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Seventeenth Installment
"That’s true all right, and vou
had me guessing too. But of course
Frills wasn’t wild and reckless
when I married her—you—say, I
don’t know who I did marry!’’
"That’s what I’ve got to find
out, Neil! It’s been driving me
nearly crazy, and now at last I’ve
had the courage to tell the truth,
as far as I know it. Will you tell
me, Neil, how you met Frils and
all that?”
"Why, at Joe and Maisie Tur
ner’s, of course! Don’t you really
remember, Frills—er, I mean Joy
ce? Gosh, this gets my goat, I feel
as tho we’d all gone absolutely
nutty—”
"I felt that way when I first
woke up and found myself Mrs.
Packard,” she said Igently, "but
I’ve lived with the idea so long
that I’ve gotten a bit used to it.
Tell me about the Turner’s.”
"Why, it was their car that ran
into your taxi in Chicago. Joe was
running for some political office at
the time, and he was very anxious
to keep out of the papers in any
way that might bring him any un
pleasant publicity, so he gave the
police a tip, I suppose, and got
them to allow you to be taken to
his house instead of to a hospital.
You were unconscious a couple of
days, and when you woke up vou
were in a dazed condition. I re
member Maisie saying they thought
you never would say a word, and
how queer it made them feel, hav
ing seme one lying there conscious,
but just looking at the walls with
out saying anything.”
"Fancy! That was me, and I
don’t remember any more about it
than if it had never happened!”
"Joe and Maisie had a time find -
ing out who you were. The doctor
said just leave you alone and you’d
come around all right. And, sure
enough, that was what happened,
or what everybody thought had
happened.
"The Turners were lively, enter-!
tained a lot, plenty of money and
all that, and as soon as you were
well they introduced you around
to their friends. You made a hit
with everyone, and that tickled
them. My cousin Lawton Pack
ard’s wife was a great friend of
Maisie, and I’d met her and Joe a
number of times in Manzanita, and
they’d always told me to look them
up if I was ever in Chicago. It
struck me to do it one time; I call
ed them up and Joe invited me out
to dinner that night, throwing out
a lot of dark hints about a sv, ell
girls who was staying with them.
I went, and it was you I met—
Florence Hilton was the name. I
took a terrible tumble, and in a
couple of weeks we were engaged.
"I kept stringing out the busi
ness in Chicago, and finally--1 re
member now that it was your own
suggestion!—we were married right
away, before we left town, and
you came back to Manzanita as
Mrs. Neil Packard!”
Joyce had been held spellbound
by Neil’s recital. It was ail so
queer and unreal, and she felt her
head swimming by the strangeness
nf if
"Didn’t you ask me anything
about who I was, and all that,
when you wanted to marry me?
How did I act? Was I like the Frills
I've heard about, or mon. like Joy
ce?"
"Well, you see, every one treat
ed you with kid gloves, so to speak,
on account of this accident,” said
Neil, "It was understood that you’d
had a great shock, and that you
musn’t be pressed. The doctor
kept saying, just leave her alone
and she’ll come around all right.
All this mystery was very exciting,
you understand—we all got a great
kick out of it ... I remember I
wanted to ask you a lot of things
when we were first engaged, but
you said to me, 'Neil, you’ve got
to trust me. There are some things
I can’t tell you, and you musn’t
ask me about who I am and all
that. There’s nothing I’m asham
ed of, and some day I expect I’ll
tell you all there is to tell’.” A
shade passed over Neil’s face. "I
always thought you would tell me,
but you never did. ...”
Joyce watched him excitedly.
The strange story gripped them, si
that realities were seen thrmieh a
haze.
"Oh, Neil, I think I see it all
now, don’t you? Frills just could
n’t remember back! She was try
ing to remember all the time, and
she couldn’t! It might have been
awful for her, musn’t ■ it? When
1
did she change, when did she get
reckless and wild.
