the tea and watching a foursome battling it out on the court nearby.
Travers said abruptly, ‘Have you met Calvin yet?’
Iris nodded.
‘I ran into him as I was coming out. Quite a man!’
Travers looked sharply at her.
‘Yeah … I don’t quite know what to make of him. There’s something I don’t like about him … I don’t know what it is.’
Iris laughed.
‘I know … he’s the type every man is jealous of. He reminds me a little of C ary Grant. He could be a movie star.’
‘You think so?’ Travers grinned uneasily. ‘He’s not all that good looking. The sheriff doesn’t know what to make of him either. He says he could be rotten with women.’
‘There you are! Pure envy! I bet he’s thrown poor Alice into a terrible tizz. .Imagine being locked up in the bank alone with that he-man for twelve hours a day!’
‘Just so long as you don’t get into a tizz,’ Travers said quietly.
Iris looked at him: her eyes sparkled.
‘Is that worrying you?’
‘I can’t say it does. You don’t get much chance of meeting the guy, do you?’ Travers took her empty cup. ‘Feel like another game?’
‘Yes … all right. And Ken … even if I did have the chance, I’d still prefer you.’
He gave her a delighted grin, then linking his arm through hers, went with her towards a vacant court.
2
By the end of the week, Al ice had begun her correspondence course and a hint had been dropped by Kit to the old couple that she had seen Alice with a handsome young man. The old people were delighted, agreeing with Kit to say nothing that might embarrass Alice.
During the week, Iris, still unsure of her suspicions about her mother, had kept a dose watch but had seen nothing further to confirm her first impression that Kit was drinking again.
It was soon after Iris’s seventeen th birthday, a few months after her father had been killed, that she had discovered her mother had become an alcoholic. She had returned from college one hot summer evening to find Kit sitting motionless, her face ashen, her eyes glazed, an empty whisky bottle on the table. This had been an experience that Iris was never to forget. Kit had been unable to speak: u nable to move. Terrified, Iris h ad telephoned for Dr. Sterling who had attended the Loring family ever since they had set up home in Pittsvi ll e. He had helped Iris get her mother to bed, then he had taken the frightened girl downstairs and had talked to her.
She would always remember Dr. Sterling’s quiet, kind talk in which he had persuaded her that her mother should go into a san a torium. Kit had remained there for two months.
Iris got a job as cashier at a movie house at Downside. When Kit was cured, s he bought the rooming-house with the money her husband had left her. For months Iris watched her mother. Kit seemed cured, but now just when Iris was beg inn ing to relax, her suspicions were again alerted. She continued to watch, but so far, after the first alarm, she hadn’t further proof that Kit was backsliding.
One evening, a week after the first hint had been dropped about Alice’s boy-friend, Kit came into Calvin’s room. She received a shoc k.
Looking at himself in the mirror was a tall, heavily-built man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a fawn belted overcoat. He had black sideboards and a black moustache. The sight of this stranger made Ki t’ s heart skip a beat and she paused in the doorway, asking, ‘What are you doing here?’
The man turned and grinned at her and she recognised Calvin.
‘This is Johnny Acres – Alice’s boy-friend,’ he said. ‘Not bad?’ He took off the halt and tossed it on the bed, then he stripped off the crepe sideboards and the moustache.
As she watched him take off the overcoat and hang it up, he said, ‘In the half light no one would recognise me. Now the problem is how the m ajor and Miss Pearson can get a glimpse of Mr. Acres.’
A little unsteadily, Kit went to the armchair and sat in it.
‘Mr. Acres must
Travers said abruptly, ‘Have you met Calvin yet?’
Iris nodded.
‘I ran into him as I was coming out. Quite a man!’
Travers looked sharply at her.
‘Yeah … I don’t quite know what to make of him. There’s something I don’t like about him … I don’t know what it is.’
Iris laughed.
‘I know … he’s the type every man is jealous of. He reminds me a little of C ary Grant. He could be a movie star.’
‘You think so?’ Travers grinned uneasily. ‘He’s not all that good looking. The sheriff doesn’t know what to make of him either. He says he could be rotten with women.’
‘There you are! Pure envy! I bet he’s thrown poor Alice into a terrible tizz. .Imagine being locked up in the bank alone with that he-man for twelve hours a day!’
‘Just so long as you don’t get into a tizz,’ Travers said quietly.
Iris looked at him: her eyes sparkled.
‘Is that worrying you?’
‘I can’t say it does. You don’t get much chance of meeting the guy, do you?’ Travers took her empty cup. ‘Feel like another game?’
‘Yes … all right. And Ken … even if I did have the chance, I’d still prefer you.’
He gave her a delighted grin, then linking his arm through hers, went with her towards a vacant court.
2
By the end of the week, Al ice had begun her correspondence course and a hint had been dropped by Kit to the old couple that she had seen Alice with a handsome young man. The old people were delighted, agreeing with Kit to say nothing that might embarrass Alice.
During the week, Iris, still unsure of her suspicions about her mother, had kept a dose watch but had seen nothing further to confirm her first impression that Kit was drinking again.
It was soon after Iris’s seventeen th birthday, a few months after her father had been killed, that she had discovered her mother had become an alcoholic. She had returned from college one hot summer evening to find Kit sitting motionless, her face ashen, her eyes glazed, an empty whisky bottle on the table. This had been an experience that Iris was never to forget. Kit had been unable to speak: u nable to move. Terrified, Iris h ad telephoned for Dr. Sterling who had attended the Loring family ever since they had set up home in Pittsvi ll e. He had helped Iris get her mother to bed, then he had taken the frightened girl downstairs and had talked to her.
She would always remember Dr. Sterling’s quiet, kind talk in which he had persuaded her that her mother should go into a san a torium. Kit had remained there for two months.
Iris got a job as cashier at a movie house at Downside. When Kit was cured, s he bought the rooming-house with the money her husband had left her. For months Iris watched her mother. Kit seemed cured, but now just when Iris was beg inn ing to relax, her suspicions were again alerted. She continued to watch, but so far, after the first alarm, she hadn’t further proof that Kit was backsliding.
One evening, a week after the first hint had been dropped about Alice’s boy-friend, Kit came into Calvin’s room. She received a shoc k.
Looking at himself in the mirror was a tall, heavily-built man wearing a wide-brimmed hat and a fawn belted overcoat. He had black sideboards and a black moustache. The sight of this stranger made Ki t’ s heart skip a beat and she paused in the doorway, asking, ‘What are you doing here?’
The man turned and grinned at her and she recognised Calvin.
‘This is Johnny Acres – Alice’s boy-friend,’ he said. ‘Not bad?’ He took off the halt and tossed it on the bed, then he stripped off the crepe sideboards and the moustache.
As she watched him take off the overcoat and hang it up, he said, ‘In the half light no one would recognise me. Now the problem is how the m ajor and Miss Pearson can get a glimpse of Mr. Acres.’
A little unsteadily, Kit went to the armchair and sat in it.
‘Mr. Acres must
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