Argosy All-Story Weekly, February 12, 1927 — page 160: what you’re looking at

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

ee more pao) ae Piars ey eee fare $e", —s ~~ > ea aT Ses Se oe - —e a io ne nies —< a +. Ce et —— < ———— Sa ee eee Og de hn Ss — ~a = 2 ., - - Se yet fC ot eo 4 154 “You must have heard, but I suppose it is not worth your while to answer,” con- tinued Keith. “If you only knew how pleasant it is to sit opposite some one as responsive as a piece of dough—”’ But he got no further, for Peggy hast- ened to assure him that there were plenty of places he could go if he felt that way. More had followed till he had made that un- necessary remark about her Grandmother Yarnal. It was as if several weeks had been con- sumed in getting ready to lay the fuse. Then suddenly a spark had been applied. The explosion was inevitable and over- whelming,. Peggy winked back the tears and anger again overcame her. It certainly was un- fair to taunt her with Grandmother Yar- nal’s remark that had been meant so dif- ferently. She gathered up the uneaten apple, car- ried it to the kitchen and took solid pleas- ure in dumping it in the scrap heap. Then she reached for the muffins—nice golden- brown, crispy affairs, and they joined the As she set the apartment to rights, Peggy rehearsed the situation from beginning to end—then back again. She was hurt and angry and bewildered. Warned by Grand- mother Yarnal at the time of her marriage she had given up the things judged harm- ful. She had devoted herself heart and soul to making a home. And what a home! Her husband had taken up with a crowd who were impossible to her. She had no _feeling of superiority, but there was simply nothing in common between their ideas and hers. So lately Keith had been going his way while she stayed more and more at home. And the only thing left her was her pride in its being a well regulated house- hold. ‘“‘T wish Grandmother Yarnal had minded her own business.” It was not a respect- able wish of Peggy’s, but the conditions under which she was struggling were un- usual. “If Keith is going to regret the day he married me I might as well give him a peg on which to hang his grievance. He needn’t think I enjoy this existence any ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. Besides an income from Grandmother Yarnal’s inheritance, she had a neat little bank account. Doing her own housework she had been able to put aside quite a sum from each week’s allowance. It would be enough to make things hum for at least one day. After that, perhaps the deluge. She had given up her car soon after her marriage. Two cars seemed superfluous. She had no time for idle driving. When it was necessary she went with Keith. . She called up the firm that had been proud of her- premarital exploits. They gave her every advantage possible to enter the auto fiel€ again. An initial sum was soon settled on for the new roadster with easy monthly payments. She called up Camilla Jordan, her best friend, who lived in the city. Camilla was sorry, but she had an appointment to meet Gladys Miller, ““So much the better,” sang Peggy. “ Bring Gladys along. Meet me at the Roosevelt at eleven sharp. We’ll have some day!” In an incredibly short time, arrayed in her best bib and tucker, Peggy was skim- ming swiftly over the road that connected her home town with New York. It was good to feel the sensitive new roadster re- spond to every whim of hers. She had for- gotten what fun it was to drive. How the trees and houses flew by! She almost stopped, then swerved sud- denly to avoid a dog that crossed the road in front of her. Then she sang a song of triumph as the car picked up speed and carried her without a struggle to the top of a steep hill. She wished Keith could have seen her climb. The thought brought back all their recent unpleasantness, So Keith regretted the day he married her! Once more anger gleamed in her eyes as she assured herself that she would do her best to give him something worth while to regret. A flying glimpse of a bank yellow with goldenrod. She stopped as quickly as pos- sible and backed till she came opposite the graceful, feathery plumes. Knowing that a bit of the country is invariably welcome in the -_ Peggy ee out and ews a caches ee Se , ee oy eee es a rt ese <> So ge SSS Ae en ee - =< a ee es See a ae» e . ry ———- —— = = Se este a ~~ = a ng at np he Be —.. ia Pe — o—o | -—. * ae a < a ee ~~ =