unci be r
h- muJ
? A^FCGV DFHN W.N.U. RELEAiC
THE STOBT THUS FA It: MM naU
wot Relieve that kai bthet k*4 killed
Allele, end he ueared Mt| thet he
knew she was Incapable of such a deed.
And yet wkat mlcht be brought on at
the LnqnetlT DltUeised, Mei thonckt of
Tom, end remembered thai he had called
her "darling." She felt she was falling
In love with him. Laurence had coma
ever from the comity seat In connec
tion with the Inquiry concerning Alicia's
death, and he called to talk to Annie
and Meg. No trace of a weapon had
been found, Larry reported. "Her hus
band Is coming to claim the body." Tea,
Alicia was married and It had been her
husband who seat money each mouth
for her to live.
CHAPTER Xll
She had lost all interest in what
ever it might be that Annie was
telling Laurence. She was so shak
en by the news that Alicia had a
living husband, that she couldn't get
her mind on anything else. Her fa
ther had wanted to marry Alicia;
and Alicia had let him think that
ahe was free! How Pleasant Grove
was going to laugh at the fool Jim
MacTavish had made of himself!
Because people were talking about
the way he had been pursuing Alicia
?and now they would know that
Alicia's husband cared enough about
her to come east for the funeral.
Megan was still sitting in the liv
ing room when Laurence came back
from his talk with Annie. His brow
was furrowed a little and he looked
perplexed.
"That's the darndest story I ever
heard," he admitted as he sat down
opposite Megan and folded his arms
across his chest. "I don't know
what to make of it?but Annie's not
the imaginative sort. She has al
ways seemed so sensible and level
headed, such good sound common
sense?you wouldn t expect her to
believe in ghosts, would you?"
"What on earth are you talking
about?" she asked.
"Annie's just been telling me a
yarn?I told her that I'd have to go
to Squire Ethridge and pass it on to
him, because he's nominally in
charge of the case here, though of
course the bright boys from the
county seat will want a share in it.
But anyway, this is what Annie told
me."
He leaned forward and looked at
her straightly.
"I suppose you know about that
little old family burying ground at
the foot of the Ridge, just at the
top of your pasture, west of the rock
that you always occupy on your
?walks?" he began.
"Yes, I know the place, of
course," Megan answered, waiting
tensely, little prickles of chill run
ning up and down her spine like
icy fingers.
"Well, it seems that Amos was
coming home night before last a bit
late from a lodge meeting," said
Laurence, smiling. "It seems that
he'd had some luck with the 'gallop
ing dominos' and he knew that An
nie wouldn't shoot him on sight for
getting home so late. Anyway, it
was somewhere around midnight, or
a little later; Amos was passing the
little burying ground when suddenly
he saw something that froze him
in his tracks?and may make him
avoid 'galloping dominos' in the fu
ture, though that's a lot to hope
tor."
"You can't possibly mean that he
thought he saw the usual wavering
white figure?" Megan almost
laughed.
Laurence nodded. "Nothing less,"
he told her solemnly. "It was, he
claimed, at least eight feet tall and
it didn't have any shape to it, just
sort of like it was being poured, he
expressed it. There was something
shiny about it?the moon was not
quite full, but the light was good in
the meadow. He says the ghost?
he's quite sure, of course, that it was
a ghost?floated along the meadow
fence and then went towards the
rusty iron fence. It had some
thing in its hand, although he
couldn't see what it was. But he stood
still in the shadow of a tree, and
watched?because he was too para
lyzed with fear to try to run. And
he thought that if he didn't interfere
with its affairs, it might not know
he was around. He says it moved
inside the fence, and bent down
above one of the old graves and hid
something. And then it stood up,
and looked around and moved back
out of the fence and turned away
from Amos?and Amos, recovering
a little from his paralysis, made it
home in practically nothing flat!"
Megan said uneasily. "He had
probably been drinking up some of
that terrible 'white mule' his friend
Pete whips up?and he was seeing
things!"
Laurence nodded. "That's the line
1 would follow, if it were not for the
fact that that night, possibly a few
minutes before Amos saw the eight
foot-high ghost, a woman had been
killed and the weapon has never
been found," he pointed out.
Megan said swiftly, "You can't
possibly think that Amos' hallucina
tion had anything to do with?with
that?"
"I don't know, of course," Lau
rence answered. "But, of course,
any unusual happening that night,
at around that time, will have to be
carefully investigated."
He hesitated a moment and then
he said quietly, "There is no reason
whatever, Megan, for anybody to
know that you were on the Ridge
with Fallon at the time Mrs. Steven
son was murdered."
