MEDEOTtD MATE TRIBUNE, fEPFORD, QT?EGOT. WEDNESDAY. SEPTET rBER 30, 1936.
THE WORLD-
DIFFICULT DECISIONS
By GLUYAS WILLIAMS
STRANGE AS IT SEEMS By JOHN HIX
For further proof address tho author, Inclosing a stamped envelope tor reply. Seg. TJ. 8, Pat Off.
WITH A FENCE
A New Nevtl by Miriam Stmt
PAGE EIGHT
Chapter 42
DECISION
"iAROL took hl hands and pulled
them down Into her lap. "Listen,
Blake, and look at me. It won't make
any difference unless we let It I told
you I was willing to light It out be
side you; that even a trlanglt didn't
have to be too disgraceful. I've
been expecting this from the begin,
nlng."
The muscles of bis face relaxed
slowly, until he smiled, wonderlngly.
"Lord, what a baby you make me
feel I You' of a man than I'll
ever be, and why on earth you should
love me like this Is beyond me. All I
can do is marvel and worship youl"
"Idiot! You're pretty well worth
loving, since you ask me." Be casual.
she was commanding herself; make
him think it Isn't Important enough
even to talk about. ... She stood up
and held out her hand to him. "Let's
get a drink and see If that won't
ehange the color of the world."
He extracted Ice cubes with un
steady fingers, half drunk with the
knowledge that she was willing to
stand by him. He saw the situation
now as she had tried to paint It;
painful and bitter, perhaps, but
sweetened by a belief in ultimate
success.
He put down his glass and smiled
at her. "I haven't even asked about
your trip home. How was ltt"
' "Almost perfect, considering the
circumstances.
"How wa PatT"
"Fine." She flushed. "I finally
broke down and told him about you:
I had to talk to somebody!"
His face glowed. "Old he approve?"
"Heartily. He says I'm to bring
you to see them as soon as possible,
and that you sound like a grand guy."
"Then maybe I'd better not go."
"Nuts to youl"
Their lightness was false and
perilous, with a throbbing undercur
rent that might come to the surface
in a breath. Because he realised that,
Blake glanced at his watch.
"Dinner time, precious. Get your
hat." Before I devour you, he added
Id bii heart.
But when dinner was over and
they were back again in her living
room the lightness failed them. For
all his discipline Blake felt the old
hunger more Insatiable than ever,
and bocause the waiting seemed end
leas now he had no hope to restrain
him. He kissed her hotly, and knew
that she understood bis hunger. His
bands were caressing her and aha
mode no move to withdraw.
She made her choice then, clearly
and honestly. This Is no way for us
to live, she realised, feeling him
tremble against her. A few months
of this can destroy us. And I can't
go away and leave htm atone.
She sat up. "Blake. . . ."
LONG norwards, when he had
gone, she sat at her dressing
table with her chin In her hands,
staring at her own reflection.
She probed her mind for a feeling
of guilt or regret, and failed to find it.
lrtna was Incapable now of dealing
them a mortal wound.
She rose and went to open the win
dows, and stood looking at the black
Mar-dusted sky. Blake would be at
home by now, and perhaps looking
at the same sky unless he had gone
straight to sleep! 8he tried not to
think of tbe time when be would not
have to leave her, and to cling In
stead to all that she had of him now
A quick. Icy wind struck her, like
a breath from tbe world of darkness,
and she shivered and turned from
the window. And then she stopped
short. Someone was knocking softly
upon her door.
She snapped on a light and hur
ried to the door, and Blake stumbled
Into the room and stood, swaying.
She thought Incredulously: he's gone
home and gotten drunk. What a
queer tblng to do. . . .
. He spoke finally, shaping each
word with great care, like a mute
who has learned to talk.
"lrma has killed herself. . . ."
The Icy wind swept her again,
straight from the world of darkness.
She put up her hand as it to shield
her (ace, while an unfamiliar voice
whispered:
"No, Blake, no. . . .
"She must have done It this after
noon. Long distance has been trylns
to And me since Ave o'clock. . . ." He
rubbed a hand across his eyes as If
to blot out a visual horror, and thud
dered once.
Five o'clock. Then all the time
they were together lrma bad been
dead because of her. . . . She
laughed, and the sound was queer
and mad.
"She chose the only possible way
to keep us apart, didn't she? Really,
it was terribly clever of her, . .
The sound faded and she heard her
own teeth chattering.
She sat down, staring at the floor.
He leaned his weight against the
table and looked at nothing. 1
"I have to go down there," he said
to the floor. "There's a train In three
hours."
"How what did she dof
"Does it matter?"
He wanted to spare her whatever
horror he could. He didn't want her
to see lrma as he would always sea
her, slashing her wrists with a razor
blade, and perhaps smiling a small,
secret, triumphant smile.
