unci be r
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PCGGV fiCRM * W.N.U. RELEASE
? M a rtt.* - ? ?? "
Owe* the story of boo she had asak
?MO to to< Lrttj lUiSili over her M
with the knife In Mod six nnd Tom kad
taken tie knife away from Letty. and
Martha had (ono to the (raveyard to
dory it while Tom watched over his sick
wife. "I hid It?where yoo found It." h
little later Letty suffered a hemorrhate.
"She died early thia moralaf." Boh
Beynolds pressed her farther. "1 did It!"
Martha screamed. '1 killed her. I hated
her. She spread stories aboat Tom aad
Miss MacTavish." Martha then went
Into detail of bow she went to allele's
house and waited for ker chance, waited
until Jim MacTavtsh left Alicia and tbea
committed the murder.
CHAPTER XVI
"There's a short cut through the
woods, and it isn't far. I got my
sister to bed and to sleep. As I've
already told you, Tom was out of
the house. I found Mrs. Stevenson
was not alone. I waited?"
"She wasn't alone?" Bob jerked
her up sharply.
Miss Martha shook her head.
"Mr. MacTavish was with her,"
she said, and now Megan held her
breath and her teeth were clenched.
"He left a few minutes after I got
there. They had been quarreling.
I could only hear a word or two, but
I could tell, just looking in at the
window, that Mr. MacTavish was
very angry and that Mrs. Stevenson
was laughing at him."
Megan could see the picture as
though she herself had stood outside
that window, and it made her shud
der. Yet here was the thing that
had worried her father?an alibi.
She drew a breath of sharp relief.
"I waited until he had gone," Miss
Martha went on wearily. "Then I
knocked and she opened the door.
She was surprised to see me, and
not very?pleasant. I tried to tell
her why I had come, but she only
laughed. She said that there must
Ae a lot of truth in the stories about
Tom and Miss MacTavish or he and
I would not have been so alarmed?
and she added that she knew that
Letty was?out of her mind?and
that she was a menace to the neigh
borhood. She said she intended to
start a movement to have her?com
mitted?" Her voice broke, and aft
er a superhuman effort at control,
she said thinly, "And so?I killed
her."
It was once more Bob who broke
the tense, breathless pause. He still
sat on the corner of the desk, and
he scrubbed out the glowing tip of
his cigarette as he spoke, his eyes
on the crushed cigarette in the old
glass ashtray, his voice very quiet
and gentle, "The truth is, Miss
Evans, that you spoke to Mrs. Ste
venson, and she answered you about
as you have said. You did not kill
her?but when you turned to leave
the house, you were astounded to see
your sister in the doorway behind
you, and realized that she had fol
lowed you. And it was, in reality,
your sister, not you, who killed Mrs.
Stevenson."
Bob sighed. He ran his hands
through his hair and stood up, white
and tired, haggard almost, as though
the long scene had been almost as
much of an ordeal for him as for
the broken, suddenly old woman be
fore them.
"But how could you possibly
know?" Megan demanded of Bob.
It was late in the afternoon of an
extremely hectic day after all the
loose ends and the final details of
the tragic story had been cleared
up. Miss Martha and Tom had de
parted on their sad errand of "tak
ing Letty home" to lay beside the
little son who had never lived.
Megan had asked Bob and Lau
rence to stay for supper and they
had accepted gratefully. And now
they were in the living room, with
Jim listening and looking on, with
drawn and pale, but genial and
pleasant when spoken to.
"I didn't know, of course," Bob
answered frankly. "It was just that
?well, call it a hunch, what you
will. Only I kept hearing something !
in Miss Martha's words that didn't i
quite ring true. What she was say- i
ing would be completely sincere and i
convincing. Then something would I
creep into the story, nothing I could
set my finger on, but it was there
and I could sense it. Especially that '
very elaborate ruse of hiding the
knife. If it had really been a knife >
out of the kitchen of her own home, I
she might have hidden it very care
fully about thg house. But to get
herself up like a particularly terri- \
fying ghost and go sneaking out into i
the night to hide it in the one place t
she felt sure would never be found? i
well, that had me puzzled." t
"I thought of that, too, of course," 1
Laurence contributed. '
"Then when she began to talk
about going to Mrs. Stevenson's? h
remember she mentioned the short
cut through the woods? Yet she had *
been at some pains to assure us
that her sister's strength was not ?
