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The Wingham Advance-Times, 1939-12-21, Page 19» WINGHAM ADVANCE-TIMES ......................................................... 'HNI. /jr.,--.. ; | ■ . ; . till stood in the aisle, He was be- :omin^ even’more emphatic when he emembered the courtesy of the driv­ es stressed by his company, so he dded with an effort toward tlxe joll- ty of the Yuletide season, “Got to jet all you people home in time to rim your Christmas trees. Let's go.” “I—” began Jan. But for answer he driver got up, and in a moment oomed over the bespectacled woman vith the bundles. “All right, lady — all right, pick em -up — one seat to a passenger, let’s ;o!” His jollity gave way to unmis- akable determination as he spoke, md the woman began in a madden- ngly slow way to stow away her jackages under the seat and pile oth­ ers in her lap . She finally moved just inough to allow Jan to squeeze past nto the now vacant seat. Pussy-puff mewed feebly as Jan ettled his basket on her knees. “A pat!” Jan’s bespectacled companion trans­ erred her baleful glare from the raveling case which Jan had had diff­ iculty in fitting in at her feet so that t would’ not infringe on the floor pace belonging to the other, to the at’s basket on her knees. “I didn’t know they allowed annu­ ls on these buses!” Jan reached a inger through the^vire screen at the ■nd of Pussy-puff’s basket and strok- d his pink nose. The heavily laden bus shook itself , little and then rolled smoothly out if the terminal. It was good to Jan to lie back in he seat and feel that things were now jeyond her control. She had set her ect in a new direction and there was o turning back. But the’more she ried to put Tony out of her mind the uore persistently his face mocked .er. She saw it when she looked out nto the jammed street. Once she bought she actually did See Tony be- ind the wheel of a passing car, but : was only a man who held his head ,’ith that same touch of arrogance^ lie let her thoughts wander for a mo­ ment to the puzzle that Tony pres- nted. Evidently he was a man of good ackground and fine education. He ad a mechanical bent too, that Jan, Ithough she knew nothing of mech- nics herself, recognized as unusual. Ie could have made something of imself. ^Perhaps if he had the right icentive . . . For a moment she wav- red. They weren’t out of town yet. .lie had only to find a subway term- lal to be back in a few minutes in lie heart of the city. Jan stirred impatiently. What could he be thinking of? Dciinitely she was >o.t the right influence for Tony. She ould adore him if she allowed herself o do so, but she would as “surely de­ troy him. A girl who inspired a man o steal for her was not the one to ring him happiness. Jan’s impatient movement had rouglit her elbow in sharp contact nth her seat mate’s arm. ’ You don’t happen to want this eat, too?” her companion inquired cidly. “What-t?” said Jan. “Oh, I beg ou pardon, I didn’t realize—’’ “That there was anyone else on the us, I suppose,” sniffed the woman., lou and your cat!” She flounced as far away from Jam s the seat allowed, actually not more; lian an inch, and fastened her gaze; n the bus driver’s broad back. “It’s a wonder that he can drive: nder that awful glare,” Jan thought.. It’s like having a death ray direct- d at you. If only the last few days had never ecu. If only she could go back to lose first days at the Devon Arms 'hen Dora and she had been so per Jctly happy!- It was only after they had left the ity far behind that Jan noticed how luch snow was on the ground. Here, i the open country that lay in in- reasingly long stretches between the nail towns, snow had drifted on the elds and was piled high at the sides f the road. It must be very deep in ie Vermont mountains. For a# mo- lent Jan’s heart quailed at the iou’ght of her destination, a wintry' lountain region that she had never ion. But Brad would be there, she )ld herself resolutely. And Brad ould be glad to see her. It was silly perhaps to run off like iis in search of Dr, Curtis when she new he would be back in town with- i a few days. But she could not wait, low that her mind was made up she ras driven by a fierce urge to find (rad at once and get everything set* ed. That, and the decision to put as. much distance as possible between herself and the Devon Arms and the William Anthony Deverest engage­ ment party led her on, and would help her to hold fast to her decision, no matter how strange and unfamiliar were the places where she must go. She would marry Brad as soon as he wished. Of that much she was cer­ tain. Beyond that she did not think at all. Brad would be able to tell her what to do about Dora: perhaps he' would want her to live with them — the Curtis house was. big enough. “Why, it’s snowing!’