/ "' "' '
../
Bi Edna Ferber
.lShoultl Ever ‘ Travel
The fabric of my faithful love
,\‘0 power shall dim or ravel,
Whilst I stay here—but oh, my are
If I should ever travel! ---Millay.
VP than one day
':.'.. it u white silk
.fl. Vogue. ed.
. hum been told in
»'1:9' l‘ilrdf‘0‘5 l3 no swered.
Oklahoma. is aJWays talks.
l'.lrdee's. Be- ty-flve a Week. myself. and know it's
.- mvl Maxine, Pnrdee coming without fail."
"I wouldn’t.
. iv kilOW' ()kOOChee. that?"
«hi-u kitrhen (dish-
in Hkoochee you
i mien. missing.
'i'li Sum Pardee
l'rvvlll lmom town home.
“I ml, The first
xvi him there.
- . miglneering
r-“lm l‘nrdee. in
‘ ~ . um. n derby. An
" .. .l ivy a home-
l‘.lrlive‘s idea. of
, . 'iw rt-(‘lpes ll-
' 1 xx To Use The
'{ illl‘ l‘llf‘k of the
they had been
very attrac-
~1le lillll come of
’ seemingly, nO‘
'l.- two married.
through that
-: run us wash-
. Thus ideally
m make the best
1- .lst. Sam Par-
‘ .lilil~famlne ex-
rlull l‘ul'dce made
‘.'.-:i l‘zli‘dee would
mi niht‘l‘ house-
:"~.~ furniture was
. . .J 1'. within a. few
K ., , the longest. But
P .- tilzllburnly to a
.M‘ ivorythlng in
<1.“ carried that
z m trunks full of
:4‘10 clung to it
.’ “011an cling to
w “hen this is
' =ll‘l‘V'.
\\ :l a born Milly
{Lilllf‘ her Myrtle
ti mid. suddenly.
grin-r»
I“ f.
in Mrs. Pardee'l
. = .ili "lll'ter" some~
t
. For three cars '
,_I.- 2. mm you've had letters reekeyd of. Ellie:n Sam Pardees
A . . 1‘ gushcrs. drills. shores. outfits“ It was
. ,.lghtr‘on diners early Oklahoma in the rough.
,_ Hu- Mrs. I‘nrdee one was getting five hundred a. day
“Mum“ in silver. out of his well.
lmi her a rather forty thousand in his and lost out.
"Five hundred what?" Maxine ask-
"Forty thousand what?”
"Dollars. I guess." Milly Pardee an-
E'That's the way your father
I'd rather have twen-
That one had sunk
Where's the fun 'in
There's more fun in twen-
ty-i‘lve a Week in a pay envelope than
in forty thousand down a. dry well.”
Maxine was fifteen now.
new; and. hear- we could live with Father in Okla-
I think it's wrong not to."
Milly Pardon was beginning to think
Especially since her hus-
band's letters had grown rarer as the
contained had grown
On his occasional trips back
to Chicago he said nothing of
joining him out
friglt and resolve Milly Pardce sold
the furnishings of the four-room flat.
packed the periputetic linen and silver.
at surprised
markedly unenthusinstic husband
Okoochee, Oklahoma.
The first thing Maxine said as they
rode (in a. taxi)
"But the streets are paved!"
lighted with
checks
larger.
and Joined and rather
to the hotel,
cluster lightsi "
utter disgust.
sign that says,
there's a movie
'The Perils of Paul-
That was showing in Chicago
Just the night before we left."
Milly I’nrdco smiled grimly.
estinc's paved.
"And they're probably
some reel there next week."
