a n d be s ¿y /n i/L o v Q hnN * P iQ c y T H E S TO R Y T H I S E Y R : Sh» could not kelleve lh * t her la th e r had killed A lic ia , and he a a tu rrd M e t th at he knew th e waa Incapable ot »uch a deed. And yet w h al m l( h l be brought oul at the lnquc»(? Distressed. M e t thought ol Tom . and rem em b ered th at he had called her “ d a rlin g .’• She (e ll she was (ailing In love w ith him . Laurence had come over from the county seat In connec­ tion w ith the In quiry concerning A licia's death, and he called to ta lk to Annie and M eg. N o trace ol a weapon had been found, L a r r y reported. “ H e r hus­ band Is com ing to cla im the bod.v.” Yes, A licia was m a rrie d and it had been her husband who sent m ney each month to r her to live. C H A PTE R X II W N .U . R E L E A A C And w ithout w a itin g fo r her to re ­ cover fro m the shock of his quiet w ords and th e ir im p lic a tio n , he went q u ie tly out and the door closed be­ hind him . She sat there fo r a long tim e a fte r he had gone So Amos hud seen her w ith T om ! And Amos had to ld Laurence. She bent fo rw a rd and put her face in her hands and was s t ill—u n til a soft m ovem ent behind her startled her, and she straightened w ith a little Jerk to find Annie in the door­ way w atching her w ith com passion­ ate eyes. “ Us didn' w ant to te ll M is t’ L a u ­ rence, Miss M eggie—but us had to. said the gentle old voice. “ O f course, Annie,” she managed unsteadily. “ A in ’ nobody else gwine know. M iss Meggie— ” “ There was nothing w rong. Annie —i t was an accident—” “ 'Course, Miss M eggie—us a ll knows d a t.” Annie's voice was com ­ fo rta b le . assured. “ Now vo' run up- She had lost a ll in te re st in w hat­ ever it m ig h t be th a t A nnie was te llin g Laurence. She was so shak­ en by the news that A lic ia had a liv in g husband, that she couldn’ t get her m in d on a n ything else. H er fa ­ th e r had w anted to m a rry A lic ia ; and A lic ia had let h im th in k that she was free! How Pleasant Grove was going to laugh at the fool J im M acT avish had m ade o f h im s e lf! n Because people were ta lk in g about the way he had been pursuing A lic ia —and now they w ould know that A lic ia ’ s husband cared enough about her to come east fo r the funeral. Megan was s till s ittin g in the liv ­ ing room when Laurence cam e back fro m his ta lk w ith Annie. H is brow was fu rro w e d a little and he looked perplexed. ’ ’T h a t's the dam dest sto ry 1 ever hea rd ,” he a d m itte d as he sat down opposite M egan and folded his arm s across his chest. “ I don’ t know w hat to m ake of it —but A nnie's not the im a g in a tiv e sort. She has a l­ w ays seemed so sensible and le ve l­ headed. such good sound comm on sense— you w ouldn’ t expect her to believe in ghosts, would yo u ? ” “ W hat on e a rth are you ta lk in g about?” she asked. “ A nnie's ju s t been te llin g me a y a rn —I to ld her th a t I ’d have to go to Squire E th rid g e and pass it on to h im , because he’ s n o m in a lly in charge o f the case here, though of course the b rig h t boys fro m the county seat w ill w ant a share in it. B u t anyw ay, this is w hat A nnie told m e.” He leaned fo rw a rd and looked at her s tra ig h tly . “ J suppose you know about that little old fa m ily b u ry in g ground at the foot of the Ridge, ju s t at the I top of yo u r pasture, west of the rock th a t you alw ays occupy on your w a lks? ” he began. “ So you are investigating our— "Y es, I know the place, of course,” Megan answered, w a itin g tragedy, M r. Reynolds?” tensely, lit tle p ric k le s of c h ill ru n ­ n ing up and down her spine like staihs an' fix yo’ self up a ll p u rty — '(o ' M is t’ L a rry gets back an’ us has icy fingers. “ W ell, i t seems th a t Amos was suppeh,” urged Annie, and vaguely com ing home nig h t before last a b it com forted by A nnie's m a tte r-o f-fa c t­ late fro m a lodge m e e tin g .” said ness, Megan heaved herself to her Laurence, sm ilin g . “ I t seems that feet and went upstairs. She grim a ce d a little as she he'd had some luck w ith the ’gallop­ ing dom inos' and he knew th a t A n­ looked at herself in the m ir r o r She nie w ouldn’ t shoot h im on sight fo r was w hite to the lips, there were getting home so late. A nyw ay, ,t shadows beneath her d ark eyes, and was somewhere around m id n ig h t, or her h a ir was untidy. a little la te r; Amos was passing the She showered and donned fresn little b u ryin g ground when suddenly things, a soft green jersey dress the he saw som ething that froze him shade