b SERIAL-STORY f . . COPYKtOHT It40 BY HENRY BELLAMANN1 HOMECOMING CHAPTER XXVI TJ ANDY spread mit the sheets of Parris' letter on the kitchen table. The letter had come two daya ago, and (he had read it a dozen times, but she returned to it again and again for the warmth and comfort, the sense of security and safety that she derived from it. "I am sure that you have al ready made Drake feel that he la needed and wanted in the world. I am writing him in this same post that he is certainly needed and important in my life. We can't give him legs, but we can keep his mind and personality, and soul, if you wish to call it that, whole and well. "I recalled last night that a long time ago Drake talked of real estate projects of some kind, I don't remember Just what the ideas were. The main point is to get his mind going on something definitely constructive. "Drake has been more than a brother to me, and from this mo ment on you are more than my sister. In you two I feel that I have more than a professional reason for coming back to Kings Row. You know, of course, that I have always hoped for an an pointment at the State Hospital for the Insane. I have kept Dr. Nolan informed of my progress. He has promised to recommend my appointment when I have fin ished my work here in Vienna." Randy folded the thin sheets of paper carefully. It was strange, she thought, how well she knew Parris Mitchell. GRADUALLY, as the weeks went by, Randy pressed the suggestions Parris had made in his flrat letter. She was amazed to see how Drake fell more and more easily into the pattern she so care fully planned. One day, following her carefully disguised leads, Drake recalled the eld project for reclaiming the. creek-bottom lands nearby. He: alighted upon it with joy. He had begun from that day to move toward a normal life. Sometimes, as Randy studied the sharp-cut profile, it seemed as though this catastrophe had burned Drake clear of every trait that had been a little careless and coarse. "I'm going to move you down stairs next week, Drake." He frowned. "Where?" "The front room. That's going to be our living room, and the little room off to the side that never has been anything but a: storeroom will be our bedroom." He thought a moment. . "It sounds pleasant." "There is just one front win dow. It looks into the front yard. There's a big cedar tree outside, and across the road you can see around Harper's Hill on out into the country. It's quieter, too. You dont hear the switch engines as you do back here." Drake's face "' contracted sud denly. "Ill be glad to get where I dont hear them so plain. Some times I dream I guess I'll always have dreams like that" "I dont think so, Drake." Randy poke very calmly, but her chest (was tight "You'll have a lot of other things to think about" "Randyl" "Remember this always. You've had a terrible accident and all that but you're just Drake Mc- Hugh. You're no different You can arrange your life anyway you want to. I'm here to see that it's done the way you want it, bin you are Drake, and I love you. Do II have to tell you that every day?" ."THE late-afternoon train clanked I t.1 J 14- 1 ' wm lawcu iia Biuuay, grimy way from Camperville towards Kings Row. ; The passengers sat in the antl- qua ted coach, avoiding, as much las possible, the touch of the gritty,, red-plush seats. They wore a look lof patient misery all but one. He iwas a young man who had stepped from the Chicago express just in' time to catch the Kings Row local.' At the station he looked with aome surprise at the new brick building. "Hack sir?" "Why the Central Hotel. There jis still a Central HoteL I gup Ipose?" "Yes, sirree. Only one, in fact 'Dls- way, suh." The rather decrepit hack swung around the corner and clattered along lower Union street At the hotel desk, a thin mousy jlooking clerk bowed with an imi tation of briskness. , "I'd like a suite, please." "Suite?" I "Yes. Sitting room, bedroom, ibalh." "Well we haven't exactly