The daily monitor leader. [volume] (Mount Clemens, Mich.) 1942-19??, 1943-01-15

routine activities Of every day
with noticeable firmness and i'm
mediacy. Such simple matters
as taking a drink of water or re-
firing for the night took on the
appearance of urgent decisions,
to be acted upon without an in
stant's delay.
But now he fingered at his
desk, looking at them in the dull
light as il he might have some
thing more to say, but could not
quite make up his mind to say
it. Which unusual behavior
made Cynthia glance sharply at
him and say, You're feeling all
right, aren't you, Colonel" -
What? Oh, yes. OF course"
Then he said, Good night. Good
night" And he went slowly out
of the room.
Cynthia said to Vaughan Dun
bar, Lets walk down by the
pool"
With his customary delibera-
ton, he arose and followed her
out through the French doors
and across the terrace, and sat
down with her on the bench be-
side the dark rectangle of water.
The scent of the roses was every
where, and the air was so still
that they could catch fragments
of music from the orchestra at
the club, a mile away. Vaughan
Dunbar waited for Cynthia to
speak.
She froWned a little. The
Colonel seems a mite bothered
about something tonight"
Dunbar waited a moment, and
then said, You are very fond of
him, aren't you?"
THE Colonel? Why, what a
perfectly ridiculous question
1T only struck me-of course,
I'm being frightfully rude-that
he is always the Colonel to you.
A trifle formal -"
"Pish and tush. I've always
called him Colonel, since the
first time l ever saw him."
Vaughan Dunbar chuckled
quietly. II would have thought
you to say, that first time you
saw him, something that sound
ed a bit more like Gurgle than
Colonel"
She did not answer for a mo-
ment. Then she looked at him
in the darkness. ITS queer for
you to say that she murmured
"Oh, sorry-I-"
mo, no. l mean-well, it was
sort OF queer"
III try not to be stupid"
You see-Well-I never put
eyes on the Colonel until the
gurgle days were long past. And
hadn't thought about that in
years, until tonight "
is it a very private story?"
Il suppose not. No, of course
it isn't. 1t was this way Her
words now came in a sudden
rush, her hands clasped in her
lap and her face looking out
across the water toward the gar
dens.
II was born at San Luis Obs
pc, in California, on big ranch
there, and my mother died be-
fore l knew her. At least-I
know this is a strange thing to
say-at least that's what they
told me. Isn't it curious that you
have to depend upon somebody's
account of it in terribly inn
portant thing like that? Any
way, the first things l can re-
member were about the ranch,
and a grand old darling Of
nurse, having that kind of Won
derful time only a little child
can have.
Then, when was 10, just be-
fore Christmas, lawyer and
some other people came and said
must 60 off to school, to con-
vent in the foothills of the High
Sierras. So that's what did.
Cried my eyes out, poor me-
She laughed, but not quite
gaily. 1T wasn't bad, though,
when l got used to it. Then,
when was about Is, the Mother
Superior called me to the recep-
ton room, and there, Of all the
people in the world, was the
Colonel. The Mother Superior
said, My child, this is your
father, Colonel Merriwether.'
And so l naturally started call
ing him Colonel Merriwether,
and then just Colonel"
Did he take you away them"
Vaughan Dunbar asked. His
voice was quiet indeed.
Two months later. We went
to San Francisco and then to Ha-