And without waiting (or her to re
cover from the shock of his quiet
words and their implication, he went
quietly out and the door closed be
hind him.
She sat there (or a long time
after he had gone. So Amos had
seen her with Toml And Amos had
told Laurence.
She bent forward and put her face
In her hands and was still?until a
soft movement behind her startled
her, and she straightened with a
little jerk to find Annie in the door
way watching her with compassion
ate eyes.
"Us didn' want to tell Mist' Lau
rence, Miss Meggie?but us had to,"
said the gentle old voice.
"Of course, Annie," she managed
unsteadily.
"Ain' nobody else gwine know.
Miss Meggie-"
"There was nothing wrong, Annie
?it was an accident?"
" 'Course, Miss Meggie?us all
knows dat." Annie's voice was com
fortable, assured. "Now yo' run up
"So yon are investigating our?
tragedy, Mr. Reynolds?"
staihs an' fix yo'self up all purty?
'to' Mist' Larry gets back an' us has
suppeh," urged Annie, and vaguely
comforted by Annie's matter-of-fact
ness, Megan heaved herself to her
feet and went upstairs.
She grimaced a little as she
looked at herself in the mirror. She
was white to the lips, there were
shadows beneath her dark eyes, and
her hair was untidy.
She showered and donned fresh
things, a soft green jersey dress the
shade of the first new green in
spring that has almost a tinge of
yellow in it. She brushed her hair
until it gleamed and crackled be
neath the vigorous onslaught of the
brush.
Laurence came back a little later,
but he was not alone. With him
was a stocky young man whose face
looked like that of a man in his
early thirties, but whose hair was
thickly streaked with gray. He had
a pleasant, friendly manner, yet
one felt instinctively that he could
be tough should occasion require it.
Laurence performed the introduc
tions, saying casually, "Meggie, this
is Bob Reynolds. He's a detective
from the county police who's looking
into this business."
"Hello," said Bob Reynolds, with
a friendly smile and a firm, pleasant
handclasp. "This is quite a yarn
your handyman's been spilling, Miss
MacTavish. I'd like to talk to
him if I may."
"Of course," said Megan, looking
uncertainly at Laurence. "Shall I
call him in here?"
"I think Amos would be more at
ease if we talked to him in his own
cabin, Bob. I know where it is,
Meggie? suppose I show Bob the
way?" suggested Laurence, and Mr.
Reynolds agreed that that would be
best.
They went out and a little later
Annie came to the door and asked
uneasily, "Yo' 'speck dat policeman
gwine stay fo' supper. Miss Meg
gie? Hit's mos' ready."
"He's a friend of Mister Lau
rence's, Annie?I imagine he would
stay if we asked him. Suppose you
set a place for him?" answered Me
gan mechanically.
Annie hesitated, something else
obviously on her mind. But after a
minute she said her expressionless
"yessum" and her felt-soled broad
feet padded silently away.
Megan felt that Laurence and
Reynolds had been gone a long, long
time and looked at the clock to see
that barely ten minutes had elapsed
since they had left the room. But
it was closer to thirty minutes before
they returned, and as they came
along the hall, Megan heard their
low-pitched, cautious voices and her
nerves crisped a little.
"Did you find Amos?" she asked
with what she hoped was exactly
the proper amount of polite inter
est _____
Oh, yes, he was waiting for us,
answered Laurence, "just as I had
asked him to do."
Bob Reynolds eyed Megan
straightly and asked, "How long has
Amos been working for you, Miss
MacTavish?"
"All my life," answered Megan
quickly. "Annie came to work for
my mother when she was fifteen.
She and Amos were married a year
or so later, and moved into that little
cabin, and were there when I was
born. This is as much their home,
almost, as mine."
Bob nodded. "Then what would
you say about Amos' truthfulness?
I mean is he reasonably truthful in
his statements?or ia he given to
telling tall tales?" he asked.
Megan managed a little laugh she
hoped did not sound too artificial or
forced.
"Well, I'd say that all depended,
Mr. Reynolds," she confessed gaily.
"If you mean when he is explaining
to Annie how it happened he's lost
all his money in a crap game, I
think he shows amazing imagination
and inventiveness. But ordinarily,
I'd say Amos is quite truthful."
"In other words. If he says he saw
a ghost eight feet high hovering
around in an old burying ground,
then he saw something looking at
least remotely like that?" suggest
ed Bob pleasantly.
"I feel quite sure that he did?or
thought he did," answered Megan
promptly and honestly.
Bob nodded. "That's the impres
sion I got from the old fellow," he
admitted. He stood in thought for
a moment before he looked straight
at her and asked quietly, "What
would be your explanation for his
story, Miss MacTavish? How could
you account for it?"