got that kind of an arrangement I could throw two rooms together . for you." He watched as the newcomer wrote: "Dr. Parris Mitchell, Vi enna." The clerk turned the register around, wrote a number opposite the name. "Here, boy, take Dr. Mitchell's baggage to 217. Going: to go into practice here, Doc?" "At the State Hospital." "Sure enough! Doctor at the! asylum, eh?. Well, well." : "Send the baggage up. I'm go-: Ing out first to to look around."' Out on the sidewalk Parris stopped and slowly drew on his gloves. Two men sitting in split Ibotlom rocking chairs Just outside ithe hotel door stared and glanced at each other. When Parris walked i away, one of them spoke slowly. ("Say, did you see that fellow, put 'ting on gloves?" "Cloves in August!" "Dl. MftnViall 7T.J ,1 t. . , . vscu w iivb iParrls Mitchell." . j "What's he wearing gloves for?" I 'Ife' been living over In Europe In Vienna, for five years. Maybe ituats the style over there. Going -r' V( , - N( A SIIIVICK. INC. to be a doctor over at the asylum." "Well, now! Government Job to start off on?" "Yep." . T)ARRIS walked across the A square. At the corner he paused and thought a moment Yes, Cedar street that was the shortest way to Randy's house. He had thought so often of com ing home. Now he was here. This was Kings Row. He looked east and west on the cross street This shabby, dingy-looking street this village. A strange heaviness settled on his heart and with it came a quick, keen wave of home sickness for Vienna. Vienna had meant friends, a comfortable something that was almost home Vienna wns he shook himself free of the thoughts. "Parris!" "Randy my dear!" "Oh, Parris, I'm so glad to see you!" Randy had Just started out when she met Parris. She swung the white-painted gate open again. "Come on in. Drake will be crazy, he'll be so glad to see you." "How is he?" Parris caught her a?m and held back as they came to the door. "How is he really?" Randy looked away, then back again. Her eyes dimmed a little. "I dont really know, Parris. I don't really know. He seems more like himself lately. But I cant teU." Randy opened the door. Parris held tight to Drake's hand and looked down Into the THIS CURIOUS WORLD I?) cb , 1 I 1 "r"'lT OS WINTER. WHEAT v r- I rp l PLANTED IN .AUTU-VUM-V' I I MfKl SPRING OR 5UMMEK I I 1 11 , COM. ttJ BY HA SCRVKC MQ, . I ' ". u w.ofr. RAuu revere:. WITH HIS MAIsrV OTHEC TPAnrc. ri ANSWER: Autumn . NEXT: Dan Cupid CIVILIAN DEFENSE GROUP HORIZONTAL 1,6 Depicted is insignia of the U. s. Civilian Defense Answer to JHENWI 12 That thing. 13 Metal 14Fruit stone. IS Made of (suffix). 16 Residence (abbr.). 18 Sheltered side 20 They function with the of the police force. help during blackouts. 40 Age. 41 Bushel (abbr.) 42 Strokes lightly 45 Pope's triple crown. 49 Subside. 53 Fuss. 64 Males. 55 Beverage. 57 American poet. 58 Symbol for tantalum. 59 Mountain pass 60 Finale. 21 On the affirm ative side. 22 Beach. 24 Looks askance .25 Black bird. 26 Greek letter. 28 Symbol for sodium. - 29 African tree. 32 Ruggcdmoun- tain crest. 36 New Zealand ground parrot, 37 Misrepresent. 62 Old Roman- i i ... t weight. for grating. 39 They 63 Uses. 64 Keeps. gg.EGpWT -jDCP 'RUNS fyg NO f ic e: R E 5 V: UlTIO-M E IMS 11 ,rc7n os Nog pSTsIeeI "1 i r r! i i all sbEoql tiEim TPEE jB.Oj -;r o .CKOs I 2 3 4- 15 J6 17 Id 9 I llO III If is r-1 "p ir Mfe ' f ma : iMii 16 17 ?Pl8 19 2D 'm. M , , 26 27 Ka- 1 29 30 31 32" 33134135 j 37- 15 - - -iiii3s- 4T ' ' 4? 43 44 45 46 47(48 p 49 50I51 152 Wi$ I " I55 56 If 59 60 """IT 62" l f 1 TTi R 1 I r l" deeply shadowed eye. fTh-nk " Drake moved his lips, but no word came. His face was like a mask of thin stone. He shifted a little like an embarrassed ehlld and turned his face away, rvi 1 tat rinwn on the edce the bed and laid his cheek hard atfnlntt TVnlrut's. Randy backed out of the door nnrf rloied t behind her. one went to the kitchen and sat down In a low chair behind the stove. (To Be Continued) These rampant totalitarian military forces seek to and can dethrone Christ and then shout as the pagans of the past, "there is no other god but Cacsnr." Msgr. Michael Ready, general secretary of National Catholic Welfare council, observing third anniversary of coronation of Pone Pius. and harvested in summer. flies the alrianes. Previous Puzzle 21 Symbol ior praseodymium 23 Deliberations; 25 They keep watch for air raids. 27 Diminish. 28 Very rich man 29 Banking (abbr.). 30 Swiss river. 31 Turkish weight. 33 Sprite. 34 Bind. 35 Ever (poet.). 42 Pasty. 43 First man. 44 Toward. 46 Within. ' 47 Symbol for radium. 48 Toward the sheltered side. 50 Upward. 51 Permission to use. 52 Not as much. 54 To low, as a cow. 56 Entomology (abbr.). 59 Symbol for chlorine. 61 Danish . (abbr.). VERTICAL 1 Artificial manners. 2 Genus of shrubs. 3 Right (abbr.). 4 Trouble. 5 Crudely. 7 Genus of bees. 8 Free. 8 Doctor of Theology (abbr.). 10 Roman emperor. 11 Earth's wintry blanket. 17Symbolfortin 19 Eye (Scot.). . 20 Aramaic (abbr.). b ak!. "t- j CjHfflgjPJ RED RYDER ' By Fred Harmon By William Ferguson I IKII IB'SiEINl OUT OUR WAY 1 1 UP cJOM. I WAMTPD I rt-t THPV Pi I of LJf. HV I T UkWtAJ VAJtuW Yuaon ( a. a. v it- -m .1 vr-T 1 I I C if T W HA.SMM; BEBM MIJCH f FTEB 'EM AN' SO f TWO TOE DANCERS f IDEAS STEAMIN3 THR006H LUMINOUS Pi i ' V WRITT6M ABOUT B6AL l OOB8 TWBIR JlA PUT fUPRB fflj ikin u .n.ml 4 ., Lbbtwwvu . JLySTo?. Z..V i'nw. v'" J vs. r.Wytvu; fcp BETWEEN! A L'TTLE ORPHAN ANNE By Harold Gray I ( m'ILitocaI I jaSf-ssE I ( issrsr'rff f-iul I Ifiiin I LOOK ACTUALLY OF ALL THAT- LGNO MG A HAND, WILL B6 ABLE TO MAKE GOirJ... AJT B I LPAirU HANDSOME. AS t SAID M0U WERE VUH, PftL? I'M HCHTftlLIN' ) ITI GU6SS--StIPE 1 PR. IWIN' OUT M? 1 I (W. I f TRAMPSGO--HOW TO HAVE ASH(VE OUT OF THIS CROAKER J BEEN ISCE TO ME TO--- DOC 2EE dmih J (ABOUT rtDUR BILL? I EVERY DAY- ) MILL-- ICANJJST f NURE GIVE MY ' VJ J 3&$o, H l Sf ) BOOTS AND HER BUDDIES " ''' ' " Martlii . T60 P- TOT V rKV I .rlLPff MAW, Wtt A. I I jj V WASH TUBS By Cron f PLEASE U STOP IT! X IT WAA BISHU ANO THE ) f BI&HU KAS INFORM ME WHAT' I. TOO. IVA THERE AWoS7 I WSUT WITU TM(. VuKDirAM t yafc. I TOSTOP t - YOU HAVE WMMAWDER WHO PERMIT-; HAPPEN. HB tMA THERE. HE SAW. 1 TSLL V0U IT WAS AFTER HMt ESOAPCVES. BUT W 1 fi IMt-feKNu v wo escAKBor the c&cPE MIJaMaiaji M BiHUI IMAOW06UN... WHVf ONLV BECAUSE I THINK . FRECKLES AND HIS FRIENDS By Blosser , Yi.y,1."!1"-' -n f v ' " , C ! " T rTvi'!1" l'vJ,;'::''.'1 " What happened To The soldiers Well, I know I They saioThev wehs raioinsThb ijiiif'syi j l.li YOU IMVITEO FOa DINNER ? I NEVER. ) THEY THEY ASKBD THEM FED WEU. IM CAMP pur ICB BO ! il I ill' i .: fll'. HEARD Of HEALTHY YOUN SOLDIERS DIDN'T PASS WEREN'T WHAT THEY "THAT ON BT ' J.' i lilt "L f . PASSING UP HOMe-COOKED FOOD' J IT UP AT THE . MISSED THE? HOMEY TOUCH WHAT : yMU ,K.I, m i i . n. ilt !.v ilifl , table' most.beino wasmis9in& didthe I o . rrt "H' l'iiii1 ; Sfl ,.1 AWAY FROM IN ARMY MEAN? ."J 5tn Fl Mff-ii- jjy ric D? o V?a' aHy i ' V S- Hlfia aa M,MMMajaaay''V Im mi i.ihiI r trf yi"" """i". "! ". paV oir,.!l ' 3-l - ALLEY OOP - - ' -: By V. T. Hamlin T flLED ITARY POWER, THEVDAR67 tX, INTRI&U6 . BAH 1 STAND ifv m i L f t . ' A ViSITORYfi-f -f f JVWHILSROME NOT UVAHANDON X A I'LL SHOW THOSE K OPEN THAT 3 ff I VM ' V '.' J IIS By J. R. Williams k' ' v.- '.""J v" s: rrtit a., i,,, r 60V6 i if BETWEEN IO OUR BOARDING HOUSE, BLACKOUT TONIGHT, BOT 1 SAVJTWl6&"'VOUH. HERE'S VOUB. TR.lv I AL MESSENGER CHORfc DERAILS A TRAIN OP BIG ARMBANDS l SOL) TWO TOE DANCERS PUT THESE ON AND IDEAS STEAMING THROUGH M.W MIND SHOOTS A BALLET AROUND TUB NEXT TWO BLOCKS, ORDERING ALL. . ED CHlMNBV THAT BELCHE6 UP ANTI-AIOCBCkPT PIUS. - UTC nut yr -VS' SPONGY PAVEMENTS ELIMIN ( ATlNS THE NEED FOR AND II It -V with Major Hoopl V IF VJB FIND SOME: CHUMP WITH A LUMINOUS A SUN THAT CURVE, A PATENT WRIST WATCH DURlrV TH 61ACKOUT, DO W& TAKE TH' WATCH ? RLSHREC TlKEA. AND " LET'S CEE UM-KAFF WHAT ELSE k F