Their thoughts were stumbling
along the same black path. Because
the suit was flled this morning, they
knew. Because she must have wired
or phoned his lawyer to know It he
had been In earnest, and found that
he was. Because she had to defeat
them, even with her life; she had
to have the center of the stage the
last word. . . .
Blake moved restlessly, like a man
struggling to escape the toils of
nightmare, and looked at her.
"She left a note," he muttered,
"but thank Ood she put all the blame
on me. 1 made them read it to
me. . . ."
lrma bad been content, then, to
take halt her revenge in secret. Her
vanity had lived as long as she; had
forbidden her to tell an avid world
that another woman had beaten her.
Blake made a heroic effort to pull
himself together, "I'll have to go
now. Have you any sort of sedative
here?"
She lifted her head as It It carried
a great weight "No. It doesn't mat
ter "
"Will you phone a drug store and
have them send you something?"
"Yes. . . ."
She stood up and held out his coat
as If she passed It across a chasm,
and be took It without a word. He
made no move to touch her, bet his
eyes were sick with pity and love.
He said brokenly:
'Carol you won't go away? You'll
be here when 1 get back?"
She realized that flight would sure
ly damn her If aha was not already
damned. Only the guilty fled before
they were accused. "Yes, I'll be here.
But you can't come and see me."
"I'll arrange It somehow."
His eyes compelled her, and she
met them Anally, and road In them
all the things he could not tell her.
The measure of his own suffering
pierced her so that she went to him
and gave him her hands.
I'll be there, Blake, every min
ute. If that helpa any."
Ha lifted the hands and kissed
them slowly. "It's the one thing that
will help. It's what I've been praying
to hear and couldn't ask you to say."
He went out closing the door soft
ly behind him.
SHE! made herself read the morn
lne naner. and realized that It
had been kind. The story was rele
gated to the Inside pagos. Mrs.
Thornton, the account said generous,
ly, had been in bad health ; she was
In Florida tor that reason. . . .
She dropped the paper and went
to make coffee. Her mind waa merci
fully numb, so tbat she felt nothing
not even misery. The only sensa
tions of which she was conscious
were a dull headache and a strained
tooling about her eyes that cams
from sleeplessness.
The telephone clamored and she
looked elowly towarda it wondering
If she could bear to answer It And
then she knew she had to.
The voice over tho wire was Cor
Delia's; crisp and matter-of-fact
"Carol?"
"Yes."
"I wondered if you'd have dinner
with me tonight? Hither at home or
uptown?"
She knew then that Cornelia bad
read tbe paper, and that Cornelia's
swift mind bad grasped a great deal
that had been unsaid. And she knew
that Cornelia's Interest was far more
than morbid curiosity: Cornelia's
contempt tor gossip and personali
ties amounted almost to loathing.
She said: "I'd love It but please
com here Instead." Whore I won't
have to see people, and wonder If
I they know. ...
j tCopvrioht, tist, ej Kertan Sim
1 Cornelia dollvert some suund
I ne to Carol, tomorrow.
eACKrW
in m fcttisMpr 7
To BMP
Visfef? fists rtisrifiR
IN ft NftRROW
A, VJlPfcOHB.
M5ID
ItiHiajfct Hrfidittu, Im.
Backfire.
With the horrors of war Indelibly
Impressed In his memory by the sight
of wounded soldiers returning from
early battles of the Civil war. Rich
ard Jordan Qatllng became an ardent
pacifist.
In search of a plan whereby he
might help to end all wars. Catling
waa struck with the Idea of making
war so horrible that nation would
it. Tho result was his In
ventlon of the world's first machine
gun. the Qatllng gun.
In 1865 the weapon was adopted
by the United States army, and since
then. In revised form, It haa develop
ed Into the death-dealing machine
gun modern warfare knows today.
Strange as It seems, the world'i
moat destructive explosives were In
vented by another pacifist, Alfred B.
Nobel, Laboring under the same sup
position (is Oatling, Nobel, a Swedish
chemist, devoted much of his life to
the creatlor of complex explosives
that would assure peace among na
tlons by their destructive powers.
The "Nobel Peace Prize, ' a sum of
money awarded annually to the per
son or society doing the moat toward
creating international peace, waa left
by Nobel from the huge fortune he
UNPEff ,
pmcN of death
IHDIAN4 ARE fof?&IDPNT0
IrtftWe 1H6IR HMiVe IfcNO.,,
PJttamz
CALLED TO COLORS By
ARMY INCREASE EDICT
(Copyright, 18M. by the Awinrieted
Preae)
BERLIN. Sept, 90 A widespread
increase waa ordered in the Oerman
mi'.itary establlahment today .1 Nad
offielala began conscription to raise
tiuir lighting forces to 800,000 men
under the new two-year compulsory
service rule.
nelchafuehrer AdrCf Hitler decreed
an tncreaae to 800.000 youths for the
apade corps the government labor
ei-vlce which Is the preliminary
training unit of the etandlng rtrmy.
