The Wilmington morning star., 1947-12-18
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have said that" she went on in
another tone. ''I liked .Bill-un-
til I met Mark. Mark is ter
times the man Bill will ever be,
You know that, don't vou?"
i Cathy nodded humbly. eyes
I know that"
"Some more knowledge
you've gained too late for it to
benefit you," said Maggie
grumpily, and went out, closing
the door none too gently behind
her.
Cathy switched out the lamp
land drew aside the curtains.
There was no moon, she noticed
|listlessly, and black clouds were
(scudding across the sky. It had
been very hot unseasonably
hot, everybody had said, and
the summer drought had come
earlier this year. Cathy had
wondered, while she had been
growing up in Cypressville, why
people went on planting gardens
and crops year after year when
the drought always came along
Just in time to destroy more
than half of what they had
planted. Farmers were stubborn
people, she had decided then;
|incurable optirnists. What if the
drought destroyed most of their
nard work last year? This year
was another year and maybe
things would be different.
She sighed and went back to
bed, though she knew she would
not sleep. She had been in love
with Bill since childhood; ye t
now, when Bill was tardily will
ing to acknowledge her as his
wife, she was no longer in love
with him. Her pride had been
cruelty hurt; she had been hu-
inflated in her own mind. But
now that she was no longer in
love with Bill, she could put all
that behind her and forget it and
go on with her work. She told
herself that she should be heart
broken at the death of all her
dreams - and yet she wasn't,
somehow. Her feeling was one
of conscious relief. Her love for
Bill and their secret wedding
had been a great strain; now
she was free of that strain and
she could only feel the in
expressible freedom that such
relief brought her. Perhaps lat
er, when the present numbness
wore off, she would suffer; but
now she was aware only of COM
plete exhaustion.
She thought of Mark, with
warmth; but she SHE'D quickly
away from the thought. She and
Mark were the best of friends,
but she was too newly relieved
from the bitter-sweet burden of
love to be willing to face the
prospect of loving again.
She told herself fiercely that
she was through with love. She
wanted no more of it. She want
ed only to be Lieutenant Cath
crime Layne, of the United
States Army Nurse Corps, an
swerable to no one - save her
superior officers, and her own
conscience, of rse!-for her
actions. She wanted to 90 back
to her job, where she knew she
was badly needed and where
she would be valuable. And she
didn't want to clutter up h e r
mind or heart with any more
nonsense about love!
She drew a deep sigh, and in
stead of lying awake half the
night as she had fully expected
to do, she turned on her side.
tucked her hand beneath her
cheek like a child, and fell into
a dreamless slumber.
The darkness was thick about
her when she was shaken back
to sharp consciousness by Mag
gie's hand on her shoulder and
Maggie's frantic voice in her
ear.
"Wake up, Cathy. Wake up
and get some clothes on before
were blown away. There's an
awful storm!''
Dazedly Cathy tumbled out of
bed and began pulling on her
stacks, almost before she was
awake. She could hear it now
the roaring of the wind in the
tossing trees; a dull, menacing
roar like the sound of an ex-
press train advancing at a ter
rifle speed.
Maggie had always been
chlldishly afraid of storms.
Thunder and lightning sent her
covering into the nearest closet,
and a strong, high wind crisped
her nerves to an incredible de-
gree. 1t had always been the
one vulnerable point in Mag
gle's stout armor. AS though she
could combat and vanquish any