The Troubled Journey

Waikato Times, Volume 119, Issue 19900, 1 June 1936, Page 4

The Troubled Journey

"Move... it Joan Martin cannot "get on" with Janeni her stepmother. The other Martin child- I ren. Felicity and Jimmy. feel the some,“ but H is easier for them, 85 Felicity 15 married and living in London, and Jimmy is away at. school. At last Joan revolts, and goes to live with Felicity. She attends a private commercial school owned by Derek Graham. 3 Young widower, and later is successful in obtaining a post as secretary to Geoftrey Matthews, head of the vast commeicial enterprise of Matthews and Wyatt. Meanwhile, avarice has bitten very dEBDIy into Janet Martin’s mind. She but” her stepchildren, and plans to hurt them 1“ every way she can. Felicity‘s husband goes abroad to SUDOF‘ l'lFl‘ an engineering Job, and Felicity l 1" ronwanics him. After seeing them of! at Southampton, Joan is surprised to and Derek Graham waiting to run back to London. CHAPTER XVIII. Joan made the journey back to Lon—don with Dorothy, who was leaving her work soon, and planning to give more time to her painting and draw—ing. Juan guessvd that the littlo' dream-house which she had seen with Derek would he the home for Dorothy instead of herself, Derek with his books and Dorothy with her painting would he in heaven there. And she was in a heaven of her own. But she soon learned that life was not so rosy as that. After the first excitement and dc—light, and offer the first few evenings which she spent with Ralph, without‘ the uneasiness of her obligation to! Derek lying heavily on her conscience, 5 the. dlilloulties of her life grew more' apparent. ‘ Ralph and his father were lighting hard against real poverty. Geoffreyl Matthews had covered himself against possible trouble, years ibefore, by set—tling considerable sums of money on his wife” :but now they were estranged this did not benefit him at all. Joan learned that neither lialph nor Geof—frey had sccn'her for five years. Shel was living in the south of France, and neither oi; them would have dreamed of approaching her for money. Mean—while, they were faced with i: :iuiilnr liihiruliy to that 01‘ Joan‘s. They were notorious as partners in Matthews and \\',\'atts, and they could get no kind of employment. They were nearly“ down to their last pound. Joan knew,! despite [he courageous face which} lialph showed her. The two inch were living in a small two roonied flat in Chelsea. its coin-pal-ison wllh the luxurious mansion at liegent's Park was absurd; but it was I also very real. Joan felt the tragedy of their lives keenly: but she was also I conscious of her own danger. She had less than a pound between i herself and starvation. Joan had told Mrs Gregory the truth, ‘ and had wanted to move from \Vim—i hledon to a cheaper neighbourhood, but her friend refused to hear of it. I " You‘ll be able to make it up when you get a Job," she said, “ and even if you can't, it's not going to hurt. me, Joan. Please don‘t go away It would grieve me more than i can say.“ So Joan had at least that comfort, even though she felt her position very keenly. , iler loneliness in London was coming homo to her with a vengeance, now. [l' only Felicity had been in England. with her husband. 11‘ only her father had been alive. it was no use wishing; she had to nice facts. She had been out of work for nearly two months. when she had a letter from Felicity which set her wondering, as a conversation she had once had with Jimmy had made her wonder. She had not told her brother of her plight; his small allowance was barely enough for himself, and she knew that he would sacrifice everything it he thought she was in need. The letter from Felicity ran thus: “ My dear, < It's all wrong. I know it's hateful to worry about money and Dad in the somebreath, but. the fact re- ‘ mains that he did make a second i Will. lie told me so when i saw ‘ him that weekend we all went up together. You remember? What it's all about I don't know, < but if i were you, darling, I'd get. a solicitor—your friend Derek will know one who can be relied on—ato drop a line to Janet immediately. i llc'il know what to Say, and it there i is any funny business, Janet will get worried. This is very uncharit—hide I know, but she's capable of ‘ anything. We‘re doing very well out here. although the Job is going to take longer than we thought. \Ve won’t in: home until ihe middle of next your at the earliest. By the way, we've heard rumours that nii's not well with Matthews ‘ mnl Wyatt. ls it all as bad as the ' pnpors make out? if it is, and you're siurk for anything, let us know at once. 0 Love from us all, including Babs‘ ——who‘s growing to look like you, we're afraid! I i Felicity." T Joan's eyes were filled with tears as she finished reading the letter. it was just what She had needed to keep her Spirits from sinking too low. The continual round of looking for work, the dismal 1‘” no, no, no," with which her applications were received—when, indeed, she received any kind of answer at all—had been more than depressing. ’l‘he fact that her only coniinercial experience had been with the firm which which had failed so badly, and she had been secretary to the man—aging director, made her task all the more diiilcult. She knew that she would have to ask Felicity for help, soon, but it would take several works to hear from the Canary islands. and her need was getting acute. Sin: wished thut’ she had swallowed hrr pride weeks before. but the damage was done, now. Until silo rocrivcd something from her sis—i tor shit was entirely dependent on Mrs' ‘ tircgory. The winter approached. and the situation, for the. .\l.‘|ttlicws its well {is for Juan, grew worse. liniph Illllll.l].‘\_‘ii io kccp cheerful, lint Joan rruiimul wii.ii u ircmcndous oi"— i‘uri it rust him. He had lit-en plunged from nl’i‘iurnrr to povcrty almost in it Itluy; nnd ho had Suffered months of nn-ntnl :lllXit‘l)‘ i)"itll't.‘ ilizii. Small 1 wonder 111' was lit-ginning; to show the ci‘i‘rris of his orilrni. It \\.is .imn who siiuxrslrii the thin: \\l|li'lt was in l'niso tin-tr hope»; illltl ihrn tin>|i iliv-ni :Ixnin ililirrly. and in i nun ”it'll! iin- :Jri‘nit-si nn.\ir|v which {lull owr pnssrssril Hil‘ill. Silo wns i ri-uiiini; n puprr :2! \\'|lnhlrrion, \\|l|‘il I bl!" sznv (l iiuiii'“: 1 “Men of gnmi physique nnil ups i pruronvo \\illltl:‘ll for film work. tin—iinnnil Studios, 1.1t'1., “15>." 1 Sim ehowx‘d it in liniph lnirr in tho [4‘fl)'-—-Siie uiod .1 bicycle, which Mrs L'Jregory had long since slien up, to