"I guess that came gradually,’’
Neil answered with puckered
brow, "I can't remember any spe
cial time when it began. First she
took to drinking more than I liked;
that really worried me a lot. Then
it seemed as if she couldn’t do
stunts reckless enough, as if she
were almost trying to kill herself!
She drove her car at a breakneck
speed, and got the wildest horse
she could find to ride! And then
there was Maitland. . . .”
Joyce made a quick movement.
"Yes,” she said softly, "don’t go
into that, Neil I know; and I’ll
never forget it—”
"But—but—Joyce, you are
Frills!” It was Robert Ainsworth
speaking, and Joyce and Neil turn
ed to him with a start. In their
absorbing interest in piecing to
gether the mystery of Frills, they
had almost forgotten that he was
there. ,
"Would you mind telling me,”
Neil asked Joyce politely, "just
where he comes into this?’’
Joyce looked at Robert thought
fully. The air of rather superior
insolence with which he had ap
proached them was gone now, and
she saw again the Robert Ains
worth she knew. He met her gaze
frankly, with disarming friendli
ness.
I "I’m sorry, Joyce,” he said, "I
didn’t understand. Will you for
give me?” He came over and held
out his hand, smiling charmingly.
He like a little boy who, having
shown his temper unreasonably,
makes arrogant claim of a loving
parent for pardon.
"Who the devil are you, any
way?” asked Neil petulantly. "I
don’t want to crab, Joyce, but
■ ——.. r.
wasn t it a bit thick, letting him!
hear all this?”
"Robert Ainsworth is the great
novelist, Neil. Haven’t you ever,
! heard of him?”
I Neil shook his head. "Never,”!
he said. What does he do besides
write? And, once more how does
^e come into all this?”
; "He comes into this, Neil be
j cause I happened to have met him
since—since the accident on Fire
Queen, and because I happened toj
like him rather more than ordi-j
narily.”
Neil fixed his gaze on a distant!
| pine tree. "Do you mean that!
you’re in love with him, Frills?”i
Instead of answering his ques-|
tion Joyce said sharply, "I wish
you’d make up your mind whether;
you want to call me 'Joyce’ or
'Frills’ Neil!” She regretted her ill|
temper at once, however and went
on more agreeably, "Oh, Neil, I
| don’t know anything more.”
"You are free, if you want to|
be, Joyce,” said Neil, drawing his
lips together in the attitude of
severe restraint that he assumed
when Frills had especially hurt
him. "What about Ainsworth?” !
! He turned to the other man. Did
you and Frills fix this all up be-j
tween you?”
Before Robert could answer,
Joyce broke in. "Oh, no, no, Neil, |
please—I wasn’t quite so beastly as
all that. Nothing had been fixed up1
—we had simply, well, fallen in'
love, and there the matter stood.”
She looked at Robert and was hurt
to find an amused smile lingering
about his eyes.
Joyce felt a profound shame!
creep over her. Neil had just told,
her she was free, and yet Robert |
sat quietly, saying nothing, tensely;
digging holes in the soft ground
with his riding crop. Her husband(
I
was, in a sense, offering her to her|
lover—who was making no move
to claim her. Was she being re
jected by both men? Her nerves,j
strung tautly under the strain of
the entire morning, collapsed ut
terly, and she felt that she would
grow histerical if she sat there a
nother moment.
She sprang to her feet. "Well,
now I’ve unmasked before both of
you!” she cried, her voice trem
bilng close to tears, "Goodbye!”
Neil was after her in a moment.
"Here, dear, I’ll go back with yon
yy
"No, no, please don’t. Please
leave me alone. For Heaven’s sake,
Neil. Let me be for just a little
while—”He fell back, struck by
the vehemence of her tone, and she
sprang lightly in the saddle and
galloped off.
Once in her room, Joyce locked
the door and flung herself down on
a couch. She felt crushed and
hurt as she had at no time since
sheh ad found herself Frills Pack
ard. Her disillusionment about
Robert Ainsworth was so profound
that she felt she had lost all faith
in humanity. Evdtyone seemed'
less noble, all life took on a men
acing and ruthless form. Where
could she go to find beautv, to find
truth, to find fineness', if not in
this man whom she had so ardently
] worshiped?