Milly Pnrdee
a plain talk.
and her husband had
Next day Sam Pardec
rented n. two-story frame house with
the understanding that the rent was great new stucco palaces on the Edge—
madc combe Road boasted finer silver. more
l’ardee exquisite napery. As for the food—-
old Clem Burstow himself, who had
a chef and a butler and sent cast for
lobster and squnbs, came to Pardee's
the when he wanted a real mcnl. From
the first they charged one dollar and
There Were, three good fifty cents for their dinners. Okoo-
Pardee belonged once. made mellow by the steaming
to the Okoochce \Voman's Thursday soup, the savoury meats. the bland
women in Okoochce sauces and rich dessert. paid it un-
seemed to have come from St.. Louis. grudgingly. They served only eigh-
Kansns teen—no more. though ()koochee
could never understand why. On
to be considered
toward final purchase.
was happier than she had been in all
her wedded life.
porary prosperity
five thousand
house and lot.
sand to pay.
meals a day.
n a payment
burst of tem-
Sam I’ardec paid
That left a ban- thou-
0mahs. (TlcVe-lzmd,
City. and they spoke. of these as Back
conferences "in smoke-filled! rooms-wt
the (”gauges Hotel. The main busi-
“933 Street We: called Broadway. and
the curb on either"'sfde was Hidden by
lines of cars drawn up slantwlse at
an angle of ninety. No farmer
Wagons. A small town with all the
airs of a big one; with none of the
charming informality .. of r the' old
Southern small town; none of the,en-
Easing ruggedness of the establiShed
Middle-Western town; none of the
faded gentility of the old New Eng-
land town.
Milly Pardee loved it. She belong-
ed. She was chairman of this com-
mittee and secretary of that. Milly
Pardee was happy.
Sam Parde'e .was not. He began.
suddenly. to talk of Mexico. Frankly.
he was bored. For the «first time in
his life he owned a. house—or nearly.
There was eleven hundred dollars in
the bank. Rbast on Sunday. Bath-
room shelf to be nailed Sunday morn-
ing. Y. M. C; A.,' Rotary Club.
Knights of Columbus. Kiwanis. Boy
Scouts. " ‘ 3 '
"Gosh." said Sam Pardee, "this
town's no good." '
Milly Pardee took a last stand.
“Sam Pardee, I’m through traipsing
up and down the world‘ with‘lfbilo
like a gyysy. I want a. home. I
want to be settled. I want to stay
here. And I'm going to."
"You're sure you want to stay?"
“I‘ve moved for the last time. I—
I’m going to plant a Burbank clam—
berer at the side of the porch, and
they don’t begin to flower till after
the first ten years. That's how sure
1 am."
There came a look into Sam Par-
dee's eyes. He rubbed his best brown
derby round and round with his coat
sleeve. He was just going out.
"Well. that's all right. I just want-
ed to know. Where's Max?"
“She stayed late. They're rehear-
sing for the Pageant of Progress
down at the Library." _
Sam Pardee looked thoughtful—n
little rcgrctful. one might almost have
said. Then he clapped on the brown
derby, paused on the top step of the
porch to light his cigar. returned the
greeting of young Arnold Hatch who
was sprinkling the lawn next door.
walked down the street with the
him, boarded the outgoing train. and
was never heard from again.
'T'Vell." said the worse—than—
wldowed (it was her own term).
"we've got the home."
She set about keeping it. Pardee'a
( )koochcc. M rs. Pnrde‘e cooked.
Maxine served. And not even the
:.«:ll.~ Elliott in the
. . \ l‘leilr. brainless
x. ‘ ' Hrnnt. slightly pro-
. so far apart. her
,. 'l white nose, and
She had thrill—
Max that lives in
'1 \(ill Ullk Of any
Mrs. l‘ardee, cold-
. won, How could
‘l l'ilnu‘ would grow
i... ll)! young wom-
n.. so high-collared
1*“ . ’llnrl said eycthcr."
nbout twelve
‘l . ‘-.i<rvnr~d Sam Par-
Kill}: in Chicago at
" hall a. four-room
‘1' ma .liicndlng a 800d
1' -":'.w: marketed and
\
' rune out of his ab-
r‘l“ ~ 'g 'rullgh to emit 8- I0“
rf. - , n unsatisfactory ex'
! ll thinking of oil in
a: _, - ~ .- in Millions of bar-
“ ' ' n spoonful. Crudn.
mild. her peace. be:
~h»~m-ned. "Sam Par-
"°' 1 ‘ " noun-A"
Tim's what I meant
L. ‘ « . r n: with it."
-. - await into Milly Par-
i
t ~klnhoms.
' - ml " Suddenly she
51.? ‘- ‘ ' resolve. Maxlno's re-
" "i 1 lmzlsted three stars
.. tvklnhoma‘. "I won't
T ' ' i‘ up in Oklahoma. In“
' ‘ Scalped in our
“ ".luees roar sounded
‘ ‘“ ti treble. "Oo. Okla-
".v.“ it"
i .
Tl r.‘
" -. (‘ lust. the some." a" wd'
i“! so are people. When you
m." the child armed.
‘ludia and Chin! and
u.
A“. . y
\Y'i ll‘n."
fixiind."
,‘i . .45 ll.
"'1" . 1LT.“ staying in I M
r‘ L'MW. and growing’up' ,,
:' : .il’Hl weaty. l
U, — r.;: week, Min, W
. " ' ‘mlrllny him. It vii M
:3: m" had Nikon an. "W:
10 if there. andJika it! ’
“5"": down there."
When they came culling they
.. or creature comforts
I ' .m-m Purdee said. one
I-f- .. » d it, but not with-
: ' - "It's the lame
2'. . . dressing you 113‘
AFT . . - mr l mixed enough for
21'. ' .l didn't add any 0“
turned on her. almost
" " . wouldn't." .
’ ni thrown out her anal
v-lrn. "It sounds so 191'
'li‘rll. I like different
any place that ill!"
:1... had stared at her. It
"'W'r talking in the Child:
'h a l. isn't: here. DH!"-
v‘srq of bitter exptflenCfi
“onvince the child of 1101'
At hi: pa} questign 3. s= islt .a little W“-
Jr!» had turned accusing ,... ’ 5 ~ " ‘ 4
-' :ltilllfii‘d husblnd. "I hope punctlflon'llt'fi
"Well. the kid's right. he. Chum ‘1‘
, .mmi this, nercehr- "It,
.. " "fish‘s. Belong!" It was
‘- 1 lbs rolling stone that I!
' -. rumina- left for Oklahom; I)» ‘L
also“.
had no; worsen-roll: with them 'Heid do. _If they dmn’t‘é 90311.net: when]
‘ tube". a‘ ' .,
as it can be away :rdm‘ here. Dun.
stupid. stick-in-the—muds;-‘ ‘ all ' ‘- of
them}? ‘ "
inc Patrice! They’re from all over
the world, pretty nearly. Why. Just
last Thursday they werej counting
there ’were sixteen, . different states
represented in the eighteen people
that sat down to dinner‘." ' ’ ;
world."
sprinkling dish-water from her drip-
ping finger tips with the wide-flung
gesture. "Cairo! Zanzibar! Brazil!
Trinidad! Seville—uh—samwaam_
arkand." '
see it all some day. And modifier-
ent people. The ' people that travel.
and know about; what kind of wine
with the roast and the fish. You
know—the kind in the novels that
say, ‘You've chilled this sauterne too
much. Bemlsh.’" .
places." retorted‘ Mrs. Pardee, with
the bitterness born of long years of
experience. "you'll find that in every
one of them somebody's got a board-
ing house called Pardee's, or some-
thing like that. where the people
flock same's they do here, for a good
meal."
we've got the comforts of home."
little laugh that was almost a. bark.
Perhaps she was justified.
six and six-thirty. nightly. A mix-
qulck. nervous step that characterized,
dinners became an institution in
"we x‘idght be anywhere—so long
“Why, they’re no such thing. in“.
“Pooh! Statesi! That isn't the
“What is. then?"
Maxine threw 'out her arms.
"Where's Samarkande »
“I don’t know. And I'm going to
"And when you do .see_ail these
"Yes, but what kind of people?"
“Same kind that comes here."
“I don't believe it." -
"Well, it's so. And I'm thankful
At this Maxine laughed a sharp
The eighteen struggled in between
ture of townspeople and strangers.
Mile Maxine poured the water in
the dining room the. neat little par-
lor became a mess. The then threw
hats and ovcrcoats on the backs of
the chairs. Their rubbers slopped
under them. They rarely troubled to
take them off. “'hllc waiting avidly
for dinner to he served they struck
matches and lighted cigarettes and
cigars.
The women trotted upstairs. chat-
tering. and primped and fussed in
Maxine’s neat and austere little bed—
room. They used Moxine‘s powder
and dropped it about on the tidy
cd. Eycry penny meant release.
ashes; straighten chairs. lock doors.