! Jan almost spoke aloud as she noticed that the landscape, which she had scarcely •seen for many miles, was blurred by a drifting veil of darkness. Chapter XXII The bus was nearing a town now, and Jan’s Seat mate was obviously preparing to depart. She was collect­ ing bundles from /the floor under the seat, from beneath her own feet and finally wrenched one loose tljat was caught under the seat ahead. These were all added to the pile in her lap. She encompassed them with her arms by some sleight of hand gesture that left Jan open-mouthed, and rose as the bus slid to a stop. She then began to cut a wide swath down the aisle, knocking other people’s bundles out of her way, and one man’s hat com­ pletely askew. Jan set Pussy-puff’s basket in the He had insisted on getting her tray zfilled first and carrying it for her to the table. vacant seait. . The crowd of passeng­ ers had thinned somewhat, but there was still that Christmas homecoming look about the package-laden group. The bus lights were on now and the great vehicle hurtling through the snowy dusk must appear to the oc­ casional person they met trudging .along the roadside, like a sort of land- ,going ship, Jan thought. She stared out of the window as long as she could sec anything at all. .Real farms sprawled beside the road; Jan could discern outlines of the farm­ houses, surprisingly alike for the most part. The same sloping r.oofs, the ‘same air of. having stood in one spot .for uncounted years. More often than ■not the houses were dwarfed by the barns; the barns looked newer — bet* ter kept, too.Sometimes, when a house was sit­ uated close to the road, Jan caught a glimpse of a woman’s face at a win­ dow; sometimes there were other lit­ tle faces jusit above the sill. “Daddy’s late getting home for sup­ per,” Jan surmised, “and they’re get­ ting worried because it’s snowing so hard.” , , ,To keep her thoughts away from her own problems, she began trying to reconstruct the stories of the wo­ men she saw as they flashed past. There was one young woman stand- lilfj in nil open doorw&y r holding & * babv in one arm and reaching out the other hand to catch hold of the rock­ er of a Chair, held upside down by a young giant of a man, with his mack­ inaw'collar turned up over his pull- ■cd-down cap. The chair was partly ■wrapped in paper.• “It’s a Christmas present for her! Jan figured out the story happily. “They’ve been married just a little •more than a year. She’s from the city __probably worked in a department Store, Her house dress is cute and becoming, and. her hair has a new cut — she’s a city girl, all right. “The baby is a girl, named Elma. That’s for his mother who lives on a farm on the side of that big hill back there. His jnother lives with her mar­ ried daughter and her husband, and they have three children who go to the community school, miles and mil­ es away, The school bus calls for themmight and morning, ..but they have to walk down the hill to the highway to meet it. There have been stories of bears in the hills around, and the two youngest children are afraid coming home after school when it begins to get dark so early. But Edgar — he’s ten and the oldest — quiets their fears by telling them that he knows how to handle bears. “See this big stick?” he tells them. “Well, just you watch if any old bear comes out from behind any’ of those trees. I’ll hit him on the nose — hard —with my stick. That’s the way to frighten bears; sock ’em hard, right on the nose! That’s the way the scouts used to do when this part of the coun­ try was just full of Indians and bears. Jan laughed at her narrative ab­ ility.“I guess I ought to write a book, she thought. “I guess if I just wrote the story of my own life it would make a book. The smile died out of her eyes; the book, she thought, wouldn’t have a very happy ending. Then she took a firm grip on herself. She would be happy! The past was over and done with; from now on she would look' forward — she and Brad would be happy. He was so kind, she reminded herself for the hundredth time, and that great old house was so gracious, so welcoming. It was as if the old place had held out its arms to her last night. She would accept their invitation; she would creep into them and find safety and comfort now and, later, perhaps, contentment. It had been dark outside the warm, lighted world within the bus, for a long while, it seemed to Jan, when they finally stopped in a fair sized town. “Half an hour for supper!” the bus driver announced, drawing up before a, little lunch room where a girl was making pancakes in the window. She waved a greeting and he waved back, Everybody clambered swiftly out of the bus. For some it Was journey’s end; most of them, however, like Jan, were going on; they scattered quick­ ly. Jan stood a moment in the driv­ ing snow, Pussy-puff’s basket and her traveling bag clutched tightly in her hands. Then she turned