Megan set her teeth bard for a
moment and there was pure panic
in her eyes, but before she could say
anything, Bob went on quickly, "I
mean, of course, that you are quite
familiar with the surrounding ter
ritory?it is all strange to me. Do
you know of anything that could
have alarmed Amos so that he
would have mistaken it for an eight
foot ghost?"
"I've been trying to think," Me
gan said thoughtfully. "There are
some old fruit trees around that
place. Pear trees in full bloom look
ghostly in the dark?only it's too
early for them to be blooming. I
can't remember whether the trunks
of any of the trees have been white
washed lately. They are not on my
land, you see, and I haven't noticed
them recently."
Bob nodded, his eyes intent. "A
tree trunk whitewashed half way up
is a rather spooky looking thing in
the dark. And I suppose there would
be Spanish moss on the trees? In
the moonlight, with a slight wind
stirring that?" He was obviously
thinking aloud, and his brows drew
together in a puzzled frown. "Still,
Amos is so sure that the 'spook' went
inside the gate and bent above one
of the old mounds?" He broke off,
grinned and said briskly, "Oh, well,
we'll have to wait for daylight to
make an intensive search of the
place, I suppose. From the descrip
tion Amos and Larry both have giv
en me, I don't imagine we could
accomplish much by searching to
night. I'll be over first thing in the
morning, and we'll give the place a
going over."
He was obviously on the verge of
leaving, and Megan said quickly,
"Won't you stay for supper, Mr.
Reynolds? We'd like having you!"
"Better take her up on that, Bob.
Annie's the best cook in seven
states?at a conservative estimate!"
said Laurence lightly.
Bob beamed happily. "Well, now,
if you're sure it won't be an impo
sition, there's nothing I'd like bet
ter!" he assured Megan gratefully.
"And I'll give you a lift back to
MeadersviUe later, Larry."
"Swell!" Laurence agreed hap
pily
Just as Annie came to the door to
announce that supper was ready, the
front door opened and Jim came in.
Megan caught a glimpse of him be
fore Laurence or Bob saw him; he
looked desperately tired and forlorn,
his shoulders drooping. But the
next moment he became aware of
the stranger in the living room. His
shoulders went back and his head
went up, and he came in, bracing
himself, friendly, polite, hospitable,
as Laurence performed the intro
ductions.
Annie made her delayed an
nouncement of supper, and they went
in and were seated, before Jim
spoke to Bob. "So you are investi
gating our ? tragedy, Mr. Rey
nolds?"
"Yes," answered Bob, eyeing hun
grily the crisply browned stuffed
chicken that Annie had placed be
fore Jim, who was about to wield
an expert carving knife. "And I
don't mind telling you that I con
sider it an open-and-shut case."
For the barest moment Megan
thought the carving knife shook in
her father's hand; but the next in
stant he went on carving delicately
thin slices of chicken and laying
them carefully on the plate before
him.
"An open-and-shut case? You
mean you have?er? an idea as to
the guilty person," Jim asked, with
a beautifully balanced interest and
curiosity in his voice.
(TO Br con 11M UXU)
l_jj j improved1 ""
UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
Sunday i
chool Lesson
By HAROLD L. LUNDQU1ST. D. D.
Of Th? Moody Blblt Institute ot Chicago.
Released by Western Newapaoer Union.
Lesson for September 29
Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se
lected and copyrighted by International
Council of Religious Education; used by
permission.
JE8US AND THE LAW OF LOVE
LESSON TEXT?Pulra ll>:33-?: Mat
thew
MEMORY SELECTION?Lev* worketh DO
01 to hla neighbor; therefore love la the ful
filling of the law.?Romano 13:10.
Love fulfilled the law?in Christ.
God so loved the world that he gave
his only begotten Son (John 3:16).
The law of love is therefore appro
priate as the subject <yf our closing
lesson on the general theme, "Jesus
Interprets Old Tetsament Laws."
Love is the heavenly gift of God,
who is love, to man who so much
needs its grace and power for his
own life and for his living with
others.
I. The Mind of Love (Ps. 119:33
35).
Eight times in this psalm there
is found the cry of verse 33 for in
struction in the laws of God. Man
not only must know them, but he
must know how they operate. The
picture here is that of a man who
wants to get in step with God,
marching out to spiritual warfare
and being prepared to respond in
prompt obedience to the commands
of his divine leader.
