unci be f m uÀove PCGGV f iiR N T H E STORY T i l l ’S FAR: Amos, An­ nie's huxband. revealed that when he was coming home late at night he saw a ghost bury something In a graveyard. Also, Amos revealed that he had seen deg with Tom Fallon that night. Law­ rence enlisted the aid ol Bob Reynolds, a detective, and they set to work to solve the mystery of Alicia's murder. After careful checking, they were Inclined to believe Amos' story. Jim MacTavish came in as L arry. Reynolds and Megan were ready to eat. He was tired, his shoulders drooping. Reynolds announced abruptly that It was an open and shut case, and Jim almost dropped the carv­ ing knife. Later Meg tells L arry that she and Tom had met accidentally. C H A PT E R XIII “ N ot as to the id e n tity , no, ' ad­ m itte d Bob. “ B u t I'm convinced th a t it was some p ro w le r—a would- be b u rg la r who was frig h te n e d off before he had a chance to steal any­ th in g . Though, o f course, i t ’ s not usual fo r a b u rg la r to be supplied w ith a k n ife as a weapon— I don't believe he bro u g h t the weapon w ith h im . I believe th a t he used one of the v ic tim 's own knives—a la rg e kitch e n kn ife — ” He broke off, scar­ le t and em barrassed as he saw Me­ gan's w hite, tw iste d face. He apolo­ gized h a stily. “ Good g rie f. Miss Mac- Ta vish — I ought to be kicke d ! Please fo rg iv e me— I'm thoroughly ashamed—L a rry , you ought to have b e tte r sense than to allow me out w ith y o u r friends. I ’m so rry. Miss M acT avish— I do apologize— ” Megan m anaged a fa in t sm ile and said h u skily, “ Please d o n 't—I — I am a b it squeam ish, I suppose. You see— I knew h e r w e ll—” Bob nodded soberly. “ I know — everybody says you are the o n ly real frie n d she had. E ve ryb o d y else seemed to d is lik e her and d is tru s t her. I guess th a t's the reason was speaking so fra n k ly . L e t's fo r­ get i t A fte r a ll, a m eal lik e this de­ serves m ore cheerful and a p precia­ tiv e table co n v e rs a tio n !” When the m eal was over, and the men t\e re settled in the liv in g room , M egan stayed to help A nnie clear the table. A nd w h ile she was thus engaged, Laurence came back into the d in in g room , and stood a t her shoulder and said v e ry low, " I ju s t w anted you to know, Meggie, th a t— e v e ryth in g is q u ite a ll rig h t. T here's n othing at a ll fo r you to w o rry a bout.” M egan locked up at h im , tears th ic k in h e r eyes, her m outh tre m ­ ulous. “ I —m et h im by accident, L a r­ ry . I d id n ’ t plan it —tr u ly .” He looked down at her, frow ning. “ B u t — good heavens, Meggie, don’ t you suppose I know th a t? ” he protested, alm ost as though he re ­ sented her feeling th a t she should o ffe r such an explanation. She caught h e r b reath and a wave o f re lie f swept o ver her. She sm iled through her tears and said huskily, “ Thanks, L a r r y .” “ F o r w h a t? ” The fro w n s till drew his eyebrow s together. “ F o r know ­ in g th a t you couldn’ t possibly do a n yth in g wrong? F o r know ing that you c o u ld n 't make, o r keep a try s t w ith a m an tied up as F a llo n is? F o r Heaven’ s sake, M eggie— I'v e know n you since you were a b a b y— don’ t you suppose I know you w ell enough to know th a t i f you m et Tom F a llo n on the R idge at m id n ig h t, it was an a ccidental m ee tin g ? ” Laurence hesitated a m om ent and then he said q u ie tly , “ I'd lik e to ask you som ething. M eggie—m in d ? ” “ N *. o f course not.” “ Then — are you in love w ith F a llo n ? ” The words were q u ie tly spoken, but they took her breath so th a t she could only look up a t h im , unable to speak. B ut the way the color flowed in to h e r face, the look in her eyes gave h im a ll the answ er he needed. “ So th a t's why you—c o u