The Argosy, Vol. 82 No. 2 — page 26: what you’re looking at

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

208 got—got hurted when I was a kid. Where did you say to call?” His teeth gritted strangely as he listened to Mary Callum’s address and nodded and touched his cap, and it was not without some misgiving that Jane entered her car and watched him start. He seemed capa- ble enough, though; the beautiful machine rolled forward with never a jar and Mr. Farnham, having attempted to seat him- self at Jane’s side and discovered that Aunt Hettie was moving into the place, settled elsewhere and smiled reassuringly at the puzzled girl. “His ear’s probably supersensitive from an injury—something like that,” said he. “lve heard of such things. He drives well.” He drove, in fact, exceptionally well. He swirled around corners and wormed his way through the early traffic with an ex- pert hand, and very shortly he stopped be- fore the big Callum house. Mary, ready and waiting, was escorted to the car by a butler, a footman and her maid, who stored away some twenty bits of luggage where they would roll most annoy- ingly when the car started and then stood away to permit Miss Mary to wave fare- well to a pair of doting parents in a win- dow. She was a nice little thing, Jane reflected dubiously when they were under way once more. She was frail, of course, and lacked color in every possible way; and she had been pampered and thoroughly spoiled since the day of her birth; and when, on rare occasions, Mary spoke, it could not have been said that her words were actual pearls of wit and wisdom. Her chronically delicate state, which necessitated much waiting upon and could have been cured forever by a season of golf and tennis, made it incumbent upon Mary’s hostess to ask at regular intervals if she were quite comfortable, and in divers other ways Mary might have been con- sidered a nuisance by the uncharitable. But she was a nice little thing and, which was much more to the point, she was lend- ing her presence to Jane’s emergency party and helping to save that young woman from solitary flight with a strange chauf- feur. Jane smiled quite fondly upon Mary as they came to the Hapworthy home. In this establishment, as the hostess en- tered, there was a certain air of tension not wholly reassuring. She recognized its THE ARGOSY. existence as the door closed; she began to sense underlying causes as Mr. and Mrs. James Hapworthy greeted her and hurried into their motoring togs. The lady of the household bustled about with lips tightly compressed and a sinister glint in her rather hard eyes whenever she glanced at her husband. Mrs. Hapworthy was small, but one felt that she lacked nothing of force when dealing with her life-partner. That gentleman, on the other hand, wandered about with a deprecatory smile, caressing his perfect little mustache and, once or twice, rolling his fascinating china- blue eyes in Jane’s direction as if to apolo- gize for the obvious temper of his lady and to hint that he at least was in no sense blamable. ‘“T was so glad to find that you were home and willing to come!” Jane said spasmodically. Mrs. Hapworthy paused and permitted her eyes to flash at Jane. “Yes, dear, we came home quite sud- denly—day before yesterday,” she ex- plained. “You meant to stay up in Vermont until October, didn’t you?” Jane queried unfor- tunately. Mrs. Hapworthy laughed unpleasantly. ‘We should have stayed there, if con- ditions had been happier,” she said. “It was a lovely little cottage, you know, and everything perfectly dear. But there was a blond woman—” | “Oh, my dear!” Hapworthy protested. ‘“‘Norma, really you mustn’t—” “She heard my perfectly candid opinion of her—and youw’re here!” Mrs. Hapworthy said succinctly. Mr. Hapworthy shrugged his shoulders and smiled self-conscious apology behind her back—and Jane caught her breath. She had walked in upon a rather vulgar and tiresome family jar; more, she was taking it with her, and if one-half the re- ports of Mrs. Hapworthy’s temper when thoroughly roused were true, they would be sitting upon a nicely primed dynamite bomb for some time to come. And still, they, too, were helping to save Jane from the Thompson terror, and she said quickly: “Oh, don’t be so utterly silly, either of you. You're ready?” The tight-lipped little lady surveyed Jane inscrutably. ECOMMICLOO® S (C@