I
O PtNl
CHAPTER IX?Continued
?14?
The babies, arriving presently in
a rollicking state of excitement over
fthe advent of Auntie Jane, showed
themselves delightful and adoring.
"Junior," said Jane, "are you
glad I'm here?"
"Did you bring me anything.'"
"Something?wonderful?"
"What?"
She opened her bag, and produced
Towne's box of sweets. "May I
give him a chocolate, Judy?"
"One little one. and just a taste
for baby. Jane, where did you get
that gorgeous box?"
"Frederick Towne."
"Really? My dear, your letters
have been tremendously interesting.
Haven't they. Bob?"
Her husband nodded. He was sitting
by the bedside holding her
hand. "Towne's a pretty big man."
Tho .1 ?J *
...V ?u>uc vailic ill UlCII* ctliu tians
went with Bob and the babies to the
dining-room.
After dinner. Junior went to sleep
in Jane's arms, having been regaled
on a rapturous diet of "The Three
Bears" and "The Little Red Hen."
"They're such beauties, Judy,"
said Jane, as she went back to her
sister. "But they don't look like any
of the Barnes."
"No, they're like Bob, with their
white skins and fair hair. I wanted
one of them to have our coloring. Do
you know how particularly lovely
you are getting to be, Janey?"
"Judy, I'm not."
"Yes, you are. And none of us
thought it. And so Mr. Towne wants
to marry you?"
"How do you know?"
"It is in your eyes, dear, and in
the cock of your head. You and
Baldy always look that way when
something thrilling happens to you.
You can't fool me."
"Well, I'm not in love with him.
So that's that, Judy."
"But?it's a great opportunity,
isn't it, Jane?"
"I suppose it is," slowly, "but I
can't quite see it."
"Why not?"
"Well, he's toe old for one thing."
" i-> < ...
uni; tun y ? i men men aon'l
grow old. And he could give you
everything?everything, Janey." Judy's
voice rose a little. "Jane, you
don't know what it means to want
things for those you love and not be
able to have them. Bob did very
well until the slump in business.
But since the babies came?I have
worked until?well, until it seemed
as if 1 couldn't stand it. Bob's such
a darling. I wouldn't change anything.
I'd marry him over again
tomorrow. But I do know this, that
Frederick Towne could make life
lovely for you, and perhaps you
won't get another chance to marry
a man like that."
Life for Evans Follette after Jane
went away became a sort of game
in which he played, as he told himself
grimly, a Jekyll and Hyde part.
Two men warred constantly within
him. There was that scarecrow
self which nursed mysterious fears,
a gaunt gray-haired self, The Man
Who Had Come Back From the War.
And there was that other, shadowy,
elusive. The Boy Who Once Had
Been. And it was the Boy who
took on gradually shape and substance
fighting for place with the
dark giant who held desperately to
own.
Yet the Boy had weapons, faith
and hope. The little diary became
in a sense a sacred book. Within
its pages was imprisoned something
u?4 I---* ?uu * ?
..... .... .1.11 11 .Hill- wings XO De
free. Evans, shrinking from the
program which he compelled himself
to follow, was faced with things
like this. "Gee, I wish the days
were longer. I'd like to dance
through forty - eight hours at a
stretch. Jane is getting to be some
little dancer. I taught her the new
steps tonight. She's as graceful as
a willow wand."
Well, a man with a limp couldn't
dance. Or could he?
A Thomas Jefferson autograph
went therefore to pay for twenty
dancing lessons. Would the great
Democrat turn in his grave? Yet
what were ink scratches made by a
dead hand as against all the meanings
of love and life?
Evans bought a phonograph, and
new records. He practised at all
hours, to the great edification of old
Mary, who washed dishes and
scrubbed floors in syncopated ecstasies.
He took Baldy and Edith to tea at
the big hotels, and danced with
Edith. He apologized, but kept at
,it. "I'm out of practice."
THE CHEROK
DIM ]
MPLE BAI
I PUBLISHING COMPANY ?WNU SERVICE
Edith was sympathetic and interested.
She invited the two boys to
her home, where there was a music
room with a magical floor. Sometimes
the three of them were alone,
and sometimes Towne came in and
danced too, and Adelaide Laramore
and Eloise Harper.
Towne danced extremely well. In
spite of his avoirdupois he was light
on his feet. He exercised constantly.
