LITMIR.BIZ

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Pat, I don't deserve you. But you know that I—I myself—could never touch you except in tenderness, even in reverence. You're too dainty, too lovely, too spirited, to be hurt, or to be held roughly, against your will. You know I feel that way about you, don't you?"

      "Of course. It was nothing, Nick. Forget it."

      "If I can," he said somberly. He switched on the engine, backed out upon the pavement, and turned the car toward the glow that marked Chicago. Neither of them spoke as the machine hummed over the arching bridge and down the slope, where, so few minutes before, the threat of accident had thrust itself at them.

      "We won't see a moon tonight," said Pat in a small voice, after an interval. "We'll never check up on Dr. Carl's astronomy."

      "You don't want to tonight, Pat, do you?"

      "I guess perhaps we'd better not," she replied. "We're both upset, and there'll be other nights."

      Again they were silent. Pat felt strained, shaken; there was something uncanny about the occurrence that puzzled her. The red eyes that had glared out of Nick's face perplexed her, and the curious rasping voice he had used still sounded inhumanly in her memory. Out of recollection rose still another mystery.

      "Nick," she said, "what did you mean—then—when you said there was danger and you came to save me?"

      "Nothing," he said sharply.

      "And then, afterwards, you started to say something about 'He couldn't have—'. Who's 'he'?"

      "It meant nothing, I tell you. I was frantic to think you might have been hurt. That's all."

      "I believe you, Honey," she said, wondering whether she really did. The thing was beginning to grow hazy; already it was assuming merely the proportions of an upheaval of youthful fervor. Such occurrences were not unheard of, though never before had it happened to Patricia Lane! Still, even that was conceivable, far more conceivable than the dark, unformed, inchoate suspicions she had been harboring. They hadn't even been definite enough to be called suspicions; indefinite apprehensions came closer.

      And yet—that strange, wild face that had formed itself of Nick's fine features, and the terrible red eyes! Were they elements in a picture conjured out of her own imagination? They must be, of course. She had been frightened by that hairbreadth escape, and had seen things that didn't exist. And the rest of it—well, that might be natural enough. Still, there was something—she knew that; Nick had admitted it.

      Horker's words concerning Nick's father rose in her mind. Suspected of being crazy! Was that it? Was that the cause of Nick's curious reluctance where she was concerned? Was the face that had glared at her the visage of a maniac? It couldn't be. It couldn't be, she told herself fiercely. Not her fine, tender, sensitive Nick! And besides, that face, if she hadn't imagined it, had been the face, not of a lunatic, but of a devil. She shook her head, as if to deny her thoughts, and placed her hand impulsively on Nick's.

      "I don't care," she said. "I love you, Nick."

      "And I you," he murmured. "Pat, I'm sorry about spoiling this evening. I'm sorry and ashamed."

      "Never mind, Honey. There'll be others."

      "Tomorrow?"

      "No," she said. "Mother and I are going out to dinner. And Friday we're having company."

      "Really, Pat? You're not just trying to turn me off gently."

      "Really, Nick. Try asking me for Saturday evening and see!"

      "You're asked, then."

      "And it's a date." Then, with a return of her usual insouciance, she added. "If you're on good behavior."

      "I will be. I promise."

      "I hope so," said Pat. An inexplicable sense of foreboding had come over her; despite her self-given assurances, something unnameable troubled her. She gave a mental shrug, and deliberately relegated the unpleasant cogitations to oblivion.

      The car turned into Dempster Road; the lights of the teeming roadhouses, dance halls, road-side hamburger and barbecue stands flashed by. There were many cars here; there was no longer any impression of solitude now, in the overflow from the vast city in whose shadow they moved. The incessant flow of traffic gave the girl a feeling of security; these were tangible things about her, and once more the memory of that disturbing occurrence became dim and dreamlike. This was Nick beside her, gentle, intelligent, kind; had he ever been otherwise? It seemed highly unreasonable, a fantasy of fear and the hysteria of the moment.

      "Hungry?" asked Nick unexpectedly.

      "I could use a barbecue, I guess. Beef."

      The car veered to the graveled area before a brightly lit stand. Nick gave the order to an attendant. He chuckled as Pat, with the digestive disregard of youth attacked the greasy combination.

      "That's like a humming bird eating hay!" he said. "Or better, like a leprechaun eating that horse-meat they can for dogs."

      "You might as well discover that I don't live on honey and rose-petals," said Pat. "Not even on caviar and terrapin—at least, not exclusively. I leave the dainty palate for Mother to indulge."

      "Which is just as well. Hamburger and barbecue are more easily budgeted."

      "Nicholas," said the girl, tossing the paper napkin out of the car window, "is that an indirect and very evasive proposal of marriage?"

      "You know it could be, if you wished it!"

      "And do I?" she said, assuming a pensive air. "I wonder. Suppose we say I'll let you know later."

      "And meanwhile?"

      "Oh, meanwhile we can be sort of engaged. Just the way we've been."

      "You're sweet, Pat," he murmured, as the car edged into the line of traffic. "I don't know just how to convey my appreciation, but it's there!"

      The buildings drew more closely together; the road was suddenly a lighted street, and then, almost without realizing it, they were before Pat's home. Nick walked beside her to the door; he stood facing her hesitantly.

      "Good night, Pat," he said huskily. He leaned down, kissing her very gently, turned, and departed.

      The girl watched him from the open doorway, following the lights of his car until they vanished down the street. Dear, sweet Nick! Then the disturbing memory of that occurrence of the evening returned; she frowned in perplexity as the thought rose. That was all of a piece with the puzzling character of him, and the curious veiled references he'd made. References to what? She didn't know, couldn't imagine. Nick had said he didn't know either, which added still another quirk to the maze.

      She thought of Dr. Horker's words. With the thought, she glanced at his house, adjacent to her own home. A light gleamed in the library; he was still awake. She closed the door behind her, and darted across the narrow strip of lawn to his porch. She rang the bell.

      "Good evening, Dr. Carl," she said as the massive form of Horker appeared. She puckered her lips impudently at him as she slipped by him into the house.

      6.

       A Question of Science

       Table of Contents

      "Not that I'm displeased at this visit, Pat," rumbled the Doctor, seating himself in one of the great chairs by the fireplace, "but I'm curious. I thought you were dating your ideal tonight, yet here you are, back alone a little after eleven. How come?"

      "Oh," said the girl nonchalantly, dropping crosswise in the other chair, "we decided we needed our beauty sleep."

      "Then why are you here, you young imp?"

      "Thought you might be lonesome."

      "I'll bet you did! But seriously, Pat, what is it? Any trouble?"

      "No-o," she said dubiously. "No trouble. I just

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