That he should have regarded
the situation at first as one to be
treated with cynical levity was a
fault that seemed to her graver
than the grave.
I She did not . . . want . . . Robert
■ Ainsworth.
* * *
When she awoke it was a coo!
evening, and she was shivering. As
she collected her thoughts she not
iced an envelope lying on the floor
under her door. It contained a note
from Neil, and she read
"Dear Joyce:—
"When I got back I found a
message to go and see Mother.
She’s not seriously ill, but feeling
badly and wanted to see me. I
shan’t tell her anything about us,
of course. We must talk everything
over. I thought it might be bet
ter if I’d camp faut somewhere
else tonight. Please go to bed and
get a good rest. I’ll see you tomor
row.
"Neil.”
Joyce read this over several
times, almost uncomprehending.
At last, however, she knew what
she must do. She knew she must
go away—that it was the only
thing for her to do.
"I’ve been wrong to stick it out
this long,” she thought. "No;
wonder I’ve gotten things into
such a mess!”
It did her good to have some
definite work to do. In less than
an hour she had bathed, dressed, |
and packed two bags with FrilVj
simplest clothes and belongings.
"It seems like stealing to be tak-l
ing them,” she thought worriedlv,!
"yet what can I do? Neil doesn’t
want Frills’ clothes—they won’t
do him any good if I leave them.
I’ll have to find some sort of work
right away, and I can’t apply for
it unless I’m decently dressed. Of
course I won’t take any of Frills’
jewelry or anything of real value.’’
. Roxie met her at the foot of the
stairs. "Excuse me, ma’am, but
Mr. Neil he said you’d be waking
up after a time and we should
have your dinner ready.”
"Very wfell, Roxie, just serve it
quickly in the dining-room, please, j
And tell Sam I want to speak to
him.” 1
Once Joyce had decided to leave,
she felt she could' not go quickly
enough. She could not endure
looking about Neil Packard’s
house, and reflecting that she would
probably never see it again. Her1
only salvation was Jin acting at
once. She was grateful for the
non-chalance with which Sam re
ceived her orders, and for the lack
of demonstration on the part of
Roxie.
Continued next week.
WOULD PLOW UP ALL
COTTON
Athens, Ga.—A request fromi
some Georgia farmers that they bej
allowed to plow up all of their
cotton was seen by Harry L. Brown
assistant director of the state ex-j
tension service, as an indication ofi
a wholehearted reception of the
federal acreage reduction plan in
this state. i
-. 1
How One Woman j
Lost 20 Lbs. of Fat j
!
Lost Her Prominent Hips—
Double Chin—Sluggishness
_ i
Gained A Shapely Figure
If you are fat how would you
like to lose it and at the same time
gain in physical charm and acquire
a clean, clear skin and eyes that
sparkle with buoyant health.
Why not do what thousands of
women have done to get rid of
pounds of unwanted fat? Take one
half teaspoon of Kruschen Salts in
a glass of hot water every morning
before breakfast and keep it up for
3 0 days. You can help the action
of Kruschen by cutting down on
pastry and fatty meats and going
light on potatoes, butter and cream.
Then weigh yourself and see how
many pounds you have lost.
Kruschen Salts are a blend of 6
salts most helpful to body health.
Best of all, a bottle of Kruschen
Salts that will last you for 4 weeks
costs but a trifle. Ask Purcells
Drug Store or any druggist for a
bottle and start to lose fat today.
It’s the safe way to reduce but be
sure you get Kruschen—your
health comes first.
She knew she must go away.
Criminal Cases In N. C., 1930-32
The recent Biennial Report of
the Attorney General of North
Carolina carries some interesting
data on criminal cases tried in the
superior courts and in courts below
the superior courts reporting* to
the Attorney General for the two-j
year period from July 1, 1930 to
July 1, 1932. The report covers
all criminal cases tried in the sup-!
erior courts, and reports from for
ty-four counties that had Courts
below the superior courts. Alto
gether the report covers 61,404
criminal cases for the two-year
period, or a yearly average of 30,
702 cases.
