4
THERE’S m
ALWAYS *ti
ANOTHER.1
YEAR.
MARTHA
OSTENSO
[w7nTsCRV.ee " COPYRIGHT MARTHA OSTCNSO J
, SYNOPSIS
Anna (‘'Silver”) Grenoble, daugh
ter of "Gentleman Jim," formerly of
the community, but known as a
gambler, news of whose recent mur
der in Chicago has reached the town,
comes to Heron River to live with
Sophronia Willard. Jim Grenoble's
sister, who is at the depot to meet
her. Sophronia’s household consists
of her husband, and stepsons, Roder
ick and Jason. The Willards own
only half of the farm on which they
live, the other half being Anna
Grenoble’s. On Silver’s arrival Duke
Melbank, shiftless youth, ntakes
himself obnoxious. Roderick is on
the eve of marriage to Corlnne
• Meader, daughter of a failed banker.
Silver says she wants to live on the
farm, and has no intention of sell
ing her half, which the Willards had
feared. She meets Roddy that night, j
Silver tells Sophronia (“Phronle," by
request) something—but by no
means all—of her relations with
Gerald Lucas, gambler friend of her
father. Roddy marries Corlnne, and
brings his bride home. Corlnne has
a maid, Paula, who seems to attract
Jason. Silver again meets Gerald
Lucas, who has established a gam
bling resort near town. She intro
duces him to Corlnne Willard, much
against her will.
CHAPTER VI—Continued
“Harry and his sister will come
for me—if you won’t take me,”
Corinne replied distantly,
“Corrle!" Her name, as he ut
tered it. was a vehement plea. But
she did not answer. She had al
ready left the room and gone into
the hall to telephone.
Roddy sat for a minute where
^ he was and listened to Corinne’s
voice as she talked to Harry Rich
ter and made her own elaborate ex
cuses for her husband. Then he got
up and went to the kitchen.
He was sitting there a half hour
later when C-orinne came and stood
in the kitchen doorway. She was
dressed for the party. Roddy looked
up.
“Give my regards to Harry,” he
r said, “and tell him to bring you
home early.’’
Corinne frowned. “I didn’t think
you could be so stubborn.”
Roddy got up and put his arm
about her. “It isn’t stubbornness,
dear,” he said, quietly. “Lord, can’t
you tell when a man is dog-tired?”
“You’re not too tired to go, if
you really wanted to,” she persist
ed. “It’s just that you don’t like
the people who are going to be
there.”
“Well—they’re not my Idea of a
steady diet, exactly,” he admitted.
She drew her lips tight as she
returned his look. “You are very
funny sometimes,” she said coldly.
“I simply can’t understand you."
“Don’t try, kid,” he said, and
patted her on the shoulder. “Go
ahead and have a good time. I’ll put
In a couple of hours checking up on
the new corn.”
“You’re not too tired for that,"
she retorted.
“But that has to be done,” he told
her. “There’s TIarry now.”
There was the sound of a car com
ing to a stop before the door.
Corinne turned away Immediately
and was gone. Roddy went to the
window and watched until the car
was out of sight.
• ••••••
.silver gathered her tweed jacket
about her and seated herself beside a
clump of Juneberry hushes on the
hill. It was quite late, but she had
been unable to go to bed on such
a night as this.
There was a sound of some one
moving out of the brush to the left.
Silver glanced up and saw Itoddy
standing a few feet away, looking
down at her.
“Why, Roddy!” she exclaimed. “1
thought you and Corinne had gone
to the party.”
For a moment he hesitated. “C!o
rinne went,” he told her. “The
Richters came for her.” Fie sat
down near by. “I took a night off
and spent It bringing some of my
records up to date."
i “I wish,” said Silver wistfully,
“that I had studied plant pathology
and those things instead of lan
guages. Every time I go Into your
laboratory I feel so darned infe
rior !”
lie laughed indulgently.
“Well, you’re certainly young
enough to learn,” he remarked, “if
you're still bent on being a farmer.
And it’s beginning to look as though
you are.” He got his pipe from his
overall pocket, packed and lighted
it. “Except that you ought to be in
bed at this hour. You worked pret
ty hard today, Phronie told me.”
