to her.
1t was over her relations with Bob
that Edna Hall found herself puzzled.
Hilary was again what he had always
been-quietly devoted, as steady as a
rock dependable to the last. When she
was with him she was sure that some
day she would marry him. There was
strength and protection in Hilary. She
felt them, responded to them, and res
olutely refused to let her thoughts go
beyond them. If she did, those thoughts
she admitted to herself, had a way of
skidding. They put questions up to
her she could not answer; they filled
her with emotions she did not care to
analyze.
In Bob, as she studied him, there
seemed no problem at all. He was sim
ply there. His evenings, also, were two
a week-Wednesdays and Saturdays.
There was always a queer thrill in
the house when he entered it. His
cheerful greeting filled its front hall;
his laughter, and he laughed often,
sometimes mounted to the second
floor.
He had realized long ago that Edna'S
father and mother could not quite I'M
derstand his frequent visits; that they
were puzzled and concerned about
them; that-and this he regretted
they did not especially like him; and
that they we're very much on their
guard with him. His manner to them
was always charming.
When occasionally, during the