He felt that if he lost his waist
line all would be over. He could
not, however, always control his appetite.
Hence the sugar in his tea,
and other indulgences.
Baldy wrote to Jane of their afternoon
frivols.
"You should see us! Eloise Harp
ci uuui'iiig witn jLvans, ana oia
Towne and his Adelaide! And Edith
and I! We're a pretty pair, if I do
say it. We miss you, and always
wish you were with us. Sometimes
it seems almost heartless to do
things that you can't share. But it's
doing a lot for Evans. Queer thing, 1
the poor old chap goes at it as if
his life depended upon it.
"We are invited to dine with the j
Townes on Christmas Eve. Some !
tPTWlW !
She was all In silvery green.
. class, what? By we, 1 mean myself
and the Follettes. Edith and Mrs.
Follette see a lot of each other, and
Mrs. Follette is tickled pink! You
know how she loves that sort of
thing?Society with a big S.
"There will be just our crowd and
Mrs. Laramore for dinner, and after
that a big costume ball.
"I shall go as a page in red. And
Evans will be a monk and sing
Christmas carols. Edith Towne is
crazy about his voice. He sat down
at the piano one day in the music
room, and she heard him. Jane, his
voice is wonderful?it always was,
you know, but we haven't heard it
lately. Poor old chap?he seems to
be picking up. Edith says it makes
her want to cry to see him, but
she's helping all she can.
"Oh, she's a dear and a darling,
Janey. And I don't know what I am
going to do about it. I have nothing
to offer her. But at least I can
worship ... I shan't look beyond
that . . .
"Love to Judy and Bob, and the
kiddies. And a kiss or two for my
own Janey."
Jane, having read the letter, laid
it down with a sense of utter forlornness.
Evans and Eloise Harper!
Towne and his Adelaide! A
Christmas costume ball! Evans
TPJliL m
I i>uigui( iui buiui iownei I
Evans' own letters told her little.
They were dear letters, giving her
news of Sherwood, full of kindness
and sympathy, full indeed of a certain
spiritual strength?that helped
her in the heavy days. But he had
sketched very lightly his own activities.?He
had perhaps hesitated to
let her know that he could be happy
without her.
But Evans was not happy. He
did the things he had mapped out
for himself, but he could not do
them light-heartedly as the Boy had
done. For how could he be lighthearted
with Jane away? He had
moments of loneliness so intense
that they almost submerged him.
Evans frequently played a whimsical
game with the old scarecrow.
He went often and leaned over the
fence that shut in the frozen field.
EE SCOUT. MURPHY. N. C-. THURSDj
LA1VT]
LEY ?=
He hunted up new clothes and hung
them on the shaking figure?an overcoat
and a soft hat. It seemed a
charitable thing to clothe him with
warmth. In due time someone stole
the overcoat, and Evans found the
poor thing stripped. It gave him a
sense of shock to find two crossed
sticks where once had been the semblance
of a man. But he tried again.
This time with an old bathrobe and
a disreputable cap. "It will keep
ycu warm until spring, old chap?"
The scarecrow and his sartorial
changes became a matter of much
discussion among the Negroes. Since
Evans' visits were nocturnal, the
whole thing had an effect of mystery
until the bathrobe proclaimed
its owner. "Mist" Evans done vvoh'
dat e'vy day," old Mary told Mrs.
Follette. "WhufTor he dress up dat
ol' sca'crow in de fiel'?"
"What scarecrow?"
Old Mary explained, and that
night Mrs. Follette said to her son,
"The darkies are getting superstitions.
Did you really do it?"
His somber eyes were lighted for
a moment. "It's just a whim of
mine, Mumsie. I had a sort of fellow
feeling?"
"How queer!"
"Not as queer as you might
think." He went back to his book.
No one but Jane should know the
truth.
And so he played the game. Working
in his office, dancing with Edith
and Baldy, chumming with the
boys, dressing up the scatecrow. It
seemed sometimes a desperate
game?there were hours in which he
wrestled with doubts. Could he ever
get back? Could he? There were
times when it seemed he could not.
There were nights when he did not
sleep. Hours that he spent on his
knees. . . .
So the December days sped, and
it was just a week before Christmas
that Evans read the following in
his little book. "Dined with the
Prestons. Told father's ham story.