The state yearly average for the!
two-year period was one criminal
cases disposed of for every one
hundred and three inhabitants.
Stanly county made the best re-j
cord for the two-year period with
one criminal cV.se for evfcry six
hundred and jpighty-six inhabit
ants. Haywood county looks worst
for the above years with one crimi
nal cases disposed of for every thir
ty-six inhabitants. Haywood and
Stanly are close together in total
population, yet the yearly average
was forty-four criminal cases in
Stanly and seven hundred and
sieventy-nine caserl in Haywbod'. |
These are the extremes. The other
counties range between these.
There are several counties that
rank near Stanly, with few crimi
nal cases, and a large number
whose rates are not much above
the low record of Haywood. Why
one county should ‘have ta rate
nineteen times as high as; another
county, we do not profess to
know. We are only submitting the
facts as reported by the Attorney
General.
The negro crminal rate is higher
than the white rate, although there
were 38,457 white and 22,699 ne
gro cases disposed of during the
two-year period. There are more
than twice as many white people
as negroes in North Carolina.
For every female criminal case
there were thirteen male cases.
There were nearly forty-six
thousand convictions. Approxi
mately three-fourths of all cases
tried resulted in convictions.
Superior courts did much more
business in 1930-31 than in 1931
32. Courts below superior courts
did much more business in 1931
32 than in 1930-31. The total
number of cases was almost exact
ly the same for both court years,
30,632 and 30,776.
The leading crime for both years
and in both courts was in connec
tion with violation of prohibition
laws. One-third of all criminal
cases tried during the two-year
period had to do with violation of
Larceny and receiving, assault with
deadly weapons, violation of motor
vehicle laws, assault and battery,
and passing worthless checks are
the other leading crimes that oc
cupy the attention of the courts of
the state.
CATHOLIC PRIEST BEATEN
Rheingoennheim, Germany.—•
The Rev. Father Garoli, a Catholic
priest, was beaten so severely by
three unidentified men he was
taken to a hospital.
—Buy In Salisbury—
Begin Taking Cardui
Today If You Suffer !
Like This Lady Did j
“WHEN I was a girl, I began tak- J
ing Cardui,” writes Mrs. Maggie
Stanfield; of Crandall, Ga. “I was
very irregular for twelve months.
Nothing did me very much good
until my mother began to give me
this medicine. Then I got all
right, stout and well.
“After I was married, I was in
bad health. I began taking Cardui
again. I was troubled with my
back a lot. Was awfully restless.
I could not sleep well. I just
weighed 90 pounds when I began
taking Cardui. I improved rapidly.
Before long I weighed 126 pounds.
I felt fine. I was able to do a
good day’s work." •
j Cardui is sold by druggists here.
Don't Prolong
The Agony!
Next time you suffer from Gas
on Stomach, Headache, Sour
Stomach, a Cold, Muscular,
Rheumatic, Sciatic or Periodic
Pains; That Tired Feeling, That
“Morning After” Feeling. Get a
glass of water and drop in one
or two tablets of
Alka-Seltzer
The New Pain-Relieving, Alka
lizing, Effervescent Tablet
Watch it bubble up, then drink
it. You will be amazed at the
almost instant relief.
It is called Alka-Seltzer because
it makes a sparkling alkaline
drink, and as it contains an
analgesic (Acetyl-Salicylate) it
first relieves the pain of every
day ailments and then by re
storing the alkaline balance cor
rects the cause when due to
excess acid.
After trying many brands of
medicines—so-called relief for
gas, and all of them a failure,
I gave up hopes. By chance I
tried Alka-Seltzer—I am more
than satisfied. Geo. Bennett,
New York, N. Y.
Get a glass at your drug store
soda fountain. Take home a 30
cent or 60 cent package.
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