Then the dishes. The dishes:
n, _...
_ feclthst. too?"
early the four . . . naught . .
13).. on web for: ‘or theresbouts each“ week isn’t the. l}.
t 7 so had. our of'tbis -Mrs.‘ Par-d” “milestones-ran}
nudged to bank anut'sum. She ‘Emt'! 8W
that at the end of ten or ;;
cach dinner'Mrs. I‘ardcc made a min-
“Haven't eve—met before '9" She toyed withdhe end
in bed."
one of! the oldest in this new town.‘
But they bou'ght‘the Pall-doe place and
the £91.01! place. And Arno, . ld'Eamh}
who had learned a. thing or two in
the offices of the Qkoo‘chee" Oll‘ and
Refining Company. drove a has-d bar-
gain for both. The yard was over;
run with drillers. lawyer’s. engineers.
superintendents. foreman, machinery.
Beam Company:
«3'5; and wantéd to
- He had twice kissed.
these‘ occasions his
eye-glasses had fallen off. taking the
sion. so to speak. out ‘of the pro-
axi'ne giggled. uncon-
sald.” “Gb Oil—laugh!
But‘some day I'm going to kiss you
and I'll take mymass
Okoocfiee Oil - and
marry 'Maxlne.
". When M
trollably.'.he
es on first. Then 7
- , “Five hundred 2: days he said. “and
a percentage." He named the. pets
contage‘. Maxine and her mother re?
peated this after him. numbly.
have a good deal of
hu‘mor\'to' stand being laughed at by
a’. girl you've kissed? _
who emphasizes her
Wearing those high-collared white silk
. You ‘fiave to
especially a girl
aloofness by
keeper in the Pardee menage. ‘ She a
tried some mathematical gymnastics
now and banned her arithmetical
nose.
“You haven‘t got
said Arnold
ing. brutally.
Hatch. one even—
Then, as'she had flared
in protest, “I know it.‘ I love that lit-
tle‘ creamy satin hollow at the base
our throat."
“You‘ve never _
flamed up. She was human.
“I know it. But I love it just. the
same." Prettyfi good for a. tall‘ thin
Sundays Arnold ?"
began __ aln. Wildly. as a. thought
Arnold canne- with papers to sign.
Mrs. Pardee had been the book-
“Five hundred a. day. Including
”Including Sundays."
Her‘lips began to move. “Seven
fifty-two times thirty—~"
- ' - ‘ of a steam engine. You saw Japan",-
wolnen in' tight kimonos and funny
little stilted flapping footgear tannin:
to catch a street car; and you In
She s opped. overcome. But she
Willi“
dresser and the floor. They brushed
away only what had settled on the
front of their dresses. They forgot to
switch off [111: electric light. leaving .
Maxine to do it. thriftily. between ‘
serving CUUX‘WS- Every Dcflny count- "There." said Arnold. "he'll have to have some beard. and some flame. and
o l . '0
After dmm‘r Maxine and her mother some thin, cruel mouth to malt: you forget that one.
not down to cut off the edge of the
kitchen table. it was often nine
o'clock llCIOl’u the last struggling diner.
sprawling on the parlor dllvenport
with his evening paper and cigar. de-
parted. leaving Maxine to pick up the
scattered mwslmpers, cigarette butts.
young man who worked in the offices
of the Okoochee a house. A house. up on Edgecombe.
and Refining
Sometimes he said. “I'm darned cer-
tain you like me"—bravely-—“love me.
\Vhy won't you marry me?
all this slaving.
Not in much luxury.
"And settle
Never see anything!
God-forsaken hole!
oil-soaked village!
wonderful people.
I could support you.
maybe. but-"
Stuck in this
This drab. dull.
When there are
wonderful places.
“'hen Arnold Hatch asked her to go
to a movie she shook her head. usual-
ly. "l'm too tin-ll. I'm going to read.
It sounds like a
It thrills me." -
temple bell.
said Arnold
“Over in Hongkong."
Hatch. "I expect. some Chinese M
ine Purdue would say, ‘Okoochee!
sounds like on Indian war drum.
‘5‘“.