Here we have the true mind of
love. The one rightly instructed in
the principles of God's rule in the
world sees that love is the basic re
quirement, but that it expresses it
self in a life that is in accord with
the will of God. //
The thought of this passage is well
expressed by Dr. W. R. White: "TMe
psalmist had the highest possible
conception of love before the revela- |
tion in Christ. He saw it as the
basic order of things. He conceived
it as identical with the will of God.
He viewed it as the safe, happy path 1
for man. He considered it as the
way of wisdom. He passionately
desired to embrace it and order his
life by it. He saw it imparting
to the naive and simple the benefits
of extraordinary judgment. . To
measure up he knew that he had to
be quickened or made alive to it by
the power of God."
II. The Manner of Love (Ps. 119:
36-38).
Love operates not from necessity,
but because of an inner urge which
will not be denied. The psalmist
prays that his heart may be so in
clined toward the Lord and so
quickened within that he may be
eager to do the will of God.
Love has a technique, if you will,
a manner of operation. It avoids
certain things which would hinder
or prevent its full function and
seeks out those attitudes and ex
periences which will encourage and
enlarge.
Covetousness must be avoided, for
that isiidolatry (Col. 3:5). We noted
in our lesson of two weeks ago
that cuvetousness makes a man
stingy, envious, selfish, proud and
foolish. That means that love must
rule out this destructive element.
Love cannot live in such an atmos
phere.
Love turns away from vanity. The
vain things of this world are usually
presented in such attractive dress
that to look at them is to be tempt
ed. The answer la to turn your
eyes away, or better still, ask God
to give you special grace not only
to turn away, but to stay turned
away. The vain passions of this
world destroy real love, even while
using the word to describe their
base counterfeit.
The positive side of the matter is
also clear. The manner in which |
love best expresses itself is in the
fear of God, in the established order
of a life according to the law of
God (v. 38). By being inclined to
his testimonies it finds the right
way?God's way (v. 37).
in. The Measure of Love (Matt.
5:43-48).
How far does love go? Does it
have a limit? Does it choose those
toward whom it will express itself,
loving the lovely and ignoring or
hating the rest? In answer to these
questions let us first ask, What is
the general attitude of the world?
The answer is evident The world
has established its own principle of
conduct based on selfish advantage.
It pays to be polite to those who
can favor you, so cultivate their
good will by acts of courtesy and
kindness. Tour neighbor may be
able to help you in an hour of need,
so do good to him as you have op
portunity.
But an enemy?what can you gain
from kindness to him? Hate him,
and treat him like an enemy.
Christianity knows nothing of such
a spirit. Even though it be neces
sary to oppose wicked men in order
to hinder their evil plans, we need
not lose our love for them. Even
those who despitefully use us may
be loved for Christ's sake.
"Consider him that endured such
contradiction of sinners against
himself (and went right on loving
them) lest ye be wearied" in your
own love for those who bear the sad
name of enemies (see Heb. 12:3).
This is admittedly a high stand
ard, but it is not too high for those
I who know the love of Christ.
llfJlame -
RepxvUe*
h WASHINGTON
By Waiter Shaod
WWCmfHW
WMU Waihingtoa Bureau
141$ Era St.. IT. W.
Indiana Town Lifts Itself
By Its Bootstraps
VilLFORD, IND. ? An experi
1 1 ment, called by the experts a
lecture-seminar in rural sociology,
has been conducted at Milford,
Ind., a small rural town of 1,000 i
population in northern Indiana. The
experiment is a success. It has
transformed a sick, withering com
munity. A decadent town, which
for a dozen years has been slipping
down the economic ladder into busi
ness failure, social lethargy and
complete lack of community inter
est, has been brought back by a
reawakening and revival of commu
nity spirit. This upsurge of unself
ish co-operative effort has attracted
national attention among farm and
civic leaders and students of sociol
ogy and psychology throughout the
nation.
The answer to this lecture-seminar '
which brought to this small commu- ?
nity the big names, a veritable |
"who's who" in education, church j
work, sociology, business, industry t
and agriculture, Is quite simple in )
the mind, of this reporter. The an
swer is the same in any community, '
In any nation or in any community
of nations. It is the elimination of
selfishness and intolerance. It is
that simple.
Symptoms which corroded and
ate away the elvle consciousness
and social life of Milford are evident
today In many American common!
conference and the meetings of the
United Nations. These symptoms
include business failures and empty
storerooms . . . lack of collective
leadership, bickering and narrow
provincial attitudes In some
churches . . . selfishness, greed and
Intolerance . . . deterioration of the
public schools . . . striking loss of
population In high school age groups
and older . . . government by a
small clique of selfish ultra con
servatives . . . loss of trade to near
by eltiea and towns, and a clash ol
Interests between townsmen and
those living on farms.