ld n 't get excited about m a rry in g m e,” he said a fte r a m om ent, ve ry qu ie tly. She set her teeth hard in her low ­ e r lip . not d a rin g to tru s t her voice to answ er h im , and a fte r a little he said in a tone o f the greatest gentleness, "P o o r little M eggie! A l­ ways doing things the hard w a y !” B y now she had steadied her voice, and she faced him s tra ig h tly . “ I f —y o u 'll j-j- ju s t give me a little tim e , L a rr y —” she managed. H is brows w ere draw n deep now in a fro w n and his look was puz­ zled. “ A lit tle tim e , M eggie?" he repeated. “ F o r w h a t? ” "T o pull m y s e lf together and get o ver th is — th is — craziness about T o m ,” she said. “ Because I w ill, you know I ' l l —I ’ ll get o ver i t and —m aybe i f you h a ve n 't got disgust­ ed w ith me before th a t—” “ Oh, I ’ll be around, Meggie. Is th a t w hat you m ean?” asked L a rry , and now there was a grim ness in his voice, a coldness in his eyes th a t ch ille d her a little . “ You are the only g irl fo r me. You’ve alw ays been I ’ m a slow and plodding cuss, but once I get m y m in d —and m y h eart—m ade up, I hold on. L ik e the good old snapping tu rtle th a t gets a g rip and swings on u n til you have to k ill h im to m ake h im let go. But w hat m akes you so sure that you can get o ver w hat you feel fo r F a l­ lo n ? ” "B ecause I ’m going to !” she told h im w ith d e te rm in a tio n . He turned away fro m her then as Bob called to him fro m the h a ll, and a lit tle la te r they w ere gone. M egan and her fa th e r sat in the W.N.U. R E L E A S E liv in g room fo r a little In silence a fte r they had gone. It was J im who fin a lly broke the silence. " D id you know th a t she— was m a r­ rie d ? ” he asked h e a v ily , “ Y e s ," Megan nodded. "L a u re n c e to ld m e ." J im 's face tw isted. “ W hat a laugh she m u st have got out of me— w a n t­ ing to m a rry her. And she told me she w o u ld —she never fo r a m om ent even hinted th a t she was not a w id ­ o w !" Megan w aited, know ing a little of the release th a t w ould come to h im i f he could rid his m in d o f these revelations. “ I t began, at first, as a s o rt o f— w ell, jo k e ." he adm itted. " I t seemed to amuse her to give the P leasant G rove folks som ething to ta lk about. I was lonely, and I suppose she got a k ic k out o f m a kin g a fool o f me— " He broke o ff and passed a hand across his eyes and looked s tra ig h t at Megan. “ B ut I d id n 't k ill h e r.” he finished q u ie tly, w ith a sim ple ► NEEDLEWORK PATTERNS Pineapple Potholder to Crochet lin e to an u n u su a lly la rg e dem and and c m l e n t c o n d ltlo n a , n llg h tlv m o i «' tim e I t re q u ire d In t illin g o rd e rs f o r .1 fe w o f the lim it |N ipular p a tte rn n u m b - t« Send yom o rd e r to: "D o n ’t k id y o u rse lf, m y d e a r—we h a ve n 't seen the last of th is ! N or heard it, e ith e r,” he co rre cte d her s w iftly . “ Had you realized th a t if Amos was on the R idge th a t night, as he m ust have been to te ll L a rr y R e le a s e d b y W e s t e r n N e w s p a p e r U n io n . the sto ry he did, the chances are ex­ PEA C E C O N F E R E N C E ’VICTORY* | cellent th a t he saw you—as w e ll as MORE A P P A R E N T THAN REAL the e ig h t-fo o t-ta ll g h o st? " W ASHINGTO N. — 'T is being ad­ Megan nodded, her face w h ite but j vertised ns a fam ous v ic to ry nt her o u tw ard com posure com m end­ Paris The accounts fro m there were able. • " I know th a t he did . D a d ," I headed. "M o lo to v F in a lly Y ie ld s ." she said q u ie tly . “ He told L a r r y ." K y o un gste r retu rne d fro m su m ­ H e r fa th e r’ s body Jerked lik e a A w eighing of the event since then m e r ro m p . H is fond p a re n ts w ere m a rio n e tte