August 1931
356
T h e
K i n g ’ s
B u s i n e s s
THE RETURN„/fLTIDE A Serial Story . . . By ZENOBIA BIRD
“Of all the trouble that Cousin Vivian has been having! You know I told you about my cousin over in Farside Heights who had such trouble to find a maid. The last one she had was so awful with the children, she could not trust her alone with them for an hour. And now she thought she had a jewel of a girl, but some illness in the home of her brother has taken her away, and she is without a maid again. It does beat everything. She gives a girl a good home and pays her well, and because her husband is away for days at a time, she would like so much to have some one who would be something of a companion to her. Of course she always sends out her washing and ironing and has a woman to come in and do the cleaning, but she needs some one there all the time.” With a word of thanks to Joyce and another pressing invitation to Marian to be sure to come, she was gone. The door had scarcely closed behind her when Marian exclaimed, “Joyce, why can’t I be that maid?” “You! I never would have thought of it! But, could you? Would you want to do it? You know what people think of that kind of work.” “I must do something,” Marian said desperately. “And this Cousin Vivian appeals to me. Do you think she would take me ?” “I don’t know, but I suppose she would. Did you ever have any experience doing things about the house? That night you got the dinner because Mother had one of her sick headaches, you remember Dad said you were a natural born cook and housekeeper.” Marian smiled happily. “I have always liked to do things about the house, and while we always had a maid, Mother told her to allow me to dabble in the cooking whenever I had a mind to. She liked to do it herself, and I liked to help her.” “Let us go talk it over with Mrs. Torrington.” But Marian stopped. “Joyce, forgive me. But wouldn’t this embarrass you? I am here as your guest, and what would Mrs. Torrington think if I should apply for the position of her cousin’s maid?” “That will not trouble Mrs. Torrington. She is a dear and so sweet and sensible. She will keep it a secret so far as others at the party are concerned.” “Oh, Joyce, you surely would not expect me to go to the party if I take this position. And Mrs. Torrington would not want me.” “You will see.” A half hour later, they sat in Mrs. Torrington’s home, and Joyce told the story, very briefly, of Marian’s reverses and of her need to find something to do at once while she prepared herself for work in the future. “She wants to study stenography, and I am going to teach her. We wondered if she could not fill the place of maid with your cousin in Farside Heights while she studied. She could come over to me for a lesson one evening a week, and she would have plenty of time in the evenings there to study.”
[Hardened in heart and shattered in faiith after the sudden death of both parents and the break with Nelson Barrington, Marian Linton had accepted an invitation to the home of Joyce Goodwin. On the train, as she sat thinking of her sorrows and wondering if the tide of happiness would ever return to her life, her heart was touched at the sight of. a tired mother striving in vain to quiet her baby. Marian came to the mother's rescue and relieved her of the baby for more than an hour, keenly observed by one of her traveling companions. Somehow, that incident made it easier to meet her friend. The lonely girl found in the Goodwin home an atmosphere of love and prayer, and there she began again to trust in God and to plan for the future. One day she opened her heart to Joyce, telling of the wayward brother who was in hiding from justice, of the faihire o f her father’s bank, and of. how she must soon find tvork. A fter two days of searching that proved fruitless in spite of Mr. Goodwin’s kind recommendations, Marian took her problem to the Lord and received the assurance that His plan would shortly be revealed.] C hapter V t oyce , my dear , will you favor us with a reading at my party Thursday evening, the twentieth ?” The speaker was an attractive young matron whose hospitable home was often the scene of merry little gath erings of some of the city’s loveliest young people. She and her husband were Christians, and they had set their clever wits to work to provide some entertainment and social life of a higher sort than that usually enjoyed by the young people of their set. Her large, beautifully ap pointed home lent itself well to her purpose, and her invitations were seldom refused. Joyce Goodwin had studied elocution, and with her pleasing personality and natural gifts was often called upon to add to the pleasure of a social evening. “Why yes, Mrs. Torrington, if you like. I think I have some new numbers just about ready. I always keep one on hand to work at, you know.” “I am going to have the first part of the evening a . musicale. We have several instrumental features, and I have a perfectly wonderful soloist. We will want your reading about the middle of that part of the program. Then we will have some games and stunts afterward. And don’t forget that we want Miss Linton to come too. You will come, won’t you?” “I don’t know,” Marian answered hesitatingly. “I may not be here until then. I must go—home—soon.” There was a perceptible pause before that word, “home.” Where she was going she did not know, and the uncertainty of the future was beginning to press heavily upon her spirits. “Oh, Marian, you must stay until then. You will enjoy Mrs. Torrington’s party. It is so different from the usual sort.” , “I would like to, but—I don’t know.” “She will come, Mrs. Torrington. I will bring her.” When Joyce said she would do a thing, it was counted settled. As the visitor rose to go, she said in a worried tone,
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