sufficient for her to walk to the Ste- h
venson place. But if there was a
short cut through the woods, and if r
her sister, in one of her periods of a
lucidity, had followed her and over- 8
heard her quarrel with the Steven- a
son woman, and the sister had been
frightened, excited, as she most cer- d
tainly would have been?do you see? ei
The pattern is the sister doing the w
deed?not Miss Martha I saw It h;
suddenly, and?well, you know what si
happened." a
negan supped away to offer her
services to Annie in finishing up sup
per, but Annie said, "No'm, honey,
I's got eve'ything undeh control?
y'all go out and git yo'se'f a li'l
bits o' fresh air, 'fo' suppeh."
And gratefully, Megan obeyed her.
It was already dusk, though not
yet dark enough to obscure the
vision. She crossed the backyard to
a big old rough bench beneath a live
oak tree and sat down, her head
back, breathing deep of the crisp
night air.
The night was very still, save for
the faint shouts of children playing
somewhere along the highway; be
hind her in the barn she heard the
rustling of the cows as they settled
themselves down for the night. The
whole scene was quiet and calm and
peaceful. So peaceful that it was
hard to believe the horror and trag
edy and terror that bad gripped the
place so short a time before.
She couldn't bear to think of Tom
any more. She wouldn't let herself.
The glimmer of her light-colored
frock through the dusk led him to
her.
and she was glad when she saw
Laurence coming towards her
across the dusky dooryard.
The glimmer of her light-colored
frock through the dusk led him to
her. He called her name uncertain
ly. and when she answered him he
came on to her, something dark in
his hands.
"Your scarf," he said. "Annie
felt you might catch cold out here?
she said supper would be ready in
ten or fifteen minutes."
Megan started to rise, but he put
his hand on her shoulder and
pressed her back on the bench.
Megan relaxed a little. He lit a
cigarette and they sat for a little
companionjhly in silence.
"It's all like a terrible dream,"
she said huskily, and Laurence nod
ded.
"But you've waked up now, Me
gan, and sensible people don't brood
over bad dreams or let them affect
their future lives!" he reminded
her almost sternly. "There is one
thing out of the bad dream that you
can remember, though?Fallon is
free. After a decent interval of
time?"
She shivered and said impulsive
ly, "I don't feel I could ever bear
to?see him again."
Laurence turned on her sharply,
angrily.
"Now you're talking like a fool!"
he told her violently. "Just because
a man has gone through hell?and
a hell that was no fault of his own?
no woman with a decent instinct to
her name can throw him aside!"
Megan caught her breath and
looked at him in surprise.
"I didn't mean that?after all,
aren't you taking rather a lot for
{ranted?" she protested heatedly. <
'Tom Fallon and X were?friends?" I
"Tom Fallon was?and is?in love '
rith you, and you know it," Lau- ;
?ence told her bluntly. "Even if I 1
ladn't known it, the way he looked I
it you when he said good-by?and
tesides, have you forgotten that you i
old me yourself you were in love I
rith him?"
"I?I guess I am," she admitted t
lumbly. i
"You guess you are!" Laurence '
ras caustic. 1
"Well, what I meant was?I'm all <
nixed up and confused?it's been so l
orrible?" she stammered faintly, r
"That's understandable?" Lau- '
ence conceded grudgingly. "But '
fter a while, you'll pull yourself to- '
ether and be able to see clearly?
nd in a year or so?" d
Annie's voice from the kitchen '
oor, that spilled an oblong of gold- 1
n-amber light into the backyard, ?
as the most welcome sound Megan .
ad ever heard in all her life, and J.
le rose so swiftly that Laurence's 1
louth tightened a little and his eyes
were cold and hard as he followed
her across the yard to the kitchen
and into the dining room. ,1
Healthily tired at the end of the
day. sleeping soundly at night, Me
gan discovered, as week followed
week, that the memory of those
dark, evil days when Alicia Steven
son's malicious tongue had wagged
so freely, was growing fainter.