“This is lots better than sleep
ing,” Silver said, and waved her
hand toward the clouds of mist that
were drifting low under the waning
moon.
“And not such a waste of time,"
he declared. “When I saw you
walking up here I was leaving the
shop—I thought I’d sneak along and
get an eyeful of It for myself.”
They sat !n silence watching the
thin wraiths blending, parting,
blending, in the hollows below
“You were over to see the Heal.v
boy today, weren’t you?" Silver
asked finally. "I was thinking
about hint today. Couldn’t we give
a barn dance or something and col
lect enough money to pny Doctor
Woodward? The Micheners told
me the Henlys haven't a dollar to
spare for anything like this."
“That’s an idea. Silver," Roddy
exclaimed with enthusiasm. "I’ve
been wondering what we could do
to help out. Old Doc Woodward
won’t be so hard to satisfy. I can
probably fix that myself. But the
family is up against it, and without
the boy's wages, they’ll he In a had
way. I’ll speak to Corrie about it.
I'm sure she’ll take to the Idea."
“It would be fun," Silver said.
And perhaps wretched for herself,
she thought with a pang. Except
for the Flathes, a Norwegian fam
ily on the south, and the Micheners,
frugal but free-spirited Germans up
near the lake, she had so far mnde
friends of none of the people in and
around Heron Itiver.
Roddy turned and looked at her
suddenly. “You know—that’s the
kind of thing that makes you like
able, Silver.
“What kind of thing?"
“You’re always thinking about
somebody else. The other day In the
field, when you tore off your
blouse—"
She was smiling at him. “I shall
probably grow up to be a nice old
maid—loved for my good deeds."
Roddy laughed and put his arm
about her shoulder.
“You’re a great little kid!” he ex
claimed. “After old lady Folds, and
then—this bird Lucas cropping up
—or I should say flying in—”
“Now, Roddy, please don’t start
applauding me, or I may cry. Be
sides—I’ll be twenty In November,
so I haven’t much credit coming to
me.”
“You will? Well, well! And I
suppose I’hil Michener thinks you’re
just about the right age to settle
down, eh?”
"Oh, I don’t know about that,”
Silver replied loftily. “I like his
sister, and I like him. They are
real people, Roddy. They more
than make up for—women like Mrs.
Folds.”
“And men like Gerald Lucas?”
There was a curious note in Rod
dy’s voice, half gentle, half embar
rassed, the banter gone out of It.
Silver clasped her hands together
before her. “Yes,” she said. “Al
though Gerald Isn’t an evil as Mrs.
Folds Is, Roddy. He is an evil for
me, that’s all. Or he was, I should
say. But you know by this time
that I don’t run away from—from
that sort of thing—any more.”
Roddy cleared his throat. "You
were in love with him, weren’t
you?” he asked abruptly.
For fully a half minute, Silver
gazed down upon the wavering
shelves of mist.
“I went and stayed at his apart
ment,” she said toneiessly. “For a
week or so—while dad was away.
Perhaps I was in love with him. I
don’t know. But now that I am here
I know that it wasn’t the right kind
of love. I must have known that
even then, because I wouldn’t marry
him. Gerald wanted to marry me.
Me was more decent than I was. He
still is, in a way. Me fascinated
me, but I knew, all the time, un
derneath, that his life could never
be mine. That's nil there is to it,
Roddy.”
At first, Roddy continued to turn
the bowl of his pipe about in his
hand. Then, slowly, Ids eyes moved
toward the girl beside him.
“Does I’hronie know this?” he
asked quietly.
“No. 1 have never told anyone
but you. I—I didn't even tell dad
the—whole truth. I don’t know
why I’ve told you this," she went on
broodlngly. “But it seems to me the
land has something to do with it.
It has been like telling It to the
land—starting over again, honestly.
It’s hard to explain—”
“I’ve hardly deserved your con
fidence,” Roddy broke in with a
short and ironic laugh. “My feel
ings toward you have been anything
but generous. Silver.”
“I think I've understood them,
though," she replied thoughtfully.
