*Cbe LongAVay borne
by Irene (onnen Erntarf
CHAPTER I.
The Cozy Nook wasn't far from the gymnasium. The sounds of music
and laughter floated quite nlalnlv on the warm April breeze through the
open door, into the softly lighted emptiness of the tiny lunchroom.
Soon, Man- Crews was thinking, with a quickening lift of her heart,
iihe dance would be over and Court would come in. No matter that he'd
be with Cynthia or that he'd not give a thought to any one else. It was
enough that she would see him, see ❖
the quicksilver smile light his dark
face, hear his laughter, see the lithe
grace of him, as he and Cynthia
danced to the nickel phonograph.
As if in response to her thoughts,
Court's cream and chromium road
ster slid to a quick stop directly
before the neon sign of the Cozy
Nook. In the fiery glow of the sign
Court's crowd piled out and drifted
tn, two by two.
Gladys, the other waitress, sighed
and muttered darkly. “Here they
come! Now we can do some hus
tling!"
Mary scarcely heard the words.
A familiar breathless feeling was in
her breast as she waited for her first
glimpse of Court. It was terribly
silly, and yet she couldn’t help it.
“If it was any one but me!” she
chided herself fiercely sometimes.
“But I’m so ordinary, so plain and
practical, that it's just not right that
I should feel this way about some
one who doesn't even know I exist,
and doesn't even want to know it!”
It wasn’t quite true that Court
didn't know she existed. Rather, it
just didn't interest him particularly.
She remembered very well the first
time he had come into the Cozy
Nook, where she'd gone to work as
a freshman for her meals and book
money. She had stared at him in
astonishment, while her heart
crowded into her throat.
"Why—aren't you Court Dollo
rer?” she'd said at last.
Court’s Memory Revived.
He had looked up from the menu
card, his dark eyes veiled with in
difference, and he'd smiled rather
vaguely.
"I guess you don't remember me,”
she began uncertainly.
"I'm afraid I don't.”
She had made one more attempt.
"I—we used to play together every
summer when you came out to your
grandmother Dollover's farm. Re
member?”
"Oh yes.” His glance was polite,
but still void of cordiality. "I do
remember. Your name is Mary,
isn’t it?* Mary Crews?”
It had ended there. He spoke
pleasantly to her, of course, but
then he spoke to all the other
waitresses too. Oh, yes. she was
well aware by now that Court was
snobbish and that he was in love
with Cynthia Carter and that he
was going to the university not to
learn anything, but to have fun,
and because all his friends went.
But none of this mattered to Mary
Crews. She loved him.
She started forward now. to take
their order. She was always the
one to wait on their booth, because
Gladys seemed to understand how
It was.
She could have reached out her
hand and touched the fine brown
softness of Court’s hair as she hesi
tated there with her trayful of
glasses of water. They hadn't no
»
| Liced her yet. Court was saying
something that had quieted them
all. •
I “Cynthia, here, has promised to
marry me, after graduation—this
I summer, perhaps. We're engaged!"
“Well, say! This calls for a cele
bration!” one of the crowd shouted.
“Does this mean you’re definitely
out of circulation, Cynthia?” Ricky
Sullivan asked. His dark eyes
smoldered as he looked at her. The
announcement had evidently been a
| surprise to him and Mary felt a
sharp stab of pity for him. and a
feeling that she was sharing his
dismay and futility.
Cynthia Is Coquettish.
"Of course not, Ricky, darling,"
■ Cynthia cried with a trill of
laughter. She tipped her head
coquettishly and slid one of her
nervous, grasping little hands about
his neck. She pulled his head
toward her and kissed him with de
i liberate slowness on the mouth.
Their eyes held, as their lips parted,
and the hush in the booth became
j intense.
Mary Crews was aware of Court
, struggling to keep the pain out of
j his face and unable to hide it in
his eyes.
And she did something then of
which, afterward, she was terribly
ashamed. She set down a glass of
water in front of Cynthia so ab
ruptly that it tipped and spilled all
i over the other girl.
Cynthia wriggled out of the booth,
her face contorted with anger and
contempt. ' Look what you’ve done!”
she cried fiercely. "You stupid!”
“I'm—I’m so dreadfully sorry,"
Mary Crews stammered.
Court was on his feet also, flush
ing with embarrassment. “Please,
Cynthia.” he protested,
i “I’ll have you fired!” Cynthia went
on, In a loud furious voice.
The manager of the Cozy Nook
hurried up.
“It was just an accident,” Court
explained quickly.
"Accident nothing!” Cynthia
blazed. "It was deliberate!”
“It was all my fault,” Court told
the manager firmly. I jogged this
young lady’s elbow, just as she set
the glass down.” His jaw was set
in a resolute line.
Cynthia flung her wrap about her
shoulders. "We re leaving at once,” j
she said. The rest of the group
rose from their places, uneasily, j
and stragged toward the door. I
Thev were all somewhat embar
rassed at the ugly scene Cynthia
had made.
Court Demands Explanation.
