Stranger within the Gates Read Free Page B

shall I?"
    "Please," she said and then hung up. Dropping her face down upon her hands, she wept hopelessly.
    "This is ridiculous!" said Mary Garland's cool, calm self that had for so many years carried on through storm and calm alike. "It isn't like you to cry about a thing! Get up and wash your face and be ready for the next thing. Likely Rex will call in a few minutes. Get control of yourself!"
    It was early yet. Perhaps Rex had gone down to the village to post a letter or buy some fruit or candy. Probably he had been late to breakfast and had gone down to the place they called the "pie shop" to get something to eat before he went to classes. Well, when he came back, they would tell him. He would at least find the message at the desk when he came to the dining hall at noon. But, oh, must she wait so long?
    She glanced at the clock. Only ten o'clock. There were innumerable things she ought to do, but could she tear herself away from the telephone long enough to do any of them? The ordering must be done for the day.
    She gave a glance at her mirror. Her face was desolate, and there were signs of tears around her eyes. Selma was sharp; she mustn't be given a chance to watch her.
    She went to the head of the back stairs and called down.
    "Selma, I'm waiting for an important telephone call. You had better give the order to the grocer right away, or things will be late coming up. Get fish for dinner tonight, fillet of sole, the kind the children like, you know. Have chopped creamed potatoes, stewed tomatoes, and an apple and nut salad. Lemon pie for dessert. And for lunch, isn't there enough cold roast beef to go with waffles or pancakes? You know what to get, Selma; call up right away before my call comes in. And don't forget to order that mincemeat, three jars. Hurry, please, Selma. I want the children to have their lunch as soon as they get home."
    She went back to her room and stood listening a moment at her door till she heard Selma's steady voice giving the orders. There, she had hung up! Now Rex might call at any minute, and she must make up her mind just what to say to him.
    But time went on and the telephone did not ring.
    There were many things that demanded her attention--Christmas matters that she must finish, things that had seemed most important only last night. But now she couldn't keep her mind on them. She went over her list, but somehow they all seemed impossible to her just now. If Rex was married, and Christmas was going to be complicated, what did it matter whether the rosettes for Fae's party dress were finished or not? Of course, Fae didn't know she was going to have a new party dress for Christmas. She wouldn't know it was to have had rosettes, even if they didn't get finished.
    And there was another thing. That party she had planned during the Christmas holidays. They had already invited some of the guests!
    But one couldn't have a party when a thing like this was happening! Why, it wouldn't be possible! Oh, if it were only two years later, and Rex through college, it wouldn't be so bad!
    Then suddenly she dropped beside her bed and began to weep bitterly again! It seemed as if her very soul were torn and tortured. She tried to pray, because she told herself that this would be a time for prayer, but her soul was in a perfect frenzy of grief, and for a few minutes it seemed as if the foundations of the great deep in her soul were broken up. Why, she hadn't wept like this even when her beloved husband had been taken from her! Though it had been sudden and sharp, she had felt as if God was behind that and she must trust and be strong. But this--why, this was outrageous ! It was something that a laughing, merry boy had done, carelessly, not thinking what disastrous results there would be, and she felt as if she could not stand it! She simply could not stand it!
    Then suddenly there came the thought of the other children. They would be coming home to lunch in a little while, and they would see she had been