on a s trin g m a n ip u la t­ by e xp e rt—and even some o ffic ia l, urns aeeoiint.Hits—has develop« d v e ry intereste d in hea rin g how he ed by an In e xp e rt puppeteer. had spent h is va ca tio n and nsked “ T old L a r r y —th a t you were on the w onder i f it was v ic to ry , and how h im dozens o f questions, one of R idge w ith F a llo n ? " he repeated m uch M olotov yielded. In the firs t place, China was not , w hich w a s : "H o w on e a rth did sharply. m ade a sponsoring nation fo r the they m anage to w ake 350 boys ev­ M egan nodded. F o r a m om ent J im was ve ry s till, i big peace conference of 21 nations. e ry m o rn in g ? " lik e a m an suddenly paralyzed. And M olotov did not y ie ld on this. The •’ W e ll,’ ’ he said, "th e y blew a then v e ry c a re fu lly he asked, “ Did leading dispatches fro m the co n fe r­ b u g le --a t fir s t." ence the day a fte r neglected to m en­ he te ll th a t fe llo w R eynolds?" “ A t fir s t? ” tion th is point. N othing wns said Megan shook her head, her hands about Chinn. E a rlie r both Messrs. •‘ Yeah, but a fte r a w hile they cold in her lap. B yrnes and B evin contended the c o u ld n 't find the m outhpiece of “ He— d id n 't seem to th in k it was om ission of our frie n d in the O rie n t I the b u g le ." necessary»-" she m anaged the w ords ; ns sponsor would be an in su lt to A fte r the boy had gone to sleep, w ith d iffic u lty . "H e seemed to th in k her. M olotov cla im e d China was the p aren ts struggled to unpack that the fa c t that I was there gave not in flu e n tia l in the defeat of the his bags. O u t o f one bog rolled me an a lib i. I f I was there a t that i nations fo r w hich tre a tie s were be­ a s m a ll, c u rio u s object. tim e, I c o u ld n 't possibly have been I ing w ritte n in P a ris —R om ania. B u l­ X ’ OT a b it d iffic u lt to crochet On close inspection it turned out across the road—even i f I had had ’ though it looks lik e it m ig h t garia, H ungary, F in la n d and Ita ly to be the m outhpiece o f a bugle. a m o tiv e .” —and th e re fo re she was not entitled be. The " s c a le s " on th is a ttra c tiv e H e r fa th e r nodded. "W h ich , of y e llo w pineapple poth old er are to be a sponsor. course, means th a t L a r r y doesn't ju s t s im p le shell s titch e s raised j M o ra lly , China was e n title d to know I intended to tr y to m a r ry her out a b it. The "s p in e s " a t top are be a sponsor as a big five m em ­ and b rin g her here.” he finished the crocheted leeves of green th re ad 1 ber anti a p a rtic ip a n t in the thought fo r her. Then he sm ile d , a m ade s e p a ra te ly and then sewn w a r. T e ch n ica lly, she m ay not m irth le s s s m ile th a t m ade h im look on top. I t m easures 7 by 5 inches, have used any troops in the live suddenly v e ry old and v e ry tire d and y o u ’ ll need to m ake tw o j countries m entioned, but the “ Now i f only som ebody had seen s im ila r "s id e s " and sew th em to ­ U nited States did not use m any me going fo r m y w a lk —" gether o ver a th in la y e r of lin in g . e ith e r in F in la n d (w ith whom "P e rh a p s somebody d id ,” sa id I • • a we were never a t w a r ) , and Megan e agerly. T o o b ta in c o m p le te c ro c h e tin g In s tru c ­ not m any m ore in the B alkans, He shook his head. " I saw no one tio n s fo r the G o ld e n P in e a p p le P o th o ld e r although the Russians used plen­ t P a tte rn N o. 57811) s titc h lllu s t i ah-d. »end —a fte r I le ft A lic ia ." he said q u ie t­ 20 cen ts in c o in , v o u r n a m e , a d d ie h s and ty of our equipm ent. ly and d is tin c tly . the p a tte rn n u m b e r. | She stiffened a little and her eyes POTSDAM A G R E E M E N T C IT E D N ext day F ra n ce w orded the in v i­ w ere wide. “ Y