登陆注册
4619100000117

第117章 Peter's Release(2)

"It's an ugly business," he said, "so ugly that there is no question whatever but that it can be settled very quietly and without any annoyance to you. I shall have to take the matter up with the board, but I have the details so worked out that I shall have no difficulty in arranging matters as I think best. There is no question whatever, Marian, but Anderson found that sketch on the west side of the Strong residence. When you left your plans lying on a table before a window in the Strong guestroom the night before you came to San Francisco you did not know that the santana which raged through the valley a day or two previously had stripped a screen from the window before which you left them. In opening your door to establish a draft before you went to bed you started one that carried your top drawing through the window. Waiting for Miss Strong the next morning, in making a circuit of the grounds Anderson found it and appropriated it to most excellent advantage. Miss Linda tells me that your study of architecture was discussed at the dinner table that night. He could not have helped realizing that any sheet of plans he found there must have been yours. If he could acquit his conscience of taking them and using them, he would still have to explain why he was ready to accept the first prize and the conditions imposed when he already had a house fairly well under construction from the plans he submitted in the contest. The rule is unbreakable that the plans must be original, must be unused, must be our sole property, if they take the prize."Marian was leaning forward, her eyes wide with interest, her breast agitated. She nodded in acquiescence. Eugene Snow reached across and helped himself to another piece of candy from the box on her knee. He looked at her speculatively and spoke quietly as if the matter were of no great importance.

"Would it be agreeable, Marian, if the prize committee should annOunce that there were reasons as to why they were not satisfied, that they have decided to return all plans and call off the present contest, opening another in a few months in which interested parties may again submit their drawings? I will undertake swiftly and comprehensively to eliminate Henry Anderson from California. I would be willing to venture quite a sum that when I finish with the youngster he will see the beauty of going straight hereafter and the desirability of a change of atmosphere. He's a youngster. I hate to make the matter public, not only on account of involving you and your friends in such disagreeable business, but I am sorry for him. I would like to deal with him like the proverbial 'Dutch uncle,' then I would like to send him away to make a new start with the assurance that I am keeping close watch on him. Would you be satisfied if Ihandled the matter quietly and in my own way? Could you wait a few weeks for justice?"Marian drew a deep breath.

"Of course," she said, "it would be wonderful if you could do that. But what about Peter Morrison? How much did he know concerning the plans, and what does he know about this?""Nothing," said Mr. Snow. "That most unusual young friend of yours made me see the light very clearly concerning Peter Morrison. There is no necessity for him ever to know that the 'dream house,' as Miss Linda calls it, that he is building for his dream woman has any disagreeable history attached to it. He so loves the spot that he is living on it to watch that house in minutest detail. Miss Linda was fairly eloquent in the plea she made on his behalf. He strikes me as a very unusual person, and sheappealed to me in the same way. There must be some scientific explanation concerning her that I don't just get, but I can see that she is most unusual When I watched them together and heard them talk of their plans for the house and the grounds and discussing illustrations that she is making for articles that he is writing, I saw how deep and wholesome was the friendship existing between them. I even heard that wonderful serving woman, whom they so familiarly speak of as 'Katy,' chiding Peter Morrison for allowing Linda to take her typewriter to him and do her own work with a pen. And because Miss Linda seems so greathearted and loving with her friends, I was rather glad to hear his explanation that they were merely changing machines for the time being for a very particular reason of their own.""Do you mean," asked Marian, "that you think there is anything more than casual friendship between Linda and Peter Morrison?""Not on her part," answered Eugene Snow. "Anybody can see that she is a child deeply engrossed in all sorts of affairs uncommon for a girl of her age and position. Her nice perceptions, her wonderful loyalty to her friends, her loving thought for them, are manifest in everything she says or does. If she ever makes any mistakes they will be from the head, not from the heart. But for the other end of the equation I could speak authoritatively.

Katy pointed out to me the fact that if I would watch Peter Morrison in Miss Linda's presence, I should see that he adored her. I did watch, and I did see that very thing. When I taxed him about building a dream house for a dream woman, his eyes crossed a plateau, leaped a brook, and started up the side of a mountain. They did not rest until they had found Linda."Marian sat so still that it seemed as if she were not even breathing. In view of what Katy had said, and his few words with Peter Morrison, Eugene Snow had felt justified in giving Marian a hint as to what was going on in Lilac Valley. Exactly what he had done he had no means of knowing. If he had known and had talked intentionally he could not have made clearer to Marian the thing which for months had puzzled her. She was aware that Eugene Snow was talking, that he was describing the dinner he had been served, the wonderful wild-flower garden that he had seen, how skillfully Linda drove the Bear Cat. She heard these things and dimly comprehended them but underneath, her brain was seizing upon one fact after another. They had exchanged typewriters.