Minister and Editor
Sparked by the interest of a
young minister of the gospel, the
Rev. Harry Graham, who also is a
lecturer for the local Farm Grange,
aided and abetted by the members
of the Lions club and the publisher
of the local weekly newspaper, Ar
thur Baumgartner, a returned G.I.
and publisher of the Milford Mail
. . . these symptoms have been an
alyzed, their causes determined.
As a result, the town of Milford to
day is convalescent and well on the
way to recovery.
Space here is not sufficient to tell
the detailed story of bow Milford
went about ridding Itself of the bar
nacles of social obsolescence. Suf
fice it to say that today leaders in
Milford believe they have stemmed
the loss in population of yoang folks
who have been leaving the town and
the farms . . . age IS to 1> years
about *.4 per cent of the population
annually; 24 to 24 years, 7.4 per
cent; 25 to 29 years, 4.4 per cent
and 34 to 14 years, 5.2 per cent.
Today they believe that this tre
mendous loss in manpower in the
moot productive years has been
stopped: (1) because they have
brought new small industries there
which will take up the slack in em
ployment; (2) because they have giv
en these young folks new lease on
life in recreational facilities ? s
bathing beach, tennis courts, Softball
courts, a community center, a youth
center, supervised recreation for
youth from elementary school age
through high ichool; a town band
Church** have opened their hall*
and other facilitie* to the young peo
ple; businesa men have joined hand*
co-operatively to work for the beat
interest of the many, not the selflah
few; the high school has been re
generated and new agricultural
courses have been instituted for the
farm youth; larger and better do
mestic science facilities have been
! installed; an adult education class
ha* been instituted in the town li
brary; a program of land use and
soil conservation has been institut
ed intended to increase the number
of owner - operated family sized
farms; efforts are being made to
develop more favorable landlord
tenant agreements; to improve
credit arrangements and to encour
age ownership and conservation;
to hold down land values below in
flation prices so that returned vet
erans and younger farmers can buy
at a price which permits a living on
\ their investment.
Co-Op*rativ Leculerthip
Elimination of the Imaginary
line between the town limits and the
surrounding country waa one of the
first steps in the rejuvenation ol
j Milford. in an effort to develop a
co-operative town and farm leader
ship and an invitation to this lead
ership to participate as eo-equals
la th* problems of the community.
Working quietly behind the scenes
is the Foundation for American Ag
riculture, a non-profit, non-political
organization which is working for
the best interests of agriculture,
NEEDLEWORK PATTERNS
Dainty Edgings Fun to Crochet
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pUN to crochet are these delicate
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jensive-looking one. Make of fine
atting thread and use them for
>aby frocks, lingerie cases and
mats of pastel linen or cotton.
0 0 0
Ttve edging Instructions arc given tat
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Due to an unusualbr large demand and
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Send your order to:
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OmaJv, (Dwdinq,!
The honeymoon couple sat oa
the sands together.
"Graceful birds, gulls, aren't
they?" the bridegroom said.
"Looking for food, I expect," an
swered the bride.
"Isn't the sun gorgeous?" the
bridegroom said, after a pause.
"Reminds me of a poached
egg," answered the bride.
"It's grand to take in deep
breaths of ozone-laden air," he
said, breathing deeply.
"Don't find it very filling my
self," answered the bride; and
then there was a short silence.
"And what is my romantic little
wife thinking about?" the bride,
groom asked fondly.
"Food!" she answered.
You start right whan yea maatura Mm
^|fi raquirod amount ol Oabbar Gtri Into I
Hto4 your flour... You aro suro to gat just
K /MWmgy^k tho right risa in your mixing bowl H
B foiiowod by that final risa to hght
K end fluffy flavor In the ovan ... I
That's tha story of Oabbar Gbft I
balanced double octioib
\/T& O/V 7WE 77P I
\OFyOt/X7V/V&/?\
m Sample its grand rich flavor??joy
M its tongua-gantlanaas ?and you too
|| will say, PRINCE ALBERT! ?
MBS IS? llKfi Mil mi ? ?
/as My swf,
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f /MS7T 7aa*CCO 7HAT /S ?
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exsy-aew/vG
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I^Vf coat-st**-//*; M
? "Tha Ant pipafnl aold ma on Prtnco Albart," nyt Mr. L
C Doris, a bora. "P. A. la a rasl comfort amoks?mild, ftxxj
taatinf to tbo bottom of tha boarL Packs battsr?draan Hth*."
? "Crimp cut Prince Albert cure rolls up fast
and DMt," says Mr. W. M. Millar, below.
"Smokes tasty too?cool end mild."
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