Soma 80,000 A the first draft will
be Inducted Into the labor service
October 1. almultaneouly wltn be
tween aoo.ooo and 300.000 of their
elihtly older comrades called to the
revitalised relchawehr - national army
reorganised on the pre-ioti two-
year compulsory model.
Hitler, taking a leaf from the
KaL-wr wilhetm .yatem. decreed the
two-year aervloa Aiitfiiat 34 to become
effective October 1. The training per'
lod prevloiuly waa one year, in addi
tion to half a year In the .pade
corps which tmist be put In prior to
belrm called Into the (tenting force.
The recrulta are 31 and 33 yeare
of a(ro Oermany'a war babtea part
of the claaaea of 10H and 1919.
WASHINGTON. Sept. SO. (.n The
iruano Navigation company waa
authorised today by the interstate
commerce rommlaalon to operate by
water on the Willamette and Colum
bla rlvera betwepn Portland and Tho
Unllra. Orr.
Dae Mall Tr limit, waul ads.
Autumn days
ARE HARD TO BEAT.
So is varigley's r-Yj
IT S A TREAT .'
J T II
IS
amaased from the Invention of ex
plosives. Death Penalty.
San Bias Indians, although In con
tact with Europeans since the 16th
century, remain one of the purest
races In the world. Through the
centuries they have gone to great
ends to maintain their racial purity
and even today doom to death any
woman who leaves ner Homeland In
the northeast of Panama, for fear of
racial contamination.
Water Levels.
Capillary action, the strange phy
sical phenomenon that seemingly
causes water to violate its law of
seeking Its own level, Is responsible
for the heights of water Inside tubes
of different diameters.
WRIG LEY'S,
Trt PERFECT GUM r
Urmaf
WONDERING HOW L0N6 10 HOLD DINNER.
FOR 6l)ESfS WHO PON'f SHOW UP AND
WHO IW HAVE 60f HElR DME6 MIXED,
THE HEAD OF "THE MOOSE HAVING HAD A
W EARLY" LUNCHEON
(Copyright, 1936, hy The Bell Syndicate, lne.) W'mAT73
S MATTEB POP-
m
By 0.. M. PAYNB
'
T is Vouiz. -Ia-t.W A V J? L
j -AmT) Coat ah-d7 ip?fe 'J S .
lrri (Copyright, 1938. by The Bell Syndicate, Inc )
TAILSPIN TOMMY Ths Second Warning;
Bj HAL FORREST
EXACTLY AT
MIDNIGHT...
JUST AS SKEETER
FICURCO IT... THE
PHAMTOM FOKKER
GLIDED DOVn
OUT OF THE
DARK SKY... TO
LAND AT THREE
P0iriT...IN THE CONTROL
TOWER, VILSON
AND DILLON
WATCH IT lli
SURPRISE ....
BEN WEBSTER'S CAREER Mr. Tuttle Acta I
By EDWIN ALGEB
pis- WWW
1 C AGAIN y NUT...H& fJ&ZJ' WSC- W L E ECOMO Z
'j 1 'r'" j! ' j
6EV1 6RAC10USIS, RECEIVED BY THE HE VJA5 THE 80V NHfT) VES, THW w OOW'T MEUTOU MY
SU?WUTEUOEUT OMHf ORPHANAGE, OWE ( RAN AWAY MY, AAV, ( MRS. TUMMY- NAME, MRS. TUMMV, BUT
MRl3- TUMMV- V THAT VJAj ALL OF ELtVEVJ J S VWHO? OH.YESrJ! , I F THAT BEVJ VJE&STfcR 60Y
imj, i j r- YEAR'S AGO AUO- v yJfi - $ THERE, OOU'T B6UEME I j
UR HM wetBAlOKUWf)' s S STlST APPl ( WOULD W AUYTHIUS
'' '1 frA j
f Vers A LETTER. FOR IPs ITS PROM OBiE .. " GOT VOUt ' SUOULOJT HME SEMT A'ELL , IF VCJ GOT
I TWcXJfoMT SOU i mi F1SU. IT WAS A OAMDV. -nlrvJ&TO S. JTiJi5 TSC- KBAllOS NOU OOW'T V
MONODY KXIOWEO VJMERE -4 MAKE. MVSELF" 8EUEVE YOU f JrynJi ZClto' -rTLjm,s' EM VJlTM VOL
' WAS - MEBBE VOU WROTQ y Wik CAUSMT IT- YOUR SOTWHR.-1M-LAW 1 X-r met PsSr-TS 1YOU SOT A UEAOTMA.T,
r TO YOURSELF- S LELFT A COUPuEl C OAY5 AFTER LL ' JVytoO REnsJG S.OUST UXX5 UKE A 1
rJV sSlf". STAY AS LOsJO AS yA PTUi btl tT?E iICO
THE NEBBS A Letter
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