of the firs t, new green in in his tra c k s —and m ay m ake him sp rin g th a t has alm ost a tinge of avoid ‘galloping dom inos’ in the fu ­ ye llo w in it. She brushed her h a ir tu re , though th a t’ s a lot to hope u n til it gleam ed and crackled be­ fo r.” neath the vigorous onslaught of the “ You can’t possibly mean th a t he brush. thought he saw the usual w a ve rin g Laurence cam e back a litle later, w hite figure— ” M e g a n a lm o s t but he was not alone. W ith h im laughed. was a stocky young man whose face Laurence nodded. “ N othing less.” looked lik e th a t of a man in his he told her solem nly. “ It was. he e a rly th irtie s , but whose h a ir was claim ed, at least eight feet ta ll and th ic k ly streaked w ith gray. He had it d id n ’ t have any shape to it. just a pleasant, frie n d ly m anner, yet sort of lik e it was being poured, he one fe lt in s tin c tiv e ly that he could expressed it. There was som ething be tough should occasion re q u ire it. shiny about i t —the moon was not Laurence p erform ed the in tro d u c ­ qu ite fu ll, but the lig h t was good in tions. saying casually. “ Meggie, this the meadow. He says the ghost— is Bob Reynolds. He's a detective he’ s quite sure, o f course, th a t it was i fro m the county police who’ s looking a ghost--floated along the meadow I in to this business.” fence and then went tow ards the “ H e llo .'’ said Bob Reynolds, w ith rusty iro n fence. It had some­ a frie n d ly s m ile and a firm , pleasant th in g in its hand, although he handclasp. " T h is is qu ite a ya rn couldn’t see w hat i t was B u t he stood your handym an's been sp illin g . Miss s till in the shadow of a tree, and M acT avish. I'd like to ta lk to w atched—because he was too p a ra ­ h im if I m a y .” lyzed w ith fe a r to tr y to run. And " O f course.” said Megan, looking he thought that if he d id n 't in te rfe re u n c e rta in ly at Laurence. "S h a ll I w ith its a ffa irs, it m ig h t not know c a ll h im in here—" be was around. He says it moved “ I th in k Am os would be m ore at inside the fence, and bent down ease if we ta lke d to him in his own above one of the old graves and hid cabin. Bob. 1 know where it is. som ething. And then it stood up. M eggie—suppose I show Bob the ar.d looked around and moved back w a y ? " suggested Laurence, and M r. out of the fence and turned away Reynolds agreed that that would be fro m Am os—and Amos, recovering best. a lit tle fro m his p aralysis, made it They went out and a little la te r ho/r.e in p ra c tic a lly nothing fla t!” Annie came to the door and asked Megan said uneasily “ He had uneasily. "Y o * speck dat policem an p robably been d rin k in g up some of gw ine stay fo’ supper. Miss M eg­ th a t te rrib le 'w h ite m u le ’ his friend gie? H it’ s mos' ready " Pete w hips up— and he was seeing •'H e 's a frie n d of M is te r Lau th in g s !” rence's. A nnie - I im a g in e he would Laurence nodded. “ T h a t’s the line stay i f we asked him . Suppose you I would follow , if it were not fo r the set a place fo r h im ? " answered Me­ fa ct that that night, possibly a few gan m e ch a n ica lly. A nnie hesitated, som ething else m inutes before Amos saw the eight- obviously on her m ind But a fte r a foot-high ghost, a woman had been m in u te she said her expressionless kille d and the weapon has never “ ye ssu m " and her felt-soled, broad been found,” he pointed out. feet padded s ile n tly away. Megan said s w iftly , “ You c a n 't Megan fe lt that Laurence and possibly th in k that Am os' h a llu c in a ­ Reynolds had been gone a long, long tion hod a n yth in g to do w ith —w ith tim e and looked at the clock to see th a t? ” that b a re ly ten m inutes had elapsed ” 1 d o n 't know, of course,” Lau since they had left the room But rerice answered. “ But, of course any unusual happening th a t night, it was closer to th irty m inutes before at around th a t tim e, w ill have to be they returned, and as they came along the h a ll, Megan heard th e ir ca re fu lly in ve stig a te d .” He hesitated a 'm om ent and then low-pitched, cautious voices and her he said q u ie tly , “ T t ere is no reason nerves crisped a little . “ D id you find Am os?” she asked w hatever, Megan, fo r anybody to know th a t you were on the Ridge w ith w hat she hoped was exa ctly the proper am ount of polite inflec­ w ith F a llo n a t the tim e M rs. Steven tion. son was m u rd e re d .” "O h , yes, he was w a itin g fo r u s," answered Laurence, " ju s t us 1 had asked him to do.” Bob Reynolds eyed Megan s tra ig h tly and asked “ llo w long has Am os been w o rkin g fo r you. Miss M a c T a v is h ? " " A ll m y lif e ," answered Megan q u ic k ly . “ Annie cam e to w ork for m y m o th e r when she was fifteen She and Amos were m a rrie d a year o r so la te r, and moved into that little cabin, and w ere there when I was born. T his is as m uch th e ir home, alm ost, as m in e ." Bob nodded. “ Then w hat would you say about Am os’ truthfulness.’ I mean is he reasonably tru th fu l in his sta te m e n ts—o r is he given lo te llin g ta ll ta le s ? " he asked. Megan managed a little laugh she hoped did not sound too a rtific ia l or forced. "W e ll, I ’d say that a ll depended, M r R eynolds." she confessed gaily. " I f you mean when he is e xplaining to A nnie how it happened he’ s lost a ll his money in a cra p game, I th in k he shows am azing im a g in a tio n and inventiveness. But o rd in a rily , I ’d say Amos is qu ite tr u th fu l." " I n other words, if he says he saw a ghost eight feet high hovering around in an old b u ry in g ground, then he saw som ething looking al least rem otely lik e th a t? " suggest­ ed Bob pleasantly. " I feel quite sure th a t he did or thought he d id ." answered Megan p ro m p tly and honestly. Bob nodded. "T h a t's the im pres- sion I got fro m the old fe llo w ," he a d m itte d He stood in thought for a m om ent before he looked stra ig h t at her and asked q u ie tly , “ What would be yo u r explanation fo r his story. Miss M acTavish? How could you account fo r it? ” NEEDLECRAFT PATTERNS Lovely Crochet and Embroidery <11, th & M N i By P aul _ Due to an unusually large demand and current conditions, »fig M b morn tim e la required In lining orders for a few <>( the most popular pattern number« Send your order lo: Hewing Needle« r a il •’ Çj’*, Itos M i l t in le Sun E ra n ela ro a. C a lli Encloae 20 cents (or P a tte rn a ll o n ^ K«lr.i»e<1 by W m e r n N «-»»p«pri Union SPANISH IS S l'E |S JUST RUSSIA'S R E D H E R R IN G * W ASHINGTON. - The B ritis h handled the Com m unist-pushed Spanish questions in the se cu rity council and d e ftly, they w orked u ffn irs around so no im p o rta n t action was token, and the U nited O f the 125,000 species o f b u tte r­ States m erely went along Behind flies und m oths, p ro b a b ly a thou­ th e ir energy was th e ir knowledge sand m ake m ig ra to ry flig h ts fro m th a t in sta lla tio n o f an u nsym pa­ w hich only about 25 specie« re ­ th e tic regim e in Spain w ould th re a t­ tu rn . en G ib ra lta r, s till the rock o r at least the pebble o f em pire. Am ong the h a r d i e s t is the , The seven to fo u r vote against p ainted lady (Vanessa c a rd u i) the the Polish resolution, u rg in g a one-way m ig ra tio n s o f w hich have break of relations of n il nations ^vith been know n to co ver d istances o f i Spain, was about as good as the m ore than 2,000 m ile s, to have ; C om m unists w ill do in the se cu rity ta ken 14 days and n ig hts of con­ | council On the CP side were Soviet tinuous fly in g , und to have been | Russia. Poland. France and M e x i­ I co m p rise d of as m a n y as .1,000,- co, w hile the B ritis h got A u stra lia , 000,000 b u tte rflie s in a single flig h t. the N etherlands and E gypt and we : m ay have helped some in lin in g up B ra z il and China fo r the m a jo rity I o f seven. j The division showed that as long as the U. 8. and Britain 7198 See the pow er o f n a tio n a l em ­ stand together in the council, blem s. Some sta rs, lilie s , leopards, the free democratic side la not a crescent, a lion , an eagle, o r UST see w ha t a happy c o m b in a ­ in much UNO danger. But If o th e r figure w hich cam e into c re ­ tion of croch et and e m b ro id e ry ! they ever break and either aides d it God knows how, an old ra g of N otice how the c ro c h e t fo rm s bas­ with Russia, there may be b un ting , b lo w ing in th e w ind on a kets o r borders to set off flow ers. trouble. The difficulties of Com­ fo rt n t the ends of the e a rth , sh all ; munism are due to Russian m ake the blood tin g le u nd er the Use the crocheted section singly or re joint antagonism of the British neat it ns shown Pattern 7498 has trans rudest o r the m ost conve ntio na l and Americans, driving them ter of C motifs 6 by 0 to ft by 15’,» inches; e x te rio r.— E m erson. crochet directions. together. This is not unnatural because of the common associ­ < x .< x .< x .r x - < x .< x .< x .( x - < x .< x ,< x .< x .< x - ( x - < x . I p r e f e r ." A dentist’s dentifrice— CALOX ITO BE C O N T IN U E D )