“When you’ve worked a piece of
land until you have your roots in
it—” Me stopped suddenly, and bent
toward her with his hand out
stretched. “This is Just my clumsy
way of apologizing to you for being
a fool. Silver."
She laid her hand on his and he
drew her to her feet. Silver, meet
ing his eyes, experienced a fright
ening contraction of her throat
Roddy pressed hi* lip* together and
drew a deep breath, a* though some
profound unease had settled within
him.
Together they walked down Into
the yard, and their simple good
night was taken coolly Into the si
lence.
*••••••
Harry Richter and hi* slater Eve
lyn, Corlnne reflected with a secret
fillip of contempt, were still—and
perhaps always would be, In spite
of their advantages of money and
travel—just a pair of noisy and
slightly vulgar cubs. But of course
their father owned most of the
town of Maynard, and the family
mansion there was the pride of the
district.
Corlnne sat In a deep chair In
the shadowed corner of the sprawl
ing room, and as she gave a side
long glance at the amused profile
of Gerald Lucas, who stood be
side her In an Indolent, provocative
attitude, smoking a cigarette, It
seemed to her that Harry’s friends
were a little pathetic, even rustic.
Corlnne was coolly excited by the
realization that never before In her
life had she met anyone so polished,
so cynically debonair as Gerald
Lucas. She felt, with merely the
least thrill of danger, their mutual
understanding.
A rubicund young grain broker
from the city came from across
the room with an enormous silver
cocktail shaker In his hands.
“One more little drink on the
house—for the prettiest little girl
in the party!” he announced.
"Thanks, no,” she demurred. “I’m
much too warm already. I think I’ll
stroll out for a little air.”
She had not turned, even a little
way, toward Gerald as she spoke,
hut a few minutes afterward, when
she sauntered slowly among the
moonlit trees above the shore, she
was not surprised that he met her
there. She had known that he would
follow her.
They stood together for a little
while. In a piquant conspiracy of
Drove Home Through Dissolving
Distances of Rain.
silence, and looked out upon the
shining lake.
•‘I must be very stupid,” Gerald
said, in a puzzled voice. “Other
wise, I would be able to figure out
Just how you come to be living on
a farm.”
Corinne laughed and felt her heart
quicken. “It’s very simple,” she
said. “I fell in love with a farmer
—and married him.”
“Did you?” Gerald looked at her
as though in surprise.
They laughed in unison. Every
thing seemed delightfully absurd.
Gerald picked up her hand and bent
her little finger inward toward the
palm. But immediately, almost ab
sently, he let it go.
“Have a cigarette?” he suggest
ed, and offered her his onyx and
gold case.
“Thanks.” He held the match for
her. Corinne, seeing his shapely,
well-kept fingers, thought suddenly
of Rodney’s hands, large and pow
erful and bronzed. All at once she
felt uncomfortable and vaguely
ashamed.
"Shall we go hack?” she sug
gested lightly.
"If you wish,” Gerald agreed.
"I think I shall ask Harry to
drive me home,” she said as they
mounted the steps to the porch.
“My own opinion. If I were asked
for it,” Gerald said casually, “Is
that Harry has had too much to
drink to drive anyone home safely.”
• •••*•*
It was long past midnight when
Silver, preparing for bed. heard a
car enter the driveway. She heard
a voice that was sharply familiar
to her. although it was low and
pleasantly modulated. She glanced
from her window. In the moonlight,
the chromium trimmings of Gerald
Lucas’ car shone unmistakably.
"This is downright spying!” Sil
ver said to herself, and burled her
face in her pillows.
But a sudden fright took posses
sion of her. Corinne—and Gerald
Lucas! Such a thing could never
he. It simply could not!
*•**•«•
Silver and Sophronia, in Roddy’s
car, were on their way to Maynard
with two bushels of tomatoes and
a basketful of yellow string beans
they had gathered that day in the
garden. The harvest dance waa
but a week away now, and there
were things to be bought and cook
ing to be done and the old barn
to be decorated for the event.
“I suppose If we get a dollar
for this truck we ought to be
thankful," Sophronla said. “Upon
my soul. It’s enough to discourage
anyone—If It wasn’t for the satis
faction of seeln’ the things grow.
