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
>