And she realized that Pleasant
Grove, as a community, was also
recovering from the darkness when
Alicia's tongue had set old friends
to eyeing each other with more or
less veiled suspicion. Other farm
families were finding release from
dark memories in the ever new, yet
age-old miracle of the dark earth,
the tiny seeds, the new, tender green
sprouts that meant life and hope and
the future.
She was touched and grateful to
Jim for his honest, if bungling at
tempts to help her. She tried not
to let him know (hat his hands were
clumsy with the delicate, fragile
plants that he tried to pack. She
knew he was bored, and that he
resented the hard, back-breaking la
bor that it takes to run a farm ef
fectively.
He came back from Meadersville
late one afternoon, his eyes shining
with excitement, obviously with
news that he considered of great
importance.
It was already dusk, and the dark
ness had driven Megan in from the
fields. She had shed' her earth
stained dungarees, had a shower and
was dressed for supper, busy in the
kitchen helping Annie with the last
duties of getting the meal on the
table, when Jim came hurrying in.
"The most marvelous thing has
happened, Meggie?I've been offered
a splendid opportunity!"
"Tell me," said Megan, eager and
interested, loving him for the under
standing she nad acquired of him
since his moment of self-revelation
after Alicia's death.
"Well, you know the county news
paper in Meadersville? The Senti
nel?" demanded Jim, as eager and
?zcited as a boy. "Dick Morgan pub
lishes it. Well, Dick's been dratted
and.he wants me to take over until
he comes back!"
He beamed at her happily and
Megan said quickly, "It is wonder
ful, Dad?but?well, yoa'se never
had any newspaper experience?do
you think?"
Jim looked a little sulky.
"Oh, I know that, but after alL
Dick feels that I have other qualifi
cations," he pointed out. "And Mrs.
Morgan will stay on as business
manager and write the woman's
page and all that. What I'll have
to do is write the editorials, and
what news I can pick up. Mostly,
right now, it comes from a wire
service, because about the only two i
things people are interested in are
the war and politics. And there's a
fellow in Washington who acts as
correspondent for a lot of county
newspapers, Dick's paper among
them. And Dick's got three weeks
before he reports for induction and
he feels that in that length of time he
can get me settled in, help me to
learn the ropes and all that Of
course, the salary is really laugh
able?but I get a share of the prof
its and all that."
"It is wonderful. Dad, and of
course you can do it!" Megan as
sured him, sincerely. "I'm terribly
proud of you."
Jim looked at her oddly and then
he asked, almost curiously:
"Are you, Megan? Funny?I can't
remember when anybody ever said
they were proud of me."
Megan felt a little quick mist of
tears in her eyes, but she knew this
was no time for the display of pity
that she felt for his humility?his
tai it admission that he had always
hungered for appreciation, even
while he had admitted to himself
that he deserved no such apprecia
tion. i
"But of course I'm proud of you, t
Dad?now you'U get to make use of t
all that study and research you have
done these last few years!" she told c
him happily. "I'll bet there isn't an- t
other man in the whole county who t
has read as much, or studied as ^
much, of current events as you ,
have." i t
Then he said hesitantly, "Of t
course, Meggie, I know I promised a
to help you with the farm this year c
?but I hate to tum down a chance
like this. A chance to?well, to be v
somebody important, and to have 4
people listen to my views."
"Now don't you worry about the 1
[arm, or me," Megan assured him
Srmly.
Jim beamed at her happily, ob- j,
riously relieved. He would ride to c
ind from Meadersville each day ^
*-ith three men from Pleasant Grove ^
vho "commuted" to Meadersville B
iffices. The paper came off the
jress every Friday. It might be ^
lecessary for him to stay over in -
own Thursday night, but the hotel
rasn't bad and he could stay there.
Ie had his plans made.
Megan, listening to him while she _
>id the mending that always occu
lted her sizable work basket, thought a
hat he seemed younger and more C1
'ividly alive than he had been in a p
ong time, and was deeply and self- ?
ihly glad that he had found a job a
bat be felt was worthy of his ability. fc
(TO BZ CONTINUED) * a
j IMPROVED J JJ
UNIFORM INTERNATIONAL
Sunday i
chool Lesson
Br HAROLD L. LUNtXJUlST. D. D. '
Of Tb? Moody Bible Institute of Chicaf*.
