Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 7, 1925 — page 14: what you’re looking at

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

Ae » ' , TRUTH ELAN RED NON Owe Ma ME VIN APU LY EYER Sey OT ‘ UE Mey ead We ok bao ne Oey ree Ev ArES ./ AP, ASU ff #4 yo et pre: ae : ¢, aw _—— AYN, : ] they stepped to the curb, crossed. beens a canopy of brilliant lights, and entered the broad foyer of the ¢ ‘rystal Palace. They joined the crush in an ascending elevator, innocuous to the press of hot bodies, the scent of perfume, of powder, of cigar smoke, of liquor, good and bad, that swift- ly filled the small space. The car came to a smooth stop, and the men, with stolid politeness, milled uncomfortably about until the women had been forced to struggle through the doors. “Pine,” said Marcia. “ They’ve created a distinct effect of pines. Smell it?” Wilbur nodded briefiy and ied his sister to their box in the large exhibition hall where the show was being held. The scenery was by Vyrban, and the effect was one of startling reality. The trunks of tall trees rose from a great carpet of pine needles and moss. Great shafts of light splotched downward through a lacery of artificial foliage. The lighting varied its note from one end of the vast hall to the other, changing in tone from the cold, thin clarity of dawn, through high noon, to the hot glory of the western skies at sunset. The seasons, too, were represented in their wide diversity. At the end where a platform was raised for dancing was the note of spring; then, at its heels, came sum- mer, fall, and winter. It created a distinct illusion even in the city which is the stronghold of disillusionment. It further- more maintained its illusion in each be- holder for several minutes. This was tri- umph. Marcia took her brother firmly by the arm. She was in time to prevent his sink- ing into an inviting chair. She led him from the box and _ started threading her way along the rows of the various ee its. “Tf it’s all the same to you, sis,” sug- gested Wilbur as they passed beneath the brilliant shafts of high noon, “ we'll buy this damned dog you’re after as quick as er’s_arm amounted to a grip. There was we can and then beat it.” | Marcia did not answer. Her eyes had caught sight of a figure farther up the aisle, leaning with immaculate carelesness against the trunk of an artificial tree. She identified its muscular perfection as Dick Robbins. ARGOSY-ALLST ORY WEERLY. She She was not “A swift flush came into her cheeks. made no effort to suppress it, even aware that it was there. The unconscious tightening of the pres- sure of her hand upon his arm caused Wil- bur to look down. He caught the flush and studied the direction of her gaze. “‘ So it’s swine,” he announced with the calculated precision of drunkenness, “ and not dogs that brought you here.” For a full second his implication failed to strike Marcia. Then she jerked her hand from his arm. Her eyes widened into amazed defiance. “T realized that you were denne” she said in a low voice that equaled his own, “but that remark is the sort of thing one is only led to expect from a sot.” “It was justified.” “All unpardonable things are—in the eyes of their progenitors.” “ T’ve told you he’s the type of swine no decent girl should have anything to do with. If I choose to know him, that’s a different affair. A man can take care of himself with men. You came here expressly to meet him.” ““{ came here to buy a dog.” - Wilbur laughed. “ You think I’m a liar?” c¢ I do.”’ Even their lips were white. ‘“* Come with me.” She replaced her hand upon his arm. With studied artifice she smiled at some passing friends and wished them casual greetings. She approached a uniformed at- tendant. -“ Where is the exhibition of Michael Lebombard, pleaser” she asked. “Down that there aisle to the left, miss—that little cabin sort of deep in the shadow.”’ “Thank you.” Her black satin slippers with their rhine- stone buckles sank into the thick carpet of pine needles. Her pressure upon her broth- sufficient truth in his assertien to make it infinitely more unendurable than if there had been ali truth or none. She had tried to persuade herself that her real reason for coming was the purchase Tt Eomicbooks:com