and followed the bus driver and some of her com­ panions into the lunchroom behind the pancake exhibit. A thick-armed, red-cheeked wait­ ress brought Jan the pancakes and honey and coffee she ordered, and, when She asked timidly, an extra pit­ cher of cream. Jan pttt the kitten’s basket on the floor between her chair and the wall, surreptitiously • poured the extra cream into her Saucer aiid edged it down to the floor in front of the door in Pussy-puff’s basket. Then she opened the door and the kitten stepped out cautiously, sniffing ex­ perimentally at ithe outer edge of the basket doorway, at the leg of Jan s chair, finally observing the saucer of cream, He fell to work on it with complete absorption and Jan, glacing around guiltily, .began quickly to but­ ter her pancakes. She had Pussy-puff back safe in his basket and was in her seat in the bus before the other began their stragg­ ling return. There was a good deal of turmoil when everybody was in and all settling themselves for the night. The bus was going straight through; there was a long swift-paced night ahead. The passengers had their own ideas of comfort and were very busy for a few moments adjusting bundles, arranging things to meet their no­ tions. Jan rested her head on the back of the seat. Pussy-puff, after his good supper, was curled up into a content­ ed, almost spherical bit of yellow fluff. Talk1 among the other passengers gradually dwindled to an. occasional few words; some of the people seem­ ed to be asleep, the backs of their seats adjusted so that they were half reclining. The headlights of passing cars loomed ouit of the darkness less and less frequently; there came a time when nothing except the bus seemed to be moving anywhere on the road. That they were climbing steadily, Jan knew. Sometimes the road dipped a little and often it ran at one level*"''’ for a long time, but every once in a while it began to ascend, gradually but persistently. It was a road cush­ ioned in powdery white; even above the sound of the motor Jan could hear occasionally the creak of the snow, protesting under the impact of a heavy tire. More and more of the passengers assumed the half-sitting, half-reclin­ ing position that the sliding seat back permitted. Jan experimented, found it was very comfortable. She wouldn’t sleep, of course, but it was restful to lie here like this, listening to the steady muted squeaking of the busy windshield wipers. They sang a sort of song, a monotonous chant — Jan was astonished when she open­ ed her eyes to find herself swinging through murky gray light. Next min­ ute she ’"realized that she was not swinging — it was the bus swaying ever so gently as it ploughed deter­ minedly onward. Why, it was morn­ ing! The lights were! all out in the bus. She sat up straight. Other peo­ ple were stirring too, rubbing their eyes, yawning wearily. Somebody asked about the next stop. “Kent’s Corners,” said the driver, “straight ahead.” * It was later than Jan had thought — almost seven o’clock. But the steadily falling snow and heavy skies threw a pall over everything, even the houses of the small village into which they rolled presently, seemed unreal, .their outlines vague, only half visible in this strange dawn. Chapter XXIII It was good to stretch her arms and legs, to breathe deeply of the clear, vitalizing air. They must be well up in the mountains' by this time. Jan realized. She could see, off in the distance, steep dark slopes — the fir- covered sides of the very mountains, perhaps, they would presently ascend. “This is Christmas eve,” she thought, with a shock'. “Christmas eve, and I am away from darling Dora.” But Dora was safe and happy, she reminded herself, and what she was doing now would be best for all of them in the end. She drank steaming hot coffee with the others at a little ■bus station; thought at first that she couldn't eat, found he good morning odor of crisping bacon and sputtering frying eggs irresistible, finished a plateful relishing every mouthful. Just in time, too, to avert a major disaster with Pussy-puff in the stellar role. The kitten had lapped up his milk and was nibbling the bit of ba­ con Jan allotted him when, as the door between the small restaurant and the kitchen swung open, a fox terrier came prancing in, barking in joyous excitement over his discovery of the kitten. Jan upset her chair as she leaped to the rescue of Pussy-puff. “Get out! Scat! Shoo!” she shriek­ ed at the dog. He had the kitten cor­ nered near the outer door. If some­ one opened the door, the kitten might ■ escape and she’d never find him ag'ain! Desperately she tried to push the terrier aside'so that she could reach Pussy-puff. But the dog put a glee­ ful nose between .braced front paws, emitting sharp little yelps of delight, getting in her way, blocking her ev­ ery effort to reach the kitten.