?Great hit. Potomac frozen over.
Skated in the moonlight with Florence
Preston.?Great stunt?home
to hot chocolate."
Once more the Potomac was frozen
over. Florence Preston was
married. But he mustn't let the
thing pass. The young boy Evans
would have tingled with the thought
of that frozen river.
It was after dinner, and Evans
was in his room. He hunted up
Baldy. "Look here, old chap, there's
skating on the river. Can't we take
Sandy and Arthur with us and have
an hour or two of it? Your car will
do the trick."
Baldy laid down his book. "I have
no philanthropies on a night like
this. Moonlight. I'll take you and
the boys and then I'll go and get
Edith Towne." He was on his feet.
"I'll call her up now?"
The small boys were rapturous
and riotous over the plan. When
they reached the ice, and Evans'
lame leg threatened to be a hindrance,
the youngsters took him between
them, and away they sailed in
the miraculous world?three musketeers
of good fellowship and fun.
Baldy having brought Edith, put
on her skates, and they flew away
like birds. She was all in warm
white wool?with white furs, and
Baldy wore a white sweater and
cap. The silver of the night seemed
to clothe them in shining armor.
Baldy said things to her that made
her pulses beat. She found herself a
little frightened.
"Ynil'PA e?*r?K ? ?*2
....i a ualiing poet. BUt
life isn't in the least what you think
it."
"What do 1 think it?"
"Oh, all mountains and peaks and
moonlight nights."
"Well, it can be?"
"Dear child, it can't. I have no
illusions."
"You think you haven't."
It was late when at last they took
off their skates and Edith invited
them all to go home with her. "We'll
have something hot. I'm as hungry
as a dozen bears."
The boys giggled. "So am I,"
said Sandy Stoddard. But Arthur
said nothing. His eyes were occupied
to the exclusion of his tongue.
Edith looked to him like some angel
straight from heaven. He had never
seen anyone so particularly lovely.
CHAPTER X
So Christmas Eve came, and the
costume ball at the Townes'. There
were, as Baldy had told Jane, just
six of them at dinner. Cousin Annabel
was still in bed, and it was Adelaide
Laramore who made the sixth.
KY. JULY 27, 1939
ERN j
mm^am
!j
Edith had told Mrs. Follette frankly
that she wished Adelaide had not
been asked.
"But she fished for it. She always
does. She flatters Uncle Fred and
he falls for it."
Baldy brought Evans and Mrs.
Follette over in his flivver. They
found Mrs. Laramore and Frederick
already in the drawing room. Edith
had not come down.
"She is always late," Frederick
complained, "and she never apologizes."
Baldy, silken and slim, in his
page s scarlet, stood in the hall and
watched Edith descend the stairs.
She seemed to emerge from the
shadows of the upper balcony like
a shaft of light. She was all in silvery
green, her close-clinging robe
girdled with-pearls, her hair banded
with mistletoe.
For a moment he stood admiring
her, then: "You shouldn't have
worn it," he said.
"The mistletoe? Why not?"
"You will tempt all men to kiss
you."
"Men must resist temptation."
His tone was light, but her heart
missed a beat. There was something
about this boy so utterly engaging.
He had set her on a pedestal,
and he worshiped her. When
she said that she was not worth
worshiping, he told her. "You don't
know?"
She was unusually silent during
dinner. With Evans on one side of
her and Baldy on the other she had
little need to exert herself. Baldy
was always adequate to any conversational
tax, and Evans, in spite of
his monk's habit, was not austere.
He was, rather, like some attractive
young friar drawn back for the
moment to the world.
He showed himself a genial teller
of tales?and capped each of Frederick's
with one of his own. His
mnthpr ivnc ? ou_
,*.wuu ut 11(111. one It-' n
that life was taking on new aspects
?this friendship with the Townes?
her son's increasing strength and
social ease?the lace gown which
she wore and which had been bought
with a Dickens' pamphlet. What i
more could she ask? She was serene
and satisfied.
Adelaide, on the other side of
Frederick Towne, was not serene
and satisfied. She was looking particularly
lovely with a star of diamonds
in her hair and sheer draperies
of rose and faintest green. "I am
anything you wish to call me," she
had said to Frederick when she
came in?"an 'Evening Star' or 'In j
the Gloaming' or 'Afterglow.' Per- |
haps 'A Rose of Yesterday'?" she
had put it rather pensively.
