Evening Star Newspaper, October 4, 1936, Page 83

October 4, 1936 A very young Galahad tries desperately to help a lady who doesn't know she's in a predicament by JAMES M. CAIN ALK at the table was about the situation that had developed at the Country Club, where there were thefts. On several occa- sions, money had disappeared from lockers, to say nothing of other valu- ables missing under equivocal circum- stances. Mr. Knight, who was a mem- ber of the House Committee, let it be known, by sundry hints, that traps had been set, and presently light could be expected on an extremely troublesome matter. To Volney Knight, considering he was only a boy, this would ordinarily have been exciting stuff, especially the part about traps. But tonight he found- it dull. For one thing, it was discussedin veiled terms that he found hard to un- derstand; and he was unable, try as he would, to place himself at the center of it. When Wash Lewis was at dinner, as he was tonight, Volney felt a feverish compulsion to be at the center of every- thing; indeed, Wash filled Volney with such show-off tendencies that he was unable to be himself, or even to eat. This was partly because of Wash'’s per- sonality, and it was partly because ‘Wash was an outstanding tennis player, and had to be impressed, whether by Voilney's making faces, throwing the left thumb out of joint, churning spit between the teeth, or any other device that came to mind. Tonight, for some reason, Volney was more affected than usual. When he had eaten his dessert, and his mother asked him if he would have more, he puckered his mouth and made a vulgar noise. A pained silence followed. Wash looked at him. His father looked at him. His mother caught his father’s eye. This meant he would have one more chance. “Will you have more ice cream, Volney?” His mother spoke as if nothing had hap- pened, and experience told him to reply in the same key. He couldn’t. A foolish giggle escaped him, and he made the same noise over again. Then, exploding into laughter, he ran cackling from the table, and on up to his room. Nothing happened to him there. He knew nothing would. His father was going to the club, on this theft matter, and that meant a stay of execution until later, and possibly an end of the case under the statute of limita- tions, for his father had a way of cooling off once the reckoning was interrupted. He heard his father leave and his mother go into the kitchen for the nightly conference with Mar- tha, the cook, over the next day’s supplies. Then his door opened, and Wash came in. “Well say, Volney, what got into you?’’ I don’t know. I ought not to have done it, I guess, but the she gets my goat sometimes.” THIS WEEK Hliystrations by Stanley Parkhouse “By offering you some more ice cream?"” “It’s not that. It's the way she does it. So prissy. I'm fed up.” “I didn’t see anything prissy.” “‘Oh well, the ice cream, I just take that for an example. There's other things. The trouble with her is, she's a back-number. If she'd only get wise to herself that she’s old, that she don’t know what it’s all about, I'd say O. K., she’s that way because she can’t help it. But when she pulls that prissy stuff on me — well, I've stood all that I'm going to take.” Now this, as Volney well knew, was an out- rageous way to be talking about his mother, and the only element of truth in it was the twinge of pity he always felt when he con- templated her withered skin, her faded eyes, her general air of senile decrepitude. The rest was absolutely impromptu, part of the effect that Wash always had on him. *“Is she old? I didn’t know that.” “‘She’s twenty-six.’” “My, my, who would have thought it?” “You don’t believe it? Come in her room. I’ll prove it to you.” Until then, Wash’s interest in Volney's mother’s age had been disappointing, to say the least. But at this invitation, his manner changed. Affecting great curiosity, he smiled at Volney, motioned him to lead the way. Volney had a sudden sense of guilt, yet was unable to stop. They went into Mrs. Knight’s room, and Volney went brazenly to the dress- ing table, extracted a diary. It was a very secret document, and not even Mr. Knight was allowed to look at it, but Volney thumbed to the birthday entry and blandly held it up to Wash. Wash glanced at it, said “I'll be damned” and, somewhat mechanically, began to saunter around the room. Volney started to put the diary back, but couldn’t resist the temptation to read the last week's entries. It had been some days since he had peeped at the forbidden book, and its contents, particularly its remarks about people, always fascinated him. But the Mogazine Section 3 WHEN SHE CAME IN, PRESENTLY, TO TUCK HIM IN, VOLNEY PRETENDED TO BE FAST ASLEEP latest addenda were chiefly about luncheon engagements and the cost of groceries. With a sigh he put the book back, exactly as he had found it. When he looked up, Wash was standing be- side the bed, a very queer look on his face. Again Volney had a sense of guilt, and led the way back to his own room, wishing he could take it all back. “I guess you got to make allowance for them at that.” It was a complete about-face, and he was afraid Wash would laugh at him. But Wash didn’t. He agreed with an alacrity that verged on glibness. “Why sure. They’re human.” “Yeah, that’s the tough part. They may be old, and they may be dumb, but they’re still your mother, aren’t they?” “That’s it.” : “0. K., then I'll give her another chance. You got to be reasonable. All right, we won’t say any more about it.”’ *““That’s the stuff. How about a few strokes?*’ They. got out the rackets and practiced strokes. This was the part of Wash’s visits that Volney loved, and his delight reached its