Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 7, 1925 — page 27: what you’re looking at

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

’ NORTH STAR. Sa she received a postal card addressed in his handwriting. It was” a picture card — willingly added herself. beneath its folds. The source of his anxiety was only hinted -at—things it would = better if she were not to understand. - She looked upon hint asa i wronged man—wronged by her brother, who so evi- _ dently and unreasonably despised the hand — that was offered to help him. She herself allayed Robbins’s fears. Wilbur, she ex-_ plained, never let himself in for any ‘serious — Robbins had smiled reflectively — trouble. and said nothing. He would just stand by, he ‘Said, i case anything should break. E She had et Novh Star’s obj jention . to Robbins with a firm hand. The dog had. come to recognize her as the second in command. He obeyed her as Wilbur had — told him so to do. But she could not make — him jeave the drawing-room when Rob- bins was present. It was the one point on which he would not obey her. He would be quiet enough, lying either stretched at her feet or off in a corner, Aut. he would be always there. She knew the dog’ S presence ade Rob- bins nervous, in spite of Robbins’s attempt to establish friendly relations—attempts that were always significantly repulsed with a warning growl. She gave up her efforts to drive the dog away; Se came to > forget his presence. ly, either to escort her to some affair, when he would return with ber after it was over, and linger a minute or two after saying good night, or else he would come and they would make an evening of it at home, talk- giving him a chance that he had never before so intimately had, bringing out the true wells of goodness showing a moose standing on a illtop in silhouette against the sky. The postmark was smudged, making it aden The stamp was Canadian, = Written in the space reserved for a mes- sage was the single word, “ Love.” She never thought of showing it to Robbins. The fiction of anxiety concerning her 497 brother had been dropped. She placed the card in a pigeonhole of her desk and forgot : about it. - Rebbins came ‘that night. They were going nowhere. He came for dinner, and she led him afterward into the library, where. they had coffee. She was wearing an evening gown of silver lace over. a foundation of vert Nil Patou velvet. Light from a bracket of candles found reflection in a solitary blood ruby that hung from a slender chain around her throat. Robbins was peculiarly silent, and she found herself doing most of the talking. ~ His silence became, eventually, pointed. He was. ‘sitting in a chair drawn up near ing. It flattered her to think that she was weaning him from the lurid teal he had - been following that were waiting to be tapped pecs the crust of circumstance. He was an interesting alkee But she knew that- ‘his words were mere surface play to mask his hidden fires. She wondered when he would permit them to escape from his control. And what she would do when he did so. On the morning of the. day that marked the. close of the third week of Wilbur’s ab- ; 2 Be. hep She found herself ose at his hands. Their knuckles were white from the grip he held upon the arms of the chair. For an instant she felt a vague tremor of alarm; 7 — it reflected itself upon “ber face. It was at night that Robbins ¢ came most-— “ T suppose you know,’ ” said Robbins. He stood up and came over to her. He held out his hands. She placed her own in them. He drew her to her feet. She felt herself sinking with a mad ‘swift plunge below the waters of a fathomless sea, drenched with an unspeakable sense of com- pletion. The stiff bosom of his shirt pressed the ruby sharply into her skin. she was unaware of the pain. He released her. She retained a con- fused impression that Robbins at once be- gan 2 discussion about their wedding, There — was some talk, she remembered, about giv- ing the news out to reporters. It was un- derstood that he would attend to every- thing. There was a second blinding moment near the door; then he was gone. ae She sank upon her knees in the still hall -and placed her arms around North Star. She anouERE. nothing of his tenseness, of COmMiIcHbOoOkKS. co