SERIAL STORY

By MARGARET GLENN.

get about—and it was good to hear his laugh. > "That's the first time it‘s struck me,” he said. “ Heavens, darling, you will lime me a film favourite yet.“ " l‘ll not marry you it you ever be—come a star,“ threatened Joan. " You can only play in parts where there's no kissing." ltalph promised, seriously, that he would do his best. lie did not really expect to have any luck with the advertisement, but he had reached that stage when he would try anything. Three months before he had been rich. .\'ow he owned the clothes in which he stood, and depended on luck more than anything else for his next meal. it was a trag—edy which seemed almost too swii't to be true; but it had happened before, Ralph linew, and Would happen again. lle faced it, courageoufly. lie suceedcd in getting a week's work as an extra for the Uomaud studios. There were great rejoicings in tho two—roomcd Chelsea ilat that day, and GeoiTrcy Matthews told himsell’ that he enjoyed that cvcning more than he had enjoyed anything in the days oi" his wealth. llc complained, humor—ously, that there ought to be a part in the him for him; ltalpli pooli—poohcd the idea. lle wont to the studios, next morning and discovcrcd that the thin was being shot in thc picturesque countryside ncar Uodslouc, in Surrey. ’l‘ho extras and the film acts were taken down by lorry. For the first few hours lialph told himself that he was going to en— i joy his experience. it was a costumel piece, and he had very little to do but i stridc about a clearing in a forest: which had been selectod, according to i the instructions of the producer, at lean, lanky man with a dolei‘ul voice.Not until midvafternoon, when a lighti rain began to fall, and 21 ROCK] can‘t wind turned the air cold, did Ralph wish that he was anywhere but in tho opt-n country, and wearing an imitation leather jacket which afforded him little or no shelter against the “illd and rain. lie was sneezing and coughing when he reached (Nielsen that evening. if Joan had been there she would hare dissuaded him from going out on the following day. She had been to the other side ol‘ London after work, how—ever, and she was not there at the crucial time. Liooil‘rcy said little, but. he looked concerned. [in the following evening it was ob—vious that ltalph had more than a common roltl. A doctor, called hastily by the older man, diagnosed iniiuenza,. and ordered certain delicacies and medicines which were beyond their means. Joan could have cried when she discovered the result of the 111m—work. But the situation had to be, raced. ‘ \Vhen she realised that. Ralph would i be ill for a week or more, at leashi she did the only thing possible and‘ wrote to Jimmy. She heard from her brother by return, and he enclosed enough money to carry them over i'ori the next week. in a briei‘ letter hei said: ' i “ And there's more where thisi came from, Joan, and don‘t pretend} that you‘re doing better than you} are, dear. I hope to have some bet~ t ter news soon.“ i What'klnd of better news did not mean, Joan wondered? 1 But her vchief concern was Ralph. i He was seriously ill, she realised: and, towards night on the third day. she sent an 5.0.8. for the doctor. She. had thrown propriety to the winds, and was helping Geoffrey to nurse the in-i \‘alid, whose temperature was rising.‘ and who was talking, occasionally, in ‘ delirium. t The doctor confirmed her worst ‘fears. Pleurlsy had developed, and there was the ever-present threat of pneumonia. From the medical man‘s manner Joan realised that he was anxi—ous for the patient‘s safely—anxious for his life. Ralph‘s lliei 1 Joan felt a terror surge through her at the bare thought that the illness might end fatally. Surely fate was not going to rob her of the happiness she had dreamed of so often. Surely Ralph, with his this body and his Istrong face, his curving lips and his [gleaming eyes, was not. going to 'be taken from her? There was something horrible about the very idea, Sh chad felt sad when her father had been ill, but that was so different from this. Old John had been ready, and he had lived his life. llalph was on the threshold, and he had been through as trying a time as man could have. lie musn’t diet She prayed for him; and she worked harder than she had ever done. No—thing was too (liillcult for her. She hardly slept, night after night, as she watched him. ller strength amazed Geoffrey; but for her, he knew, Ralph must have gone. Gradually the tight increased in in—tensity. The dreaded pneumonia struck. The crisis approached— Joan Martin fought for her loved one‘s life as she had never dreamed it was in her to fight. Everything else was forgotten. II it was within human power, she must save Ralph. (To be continued).