Screenland (Nov 1941-Apr 1942)

jotted lantern and Drake so happy benise he had just received Parris's letter. Key had talked of Parris, both of them, iilked and laughed and been happy in spite If everything, and then Randy had gone !°She had been waiting for him when she ieard about the accident. Drake had been aught between two freight cars and his pgs had been injured, so badly that Dr. Skrdon had said that both legs had to be amputated at once. He had done it in the refght office, right then, saying it would ,e a risk even to take him to the hospital, iandy had taken him home and now it L-as she who insisted on their marriage, jrake, hopeless, bitter, had held out against -_ But she had been too strong for him. Ic had given in. Parris clenched his fists as he read and own through the years he heard the creams that had come from the Mcintosh louse that other night Dr. Gordon had aerated. Had that double amputation been iecessary? Gordon had hated Drake. What led he done to him? . > The question lay unanswered in Parns s leart the day he came back to Kings Row. it was summer, so many months had •lapsed before he could get there, but he iad cabled, assigning his rights to the Tjwer estate to Drake, writing a letter to Randv telling her what she must do to •estore Drake's confidence in himself. : "It will be harder for Drake than most oeople," he had written. "He lived by his reedom and independence. He will feel he :nas lost both. It will be your job to rest ire them to him. First you must realize ±at Drake is suddenly living in a shockingly new and strange world. The repairs zc^the body can sometimes be made in a short space of time. The injury to the r.ind, to what is called the psyche, this :akes lonser. The psychic injuries strike at lis pride," his initiative, and we shall have :o save them if we are to save Drake. "I know that I sound horribly didactic and professional, but it is the only way that I know how to say these things. As soon as he is well enough he must find an interest outside himself, some job to do, that will force him to depend upon himself and make his own decisions. Use the money from the Tower estate to make some sort of new beginning for you. I don't care if it is real estate or chicken farming, so long as it is something that will take his mind off himself and make him realize he is still of use in this world." Strange, Parris thought, _ as the train stopped and he saw he was in Kings Row again, that his first prescription as a psychiatrist should have been written for his best friend. He heard his name called then and turned to see Randy. There was little left of that laughing girl he had last seen on this very platform, but she was more beautiful than ever, with that still calm on her face. What a woman she had become, that rough little Randy, so wise, so tender and so compelling. "Oh, Parris, Parris, I'm so glad to see ! you !" She ran to him, taking both his hands in hers. "I don't know what I would have done without your letters. I did my best " to carry out even-thing you told me. I had ! a terrible time about the money but I finally convinced him it was a loan and oh; Parris, he got almost excited thinking of ways to double and triple your money for you. The Ridge land was gone, but I persuaded him that waste land down by the creek would do more good, if it were turned over to a development for workers' houses. We've started now. I told him he had the brains and -I had the feet and sometimes it seems almost all right and then—" "How is he?" Parris asked as they stopped in front of the shabby house. "I don't know." Randy's eyes clouded. "He's better. I think he's better. I've tried — but now you're home — *' Suddenly the tears came that she had been holding back for months. Then she shook her head resolutely. "Come in." She held open the door and blinked back her tears. "Look," she called gaily up the stairs. "Look who is here, Drake!" Parris stopped in the doorway of the bedroom, forcing his smile as he saw Drake shrink back against his pillows, pulling the sheet up over his chin. He moved his lips, but no words came as Parris walked over to the bed and took his hand. Then he shifted like an embarrassed child and turned his face to the wall, and Parris sat down on the edge of the bed and took his hand. He had come a long way, but there was a much longer road ahead. It was the next day Parris received the note from Mrs. Gordon, telling him of her husband's death and asking that he come to see her. There was an urgency about the letter which sent Parris there at once, for she had told him she wanted to see him professionally about Louise. "Is Louise ill?" Parris asked after the first awkward greeting. Then as she nodded, "Do you wish me to see her?" "I'm afraid my daughter's mind is affected. Dr. Mitchell." Mrs. Gordon looked at him tensely. "First let me explain a little. She hated her father. Why, I could never guess." Her hard face took on a suddenly exalted expression. "Dr. Gordon was a saint !" She groped for her handkerchief and dabbed it against her eyes before she went on. "You may remember some time ago Louise had a most unfortunate attachment for one of the most undesirable boys in this town. After he met with his accident, Louise had a terrible scene with Dr. Gordon. Then, a little later we heard a strange report that he had actually married a— a—" "A Miss Monaghan," Parris said quietly, "who has taken marvelous care of him, Mrs. Gordon." "Really?" She looked at him coldly. "It seems remarkable, doesn't it? But from that day on Louise refused to leave her room. She wouldn't speak. Then Dr. Gordon passed away. And now I have to tell you a terrible thing. When — when my dear husband was lying here, in this room, Louise came downstairs. I followed her after a few minutes and found her — I found her standing over her dead father and cursing him!" "I am desperate. I cannot bear that my daughter should be insane or that she should so defame the memory of a great man. There's no doctor here who understands these things, no one I can turn to. Can vou help me with her, to keep her quiet? Come, I'll take you to her." Parris's heart sank when he saw Louise. Her face was flushed and her hair hung dishevelled over the robe covering her crumpled nightgown and her eyes blazed as she ordered her mother to leave the room. "I'm not crazy, Parris," she said then. "She thinks I am. But I'm not." "I know that, Louise," Parris said. "Have vou seen Drake?" she demanded. Then as "he nodded. "My father cut his legs off, Parris. / was there. I knew all about him and his operations. I went after him. but I was too late. They had carried Drake away somewhere. A man was cleaning up the" depot where — " Suddenly she broke. "I'm not crazy, Parris. You must find out about it. Maybe that man who helped would know. I don't believe it was necessary. My father did it because of me. I want you to get all the evidence ! I want everybody to know! I want to destroy his memory!" S GREENLAND YOU MAY ALWAYS BE CONSTIPATED UNLESS You correct faulty living habits— unless liver bile flows freely every day into your intestines to help digest fatty foods and guard against constipation. SO USE COMMON SENSE! Drink more water, eat more fruit and vegetables. And if assistance is needed, take Dr. Edwards' Olive Tablets. They not only assure gentle yet thorough bowel movements but ALSO stir up liver bile secretion to help digest fatty foods. Olive Tablets, being purely vegetable, are wonderful! Used successfully for over 20 years by Dr. F. M. Edwards in treating patients for constipation and sluggish liver bile, today Olive Tablets are justly FIRST choice of thousands of grateful users. Test their goodness IUNIGHT! lot, 30(i, 60f. All druggists. SONG POEM WRITERS Send us your original poem. Mother Home. Love. Sacred. 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