Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, December 1956 — page 45: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Lurline turned and fled from the room. She tried the bathroom door down the hall, but it was locked. She cried harder because she had no privacy for her grief. In this wreck of an old New York hotel, she and her mother: shared bath- room and kitchen privileges with the other residents of the sixth floor front. A deep, offkey male voice was humming an old song of the twen- ties—Ukelele Lady—in the kitch- en. It was Major Farwell, a genial, disabled World- War I flier, who spent his time commuting between the hotel and Veterans’ hospitals. Lurline dried her eyes. She didn’t feel like exchanging pleasantries with the Major. But she didn’t feel like going back to the room to face her mother—not just yet. . Ukelele Lady lika you,” came from the kitchen, the final syllable punctuated by a dull splat- ting sound. Lurline moved to the open kitchen door and looked in. Major Farwell, grizzled and stout, wore his familiar blue hospital robe and slippers. He lifted his arm, as Lurline watched, to deliver a resounding thwack to a piece of meat with the flat of a cleaver. He saw Lurline and paused, saying, “Hope [l’m~not ‘disturbing you, m’dear, but I’ve been looking for- ward to cube steak for breakfast tomorrow, and the confounded butcher didn’t do the job right.” He delivered another blow with the heavy meat cleaver. A DATE WITH JONATHAN Lurline stood nursing her an- guish while the major finished preparing the steak, put it in the icebox and returned the cleaver to its hook above the long sink. “There!” he said, moving to- ward the door. “That should do it.” He winked at Lurline, as he winked at all women, and added with an intoxicated air, “My, you’re looking mighty pretty tonight, Miss Lurline. If you don’t look out, you'll become as big a threat © to us men as your mother.” Lurline moved aside to let the © major pass. She said nothing, be- cause she. could not speak—the Major’s remark, coming on top of the scene with her mother, made her physically ill. She watched the Major go to his room, then took a deep breath and marched back to her own door, opened it and went inside. “Mother,” she said. “I want you to know I’m going out with .. .” Her voice trailed off as she saw what Martha was doing. “Youre tearing my hat!” Mrs. Martha Cassidy did not re- ply. She went right on completing the demolition of the little hat with its wisp of veil. Lurline stood and watched as. she had watched the Major pre- pare his steak. Suddenly she turned and left the room. She went to the kitchen, took down the cleaver, re- turned to the room and hit her mother with it, hard, on the side of the head. Martha made an odd 43 EOMIGCLOOOKS.(6O)