.14
.‘l
' They played' hum of seventy-five cents. Eighteen "Read, reed! . m ,, $3.3 all you“ do.
e newest rulg' tunes seventydlve . . - mnzhtaod What?" 1.08 369158? ~ ,
. ‘ ' . “Oh, ,about Italy. Le bel Napolii”.
with a five . . . thirteen-fifty . . seven She collects? $541M. ”we“! and Often
" ot times .' we‘ll." ninety-31v; dql- talked in their terms. Inner mind
Wm 91‘? “We: Yawn?
showed signs of
But she always copgca
again under: the influence of her re.-
solve. 'One evening ‘ an out-of-town
hearing her
Hm. Probably a corruption
A French name. origin-
Sometimes Maxine
of Pardieu.
I suppose."
it there was no approach-
eek. Maxine Pard‘leu.
ing her for a. w
A Chevalier be
"By God!" it meant.
must have been. this Pardieu.
swashbuckler.
lace falling over his slim w
and his hand always ready on
Red heels.
l anew the great oil
the town's out—
iant sentincls.
How she hated
tanks that rose on
skirts. guarding it like g
The new houses.
c'lub. Twenty-one
in 1900, only 467.
In 1920 over 35.000.
Seventeen hun
Fields of corn and cotton.
The Watonga Building.
Haynes Block. four-
young man!
dred oil and
Sky scrapers.
twelve stories.
teen stories. Come West.
3 she made little rhymes
in her mind.
There's Singapore and Zanzibar,
and Calais.
There‘s Samarkand
Rangoon and Mandalay.
and Alcazar.
Arnold Hatch.
when they were talking in
the Pardee back yard. It was nine
‘ A moon.
Maxine had just murmur-
ed hér little They were
standing by the hedge
ted the Pardee, yard
ch‘s next door; '
said Arnold Hatch.
"There‘s Seminole and Shawnee.
a and Pawnee.
Wa'ukeetom." ‘
‘ knew in. Oklahoma. '
He ' med Maxine. in a little “Sarnarkapd.”
and stamped her foot "Beg pal-don?"
-ush! said something ‘ “Samar-Rand."
” .‘ said Maxine again;
“on!" will
dry mouth. {She peered down. Her
' shoe was r w
éluus t6 it
for nothing:
of her scarf. ’Nou
’ more 2295‘!
M I” y" {duties
striltbtgw.‘
0i}. ?Ql1.!; '
at; sis... a we use
erg. I
'/
l
came to her. 'Why. I could build
A house like the Barstows‘ with
lawns. and gardens. and sleeping
porches. and line-n closets! . .
Oh. Liaxine! We‘ll live there—"
“Not I." said Maxine, crisply.
Arnold. watching her.. knew what she
was going to say before she said it.
"I'm going to see the world. I want
to penetrate a civilization so old that
its history wanders down the cen-
turies and is lost in the dim mists of
mythology." (See Baedeker.)
Sudden wealth had given Arnold a
new masterfulness. "Marry me be-
fore you go."
"Not at all." replied Maxine. -"On
the boat going over—"
“Over where?"
“Honolulu, on my way to Japan.
I'll meet a tall bearded stranger. sun-
burned. with the flame of the Orient
in his eyes. and on his thin. cruel.
mouth—"
Arnold Hatch took off his glasses.
Maxine stiffened. "Den't you (I "
But she was too late.
“There." said Arnold. “he'll have to
have some beard. and some flame. and
some thin. cruel mouth to make you
forget that one."
Maxine started, alone. against her
mother's remonstrances. .
On the first two days out on the
way to the Hawaiian Islands she
spent all her time in her bed. But
the swell subsided. and the wind went
down. and Maxine appeared on deck
and in another twelve hours had met
everyone from the purser to the
with the sunburn of the Orient and
from Nebraska, or Kansas. or Iowa.
that had always seemed mythical and
glamorous. \
course?"
Hatch.
Miss Pardee?" ‘
“You lieu???“ om
r
deskshégoeer'w minnow , .,
W - mime“?- 59”” mum—yell? rectum"- Genet In“.
eyeglasses and perpetually my”
dead cigar. ' ’ ‘f‘i
"“Gold'and sunlight. myrrh CDC
canoe. the tinkling of an ; "
me élung to these wildly; in tier -
But Honolulu. the Moana flout .
