Emergency Wife by May Edginton
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Collier's for June 19, 1937 17 Emergency Wife By May Edginton The Story Thus Far: AX FAVEREL, an official in a great Lon M don engineering firm headed by the power ful Sir Andrew Porter, is in need of a capable young engineer—someone with a wife—to send to Roumania, at a good salary. He decides to offer the job to Kenneth Basil (whom he has never met)—if he is married. Basil is not married; Linnet March (whom he loves but who, with a job which only a sin gle woman can hold and with several relatives dependent upon her, cannot marry a poor man) has declined to become his wife. Nevertheless, he gets the Roumanian assignment! He gets it, thanks to Linnet, who tells Faverel (confi dentially) that she and Basil have been mar ried secretly! Then, while Linnet is in the country with a desperately ill great-aunt, Basil leaves by plane for Roumania. Hero Winter, one of Linnet's suitors, sees him off. Just before the plane roars away. Winter promises to mail a tagged, addressed key (a key to Linnet's flat) for Basil. But, a thoroughgoing rotter, he does not mail the key; instead, he keeps it. An hour later, having made use of the key, he is making him self at home in Linnet's flat. And an hour and a half later, there in that flat, he is bending over the body of an unexpected caller—Max Faverel—whom he has killed while in a drunken rage! . Linnet's great-aunt dies. Linnet returns to London, goes to her flat, finds Faverel's body. She telephones Winter, implores him to come to her. He comes. He sees the key—Basil's key, which Winter had left in a prominent place. He appropriates it. Then, "to protect dear Kenneth Basil," he cleverly convinces the police that a burglar has committed the mur der. But he is not protecting "dear Kenneth" for nothing. His price is: one wife—Linnet March! And Linnet, to save the man she adores, prom ises to pay the bill, to marry Hero Winter. A week end which Linnet spends in the coun try with Sir Andrew and Lady Porter comes as a welcome relief to her. But before it termi nates. Winter arrives on the scene—and car ries her back to London. Insolent, domineering, possessive in his attitude, he announces that they are to be married at once. Then, insisting that she resign her job, he escorts her to her employers' office. She taps, enters. Her em ployers, Mr. Penley and Mr. Pelham, rise. Conclusion 7VH, MISS MARCH." L\ Penley and Pelham glanced ur- -*• •*- banely beyond her at the man, perhaps supposing him to be a new client triumphantly brought in by the cleverest business girl in London. She knew wretchedly that they had not the faintest conception of what they were to hear. Hero assumed the grace of that mod esty which he had shown the day before at Greystones; for these were very suc cessful men and there was no knowing when a stroke of business might be done with such. This might be the prelude to a firm connection of value. He listened urbanely to Linnet, with a docile air of waiting upon her lightest words. "May I introduce Mr. Winter?" They were pleasant. "How do you do, Mr. Winter?" "How do you do?" Pelham shook hands, following Penley. Hero's handgrip was immense, taking them slightly aback. "Delighted to meet you, Mr. Pelham and Mr. Penley. Afraid you won't be quite so delighted with me." EDWIN GEORGl "Er . really? Your usual chair, "You'll lind me fair/' she told him. "A bargain's a bargain and I know il" (Continued on page 26) PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED 18 Collier's for June 19, 1937 Archie San Romani is a Kansas kid who has just learned how lo run. His luloring system must be tops, for he has broken the finish tape ahead of such track burners as Lovelock, Cunningham and speedy Gene Venzke. The San Ro mani legs are going places ENE VENZKE, who is always • called upon when they need a G fourth in a mile race, once made a very pert observation on Archie San Romani, latest sensation among the American distance runners. "He will probably break all mile rec ords," said Venzke, "for not only was his leg crushed some years ago, but they were going to amputate!" Explanation of this csjsptic remark is found in the growing suiJerstition among modern milers that you must have had some kind of severe leg injury in order to get down under 4:10 consistently. The hunch germinated when people began to make a fuss over Glenn Cunning ham's trick right leg, which bears a ghastly scar of a tragic school fire fif teen years ago. He couldn't walk for a year. Then Bill Bonthron, Princeton's great miler, came up with the announcement that he, too, had suffered a terrible leg injury as a boy. A high-tension electric wire fell across Bill's leg and just about ruined it. They thought that he would never walk again without the aid of a crutch. But he wound up battling Cun ningham to a standstill and setting in door and outdoor records. Joe Mangan, of Cornell, happened to be reading his biography one day, and remembered that he had broken his leg many years ago when he tumbled from a wagon and was run over. Straightway he went out and raced to a string of in tercollegiate track titles and even the prized Wanamaker Mile in the Millrose games. But San Romani's injury dwarfs the others. At the age of eight he fell off a milk wagon in Frontenac, Kansas, where f^i*^f,x. ; .»,.»/» PICTURES, INC. ^^^mk^:'"' America's most promising distance runner, Archie San Romani, winning , ^r^^. the A. A. U. 1,500-meter indoor event he had lived all his life, and his leg was most of the country's track coaches have brought to the cinder path. And he can finish, his stamina and the fact that he crushed. Gangrene threatened limb and their chips on San Romani. One of the go like sixty when his pulse is hitting doesn't take on weight easily. His con life. The doctors brought out the knife biggest boosters is Lawson Robertson, only forty-five. sistent weight means that he will never and the story is that Archie's childish head Olympic coach and developer of If you were walking around with a be far out of condition, and also that he •* plea to spare the leg softened them. Gene Venzke at the University of Penn forty-five pulse, you would rush to the is a "nerve" runner, rather than a "mus They relented, crossed their fingers and sylvania. nearest pulse counter and pay for an cle" runner. A muscle runner tires more the leg healed. "I made no mistake when I first saw explanation. All good distance runners suddenly than a nerve runner. For a long period thereafter the boy's San Romani," Robbie has said. "I knew have slow pulses—somewhere around San Romani has a very unusual build days were filled with care and special he'd be a great miler, but I never fifty—but San Romani's heart, when for a matured young man of twenty- exercises for that leg. It wasn't really thought a runner could develop so fast." idling with the spark retarded, purrs four. He is unusual from his shock of right again until he reached high school. And the celebrated coach will predict along at forty-five beats to the minute. wavy, black hair to his high-arched Seeking steady exercises, he fell into freely that San Romani is not only the During a hard race it probably goes no feet, which are size 9-E, if you please. foot-racing competition and won races greatest of milers but comes closest to faster than that of the average man Size 9-E feet are not carried very often largely because his fighting spirit had the coach's dream of a perfect runner. after a heavy meal. on a body weighing 130 pounds. His been sharpened to a very high degree. He is a lightweight powerhouse, packing Track coaches rejoice over this. They shoulders are square, but his chest is Whether due to the leg lore or not. the greatest kick finish that a miler ever rejoice also over his sustained kick (Continued on page 19) PRODUCED BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED.