© Ben Ames Willams,
CHAPTER XI-—Continued
a
“Don’t come again, Phil,” Mr.
Sentry said. Mr. Hare stepped away
so that they might speak alone.
Phil felt suddenly empty. ‘‘But
father, mother will want to come!”
Mr. Sentry smiled. “Of course! If
she wishes. But not you children.
I'd rather you didn’t; and certainly
not the girls.” And he asked, “How
are they?”
“Fine.”
“Mary—happy with Mr. Endle?”
“Ves.”
‘““Barbara well again?”
Yes’!
Mr. Sentry nodded. Phil waited;
and his father said at last: ‘“‘Phil—l1
don’t know that it matters now. But
I want you to know a thing or twd."”
Phil felt his cheek stiff with pain.
“About my testimony, Phil.” The
older man faced his son fairly. “All
I said about that night was true. I
didn't know Miss Wines was there. I
shot her by accident. And—I had
had nothing to do with her.”
Phil's throat was full; but he man-
aged to speak. “I believed you, fa-
ther,” he said. ‘‘We all did. That
it was—an accident!”
Mr. Sentry cleared his throat.
“About the woman last summer,”
he said, ‘‘and the other, long ago.
All that is between your mother and
me. She knows they—didn't touch
what she and I had together.”
Phil could not speak; and the old-
er man said: ‘“About the appeal. Ap-
peals, delays, tricks wouldn’t help in
the long run. 1 hope you—under-
stood my decision.”
Phil said slowly: “Yes sir! But
you don't need to consider us. We're
up to it.” He added: “Of course,
Mr. Hare says perhaps the Gover-
nor—Well, I mean if we can make
him believe you—"'
Sentry shook his head. ‘No, Phil.
That's the jury’s province, to de-
cide whether I told the truth or not.
If they didn’t believe me, the Gov-
ernor has no right to say they were
wrong.”
“Mr. Falkran says he could get
a new trial"
“I had a fair trial! Bob Flood let
Falkran get away with a lot of
things.” Mr. Sentry’'s lips set. ‘I
won't put you all through that again,
Phil!” And he said, almost curtly:
“‘So--that's all, then. Good-by!"”’
Outside, Phil found himself trem-
bling. He said apologetically to Mr.
Hare, “I feel about ten years old,
right now.”
“So do all men, sometimes,” Mr.
Hare assented. ‘‘But they never let
anyone guess, except their wives.”
April slipped away; and Phil
missed Linda more and more. But
on the first day of May, he reached
the office at the usual hour, rang for
a stenographer—and Linda came in.
Phil stared at her. She seated
herself at the end of his desk,
opened a notebook, laid sharp pen-
cils ready.
He cried: “Linda! What are you
doing here?”
“Came to take your letters.”
“But how did you get here?”
“I persuaded Miss Randall to give
me the job.”
“But you can’t—"’
“Don’t you believe it,”” she retort-
ed. ‘Nobody can get a job under
Miss Randall unless they can prove
they're good. Certainly not a girl
like me. You know, one of the idle
rich? We have to prove we've got
everything.”
“But you—""
“Shorthand, typing, business
forms, everything,”” she assured
him gaily. ‘If you don’t believe
me, try me.” And she said then:
“I ought to be good! I've been work-
ing at it, studying twelve hours a
day for six weeks, and practicing
besides. Hence these dark shad-
ows under my lovely eyes. Notice?”
And when he could not speak, she
demanded: ‘Mean to say you
haven't missed me? Haven't you
even noticed that I'd quit being un-
derfoot around your house all the
time?”
“Gosh, I've missed you awfully.
But Lin, what's the idea?”
“The idea, young fellow-me-lad,”
she said, speaking lightly lest her
throat swell with tears, “the idea is
that I have diagnosed your case,
and written your prescription, and
the prescription is me, taken regu-
larly, in large doses. So when you
go into business, into business go I.
When you sit all day at a desk, I
pull my chair up to the corner of
the same desk. You'll be spending
most of your time here for a while.
Well, so will 1.”
ar do your folks think about
t
‘Highly approve,” she assured
him." “Would you like me to get my
father's consent?”
“Oh, you can’t do this, Linda!”
“Of course I can.”
‘““Be here all day with me?”
She spoke huskily. “Be anywhere,
always, Phil, with you.”
“You'll marry somebody—""
“You, if you'll have me.”
“You know I can’t, Lin!”
“Then at least I can be your sec-
’
“You're so doggoned stubborn.”
“But efficient!”
He grinned. ‘All right,” he said.
“You know it will be grand for me,
having you around.”
‘“Me too, Phil.”
“Take a letter!" ,
Her pencil poised; began to fly.
CHAPTER XII
Phil accepted Linda's presence in
the office, but with misgivings. He
reported the matter to Mrs. Sentry
that night.
“Do you think it's all right, moth-
er?” he asked. ‘She's sure to be
talked about.” And he said, think-
ing aloud: “Linda's so darned fine.
If things were different—But they're
not, of course. Never can be. 1
never can marry, or have children.
I realize that.” He added tenderly,
almost lightly: ‘‘Besides, my job is
to take care of you.”
She said: ‘Yes, Linda's sweet;
but she knows that I need you. I
shan’'t always be selfish about you,
Phil, but—I shall need you and
Barbara, for a while.”
He thought decubtfully of Dan, but
marry her, and raise about nine
children and keep her so busy she
won't have time to think about all
this. People think too much any-
way!"
Phil said: “I know; but he looks at
it just the other way. He says we
have to face it, live it down.” And
he confessed, half-angrily, ‘“To hear
him talk, you'd think he wanted her
to wear a placard telling the world
who she is.”
Dan said scornfully: “That stuffed
shirt! He's—like a woman. He wants
to be a martyr. You know, the old
line: ‘I could not love thee, dear, so
much, loved I not honor more.” "’
“I don’t blame him for testifying.
Do you?”
‘““Hell, no! I'd have done the same.
But why should he rub it in now?
I'll go see him tonight and tell him
so.”
But Dan's arguments were una-
vailing too. Professor Brace chose
a Sunday afternoon in May for his
confession. There had been tennis.
Linda was there. When it was time
one awaiting judgment;
said honestly: “He wasn’t to blame,
Barb.
tell or lie.
“Of course,” she assented. “I
don’t blame him for testifying. But
Mac, I do blame you for telling me."’
“Oh, Barbara, you can’t fool your-
self, pretend to ignore what has
happened!”
then suddenly without a word she
turned, turned and ran, ran into
the house and away. He called her
name, but he did not pursue her.
Dan said disgustedly, “You may
be a professor, but you're the
darnedest fool I ever saw!”
‘She will see I'm right, in the
end!’ Brace insisted.
But he was wrong in this predic-
tion. Barbara thereafter avoided
him, and when he came to the house
she was quick to disappear. Yet
Barbara began to wish to know all
that had happened at the trial.
She asked her first questions on
the Sunday following. Dan came,
he promised: “Sure, Linda knows.
We'll be here, mother. Don’t be
afraid!”
It was the first day of May when |
Linda came into the office; and dur- |
ing that month, July seemed far |
away. Business problems arose to
worry Phil. Once he sought Mr.
Loran’s advice; but the Loran home
was closed. Mr. and Mrs. Loran,
he heard, had gone to Europe for
the summer. So Phil turned to his
mother, and every evening he con- |
sulted with her, asking her counsel,
by his demands upon her forcing
her to find strength to meet them.
Also, Barbara was better every day,
the flood of spring which flowed
across the city surging through her
too.
But Barbara never mentioned her
father. It was as though she had de-
liberately put him out of her mind.
The others, recognizing this, did not
speak of him in her presence: and
they sought for her sake to protect
her in every way, to find a routine,
to live as near normally as possible.
Dan was often at the house: and
sometimes Phil wondered how his
mother could be blind to the bright
devotion between Dan and Barbara
that was so plain to his informed
eyes. Once Dan wished to speak to
Mrs. Sentry, to tell her their secret:
but Phil's persuasions restrained
him. Yet Dan came often, and Pro-
fessor Brace too; and the tennis
court had use again. If Sundays
were fair they might all be there,
Linda and Barbara, the Professor
and Dan and Phil. Sometimes Mrs.
Dane, or Mrs. Urban or other
friends of Mrs. Sentry dropped in,
and after tennis there was tea .
was Professor Brace who in the
end shattered the insulation of si-
lence with which they had conspired
to protect Barbara. He insisted on
confessing to her his damning testi-
mony against Mr. Sentry at the tri-
al: He warned Phil in advance of
what he meant to do; and Phil, un-
able to dissuade him, told Dan what
Brace intended.
“I tried to talk him out of it,” he
explained. ‘Probably Barb can
stand it now, though. She's a lot
better. I'm more worried about
mother. . She doesn’t show things
on the surface much, but she's aw-
fully shaky inside. Every once in
a while, she shivers.”
“1 know."
“And lately her left eyelid keeps
twitching.”
“Sure, she’s pretty weil worn
out.” Dan reverted to Barbara. “But
Phil, Professor Brace is a darned
fool! What Barb needs is to forget
bujiniess} never speak of it
i
singles, Barbara looking on;
when the set ended-—Professor
Brace won—Barbara said warmly:
“You're good, Mac. We'll teach
Dan some tennis yet,
get through.”
Dan retorted cheerfully, “Maybe
I'm not so good, but Linda and I
can give you two a lesson,
time."
up,” Barbara confessed. “But it
wouldn't take us long to learn.”
The professor said suddenly: “We
teamed up once, Barbara. The first
night I met you. The night we fol-
lowed your father home.”
Barbara's color drained away.
Dan said furiously, “You darned
fool!” But Barbara said:
“Hush, Dan. Mac didn't say that
just to make me unhappy, did you,
Mac? What are you trying to tell
me?”
“I just want you to know, Barba-
ra, that I testified against your fa-
ther, told the jury about our seeing
him that night, helped to convict
him.” She was white as ivory; and
he said: "You had to know some-
time. I wanted it to come from
me."
i
after dinner; and Barbara, ready
for tennis, met him with a bright
watch the game. Dan and Barbara
had played together before, and at
first Dan had been able to win at
will; but as Barbara's strength re-
their matches, opposing her grace-
ful swiftness and disciplined strokes
to Dan's furious energy and awk-
ward force.
This day Dan, running back for a
perfect lob, piled headlong into the
backstop and rebounded and sat
down hard;
licitude :
“Hurt, Dan?"
“No, not a bit!” he retorted, and
scrambled to his feet.
my reach, you big bully!
on!"
Phil thought their words,
happy voices, were eloquent. He
looked at his mother a little anx-
were curiously serene
“Did you hear her tone when she
asked Dan whether he was hurt?”
she asked softly.
He pretended
tone? No. Why?"
“She's growing fond of him.”
(TO BE CONTINUED)
surprise.
Highway travel is predominately
a short-distance movemerf® and less
than two out of every 100 vehicles
observed on main highways are
traveling more than 100 miles to
reach their destinations. Eight out
of ten are traveling less than 20
miles. These are averages of pre-
liminary figures obtained in 11
states in planning surveys being
conducted by the bureau of public
roads in co-operation with 43 state
highway departments.
The main highways and their ex-
tensions through cities carry 58.9
per cent of the total motor-vehicle
traffic; 30.8 per cent ig on the large
milegge of other city streets and
scarcely more than 10 per cent of
the total occurs on all secondary
and local rural roads which, in mile-
age, have eight times the extent
of the main highways.
Preliminary data from 17 states
show traffic on the main highways
and transcity connections to be 58
per cent urban in origin and 42 per
cent rural. These are approximate-
ly the percentages of urban and
rural population in the states where
the counts were made.
Ninety-three per cent of the use
of city streets, other than through
routes, is by urban vehicles, while
84 per cent of the traffic on minor
rural roads is by rural vehicles.