Released by Western Newspaper Union.
,
Lesson for October 27
Lesson subjects and Scripture texts se
lected and copyrighted by International
Council of Religious Education; used by
permission.
PALL'S WIDENING FIELD OP
SERVICE
LESSON TEXT?Acts 13:1-3. 13. 14. 44-43.
43. 40; 14:26 . 27.
MEMORY SELECTION ? But when it
pleased God ... to reveal his Son In me. j
that I might preach him among the heathen, j
| ?Galatlans 1:13. 16.
God uses men to accomplish his
high and holy purpose of preaching
the gospel in all the world. They
must, however, be men who have
been called by the Holy Spirit, pre
pared and sent out by him. They
must be willing to labor and to sac
rifice without limit for his glory.
Paul was such a man, and as
we study the widening sphere of his
service and influence, we catch a
vision of what missions should mean
in the church.
I. A Missionary CaU (Acts 13:1-4).
Much discussed among earnest
Christians is the question of what
constitutes a missionary call.
The need must be brought home
to the individual believer's heart by
the Holy Spirit, and he must give
a conviction that one is to go out
to meet that need.
Note that the call came through
a live, active and well-equipped
church in Antioch, a city of Syria.
It was a cosmopolitan church?read
the names of those who served
there. They were of many nationali
ties and of various occupations and
social positions. In the midst of that
group were two exceptionally able
preachers, Barnabas and Paul.
They all loved the Lord and served
him.
To such a church the Holy Spirit
can speak, be heard and obeyed.
Notice that they gave of their best,
at the direction of the Spirit, not
withholding it for themselves (cf. II
Sam. 24:24). Good wants our best.
Sent forth by the Holy Spirit these ?
men went promptly and willingly. '
Why should the Lord have to plead,
and prod, and wait for his people
to obey him?
II. A Missionary Conquest (Acts
13:4, S, 13, 14, 44-46, 48, 49).
To trace this first missionary I
journey it is well to look at the map
illustrating the Acts and epistles at
the back of most Bibles.
It will appear at once that it was
not an easy itinerary these men
undertook. It involved travel by sea,
through difficult country, and often
among hostile and hateful peoples.
God does not call his servants to
an air-conditioned arm-chair evan
gelism. His Word must go out
where it has never been heard, and
that means pioneering among the
most backward of peoples, the need
iest of this earth. It means work
ing in rescue missions, in thank
less and difficult pastorates; yes,
anywhere the Divine Executive, the
Holy Spirit, may direct.
Paul met both popularity and per
secution, and that not far apart.
After the experience of acceptance
and rejection on the island of Cy
prus (Acts 13:7, 8), Barnabas and
Paul went to Antioch in Pisidia (a
different city than Antioch in Syria;
tee map). Here they were invited
lo preach in the synagogue and
Paul was blessed in the presenta
tion of a powerful gospel mes
sage. Read it in Acts 13:16-41. It
net with such a response that the
people "besought that these words
night be preached to them the next
sabbath" (v. 42). So great was the
popularity of Paul's message that 1
he whole city came the next Sab
Path "to hear the Word of God." 1
What a wonderful sight that must 1
pave been. J
But wait?there is something else 1
lere beside popularity, and its
tame is jealousy (v. 45). It caused
he Jews to blaspheme as they con- 1
radicted Paul's preaching.
Jealousy always makes a fool ,
lut of the one who yields to it. Yet
his green-eyed monster is per- J
nitted to go right on hindering the
vork of God. The result in this case t
ras that Paul turned from the Jews t
0 the Gentiles with the gospel, to ,
heir great joy and delight. This is ,
1 great turning point in the history |
if the church.
Now the preachers turn home- s
iard to Antioch in Syria, and there i
hey had a
in. A Missionary Conference (Acts *
4:26, 27). <!
Nothing stimulates missionary '
iving, and praying, and going in a 1
>cal church like a live missionary '
onference, where those who have
een on the field come back and *
rll what the Lord has done as they
rent out to serve him.
It is good to know that what the
ord led men out to do has been
llfilled. That completes the circle P
f divine guidance and blessing, and
trongly encourages us to go again
-and others to go for the first time ?
-to do missionary work for God.