Mary began to sop up the spilled
water from the table. She was
panting with nervousness and ex
citement. Little beads of persplra- i
tion stood out on her forehead, and
she wiped back the moist. blond
“Cynthia’s manners were no worse than yours.”
curls from her face with the back
of her hand.
It was then that Court Dollover
returned for his hat. which she
knew he had purposely forgotten.
"Just what." he asked her coldly,
"was the Idea of that?’’
"I didn't mean to do it—really,”
she whispered. That wasn’t quite
true, although the impulse had been
of the moment. She glanced up at
him briefly, saw the anger in his
face, and looked away again.
"Yes. you did.” Court insisted.
"You did it deliberately, and I'm
just curious to know what the idea
was.”
She faced him. Her blue eyes as
she looked up at him now. were
dark with anger and defiance.
“You’d just announced your—en
gagement to her, and she was—
trying to make a fool of you!” she
burst out in a low voice.
He stared at her for a moment,
color creeping up across his face.
"What concern is that of yours?”
he wanted to know. He picked his
hat off the hook with a fierce ges
ture.
"It was just an impulse. I couldn't
bear it, the way she was hurting
you. It wasn’t only that she was
showing extremely bad manners,
it was-”
He looked puzzled. "I'm sure.” he
told her coldly, “that Cynthia's
manners were no worse than yours.
And after this,” he added lightly
as he turned to go, “I'd not meddle
in other people's affairs, if I were
you.” He turned and strode to the
door.
Tears Blind Mary.
Mary Crews, hardly knowing what
she was about, went on mechani
cally clearing up the table. Her
eyes were blinded with tears. What
a mess she'd made by her Im
pulsiveness . What a stupid, blund
ering thing she had done. She
might lose her job. He probably
hated her now. too. Before he'd
been different, but now quite likely
he'd despise her. He might never
come into the Cozy Nook again.
“I can't stand that Cynthia Car
ter,” Gladys said, as Mary began
to wash the glasses. "And Court
Dollover's no good either.”
‘ He's not so bad.” Mary realized
the moment the words were out of
her moufli that they were a dead
! giveaway. She bit her lip. "That
is," she xaid*after a moment, "he
told the boss he'd jogged my elbow
and made me spill the water. And—
he didn’t.”
Glayds. eyeing her companion
knowingly, picked up a towel and
dried a glass. "You’ve been stuck
on him the whole four years we've
been here,” she accused. "And for
the life of me I can't see why, see
ing the number of really swell fel
lows there are around here. I've
seen you watch for him. Your face
turns pink with excitement the
minute he comes through that door
I —he and that precious Cynthia of
i his! He’s nothing but a snob.”
She sat the glass down firmly and
picked up another. "And beneath
the snobbishness of him there's not
a thing that's real and honest.”
"Oh, Glayds,” Mary protested. She
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SUITE 1050-51-52 WASHINGTON BUILDING
(Corner N. T. Avenue and 15th Street N.W.)’
(Separate Department! for Men and Women)
hours—e a. m t» r r. u. Saturday »• s:3« r R
tried to smile. She didn't want
Gladys to say such things about
Court, even if they did seem to be
true. She wanted to believe at least
that Court was different under
neath.
“Let’s not talk about it any more.”
Impending Disaster.
Court and his bunch didn't come
back into the Cozy Nook for some
time. April had gone and it was
May.
It was the night of the Kappa's
spring dance that the crowd came
in again, a soft fragrant May night.
Cynthia, her dark loveliness ac
cented by a clinging soft rose chif
fon gown, was beautiful. Court was
very handsome in the black and
white of his evening clothes.
Although It was very late, and
they had spent the entire evening
dancing, some one began putting
nicke's in the phonograph for more
dancing. Court and Cynthia, look
ing as if they’d just stepped from
the cover of a smart magazine,
moved gracefully together, their
blended steps making them move
as smoothly as If they were one
figure.
"Maybe this is the last time,"
Mary was thinking wistfully. “I
won’t ever see Court any more, after
graduation." Tonight she was
acutely aware of her own dishevel
ment. It seemed to her that for
four years she had been in noth
ing but the hated blue uniform, her
face flushed and perspiring from
the hurry and confusion in the Cozy
Nook.
She felt terribly weary, too. It
was 3 o'clock In the morning. The
Cozy Nook had stayed open for tne
after-the-dance trade. The pa
trons were unusually garrulous snr.
boisterous. Their laughter and
shouts, the thump-thump of their
dancing feet almost drowned out
the incessant whine and shriek of
the music.
Mary was standing at the end of
the counter by the front windows
when the door opened and two stu
dents came in. They were seniors,
she knew, from Court Dollaver's
house.
“Is Court Dollover here?'* one of
them asked Mary in a ueer, fright
ened voice. He had a telegran in
his hand. His face was pasty white.
A sense of impending disaster
tugged at Mary Crews’ heart as she
explained that Court was back in
one of the booths with Cynthia Car
ter and the rest of his sang
• Copyright. 1941, Chicago Daily Tnc.)
Continued tomorrow—Mary has a
serious talk with Court.
Scwden may make non-interest
loans to farmers to help them buy
modern equipment.
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