ou—saw her—th a t n ig h t? ” she ta tio n m ore peacefully, and a m ove­ m ent to salve China w ith the c h a ir­ w hispered, her lip s p a llid . " A t e le v e n -th irty .” said J im and m anship upon the second day of heaved a sigh as he ran his fingers the m eeting was attem pted, but Mo­ through his m a g n ifice n t crop o f s il­ lotov insisted upon C hina's om ission v e ry -g ra y h a ir. "T h e w ay I figure as a sponsor, pleading th is was it, she couldn’ t have been alone, a ft­ provided in the Potsdam agreem ent, er I le ft her. m ore than ten o r fif­ w hich has never been enforced, eco­ n o m ic a lly a t any rate. teen m in u te s.” Then the big fo u r conference de­ H is fingers tre m b le d a little as he fille d his handsome pipe and tam ped cided to c a ll the 21 nations, a p p a r­ the tobacco c a re fu lly in to the m e l­ ently to approve the tre a tie s they low bow l, but his eyes d id not leave are m aking. T his was regarded as a v ic to ry fo r o u r M r. Byrnes, who M egan’ s w hite, frig h te n e d face. “ We q u a rre le d ." said J im q u ie tly, wanted such a conference. But Mo­ d is tin c tly , “ when she a d m itte d that lotov w anted to re s tric t the rules of she had not the slig h te st idea of the conference, w hich n a tu ra lly had m a rry in g me. She called m e a no rules, never h a vin g been in as­ pompous old fool, and a no-’ count semblage. He succeeded in re q u ir­ stuffed s h irt and a lo t o f e q ually ing th a t each tre a ty go to a com ­ u n c o m p lim e n ta ry things. B u t I did m itte e made up of the leading p a r­ ticip a n ts in the w ar on th a t coun­ not k ill her. Megan, I sw ear it . ” Suddenly Megan was on h e r k n e is tr y (w h ich is a ll rig h t), but he said beside h im , her a rm s close about the co m m itte e m ust m ake decisions m a jo rity h im , her cheek hard against his, a ll only by a tw o -th ird s the ugliness and the a n im o s ity th a t (w hich is not a ll rig h t). The com ­ had colored th e ir re la tio n s fo r years m ittees a p p a re n tly had no power w iped out between them in th is m o­ to m ake any decisions. A t least the m ent when she ached w ith p ity fo r conference did not. I t could not h im , and when fo r the firs t tim e in change a tre a ty , o r no public sug­ her a d u lt life she had begun to have gestion was m ade th a t it could. It some g lim m e rin g o f understanding was m e re ly called to approve. C er­ I t y o u b a ke a t h o m e — you cun always ta in ly its com m ittees could not do him . depend on New Fleiachraunn'a Fast Rifting anyth in g it could not do. Yet Rus­ “ O f course you d id n ’ t, dear—no D ry Yeast to give you perfect risings one could believe fo r a m om ent that sia im posed a tw o -th ird s m a jo rity . .d elicious b re a d . . . every tim e you bake! you d id ," she told h im , her voice upon decisions of com m ittees, w ith Ready fo r in s ta n t a ctio n — New Fleisch­ shaken w ith em otion. m a jo rity decisions am ong the whole. m a n n ’ s F a st R is in g keeps fresh and W hat th is w ill do, I have not po te n t fo r weeks— lets you bake a t a J im put his a rm about her and ( yet found an a u th o rity to ex­ •r< m om ent's notice! D o n ’ t risk baking fa il­ seemed to welcom e her nearness, p lain. A tw o -th ird s m a jo rity ures w ith weak yeast — get New Fleisch- the sheer cre a tu re c o m fo rt o f her w ith o u t a u th o rity ra n only be a m ann's Fast R ising to d a y . A t y o u r grocer’«. w a rm presence and her sym pathy. tw o - th ird s m a jo rity w ithout “ Thank you, m y d e a r—but I'm pow er—except to n u llify any ac­ a fra id a g re a t m a n y people could tion. be persuaded to believe th a t I d id ,” rW O-THIRDS R ULE A JOKER he pointed out to her a t last. “ The A ctu a lly, the big council of nations c irc u m s ta n tia l evidence against me was insisted upon by Byrnes to let is p re tty strong. We d id q u a rre l. U ndoubtedly I am the la s t person— the s m a lle r nations p a rticip a te in save o n e !