Waiklkl‘Beach. reassured ‘herf'lt‘ g
h'ei' di-eam come' true. sue I'm”
would be so when she landed ultra,
her first glimpse of the dark: , '.
natives on the docks. their hats fl
necks laden with leis ‘of flowers; Elia.
were palm trees. There was . ‘
hibiscus hedges. Her bed was -
opted with white nettingfiik‘e that
was to keep out the mosquitoes).
‘ You ate strange fruits (they‘W—l'
little sickening. after a. day of ’mfi .
Ion saw Duke. the Hawaiian ' .
champion swimmer. comé "In on“; M .
board.’ standing straight md’ullm aid ‘
naked like a god of bronze. Mung: <
miraculously on a plank carried in
times five ' ' ' thirty-five hundred the crest of a wave with the veloclt? '
ed at the incongruity of it. 19‘
1
. // made the three-day trip to the living - 7
volcano at Hilo and sat at the W! 7'
- brink watching the molten lava. in.“ V
7 -. tossing. hisaing. writhing. You knit
. ’ there. between horror and fascination’ ‘
,said her fellow travellers. “Makes tho
Grand Canyon look sick. I think. am
you?" .
him. A Vandyke beard; smouldering
eyes; thin red lips; lean nervous
hands; white flannel evening clothes; "
sunbumed a rich brown. Maxine d!"
a long breath as if she had been run.
ning. It was after dinner. The brand 7
veranda. was filled with gayly gonad .
women; uniformed officers from tho
fort; tourists in white. They wer.
drinking their after—dinner coffee.
smoking. laughing. The Hawaiian
orchestra made ready to play for the
dancing on the veranda. They began
to play. Their ukeleles throbbedand
moaned. The musicians sang in their
rich. melodious voices some native
song of a. lost empire and a dead kins.
It tore at your heart. You ached with
the savage beauty of it. It was then
she saw" him. He was seated alone.
smoking. drinking. watching the crowd
with amused. uneager glance. She
had seen him before. It was 8-99!)-
tainty, this feeling. She had known
him—seen him—before. Perhaps not
in this life. Perhaps only in 31g
dreams. But they had met. '
caught his. It was brazen. but all.
was shameless Nothing mattered;
This was no time for false modesq.
Her eyes held his. Then. slowly: sh.
rose. picked up her trailing scarf. and
walked deliberately past him. glancing
down at him as she passed. He hp}!
rose. half spoke. She went down tho
steps leading from the veranda to tho
court-yard. down this walk to the put.
down the pier to the very end. what. '
the little roofed shelter lay out in the
ocean, bathed in moonlight. fairyllku.
unreal. The ocean was a thing of
molten silver. The sound of the“!!-
ing voices in song came to her on tho
breeze. agonizing in its beauty. There;
beyond, lay Pearl Harbour. From th.
other side, faintly. you heard the mm
and laughter from the Yacht Club.
.ing up there on the hotel veranda. Sh.
honeymoon couple. in the surprising
way one does on these voyages. She
looked for the tall bearded stranger
the thin, cruel lips. But he didn't
seem to ‘be about. Strangely enough.
everyone she talked to seemed to be
or Missouri. Not only that. they all
were very glib with names and places
"Oh. yes. Mr. Tannenbaum and I
went to India last year, and Persia
and around. Real interesting. My.
but they‘re dirty. those towns. We
used to kick about Des Moines. now
that they use so much soft coal. and
one the manufacturing and all. But my
land; it's paradise compared to those
places. And the food! Only decent
meals we had in Egypt was a. place
in Cairo called Pardee's, run by a
women whose husband’s left her or
of pampas died. or something. 'Real home-lov-
ing woman she was. Such cooking
. . . Why, that's‘ so! ’Your name's
"Like- Pardee. too. isn‘t it! Well. I always
say to. Mr. Tannenbaum, it's a small
world. after all. No relation. of
.“Of course not." How suddenly safe
Oklahoma ' seemed. And ’ Arnold
"Where you ' going from Honolulu.
"0h. yell. Samar—id see now.