同类推荐
  • 石经考异

    石经考异

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 救疾经

    救疾经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 阿弥陀经疏

    阿弥陀经疏

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 佛说六门陀罗尼经

    佛说六门陀罗尼经

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 黑鞑事略

    黑鞑事略

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 金榜题名

    金榜题名

    小舅子收到贵阳学院录取通知书,把老岳父的脸烙了一火铲似的,焦。这大学,取也焦,不取,也焦。小舅子单名一个海字,一直在乡中学读,成绩一直靠前,高考下来成绩也还理想,就是心思去远了点儿,想往省外大学奔,志愿遂显得有些不着边际,眼看本科都快录取完了,还没收到录取音信,我家里就几乎每天接到老岳父电话,海又不干活了,海又不吃饭了,海又睁着眼翻来覆去到天亮了,还说海老在屋后走来走去,把坡上的草都踩成秃桩桩了。总之,海烦躁得要命。海的姐,我的妻,叫罡,每天到教育局去查录取名单,没有,每天都没有海的名字。
  • 别让坏习惯左右你:排除你走向成功的78个障碍

    别让坏习惯左右你:排除你走向成功的78个障碍

    在现实生活中,我们都是习惯的产物,我们谁不是遵从着某种习惯来生活的呢?有的人习惯“黎明既起,洒扫庭院”,而有的人则习惯睡懒觉;有的人十分注意自己的衣着整洁,有的人则大大咧咧,不修边幅;有的人对人说话谦恭有礼,有的人则高声大嗓、唾星四溅;有的人做事井井有条,有的人则手忙脚乱;有的人总是乐观地看待一切,有的人遇到一点儿小事,就会愁眉不展;有的人节俭,有的人铺张;有的人多话,有的人寡言,如此等等,不一而举。
  • 宠物小精灵之世界传说

    宠物小精灵之世界传说

    有毒别看????不骗你们,你们千万不要看。。。。。。。。。。。。
  • 养疴漫笔

    养疴漫笔

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 异授眼科

    异授眼科

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 临渊羡琴瑟

    临渊羡琴瑟

    身怀绝技的心狠美人和失势多年的落魄皇子因和亲而在一起。成婚几日,就发现美人并非是公主……两个人拥有相似的仇恨相似的人生,却选择了完全不同的两条路。这究竟是人性的扭曲还是道德的沦丧?请在每晚八点,和墨墨一起走进《临渊羡琴瑟》的奥秘!
  • 焰罗王供行法次第

    焰罗王供行法次第

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 下辈子还教书

    下辈子还教书

    《下辈子还教书》以提升教师职业幸福能力为核心理念,收集了作者在众多教育杂志发表的适合此主题的专栏作品,另新增近一半的最新作品。作者从观念、细节入手,通过一个个真实的教育故事,探讨了什么是好教师,教师幸福的秘密在哪里,教育幸福需要提升哪些能力等诸多与教师密切相关的话题。此书可作为教师提升素养和幸福感的“心灵鸡汤”。
  • 博弈故事

    博弈故事

    无数事实、经验和理性已经证明:好故事可以影响人的一生。而以我们之见,所谓好故事,在内容上讲述的应是做人与处世的道理,在形式上也应听得进、记得住、讲得出、传得开,而且不会因时代的变迁而失去她的本质特征和艺术光彩。为了让更多的读者走进好故事,阅读好故事,欣赏好故事,珍藏好故事,传播好故事,我们特编选了一套“故事会5元精品系列”以飨之。其选择标准主要有以下三点:一、在《故事会》杂志上发表的作品。二、有过目不忘的艺术感染力。三、有恒久的趣味,对今天的读者仍有启迪作用。愿好故事伴随你的一生!
  • 律师刑事辩护典型案例评析

    律师刑事辩护典型案例评析

    对于刑事辩护典型案例的深入评析,无论是对于司法实务操作还是对于刑法理论研究,乃至对于推动立法改革而言,目前都具有重大意义。