The church which does not have .
uch an annual missionary confer- (
nee misses a blessing and an op
ortunity for enlarged vision and
Ervice. No pastor or church can v
(lord to miss sufh an open dour
it the working of the Holy Spirit
1 God.
*Jouut
Repotfoi
A?^Lm WASHINGTON
J By Walter Sheod
I WNVCmfMM
WKXJ Washington Bureau
nu Br* St.. M. w.
Business Now Served by
County Agent System
ONE OF the so-called visionary
ideas of Henry Wallace which
has just come into practical frui
tion since he was fired from the post
of secretary of commerce and suc
ceeded by W. Averell Harriman is
being hailed by small business men
as one of the most helpful ever con
ceiyed by the department as an aid
to small business.
Back in the days when he was
secretary qf agriculture, Wallace
liked the idea of the county agent
system. When he became boss of
the department of commerce, he
"dreamed-up" the idea of adapting
the system to business by estab
lishment of a business "county
agent" in every county of the na
tion. If county agents were helpful
to farmers as business men, then
why wouldn't county agents for
small business be helpful to the lit
tle business men of the nation, he
argued. And he set about to estab
lish just that.
Announcement has lately been
made that S3 of the Sfi new Held of
fices, planned as a part of Wal
?lace's expanding service for small
business at the grassroots, are in
operation. The erstwhile secretary,
who himself comes within the cate
gory of small business men, saw
that the huge department of com
merce with Its tremendous re
sources for research and technical
Information was of substantial aid
to big business. The machinery,
however, was not set op for getting
this information down to the small
towns and rural sections and into
the hands of the small business men
of the country. Bis idea of business
county agents was the answer. Now
from the office of small business,
directly through the new field offices
or "county agents," the small busi
ness man will get what help he
wants on management problems,
marketing prospects, questions in
volving surplus materials, priorities
and government contracts, basic
facts on trade associations, con
struction and up-fo-date data on the
business population, life expectancy
of certain enterprises and causes of
business failures.
Provide Valuable Data
Under the Wallace plan these field
offices were expected to work close
ly with the local individual business
man and also with local chambers
of commerce and other trade organ
izations in an effort to be a real
help to the local communities and
to bring to small business all the
data, information and research on
business and industrial subjects too
expensive for the small business
man to obtain for himself.
?What will happen to this new pro
gram under the regime of Harri
man, who always has been identi
fied with big business with a capital
"B," is not known. The chances are
it will continue to function. At any
rate, Harriman's appointment to
succeed Wallace was hailed with de
light by the big business interests,
as one of their own and "as a man
of proven attainments with unques
tioned devotion to American
ideals."
Harriman ia known as essentially
a conservative with the viewpoint
of a "chairman of the board," as
a synthetic New Dealer, having con
tributed, it is said, equally to the
Roosevelt and Willkie campaign
funds. His mentor during the Roose
velt administration was the late
Harry Hopkins. One of the old-time
reporters here in Washington whose
acquaintance with Harriman runs
back over the years, declared:
"Main trouble with Harriman is
that his zest is shirt-lived. He often
ihifts from one enthusiasm to an
>ther and he seldom stays put. He
arill need a good stable under-sec -
?etary to carry the heavy chores."
How About Railroad Case?
There Is considerable speenla
ion here, too, over what is likely
s happen to the government's salt
[gainst the groop of western rail
ends charging conspiracy to vio
ate the anti-trust laws, which will
Ikely go to trial In Lincoln. Neb.,
eme time this winter. Harriman,
low a cabinet member, Is a director
nd chairman of the board of the
Inion Pacific railroad, one of the
lefendants In the ease. Until re
:ently be was chairman of com
nittre of directors of all the nil
olds. to which were referred rate
ases and other problems for final
ettlemenL
The government's suit grows out
f the so-called agreement between
be western railroads to fix and
ettle their own rates and other
roblems without first going before
be Interstate Commerce commis
ion for permi: sioa.
In 1M3, in testimony before the
fheeler committee taking evidence
n the bill to legalize the rate
ureau practices, Harriman sent a
tatement to be read into the rec
rd to the effect that if these agree
ments constituted conspiracy, then
rhat the railroada need is bigger
nd better conspiracy.
X
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