And with Roddy talkin' of storin'
his grain it doesn’t look like an
easy winter for any of us.”
"It's hard to understand." Silver
said, "with so many people going
hungry—and farmers talking of us
ing their grain for fuel.”
"It's past me," Sophronla admit
ted. “I wouldn't be surprised If Rod
dy gave up the whole business, one
of these days and moved to the
city. Though there wouldn’t be
much sense in that, either. I
thought he’d feel better the other
day when he got first prise for his
corn at the fnlr. Bnt it didn’t
change him any so far as I could
make out.”
Silver had sat and listened, her
hands clasped before her, gazing
straight ahead at the winding high
way. There was something she
wanted to say, but the words
seemed too clumsy, too unutterably
crude. These people had become
her people—the thought forming In
her mind flowed on In a radiance—
the gloamy and faraway radiance
of the legend of Ruth.
All at once she felt a tide of
warmth move up over her throat
and face.
“I wanted to say something last
night—when Roddy was talking to
you and Jnson about things,” she
said. “But—I didn’t know Just
how to put It."
“What was that?” Sophronla
asked.
"R's Just that 1 feel 1 have a
right to help—and I want to. I
have a little money left—plenty to
do me for a year or even more—
and I don’t need the rent Roddy Is
paying for that east section. I
don’t see why I—"
“Land snkes, child!" Sophronla
Interrupted “Don’t ever mention
such a thing to Roddy. He’d take
your head off. I’m glad you didn’t
say anything about it last night.
So—he’ll get along and pay his way
—or he’ll make a change of some
kind. He already thinks you’re do
ing far more than enough to pay
your bonrd, If it comes to that!”
Silver was silent for a long time.
It wns Just as she had expected.
Roddy’s pride would never permit
him to take any assistance she
might have to offer him.
From Maynard, Sophronla and
Silver, with the car windows up,
drove home through dissolving dis
tances of rain. “Think oj gettln’
only ninety cents for all our work
yesterday,” Phronle mused aloud,
“not countin’ the cost of seed and
the bother of plantin’. Darn it! I
could almost wish every city swell
might starve to death!”
CHAPTER VII
THE mow of the new barn was
full of hay, so that It could not
be used for the harvest dance. Con
sequently, the loft of the old barn
below the hill, which had latterly
been used for surplus storage, came
Into Its own again.
Jason stood with Silver at one
end of the loft, where the orchestra
was getting ready to play for an
other square dance.
“I think I’ll ask Paula for this
one,” Jason said.
"If some one Isn’t ahead of you,”
Silver said. “She seems to be very
popular tonight. Paula Is a hand
some girl. She would make a fine
model for some painter,” but Jason
hurried away as old Steve, acting
master of ceremonies, called for the
next dance.
Silver moved down to where Rod
dy and Corinne were standing to
gether.
“I wonder what has happened to
Gerald Lucas,” Corinne said as Sil
ver joined them. “I sent him a spe
cial Invitation urging him to come,
and here It’s midnight—”
Silver smiled. “He may be stay
ing away on my account, Corlnne.
I told him once that I didn’t want
him to come here. He probably
took me at my word.”
Corinne made no efTort to con
ceal her amazement. “You told him
that?”
“Silver may have her own rea
sons for not wanting him around, ’
Roddy put in.
“I have,” Silver said lightly.
••Well—as I have said before—
It’s no affair of mine, after all,”
Corinne observed pointedly. “But I
do think—when I take the trouble
to Invite someone specially—”
“Forget it, Corrle,” Roddy Inter
rupted. "There goes the next dance.”
He led her upon the floor as
Phil, the eldest of the Mlchener
boys, came for Silver.
As they moved together Into the
dance, neither of them noticed Duke
Melbank and a companion stagger
up from the top rung of the loft
ladder and make their way Info
the crowd. Uppermost in Silver’s
mind was the thought that she was
being received by the country peo
ple here as if she were one of them.
Old Steve called out in his high
thin voice: “All Join hands!”
Silver left Phil and joined the
girls w'ho moved In a gay circle
past the men.
“All swing!” old Steve shouted
suddenly.
(TO HE CONTINUED)
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