October was a where is that. exactly? I used to
know. but I’m such a hand for for-
“: ’A’ slimy something settinzf” ' ‘ 1
.A scummy something 31 donut know.” said Maxine. dis-
m‘the moonlight. Sh? tinctly. - f I
win isomhoma
.Hatch bent down. were going—" 7 .
greasy wet "I am. But I don’t how where it
urt‘wwesaehstvq back Is: ~ , <
‘ It. teal-gully. “Then how—7’ * ~
Then the?
'n't—but I thought you said you
.. . . ., eerhemthere
' d stench other. are‘foldeg-st‘and a man behlud'thc'
: . y?" margin 15"
outliers seem».
princess (the attendant explained
o!
3
u.
“Certainly a pretty sight, isn't It? ‘ 4
"I've never seen it."
“Oh. really!"
on her return from Hilo she nw
She stared at him until her eye
Maxine seated herself. The after- _
dinner couples had not yet strolled
out. They were waiting for the danc-
wsited. She waited. She saw the
glow of his cigar as he came down tho
pier. a tall. slim white flg‘utejn up
moonlight. It was just like 3. nova.
It was a novel. come to life. He stood
a moment at the pier's edge, smoking.
Then he tossed his cigar into thi
water and it fell with a little s-stlfio
stood another moment. irresolutdy.
Then he came over to her.
"Nice night."
In Okoochee you would have said.
"Sir!" But not here. Not now. Not
Maxine Pardieu. “Yes. isn’t it!” _ g
The mellow moon fell on him-
bronzed, bearded. strangely familiar.
At his next question she felt a lit-
tle faint. "Have it kaet before?”
She toyed with he end of her scart.‘
"You feel that. too?” .
He nodded. He took a cigarette
from a flat platinum case. “Mind If I
smoke? Perhaps you'll join me?”
Maxine took a cigarette. uncertainty. g
Lighted it from the match he hold. at:
it to—her lips. Coughed. gasped. "May-
be you’re not used to those. I Imog-
a cheap cigarette because I like ’em
Dromedaries, those are. Eighteen .
cents a package.” -
Maxine held the cigarette in be!“ up
accustomed fingers. Her eyes won
on his face. "You said you thought-
you felt—we‘d met before?" ‘ -
"I may be mistaken. but I never fen . ,
get a. face. Where are you from. may
I ask?" ‘ ' '
Maxine hesitated a. moment. “Oldefi
horns." , ‘ , -
He slapped his leg at resound!”
thwack. “I knew it! I'm hardly ever
mistaken. Name's—wait a. mania-'4-
Pardee, isn't. it?” . /-
“Yes. But ow—" ' .. '
“One of the best meals I ever» , .
in my life. Miss Pardee. Two ”A _
ago, it was. I was lectunn' on 7:11”
and the Far East.” 5 ‘
“lecturing?" Her part of the can;
versation was beginning to soundlh '
the dialogue in‘ a badly muggy“: .1
“Yes. I'm Brainerd. you M L 1
thought you knew. when you such.
up there on the veranda.” ‘ "'1
“Braincrd?” It was almost m.
"BraJnerd. Paul ’ VBrnlneg-d. - '7
travelogue man. I remefibei'“'1 38')
you and your ,mother compW
tickets to the' lecture. I've" got akin-f;
memory. . Got to have. in my bum
Let's see. that town was—”‘ ' '. ”
,“Ol-zoochee.” faintly. , ‘ _.
“OROOChee! {that's It! It's Q. a?” .
world after all. isn’t .it? 0km ' ‘ ‘
Why, I'm on my way to 0 '
now. I'm going to spend turn:
or more 'there.‘talo‘.ng pictures .
vast oil fields. the oil well; A'
country. An Aladdin couptgy; .
mwth: ong of'the most
picturesque bits in the hide
amazing consultililstonr . 3):
lug." An empire over at; . '
mania: Well! What a reacting; .
torn: Empe and an out-Twp ‘ ~
Hon.” ‘7‘ ' ' M ' f " ,
‘ “But you—you're from—2" :
“13m from East 3e. Zia.-
illéietwfhren. ,.
oftho '
Norwalk Chronicler