He had been gallant but unin- I
spired. "You are too young to talk r
of yesterdays," he had said, but i
his glance had held not the slightest
hint of gallantry. She felt that
she had, perhaps, been unwise to
remind him of her age.
She was still more disturbed, j
when, towards the end of dinner, ,
he rose and proposed a toast. "To
little Jane Barnes, A Merry Christ- |
mas."
They all stood up. There was a
second's silence. Evans drank as
if he partook of a sacrament.
Then Edith said, "It seems almost
heartless to be happy, doesn't
it, when things are so hard for her?"
Adelaide interposed irrelevantly,
"I should hate to spend Christmas
in Chicago."
There was no response, so she
turned to Fr*>Horir?lr 1 J ?
^AJUIUU L miss
Barnes leave her sister for a few
days?"
"No," he told her, "she couldn't."
She persisted, "I am sure you
didn't want her to miss the ball."
"I did my best to get her here.
Talked to her at long distance, but
she couldn't see it."
"You are so good-hearted, Ricky."
Frederick could be cruel at moments,
and her persistence was irritating.
"Oh, look here, Adelaide, it
wasn't entirely on her account. I
want her here myself."
(TO BE CONTINUED>
Aquatic Bladderwort Catcbes Fish
The aquatic bladderwort catcbes
young flsh that venture into its trap ;
by means of a valve that shuts behind
them. The Venus fly trap offers
entrance to insects and frogs
and locks them in with its sensitive
triggerlike hair. Pitcher plants are
full of water in which their victims
drown. One species of Borneo
pitcher plant is 12 inches in diameter
and holds seven pints of water.
Its prey consists of small rodents
[ and birds
1 THE. CHEERFUL CHERUb
I Felt ?vck ti. skivery
Feeling just now.
I "tkirjk tktA Im
felling in love
I know it wont tat Wt
j its nice For e. wkile|
Ok, Cvpii, plee^e give
me v stave1. e?
'
ta.o-v
\y* S* n
WNU Service.
TAKE FOR
MAI ADIK
mnLfiniH
Get Relief From Chills and
Fever!
Don't put up with tcrrib'.t Mo'.aria.
Don't endure the wracking chills
and fever.
At first sign of the dread disease,
take Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic.
A real Malaria medicine. Made
, especially for the purpose. Contains
tasteless quinidine and iron.
Grove's Tasteless Chill Tonic actually
combats Malaria infection in
, the blood. Relieves the awful chills
and fever. Helps you feel better
fast.
Thousands take Grove's Tasteless
Chill Tonic for Malaria and swear
by it. Pleasant to take, too. Even
children take it without a whimper.
Don't suffer and suffer. At Malaria's
first sign, take Grove's
Tasteless Chill Tonic. At all drugstores.
Buy the large size as it gives
you much more for your money.
Well Mannered
To have faithfully studied the
honorable arts, softens the manners
and keeps them free from
harshness.?Ovid.
f 1 If feet feel tired, lrrt
FEET I tated?masBage with
1 ..-nifw I stainless Penetro for
I HEAVY ?J quick relief. Try it.
PENETRO
i.reaier Heritage
Time, the great destroyer, only
enlarges the patrimony of literature
to its possessor.?DTsraeli.
blindness
may result when you neglect
twitching, watery, bloodshot,
sore eyes. Leonardo's Golden
Eye Lotion relieves nearly every
trouble. Cools, heals and strengthLEONARDI'S
GOLDEN EYE LOTION
MAKES WEAK EYES STRONG
Wnr Large Sit* with Dropper? 50 cent*
lELssMfdl?U.lac.,Ntw Reebslls, N.T.
?'
Man Changeth
Do not think that years leave us
and find us the same.?Meredith.
medicated protection
AGAINST CXAFE IRRITATIONS
Relieves bq soothing-cools pricklq heat rashes
MEXICAN EHzPOWDER
Companions
They are never alone that are
accompanied with noble thoughts.
MERCHANTS
Your
Advertising
n^iits*
buys something more than
space and circulation in
the columns of this newspaper.
It buys space and
circulation plus the favorable
consideration of our
readers for this newspaper
and its advertising patrons.
LET US TELL YO01
MOKE ABOUT ITJ
j
I