Data being accumulated in the
planning surveys, says the bureau,
will give definite indications as to
what should be accomplished in fur-
ther road building; as-te- the rela
tive transportation service that
may be afforded by improving this
or that class of road; as to who will
benefit if either is done and who,
being benefited, should pay the cost
and in what
The states are still at work collect.
highways and preparing the first
complete maps of all rural high
ways. Each of the 43 states will
publish its own results.
How to Tell Mule's Age
One way %o tell a mule’'s age is
by his teeth.
LOW TRICKERY
A fisherman was accusing his |
foul play. “We |
agreed,” he explained, ‘““that the one |
who caught the first fish would treat
the others to supper. [I'll be dog-
goned if those two fellows didn’t de-
in their
lines, even when they had bites,
just so I'd be stuck.”
“That was pretty mean,” agreed
his listeners.
“Oh, well,” the fisherman relent-
ed, “I didn't have any bait on my
hook.”
Plenty Right at Home
A woman entered a butcher's shop
with her little daughter. Some tripe
was displayed on the counter, and
the little girl asked what it was,
‘“Tripe,” replied the mother.
“That's funny,” said the child,
‘““daddy says that's what we get
over the radio.””—Stray Stories.
THE SAME IDEA
Wifie—~My, what a large bill for
a small bird!
Hubby-—That's
when I paid it.
what 1
Do They Go Together?
Little Molly was visiting on the
farm of her grandfather. She went
with him to feed the sheep. A little
lamb came up to her and started
wiggling its tail.
“Grandpa, why
tails?" she asked.
bother them.”
EE —————————
No Trip?
“See here, Tommy,” said the
teacher, “You mustn't say, ‘I ain't
going." You must say, ‘I am not
going; he is not going; they are not
going; we are not going.”
“Gee,” said Tommy, “ain't no-
body going?”
Strictly Honest
Judge—So you broke into the to-
bacconist’s shop just to get a 10-
cent cigar? What were you doing
in the safe?
Prisoner—I was putting in the
dime.—Stray Stories.
do lambs have
“The flies don't
Ability Tested
Employer—Yes, I advertised for
a good strong boy. Think you can
fill the bill?
Applicant—Well, I just finished
licking 19 other applicants outside.
Stray Stories.
Too Soon
take it out for another 12 minutes.
No Profit
Teacher—Can you give me an ex-
ample of wasted energy, Bertram?
Bertram-—Yes, sir. Telling a hair-
Who Won?
that in one battle Brooklyn was hit |
17 times.
Father—Who was pitching?
SOUND ENOUGH
CLASSIFIED
DEPARTMENT
BRED FOR FRODUCTION:
RAISED FOR PROFIT:
BOLD BY QUALITY:
BTARTED CHICKS:
MILFORD HATCHERY
Rockdale, Md.
Ducks
Chicks
Turkeys
Puliets
In Blouse or Bolero
Pattern 6285
Angora is all the rage and you,
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t. Pattern 6285 con-
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To obtain this pattern send 15
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Please write your name, ad-
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are
re
ii
Conciliating Manner
It is difficult to tell how much
men's minds are conciliated by a
kind manner and gentle speech.—
Cicero.
* *
CHOOSE FERRY'S
ji Sok
you know they'll grow
Disarrorvrine stands of vege-
tables and flowers may be
caused by seeds that have be.
come too old to produce first.
class crops.
It is difficult for gardeners to
distinguish between “stale”
seeds and seeds in their prime.
To help you, all Ferry's Seed
packets are dated. But first,
Ferry's Seeds must pass rigid
tests for germination and
vitality,
When buying your seeds,
look for this year's date-mark,
“Packed for Season 1939" It's
on the back of
every packet in
your local dealer's
convenient display
of Ferry’s Seeds.
and San Freancises.
Send for handsome
Home Garden Catalog.
FERRY’S
SEEDS
USE FERRY'S GARDEN SPRAY -—NON-
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