—to see her a live . And the decision of the peace. His v ic ­ when I le ft her, in a fu ry of in ju re d to ry in th is respect was fa r from p ride and bruised self-esteem, I cle a r cut. W ill the sm a ll nations be went fo r a long w alk alone, and saw satisfied? The question cannot be no one. I re tu rn e d home here w ell answered u n til you find out what a fte r one o’ clo ck—by w hich tim e the tw o -th ird s-m a jo rity-ru le -in -co m - she had been dead, acco rd in g to the m ittees-only w ill mean to th e ir doctor, fo r a t least an hour. So conference. O bviously Russia drew h e r peace in such a way as to be­ you see— ” “ B u t you d id n ’ t— you couldn’t — lieve she excluded the sm a ll nations have done it, D ad! Nobody could fro m changing it. This is an old e ver m ake me believe-you d id ! ” she Russian position against sm all na­ com fo rte d h im , as though he had tions, w hich has taken m any form s since the San F ra n cisco conference. been the c h ild , she the parent. I t was long before she slept th a t A c tu a lly , she does not care what n ig h t, b u t in spite o f the unpleasant sm a ll nations do, but we do care. W hat it looks lik e to me is that tu rm o il and e xcite m e n t of the last fo rty -e ig h t hours, she was m ore at Russia has considerably but yet in ­ peace than she had been in a long definably stu ltifie d the B yrnes-in­ tim e . She could begin to understand spired conference, firs t by exclud* Foster D. Snell, Inc., well-known consult­ ing chemists, have just completed a test her fa th e r a little ; and to under­ ing China as a sponsor, and sec­ with a group o f men and women suffering ondly by a fool-rule she can use as stand is to forgive. from Athlete’s Foot. These people were She was conscious only o f the fa c t a veto on action. This would deny told to use Sorctone. At the end o f only a th a t she and her fa th e r m ig h t hope the existence of a v ic to ry fo r anyone ten-day test period, their feet were exam­ to liv e to g e th e r now w ith less f r ic ­ except Russia in her purpose to get ined by a physician. We guote from the tion, less a n im o s ity than before. And the w o rld to accept peace treaties report: the thought had healing and co m ­ w hich (except fo r Ita ly ) she is "After the use of Soretone according to fo rt in it. She was able to fa ll la rg e ly im posing. asleep a t last, e m o tio n a lly and phys­ The peace then depends actu­ the directions on the label for a period ic a lly exhausted, and when she a lly upon the te rm s of the of only ten days, 80.6% of the cases awoke in the m o rn in g , she fe lt tre a tie s them selves, and In F in ­ stro n g e r and m ore refreshed than showed clinical improvement of an infec- land, B u lg a ria , Rom ania and in m any months, in spite o f the H u ngary these are being en­ h o rrd r o f the la st tw e n ty -fo u r hours, forced and imposed by Russia and in spite o f know ing th a t the next Improvements were shown in the symp­ —in Ita ly by us. few days w ere going to be fa r fro m toms o f Athlete's Foot —the itching, burn- log, redness, etc. The report says: pleasant. IS RUSSIA NECESSARY? She had finished her m o rn in g The illu s io n of a co-operative , "In our opinion Soretone is of very def­ chores, and was busy w ith a seed w orld peace is thereby becom ing ! inite benefit in the treatment of this catalog and ari o rd e r blank when m ore elusive. The p a rtic ip a tio n by | Laurence a rriv e d . disease, which is commonly known as the sm a lle r nations becomes less Annie, big-eyed w ith excitem ent, gnd less im p o rta n t and m ore and ‘Athlete’s Foot’.” showed h im in to the sm a ll den m ore re stricte d . W hat was won at So if Athlete's Foot troubles you, don't tem­ where Megan worked, and hovered P aris was th a t we got Russia into porize! Get soretone ! McKesson & Rob­ anxiously. another h a lf-w o rld conference for bins, Inc., Bridgeport, Connecticut. “ I t ’ s a ll rig h t, A nnie—we found b e tte r o r worse. som ething th a t proves th a t Amos M y personal opinion is M r. Byrnes was te llin g us the tru th — th a t is. th a t he did see som ething at the old is proceeding on the w rong theory: b u ry in g ground th a t n ig h t," said nam ely th a t we m ust get Russia in to an agreem ent on e ve ryth in g o r L a u rence q u ic k ly . he w ill lose his case. (TO RE CONTINUED) Ci YKljAtcSUJ SoluvL r F Kool-Aid "Then — are you in love with Fallon?” d ig n ity th a t was somehow oddly touching. “ I know you d id n 't, d e a r,” Megan assured h im s w iftly . He studied her fo r a m om ent and then he asked in a puzzled tone, “ Meggie, how did you and I s ta rt d is lik in g each other? I ’ ve been do­ ing a good deal o f th in k in g la te ly . I a d m ire you v e ry m uch. Y ou’ re a fine g ir l and a b ra ve g irl, and— w ell, I can’ t qu ite understand why i t is th a t we seem to ru b each other the w rong way a ll the tim e. I ’ ll prob­ a b ly be ju s t as h a rd to get along w ith to m o rro w , as I was yesterday —only to n ig h t. I ’ m — w ell. I ’ m lone­ ly , Meggie, and tire d , and m aybe— ju s t a lit tle a fra id . Could we sort o f—be frie n d s, do you suppose?" “ O f course. D a d !” She bent s w ift­ ly and kissed his cheek. J im looked a t her fo r a m om ent and then nodded as though he had reached some s o rt of decision. Both J im and Megan were silent fo r a b it, each w ith his own thoughts o f th e ir new-found relationship. He cocked an eye at her h u m o r­ ously. " O f course, you understand th a t I ’ m ju s t as lazy and shiftless and ge n e ra lly no 'count as ever, fo r a ll that I'm s u ffe rin g a change of h eart to n ig h t. But, you know, M eg­ gie, the whole th in g boils down to the fa c t th a t I ’ ve been jealous of you since the day you w ere b o rn .” “ Jealous. D ad?” the astonished Megan repeated. He nodded. “ I adored yo u r m o th ­ er, M eggie. I know now th a t i t was a jealous, possessive love, the sort of th in g th a t m akes a spoiled little boy say, ' I f we can’ t play m y way, then I won’ t p la y a t a ll.' We were happy at first. I was firs t w ith h e r; her every thought was fo r me, fo r m y co m fo rt, m y happiness, m y w e ll­ being. And then—you cam e along, and took up a lo t of yo u r m o th e r’ s tenderness and thought, and I had to take second place. And lik e the no-good th a t I was, I resented it . ” "O h but. D ad—th a t’ s—w hy, th a t’ s w icked! Poor M o th e r!” she said ju s t above her breath. " I t w asn't th a t she loved m e m ore than she loved you; i t was th a t I needed her m o re .” “ And I resented that, to o !” said her fa th e r. Megan could say nothing. She could only w a it, her hands linked tig h tly together, her eyes c lin g in g to his face. "O dd, w hat a chastening e ffect it has on a man, when he realizes th a l he has m ade a com plete and un­ m itig a te d fool o f h im s e lf!” he said a t last. “ I feel as though I ’d been k ic k e d —alm ost as m uch as I de­ serve to be! And th a t is q u ite some, in c id e n ta lly !" " B u t i t ’ s a ll o ver and done w ith, Dad— we can have a lo t o f fun to ­ gether—” M egan began eagerly. "O v e r and done w ith , M eggie? 1 New Fleischmonn’s Fast Rising Dry Yeast keeps for weeks on your pantry shelf “8 0 .6 % of sufferers showed CLINICAL IMPROVEMENT treatment SORETONE >